The online music video platform Qwest, founded by jazz legend Quincy Jones and French music producer Reza Ackbaraly, has announced its switch to classical music, with Qwest TV Classical. The new channel will be dedicated to classical concerts, dance and opera and is available in Australia online and for free through Samsung TV Plus. Ackbaraly spoke to
Spotlighton the philosophy behind the launch of the new channel and how studying with Nadia Boulanger in Paris has informed Quincy Jones’ remarkable career.

Reza Ackbaraly and Quincy Jones. Photo courtesy of Qwest

What inspired Qwest TV’s shift to classical music?

Well, first of all, myself and Quincy have a background in classical music. I had the opportunity to work for Mezzo, a leading classical music chain, for over a decade while Quincy studied classical music and composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris in 1957. Nadia is known as the “Greatest music teacher of all time”, having taught the likes of Stravinsky, Phillip Glass, Leonard Bernstein, Michel Legrand and more.

Quincy drew lessons from classical music that stuck with …