The Ezra Collective have just made history by becoming the first jazz act to win the Mercury Prize. The quintet’s drummer Femi Koleoso, seized the moment to explain:
”This moment that we're celebrating right here is testament to good, special people putting time and effort into young people to play music".
He is correct, but this is more than a milestone for the UK jazz scene; it's a testament to the untapped potential lying within our nation's schools.
At a time when the Government is looking to drive British exports and give our economy a boost, we have a possible gold mine sitting in our classrooms.
The UK’s music superstars helped boost exports of British music to a record £2.5 billion in 2021 in a market where competition from nations like South Korea is increasingly ferocious. That figure is set to soar even higher.
Thousands of young people in our state schools could go on to help increase that export market, revive our economy and enrich our cultural landscape by fulfilling their dreams of following in the footsteps of some of our global icons like Adele, Stormzy and Ed Sheeran.
However, they face a major barrier which we need to remove if they are to get a chance to capitalise on their musical talents.
The precipitous decline in music education is fast reaching the point where learning a musical instrument or how to sing professionally could soon become the preserve of the rich and the privileged.
There are some success stories, such as that of Sheku Kanneh-Mason, the outstanding young cellist who played at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. He studied A-level music at a Nottingham comprehensive in a disadvantaged part of the city and defied the odds to become a BBC Young Musician of the Year and a global star.
The reality is very different for young people at most state schools. The uptake of A-level music has fallen by a catastrophic 45% in the UK since 2020, when the English Baccalaureate was introduced. It is a similarly worrying picture for those studying music for GCSE.
A big part of the problem is the significant fall in the number of music teachers and funding cuts that have left many schools struggling to afford even the most basic of musical instruments.
There are now parts of the country where it is almost impossible for a budding musician to study A-level music.
According to a study by Birmingham City University, the rate of entry decline is so severe that no one might be taking A-level music in just ten years.
That would be a tragedy for all the tens of thousands of children who will miss out on the joy music brings with all its benefits to health and wellbeing and the chance of a fulfilling career.
It would be a disaster for our cultural landscape if we are deprived of future stars who would never grace the stage at Glastonbury or join the orchestra at the Royal Opera House.
There is also the damage it will cause to the talent pipeline of the UK music industry, which has a reputation for producing performers, musicians and music professionals who contribute billions each year to our economy.
So many young people dream of singing or playing music for a career. They have the ambition, drive and talent. They lack the opportunity.
As a first step, it is imperative we reverse the decline in music teaching in our state schools. Put simply, we must train and recruit hundreds more music teachers with the passion and determination to make music lessons the best part of any child’s week.
Between 2010 and this year, the number of people starting initial teacher training for music has more than halved. Removing the music teacher training bursary in 2020 means fewer people can afford to train for the job.
As the Chair of UK Music, the collective voice of the UK music industry, we are putting the need to train and hire more music teachers at the heart of UK Music’s “Music Manifesto," which we will deliver to the Government this week. (Sept 12).
According to the Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza, more than one in five children in England are now frequently missing school - double pre-Covid levels. Over the last academic year, Department for Education figures show 22.3% of pupils in England were persistently absent.
That’s deeply worrying. Yet, we have a chance through the power of music to play a part in helping get children back in the classroom.
The UK has successfully converted the creativity of its music makers into a global industry for over half a century. To continue to do so, our talent pipeline needs fixing.
So many young people dream of singing or playing music for a career. As Femi Koleoso of the Mercury Prize-winning Ezra Collective rightly pointed out, this is "a special moment for every single organisation across the country, ploughing efforts and time into young people playing music."
One final thought. When the robots are doing all the manual work and half the cognitive work, what’s left? The jobs that require emotional intelligence and creative collective problem-solving. How do you bring up a generation of future workers to be ready for that? Give them a creative curriculum that’s second to none in the world. The time to act is now.
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Watching
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Surprisingly, I’ve watched it twice a week because I thought it was pants the first time I watched it. Then, like all the other Indian Jones movies, it grew on me. Despite formulaic Nazis and fight scenes, the second time around, I began to see the comic expressions on the faces, the humorous deadpan lines, the acrobatic skills of the bad guys. Besides, I couldn’t avoid watching it, however badly it was panned by the critics. It’s Indiana Jones, for God’s sake.
Listening
UK Politics explained through the prism of Camus's "The Stranger"
Forty years ago, the late great Elwood 'Blues' Wilkins lent me a copy of "The Stranger" by Albert Camus. At the time, the book was an enigma to my younger self, the complexities of existentialism was too much for my undiagnosed ADHD mind!
For those unfamiliar, "The Stranger" is a cornerstone of existential literature, charting the life of Meursault, an emotionally detached French Algerian who commits an inexplicable act of violence. Through Meursault's eyes, Camus explores the inherent absurdity of human life.
However, after thirty years of political warfare, I listened to it again on Audible. I find that Camus's magnum opus resonates with striking clarity.
The indifferent theatre of politics
"I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world," Camus wrote, capturing a revelatory moment of his protagonist, Meursault. This sentence could well serve as an unspoken mantra for today’s politicians. In the relentless churn of politics, sentimentality is a luxury few can afford. You're a minister one day; the next, you're persona non grata. When you're out, you're out, and the world moves on—exactly as it does when Meursault's mother passes away with hardly anyone attending her funeral. I know this. Mathew Hancock doesn’t.
The defiance of public characters: Liz Truss and Jeremy Corbyn
Hancock is not the only one who should read more Camus. Meursault's closing thoughts in "The Stranger" make for a poignant meditation on the human condition: "I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate." These words encapsulate Mersault’s acceptance of his fate and his almost provocative indifference towards societal judgement.
In the theatre of UK politics, figures like Liz Truss and Jeremy Corbyn provide a fascinating study in contrasts that ultimately reveal a striking similarity: both manifest what could be interpreted as a form of 'gentle indifference' to the world. With her defiance in the face of political adversity, Liz Truss and Jeremy Corbyn, with his unwavering commitment to ideology, could easily fancy themselves as principal characters in a Camus novel. However, this is where the flattering comparison ends for both.
While each might wish to present themselves as lions of existential courage, their actions suggest a different narrative. Truss and Corbyn cling so tightly to their preconceived ideologies—often in defiance of public opinion and political reality—that their posture becomes less an embrace of existential freedom and more a form of surrender to fixed ideas.
By adhering so strictly to these predetermined ideas, some politicians, whether on the left or the right, become less agents of their own destinies and more prisoners of their own dogmas. This is not the existential courage Camus espouses but rather a retreat into the comfort of unwavering beliefs. It represents a failure to fully engage with the existential challenge: the obligation to carve one's own path in a world inherently indifferent to individual fate.
The politician’s lesson of Camus: Make it a glorious death
So, what's the takeaway for budding MPs or even seasoned political veterans? If you're venturing into the political arena, heed this: All political careers, as the saying goes, end in failure. Knowing this, why not make it a glorious political death? Seize your existential freedom. Create your path, make your impact, do not fear the wrath of orthodoxy, and when the time comes for you to step off the stage, do it with the dignity and courage that would make even Meursault nod in tacit acknowledgement.
Reading
Declan Ryan's poetry collection, published by Faber and Faber, speaks to a particular life stage—when one's ambitions have outpaced their achievements. Ryan's work is tinged with a sense of rueful wisdom, exploring themes akin to what Matthew Arnold described as reaching one's "utmost limits" and finding oneself lacking.
This sentiment echoes in the political corridors, making me think, perhaps unfairly, of septuagenarian MP John Spellar. Michael White, the veteran political journalist, coined the term "ex-future leader" to describe a certain breed of Parliamentarian. Some accept this title with grace, others with bitterness.
Ryan's poetry offers a cutting yet liberating insight for those who find themselves revisiting life’s what-could-have-been moments. Whether you're a political figure like Spellar or simply someone re-evaluating their life, the collection serves as a poignant reminder to come to terms with one's own prosaic reality.
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Good piece on the importance of music education in schools. But don’t forget: all arts subjects are under threat. Without Drama in schools we will have no more working-class actors like Maxine Peake, Christopher Ecclestone, Vicky McClure, et al. We must argue for all the arts, in all of our schools.
We MUST reverse the decline in musical education - very well written, Tom. And I love Camus!!