GFTU BGCM 2019 Minutes

contribution that they make to our society and to all of us as individuals. Arts

and culture touch virtually every aspect of society and all people, whether it be

literature, painting and the visual arts, going to the cinema or theatre and, of

course, music. So instead of developing this successful sector and helping it

grow, Tory Government cuts have seen it contract and become a luxury item

enjoyed by the elite and not readily available to ordinary people.

So let me stick to my area, if I may, music, as I reflect on what has been

happening during the Cameron and May administrations. The worst cuts have

hit grassroots music making and music education. Like sport, learning a

musical instrument not only gives young people an additional skill, but it also

introduces them to the world of collectivity where you produce your final

product, in our case a fantastic and memorable performance, as part of a team.

Unless you are one of the few artists who write and perform their own songs

with no help and support from others, you quickly learn that playing in a band,

ensemble, orchestra or even in a duo means that you rely on other people and

they rely on you. I love watching small groups of musicians perform, whether it

be a jazz band or a string quartet. The interaction between the musicians is

fascinating – the eye contact, knowing when to take the leading role or when to

accompany others. It is all part and parcel of playing in that close knit

ensemble and, as I said, relying totally on other people.

Learning to perform music makes you a more rounded individual, to appreciate

the need for teamwork and to be sympathetic to others in the interests of the

performance you are involved in. The same goes for all of the performing arts

– dancing, singing and acting. Isn’t it tragic that access to these skills is

becoming more and more limited to students whose parents have the ability to

pay? I started learning my music at school and in the brass band movement. I

progressed to the County Youth Orchestra and eventually I made it to the

Royal Academy of Music. All of my tuition was free, paid for by the local

authority. As the eldest of five children, there was no way that my parents could

have afforded to pay for lessons or to send me to the weekly rehearsals of the

youth orchestra. I want the same opportunities to be available to all, not with a

view of creating more professional musicians in what is already, except for the

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