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2025-05-08T08:56:00+01:00
The Association of British Orchestras is calling on the Government to pledge its support to help provide a minimum of two hours of active music making every week for all young people up to age 16
Members of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra with school children
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The Association of British Orchestras (ABO) has announced the latest phase of its public engagement initiative ‘An Orchestra in Every School,’ which aims to enable access for children and young people to live music making.
As part of the initiative UK orchestras and ensembles, in collaboration with schools and music educators, ABO will set out to deliver over a thousand live music making opportunities in 2025, with the aim of giving over one million children and young people the opportunity to experience live music, no matter their school resources, abilities or disability.
The ABO is calling on the Government to pledge its support for providing access to live music making for all children and young people. This pledge would take the form of a statutory minimum of two hours of active music making every week for all children and young people until the age of 16, and for all schools to have access to live music making.
A recent report from the Cultural Learning Alliance found that, between 2010 and 2024, there was a 43 per cent fall in the number of A level entries in Music, with almost half (42 per cent) of all secondary schools no longer offering Music GCSE.
Additionally, a recent Demos report, commissioned by Music Mark found that the current government inherited a ’black hole’ in its music education budget, amounting to a shortfall of £161.4m.
The Association of British Orchestras’ chief executive, Judith Webster, said: ’The sobering statistics found in recent research highlight why ”An Orchestra in Every School” is crucial.
’We know that making music as a group improves focus, enhances mood and strengthens social bonds, and there is such a powerful emotion that comes from experiencing a live performance.
’That is why it’s our aspiration for every school in the UK to either have an orchestra of its own – however they define that – or access to live music making.
Webster continued to outline the benefits of music making on children: ’Findings show that opportunities for live music making have notable cognitive, emotional and social growth in children and young people and that is why more needs to be done. We know first-hand from our member orchestras how impactful live performances can be for children and young people.
’We are committed to our ambitious target of supporting one million children and young people access opportunities to make live music; the government has said in the past that live music is a vital part of a child’s education and we look forward to seeing their support during these formative school years.’
Several orchestras across Great Britain have implemented programmes to engage children and young people in live music making, which have led to improved exam results, student wellbeing and attendance. The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) performed to over 28,000 pupils across the region both live and digitally in 2024.
Additionally, every pupil at the Shireland CBSO Academy received an hour dedicated music class per week, with a thematic curriculum built around music across the rest of the national curriculum.
Webster urged those with no live music in their schools to contact an ABO member orchestra directly, ask their head teacher to connect with music hubs and services, and locate musicians within the local community to come into school, highlighting the resources compiled by ABO to help get live music into schools.
Read: Analysis October 2024: The state of UK national Music Hubs
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