Spring / Summer 2026 music thread

[northerngoldilocks]

Time for a new thread as the old one is filling up and think we can claim its spring now!

Come and talk about music lessons, choosing instruments, exams, auditions, specialist schools, orchestras or whatever other music activities are going on. Everyone is welcome, from those with total beginners to those whose children are studying music at advanced levels. Ask for advice or share successes or struggles.

Thanks @northerngoldilocks!

@BBLY with regards to NYO and the challenge of revision on the course -We found that for us that Christmas was fine because our school did prelims in December. For the spring course, it just required lots of organisation beforehand so they feel on top of things before going and only taking certain things to study so as not to get overwhelmed or miss out on too much socialising. There are quiet study areas available (they are often at lovely boarding schools with nice libraries!) and there will be plenty of others studying. It's also probably quite healthy to have a bit of a pause for some of the subjects. For Scottish pupils, they went back almost straight into exams ( a matter of days) so it's harder for them but if they are playing at that level they are usually pretty organised.
They are careful about welfare, with warms ups, stretching etc so they are well looked after. There is also a whole day off formal rehearsals in the middle which they can use to get out for local walks or just chilling/ studying, as well as there being optional music activities.

Thank you @horseymum!I’ll let DS know. He has been with Chineke! Junior’s summer residential for a couple of years and has really enjoyed it. He’s playing with the LSSO this year, but with him going into year 11 I don’t know if he’s organised enough for all the residential courses and other day commitments! And obviously that’s if he gets past the auditions 😅

@thirdfiddle with regards to NYO extracts, I don't think it relates to what they played as a group at ( but mine was woodwind). Think they played some chamber music in instrument specific groups and maybe some discussions and improvisations but I can't quite remember, I'll have to ask.

Also the extracts are just done in the individual audition. They need to know what is happening round about them in the orchestra so have listened to it with the score etc as they will get asked eg what are the strings doing here ( if woodwind player).

Thanks for satisfying my curiosity horsey! And that's really interesting about listening - when I explained to DD about extracts the first thing she said was she'll need to listen to see how they work in context. Good instincts or someone at Inspire gave her a hint? I think NCO has trained her well too, first thing she does when she gets the repertoire is make a playlist.

And signing on to the new thread thank you northern.

Chocolate, that sounds mad. My son didn't even start piano until age 14 and yes, he is never going to be a top classical soloist, BUT he loves his music and he is earning a living from it albeit in the realm of musical theatre. And the people he works with, the ones who get hired, are the ones who are used to playing in ensembles.

It's so easy now to get recordings, videos with rolling scores, early access to orchestra parts from imslp etc . I remember having to get CDs from the library and waiting to get actual parts to follow along for youth orchestra preparation.

God yes. Spotify is such an asset. Though big envelopes of orchestral parts arriving in the post was exciting! And I do not enjoy having to print hundreds of pages a year for youth orchestra who don't supply any physical parts these days at all.

@thirdfiddle we have to print so much too, very annoying! I can see why they do it though.

Teacher chat had which was really hard and upsetting, but it’s the right thing for her

Glad it’s sorted @chocolateisnecessary- at least it’s not hanging over you all now and sounds like time to move on with the new teacher.

fingers crossed it all goes well. My experience of changing piano teachers is that things seem to slow for a bit as they work on different areas / technique but my DD has made so much progress since getting the right teacher for her at this point!

Glad it is sorted. They need different teachers for different seasons so change is inevitable but not always easy.

For those not too far from London - TwoSet Violin still have quite a few tickets left for their second day at Barbican.

We went yesterday and I think it was educational enough to see the developments in classical music entertainment... The guys are not of soloist calibre and not superb as comedians either, but very engaging for the young ones. The show sparked a discussion on whether it's easier or harder to be a classical musician these days...

DS would love to see twoSets but we’r too far away and DH said no 😭. They are doing a great job inspiring a generation of young classical musicians..

DD and one of her teachers are huge fans (I only shout "look at Beethoven on your t-shirt! No wonder he's deaf!" 😂 ) and they're rarely in Europe so we decided to go, even though we had to wake up at 3:30 after the concert as DD had to be in a rehearsal away from London early in the morning.
The things we do for music... 😂🤦‍♀️

Mine went to see Jess Gillam this week and loved it! Including the sparkly outfit.

We also went to see Two Set last night. Was fabulous silly fun and really enjoyed it. Obviously a very different thing to a classical concert but they’re not trying to do that. It was funnier live than on social media too.

It was interesting for me to see that nowadays you don't have to be Heifez, Perlman, Vengerov, Hahn (meaning you don't have to have that X factor that is impossible to teach and that makes a great soloist) to enjoy an international career yet at the same time it felt like their show was harder to do than "just playing a concerto through" however ridiculous this may sound :)

Hi all. Just catching up. Incredibly my kid only has 3 months of music degree left. Now trying to work out how to earn a living from it.
He has a few fun/interesting activities coming up.

@Siriusmuggle I'm sure it's both exciting and daunting!

@horseymum it is. He’s got one part time role to apply for, another that isn’t live yet and ongoing occasional freelance. Also looking at potential bar work to enable the rest of it. Whilst also doing final year project and final year recital prep. A lot for an ADHD brain to juggle but if it all aligns it could work.

Best of luck to him Sirius.

My musician is unlikely to graduate. He is putting a huge effort into his final recital, his final year project is I think composition based but he is not attending academic lectures and I suspect has zero intention of completing his academic work. He admits he chose the wrong module (I could have told him that last year) but he doesn't care. He has got quite a bit of work lined up, performing, tech & orchestration and he just wants to be out there now. He is also building up his rentals business.

It's very frustrating as a parent but I guess he has achieved his aim.

I think it would be a relief for me if DD had some work lined up - it's a long way to go for us of course, but tbh has been my biggest worry since she had to specialise in music.

What places would require formal qualifications anyway, besides schools? It looks like everything is by auditions and recommendations mostly.

Best of luck to your young professionals @Siriusmuggle and @Comefromaway

@Comefromaway thats a mixed bag but sounds promising career wise.
I’m seeing my MP soon about the barriers to early career musicians working in the EU, there are so many jobs he can’t apply for because he doesn’t have the right to work in the EU post Brexit.