Classical music after #MeToo : Is music higher education a ‘conducive context’ for sexual misconduct?

This chapter explores sexual misconduct in higher music education institutions in the UK in the context of the neoliberal marketisation of higher education. It focuses on classical music, as this genre historically and today is dominant in higher music education. It draws on Liz Kelly’s theorisation of the ‘conducive context’ to examine factors that create a context that enables sexual misconduct and harassment to occur in classical music higher education, most notably institutionalised power and authority, gendered power relations, and limited external challenges to institutionalised authority. After outlining ways forward for institutions in addressing this issue, the argument is made that the theorisation of the ‘conducive context’ allows similarities and patterns to become visible across sites where sexual misconduct occurs, against arguments for classical music’s exceptionalism.