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.

So pleased the new teacher is working out dithering. Sounds like you've 100% done the right thing. Having the attention for 1.5 hours at that age is just amazing, and having a teacher who recognizes that and can make space for it - gold dust.

Hi all. Back to JRNCM. Has anyone with an offer received their timetable and invoice information yet? DS (10) had his offer in May but nothing since then. He’s now sat his Grade 7 piano and looking forward to joining the school in September. Thankyou!

Hi @Charlottesweb82 - I think in previous years my DC got their JRNCM timetables in the middle of the summer holidays. In any case I have a returning student who's has nothing through this year so far. I hope your DS is looking forward to it - it's a really lovely, fun place to be.

Mine at a different JD got hers the week before starting! Nothing like being organised (and they are nothing like organised all year). Hope he enjoys it.

Ah thankyou @horseymum and @TheTurn0fTheScrew. Good thing I asked on here, I’d have been in a panic I’d missed something if things arrive so late! DS is excited about going to the ‘beautiful place’ as he calls it. Hubby worries I’ll be out shopping in Manchester every Saturday now 😁

So my kid and his ensemble have got through to the semi finals. The top 6 out of the 14 groups have qualified. He’s over the moon. They’re also the only British group to get through. The other finalists have very impressive pedigrees (some are full time pros) so they’ve done really well to get this far.

Amazing, good luck and enjoy the next stage sirius! Are you able to go and listen?

@Siriusmuggle- that’s amazing. Well done him. That’s a huge achievement.

The semi finals are open to the public but I can’t go because I’m at work and have no annual leave left at all.

That’s fantastic Sirius

Amazing ! Shame you can’t get time to watch. Is it recorded?

Hi, I’m returning to these threads having been on the Nco type ones a few years ago. I have a ds in y12 who is a string player and does choral singing. He is mainly into ensemble stuff, doing A level music, very good at aural but less at written a levels, deciding between a music degree (not oxbridge) and another subject- being a bit vague as don’t want to out us! He applied to nyo for second time this year but expecting rejection any day as just not quite at the really top playing level technically- this might impact conservatoire auditions too. Does other youth orchestras and Nat youth choir though. I feel a bit worn out with it all at the moment and quite emotional that it’s the end of the music journey together but also that it will be freeing as I won’t have to worry about it all/pay for it all anymore!!

To the poster struggling with g5 theory - if your child is good at aural and keyboard stuff why not do practical musicianship instead - it’s all aural and playing, there’s no writing. A bit old fashioned and not taught so much but counts as pre requisite for high grades as well.

I don’t think so although I’m sure bits will be posted on line. The final is on Saturday for the top 3 but they don’t realistically think they’ll get that far, although who knows?

@nearlyfinishedmusicparent YES! I totally agree. Couldn't get previous teacher to do anything but tell me to make DS pass Gr 5 theory. New teacher is much more clued up and sees the value of Practical Musicianship, thank heavens. They'll get onto it when a competition in September is done...

@Siriusmuggle congrats to him - what a way to end this stage on a high. Shame you can't see it but you must be so proud.

@nearlyfinishedmusicparent Welcome back. It's a real rollercoaster isn't it, Year 12. I swear no-one is good at the whole music A Level either. DD is going for just two conservatoire auditions and mainly uni - which is quite stressful enough. Not looking forward to any of the process.

Good luck with NYO. DD decided trying for it wasn't for her this year. She had the slightly weird experience last year in that she applied, did a not very good audition, got not particularly helpful or individual feedback, and then kept being heavily pursued by Inspire (which she didn't apply for and isn't eligible for on paper) to do lots of things.

They still send her a lot of emails... I'm not sure how good she is at even responding to them as they no longer copy me in. I know it would have been better for her if she had got involved or at least responded.

However, she didn't really enjoy the Inspire residentials she did - more about her grandma dying when she was away than the actual residentials or anything to do with NYO, and it feels like she has a massive psychological barrier around the whole thing. I feel like writing back to the Inspire people and saying 'I'm so sorry. It isn't you, it's her!'

She loves national youth choir, and lots of other orchestras, so it isn't residentials that are the problem!

@Siriusmuggle congrats to your DS. He must be pretty happy.

Thanks all. He’s very pleased indeed. He’s still got a resit to do before he can actually graduate though.

@Siriusmuggle congratulations to your DS and best of luck for the next stage! Hopefully there will be some sort of recording.

@nearlyfinishedmusicparent welcome! I’m sure you will be a mine of info for those of us (like me) who are much earlier into the whole thing.

@achangeofnameisasgoodasarestyes not sure what I think about nyo as he worked really hard last year and the result was very underwhelming, even though it’s one of the less popular string instruments. We are not eligible for inspire either but have a great local youth orchestra which does really ambitious repertoire and he did some LSSO last year. I prefer nycgb as an organisation, they seem more inclusive and flexible.

similar here with prob mainly Uni and two or three conservatoire applications, predicted grades not quite sorted yet so bit in flux about which unis!

Those who've done NYO auditions before, do we expect to hear back on the exact date they said or is it more spread out? Confidently expecting a no, but I'm still terrible at waiting for results.

@nearlyfinishedmusicparent I think it's difficult to predict who will get into NYO. Probably all those invited for live audition are good enough, they are looking to build a section though, so don't necessarily want all people with 'principal player' energy, so you might not be able to guess. ( Actually probably most who do the video audition are good enough too and it's really hard to shine in a video). I wouldn't take it too hard as the numbers of spaces are so few considering they can choose from so many players. I think only two or three string players got in from our JD, and same for wind. It's a great experience but there are lots of other great experiences to be had. ( Happy to chat privately if any one has further questions)
I'm pretty sure it was on the day given that we heard, with unsuccessful ones coming earlier than successful ones, but that may not be the case every year.

Thanks horsey. Never quite sure if DD checks email at all, though may be NCO peer group chat will prompt her to!

NCO question….do we need to send a copy of the score? I don’t think so but suddenly wondered….

If you get in to NYO, do you have to audition again the next year?