MI Pro

A man of considerable repute, who has earned (among a few of his fans) the title of ‘wise’, often says: ‘distrust anyone who wants to teach you something’. This aphorism will doubtless produce wails of approval from the average school pupil, who will take it as justification to ignore his or her teachers whenever it suits them. What the proverb means, of course, is that it is the student that should seek learning and not the teacher soliciting teaching.

Music for Youth is the world’s biggest music education charity, yet, when you boil it down, it doesn’t actually, actively teach anything at all. What it does, quite often, is change the lives of young musicians and ignite the spark in them to begin or further or complete their musical education and ultimately enter the world of ‘the player’.

2010 marks the charity’s 40th anniversary, so what better time to take an indepth look at what the charity is doing, what it hopes to do and – most importantly – how you, the MI retailer, can get involved in what is arguably the single most important inspiration for nurturing young musicians in the UK?

Lincoln Abbotts is MfY’s CEO and only the second man to head up the organisation after Larry Westland, the man who, in 1970, set this particular snowball rolling until he stood down in the beginning of 2008. (Westland is now the honorary life president.) I sat down with Abbotts to find out more about MfY’s year ahead and how the MI trade can help.

Some of his answers are surprising, yet no less inspiring for that… But first, he outlines how Music for Youth works.

“You can boil down MfY activities into three categories,” begins Abbotts, as energetic in speech as he is with a baton in his hand. “The first thing is performance. Music for Youth gives young players a bigger stage, whether that is at one of the regional festivals, at the National Festival or the Schools Prom. We make it possible for them to feel the thrill of a professional performing experience.”

The regional festivals (of which there are now 73) cover the entire country from Belfast and Glasgow to Truro and Tenterden and everything in between, meaning that wherever you live, there will be one nearby. As long as the performers are under 21, admission is open, whether from a school, a community group, a private project and whether covering orchestras, pop and rock or folk music. As Abbotts puts it: nothing is typical.

“There is still something of a perception that it is classical music by school orchestras, but that simply isn’t the case,” he explains. “And this isn’t a competition, either. The experts (we prefer to call them mentors) who view everything at the festivals will never say one performance is good and another bad; they are there to give advice as to how each can improve. There is a real ‘festival atmosphere’ at these events and we find that the performers learn from each other as well, just from watching.”

Once the regional festivals are over, the mentors make recommendations as to which acts will best benefit from appearing at the National Festival in Birmingham – a full week of performance, essentially taking over the whole city, with performances at the Symphony Hall, the O2 and all the others, as well as some concerts outdoors, again giving the musicians the chance to step up on to a bigger stage. Some 12,000 children and youths take part and from here over 3,000 are selected to appear at the Schools Prom at the Albert Hall in London.

The mentors are all active musicians – people making a living from playing or recording music and who have an awareness of music education and how to express themselves to young musicians. There are currently about 50 of them giving up their time to help at the festivals. In 2009, members of the pop group Divine Comedy looked over a lot of the pop and rock acts, while Peter Stark worked with the orchestras – to give you an idea of the calibre of these people.

“The second element of MfY is inspiration,” continues Abbotts. “We are painfully aware that not every child has the opportunity to play, so this year we are putting on five free concerts where youngsters can come and see other youngsters on stage.” This idea stems from Abbotts’ time with the BBC, where he initiated a roadshow that aimed to get kids inspired to play. “The difference with this,” he says, “is that there is a big contrast between seeing a 30-year-old on stage and seeing a 14-year-old. Seeing a teenager playing tells the primary school kid that he can do this, too – and from there ‘pester power’ comes in as the child presses the parents to get him an instrument.”

The third element is ‘engagement’. This means getting children – and particularly schools – involved in music making. MfY is currently using the official ‘Year of Music’, which runs through to the end of the 2010 school year and incorporates all of the activities going on around the country, from Howard Goodall’s Sing Up project to the opportunities of Government funding for musical instruments, and alerting schools to them.

“We are making a noise so that entrepreneurial teachers can hear about what is going on and say ‘I want music in this school’ and know that instruments are available to help make that happen. Wherever you look, people are making music. It is our job to take advantage of and support all of these initiatives.”

The crux of this article – and the main reason MI Pro wanted to find out more about Music for Youth is that, as the hub of the local musical communities, the MI retailer really should be getting involved (if it isn’t already). Abbotts’ explanation of what they should do was surprising.

“The crucial element for us is the regional festivals,” he begins. “The first thing to do is pick up the phone and call us. Ask for details about the festival nearest to you and what you can do. Basically, all you need to do is pitch up at the festival and say ‘hello, I’m Mr Bedford Music Shop’ and bring some of your flyers or cards. If you have a guy free who can man a stand in the hall where the activities are taking place, even better. We can’t guarantee you sales, but we can promise contacts and potentials.”

Hang on, this sounds more like what can MfY do for dealers. “Yes, but it’s about relationships and creating networks,” enthuses Abbotts. “Of course, we could ask for money, but that only goes so far. It’s far more important to have everyone involved.” Beyond this, there is a lot dealers can do for MfY in terms of putting themselves out a bit.

“Retailers can identify potential mentors for the festivals. We are always on the hunt for inspirational people in each of the geographic locations. If dealers can put people forward, this would be a great help. Once they know where and when the local festival is, they can encourage the young musicians that come into their shops to attend. Then, of course, if Mr Bedford Music Shop has a spare room out back, we could organise getting some kids down to try out some gear. Money is always useful, but never our first element for discussion. Local sponsorship of a festival can be as little as £200 and for that we can tailor the deal to the festival and the sponsor, including branding, a stand at the event and so on. But I have to say, money is not the driving force here. If you are motivated, please give us a call.”

In the same way that MI Pro gets tarred with the rock n roll ‘brush’, so MfY gets smeared with the classical counterpart, but in both cases, the labelling is vastly inaccurate. “Whatever you do, wherever you do it, under whatever umbrella, if the performers are under 21, we want to hear from them. We have just got new sponsorship from Rock School and this year there will be more rock and pop than ever before. The great thing about getting in as many styles as possible, is that the genres become blurred and when these youngsters get together, ensembles are created that defy definition. It’s a wonderful thing.”

Wonderful indeed. And with some 50,000 kids passing through the festivals each year – and the alumni numbering in the millions, that is a wonder that just keeps growing.

The ‘wise man’ who told us to distrust teachers and altruists was essentially advising that we check out these people before believing them. Well, this is the third or fourth time I’ve checked Music for Youth out and each time I’ve done so, it has been clear that the charity does nothing but good. I heartily advise any dealer that hasn’t had a look to do so right away. The same wise man said ‘don’t be helpful – be available’. I think Lincoln Abbotts would agree with that.
MFY: 020 8870 9624