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Half of them waited patiently in the decade’s hottest July on the pavement of
The Strand for their turn. When their turn did come they climbed onto the
miniature stage, played, left by the back door, got into their coaches and were
gone. Only the teachers stayed on to hear a verbal summary of their group's performances
and receive an award from none other than Rolf Harris.
It was so hot that the younger children were fainting away before, during and after their performances. Panic had set in until the discovery of an elderly caretaker who, when asked if there was any air-conditioning, said that he could arrange something. He vanished down a narrow staircase and moments later a strange rumbling sound was heard and the entire roof of the Lyceum began to open to the sky. Every single piece of dust and paper in the hall rose ten or fifteen feet into the air, including all the music of the unfortunate orchestra in mid-performance on the platform. Nevertheless a great roar of approval echoed around the hall, music was retrieved and the orchestra continued with its performance. We learned later that the roof was designed so that dancers could waltz their nights away under the stars.
read on
The budget that first year was £3,700 including the salary of its founder and first Director! Much has happened since those early days. Now 100,000 young people between the ages of four and eighteen are involved in Music for Youth’s
annual programme. 12,000 of these go on to perform at the National Festival over six days in July and a further 3,000 appear at the Schools Prom at the Royal Albert Hall in November.
But it all really began in 1970 when the founder of Music for Youth, Larry Westland, ran into an old friend who was running a charity in Greenwich. He offered his help in raising funds. An acquaintance of Larry’s, a flamenco guitarist from southern France, had been taught to draw by Picasso. The idea was to get him to draw on some guitars and then auction them at a fundraising event. Larry then arranged to meet the MD of Boosey and Hawkes, Denis Gillard to ask him to donate the guitars.
During their meeting Denis mentioned an up-coming music industry project for a music contest for schoolchildren. Having once been a teacher Larry strongly advised against the competitive format and after some discussion was invited to put forward his own proposals for an event to benefit both the industry and young musicians. His proposals were accepted and in September 1970 the National Festival of Music for Youth was launched from a modest one-room office in Victoria.
Music for Youth’s aim has remained unchanged since those early days – to provide children with an opportunity to perform live in a friendly and non-competitive environment. At the core of Music for Youth’s work is the belief that all children, regardless of their ability, should have the chance to take part in a live performance. To this end it was written into the first proposal for the event that a nationwide series of regional festivals would be introduced to underpin the whole Music for Youth programme in its second year of operations. This open access approach opened the door to a massive increase in entries for the second National Festival and the event moved to the Fairfield Halls in Croydon in 1972. read on
By 1980 the numbers wanting to take part in Music for Youth had mushroomed to a
staggering 25,000. A larger venue had to be found to cater for those who
qualified for a place at the national event but could not be accommodated. In
1981 the National Festival of Music for Youth moved to London's South Bank, taking up all three halls over six days. By the year 2000 the number of young people applying to take part in Music for Youth’s annual programme of festivals and concerts had grown to 50,000.
During this time a relationship that is still going strong, was forged with The Times Educational Supplement and out of this was born the idea for the world acclaimed Schools Prom at the Royal Albert Hall. The first Schools Prom was staged in 1975 on one evening. Now held over three evenings the concerts involve 3,000 of the finest young musicians, singers and dancers in the UK and attract an audience of over 15,000. The success of the Schools Prom is testimony to the excellence of music teaching in this country and to the remarkable talent that abounds in our schools.
A crucial aspect of Music for Youth’s work is introducing a wide range of music to children who would not normally have the opportunity to attend a live musical performance. The Primary Proms are a series of free daytime concerts aimed at inner-city children aged between four and eleven years of age. All the music is performed by young musicians, many of their own age, and covers every genre of from classical to pop. This year 22,000 children applied for free tickets for the two concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. Sadly there was only room for 9,000 but in 2008 the concerts will be held over 2 days and will accommodate 18,000 inner-city school children. Concerts will also take place at Birmingham Symphony Hall and Chester Cathedral.
Music for Youth is administered by a Board of Trustees drawn from the
organisations that sponsor the charity. Additional funding comes from trusts, foundations and music organisations including the DFES and Youth Music. The charity is, however mainly dependent on British business organisations for its continued existence.
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