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Templewood school is lucky
In former times individual tuition of a variety of instruments was allocated and funded by the county council, which acted as go-between for schools and a substantial number of peripatetic music teachers. In the brave new world, the schools make all their own decisions over buying in services. Templewood is lucky, says Brian Martin. "We have parents who are tremendously committed and have the money to pay for their children's music tuition. Many schools just aren't so fortunate. Hertfordshire has a marvellous array of music centres, but again they're supported principally by motivated parents with money - it starts to look like elitism."The change in funding arrangements also means Martin will probably discontinue arranging for peripatetic music staff to help with class work in elements of the national curriculum. "This was enormously helpful. My staff are fantastically committed, but it's difficult for them to manage in what is a very specialist area."
Politicians have a duty to protect the heritage they have been entrusted with
Over the last two decades Richard McNicol has built up an international reputation for his work in music education, from in-service training for music teachers to organising large-scale music projects linking orchestras and schools. There are many things about the current state of music in schools that concern him, but the intrinsic quality of the national curriculum isn't one of them. "It's amazing. I'm spending much of my time travelling round the world meeting the demand from countries to know how it works - from Canada and Jordan to Scandinavia and South America. Great - but it would be tragic if our politicians now failed to protect what has been built up in this country over the last thirty years in the way of performing standards. I became a professional flautist in 1969 and since then I've seen the quality of playing rocket. There's a real danger that thirty years ahead there'll be a shortage of top quality orchestral players - instrumental teaching is collapsing in many areas."Elizabeth Poulsen
Elizabeth Poulsen, Education Administrator of the Incorporated Society of Musicians is concerned, but not yet convinced that catastrophe looms. "The picture across the country is very mixed, with stories both of the rapid expansion of music provision and just the opposite. My more specific concerns are over preserving the quality of instrumental tuition in a situation where head teachers may shop around for the cheapest option, and then the question of how to compensate for the loss in many areas of the coordinating role of council-funded Music Advisors. They've been able, for example, to make the most efficient use of performers by organising networks of schools to visit. There are still plenty of such advisors about, but the pressure of the Local Management of Schools legislation is towards ever-greater devolution to schools themselves."John Ridgeon
John Ridgeon, for 16 years a Music Advisor in the Midlands and now running Access to Music, a company offering an independent support service to schools, is a supporter of the new legislation as it affects music. "One survey, not so far published, suggests that in fact 25% more instrumental lessons have been taking place in schools since the changes." Having to pay, Ridgeon says, can focus parents minds on the value of tuition. "Generally I applaud the changes. I think it's right that schools should have control over their affairs in this area. And in many ways I believe it's healthy for musicians to be energised by having to think about their role afresh. My concerns are over the speed of change, the provision of instruments and the obvious question of parents who can't afford to pay for their children's tuition." One of the most rapid growth areas in music education during the 80s was the involvement of orchestras in school projects. Can that role now be extended further to plug gaps? Naheed Shaikh is the Royal Scottish National Orchestra's first-ever education manager. Among her current tasks is running a 6-school creative project in the Port Glasgow area based on Dukas's 'Sorcerer's Apprentice'. Scotland's education system may run on different lines to the rest of the UK, but the same elements of curriculum change and devolved spending mean a similar new environment.The decline in peripatetic teaching is hitting musicians
"The gradual disappearance of Music Advisors as a bridge between schools and arts organisations is a considerable worry - some are reappearing as private consultants, but costing more money! Everyone is throwing their hands in the air over the decline in peripatetic teaching, which is clearly hitting musicians involved in tuition. What is clearly the case, though, is that orchestras' work in schools can in no way be a substitute for the loss of individual tuition. Our prime use is in supporting, guiding and advising class teachers....helping them to deliver the curriculum as best we can."Benefitting from the National currriculum
Margaret Archibald, education officer of (and clarinettist with) the London Mozart Players, agrees 100%. "What we do cannot cover the whole essential area of the building of instrumental technique. We can hope to stir an aspiration in children, but that's different."What is clear, though, is that work in education is now essential if an orchestra is to justify its role in the community in the present and target audiences for the future. A substantial part of the LMP's education and community work is financed by an enthusiastic sponsor, Nestle. This makes a welcome contribution to players' income, but the benefit of the work to the players is far more than financial, says Archibald.
The provisions of the national curriculum, says Archibald, have been hugely beneficial to the orchestra players in giving structure to their enthusiasm to help. The emphasis on composition, performance and musical improvisation has provided children with just the kind of hands-on experience they needed to blow away the academic cobwebs which bedevilled teaching for years.
Perhaps one of the most intriguing signs of the times, of the worry over future audiences, has been news that the British Association of Concert Agents intends organising a music industry conference on music in education. The chairman of the association's sub-committee on education, David Sigall, feels BACA members have "...the responsibility to encourage artists they manage to take part in educational projects as part of concert engagements, without extra fee. Just going to play in schools can awaken interest. Orchestras clearly have to continue exploring ways of enticing children to concerts and examining how exactly those concerts are presented on the platform to children and adults. Inviting children to rehearsals is one simple way of involving them that carries no cost. And I feel orchestra players, like solo artists, have to be willing to make financial sacrifice where necessary to forge contact with the young. It's one thing to miss out on being paid for some session work.....another to lose the audiences of the future."
Lateral Thinking
Lateral thinking on the whole subject comes from Gavin Henderson, principal elect of Trinity College of Music in London and someone with extensive experience of directing both the Brighton Festival and the Dartington International Summer School. "While there's a need to go on fighting for proper provision in schools, I'd like to see thought given to building up the network of arts centres and summer schools as providers of expertise for schools to buy in. It begs the question of money, of course, and one view would be that the arts promoting world needs to be more directly involved. This could provide not just a pool of expertise in instrumental tuition but a consultancy service for teachers and assistance with special projects."Studends need to acquire a wider range of skills
Against the background of his Trinity College post, Henderson points out the need for music students these days to acquire a much wider range of skills than the merely musical - Trinity's 'Music Plus' course offers training in the range of business, educational and personal skills which a musician might conceivably need in developing a specific career.John Ridgeon of Access to Music spends much of his time training musicians in similar areas and recommends them to acquire the NVQ - National Vocational Qualification - as preparation for the range of potential occupations. "Traditionally musicians have had no training beyond their musical speciality. These days in the education field they need to know about being curriculum suppliers, being their own managers - marketing themselves - and about the art of advocacy when it comes to justifying the role of music education. I honestly feel there's a greater chance now than before for us as independent advocates to really influence headteachers...talking about educational principles, about children's rights to music as embedded in the national curriculum."
"The central question," says Elizabeth Poulsen of the ISM, "is for musicians to ask themselves why a school should want to buy a service from them. Why should a school not regard music as the icing on the cake? It may feel alien to sell yourself, but this is just going to have to be accepted."
Music brings people together
Provoking thoughts finally from Richard McNicol. "The government needs to grasp not just the aesthetic arguments for music education, but those to do with economic productivity and the social impact that music can make. Working in deprived areas where social problems are rife I can tell you that music can 'tame'. Several years ago I was involved in a project in Armagh coordinated by a joint Catholic/Protestant committee. On the first morning a little boy ran into the hall shouting that there'd been a dreadful massacre a few miles away. Troops and police were everywhere on the streets, but we went ahead with a 'Pied Piper' procession involving the Ulster Orchestra, a Paisleyite silver band and a traditonal band organised by members of Sinn Fein. What else could have brought people together in such circumstances?".Andrew Green
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