Why is music never a top priority?

[pugsandseals]

Been looking at all the prospectuses for DD's secondary transfer next year. DD is musical & will probably put it quite high on the wish list. However, even the so-called musical schools around here will still put the away game hockey match as more important than the instrumental lesson or getting back in time for the informal concert. Why? Yes I know sport has great community value, but so does music! In fact I can think of nothing which can be achieved in sport which can't at least be equalled in music.

DD would love to be able to attend a really good school orchestra & have plenty of opportunities for chamber music. Yet I fear we will only find these things outside of school. Very sad :-(

My experience is that music is put before sports. My son has missed so many matches and school trips because he's been involved in a musical engagement.

Having gone to an excellent comp myself that had outstanding music activities, nothing was able to compete with the county youth orchestras that I attended in my spare time. It is a tall order indeed to find a school (state or private) that is able to provide a full symphony orchestra capable of playing Brahms symphonies, a wind band capable of playing the Bernstein Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, a string orchestra capable of playing Barber's Adagio for Strings and provide an SATB choir capable of singing the Faure Requiem. These were all opportunities that were provided to me via the excellent LEA county music ensembles when I was at school.

I honestly think that with playing a minority instrument, ensembles which have a wider catchment area are the way forward. Also there is the National Youth Orchestra programme if your DD shows real promise. In my humble opinion as well private school can make it much more difficult to join other local ensembles as they tend to have extra curricular activities of their own that go on much later in the day/evening and have matches on Saturdays etc.

DD is about to audition for the local groups but these only run in holidays! The nearest to me that runs weekly is 25 miles away so as much as I love her & want to support her, it really would remove a whole evenings teaching for me. This is why I must look for a school with some provision for her. It doesn't need to be national or county level, just something she can use weekly to keep up her ensemble skills. She would also love a school to help her with her ambition to set up a chamber music group as she seems to enjoy this part of her holiday courses even more than orchestra or band.
Would be so much easier if she were a string player like me! Opportunities are vast by comparison!

@teacher Your experience sounds much like my own, and my DDs (the little one is only 9 though!). I grew up in a london borough that prided itself on music, and which kept free instrumental lessons long after most places had given that up as an impossible cause. We also had the benefit of having one of (at the time) Europe's top concert venues and I regularly played and sang there both with school and with LEA ensembles and also borough 'adult' ensembles which were open to kids good enough to join. We now live somewhere completely different, but by combining school activities (good, including a very decent SATB choir that does challenging stuff like Carmina Burana (well, I say challenging ;) ), LEA stuff, a national ensemble and the conservatoire 'scheme' DD1 is having a magnificent variety of experience. She is also, as I said, 'helping out' with the new In Harmony initiatives. DS's school also has a good choir (which he is completely uninterested in) and a variety of ensembles but as he is jazz focussed that's what he sticks to.

The only issue with national ensembles of course is that they tend to have their summer and easter events/courses at the same time. And the cost can be a real issue (DD1's last NYRO summer course was at the other end of the country to us and the rail fares for taking her there and getting her back (too young to go on her own) were eye watering.

I still maintain that the cost of instruments is a real issue - DS isn't serious about his music in the way that DD1 is, but a decent clarinet and a decent sax come to money. DD1 now needs either a good intermediate or conservatoire grade flute and that is serious spoondoolics. And then when you add in decent recorders - a good (not great) bass can come to about a grand.And that's just one of a minimum of 5 she has to have, before you even think about getting specialist models. She has been lucky to be able to inherit/appropriate some of mine, but even then.......

@pugs At DD1's school the 6th formers doing music A level are encouraged to take ownership of some of the ensembles (eg chamber group). DD1 is only in Y10 but she has now been tasked with setting up a proper recorder ensemble because there are now several decent players in the years below who have never had the opportunity of playing in a recorder orchestra or smaller ensemble - there is a very good standard recorder orchestra in the area (well, I would say that) but I can understand why the younger kids aren't keen to join since the age profile of members is skewed towards much older adults - at 45 I'm one of the younger members although we do now have some in their 20s and 30s and hope to get more - some of them travel from very far away to play with us.

One sad thing I have noted is that DD2 is the only child from her primary to go along to the new in harmony initiatives but on the other hand her school has just started its own small orchestra so there is genuine encouragement there. When DD1 was at the school she was one of only 3 or 4 children at a decent (Grade 5+) level. None of the kids there now are at that level but some will get there soon with encouragement, I think.

@pugs (again - sorry) you are right about strings though - the opportunities in the local area for string players are far greater, plus the local suzuki group is very active.

Mordion

I don't think it is good for most, well not up here anyway. London and the South seem to be a different ball game. However, ime there is definitely a widespread deterioration in provision for music. I know many teachers of music and regularly contribute to music forums and you only have to read a few posts on tes to see the scale of the problem.