An orchestra of equals

Bryony Bell reports on how Chetham’s is creating Olympians of the music world...

In summer 2019 we watched the England women’s football team reach the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup for the second time in a row, after years on the sidelines. Increased investment in the women’s game, and dramatic leaps in its media profile, saw the tournament thrill the nation as the Lionesses drew within reach of victory and players became household names.

The story isn’t an isolated one. Increased investment after the 2012 Olympics still resonates in Team GB’s sporting successes today, as children inspired by the London games train for their own medal attempts in 2020. Yet, for others inspired not by the sports themselves, but by the dance, music and creativity on show in the Olympics Opening and Closing ceremonies, the pathway has been less clear. Time and resources assigned to arts education have tumbled across the state education sector, and whilst there are numerous exceptional youth arts activities happening across the country, they’re not always long term, connected, or accessible to children of all backgrounds. For those who discover a real talent, who are ready, at a young age, to commit the time and energy needed to join the elite, there are new hurdles to be faced. Cost, geography, the support of teachers, family and friends – all of these can be powerful barriers to success.

Wonderfully, many independent schools across the country offer bursaries for young musicians, dancers and performers, alongside athletes and academics. Yet how much more wonderful for these young people to join an elite training camp, an entire school community built around a shared talent and commitment. That’s what’s offered by the UK Government’s Music and Dance schools – nine centres in England and Scotland where young artists join a programme in which talent is the only criterion for entry. Boarding accommodation, funding up to full bursaries, and integrated arts and academic teaching create genuine meritocracies – elite institutions, but in no way elitist.

At Chetham’s, the largest of the five Music schools within the scheme, 300+ young musicians live and learn in the heart of Manchester. Here they enjoy facilities to rival the country’s leading conservatoires – purpose-built rehearsal and practice rooms, two world-class performance venues, and an unparalleled programme of individual tuition, music theory, chamber classes, improvisation and choral singing, all taught by leading professional musicians. In summer 2019 – two days before the women’s world cup final – its flagship orchestra, Chetham’s Symphony, became the first school ensemble to perform Mahler’s colossal Symphony No. 8. “It’s hard to imagine any place of secondary education where they would even contemplate it,” said the ArtsDesk, “but for Chetham’s…it became a thrilling triumph.” Broadcast live on BBC Radio 3, with almost no performer above the age of 19, it brought together over two-thirds of the school’s community, from the very youngest choristers, aged 8, to sixth formers just awaiting A-level results before joining top conservatoires and universities across the world.

These vast forces created a true orchestra of equals. Its leader, Molin, joined Chetham’s from China, with generous bursaries recognising her precocious talent, and is now studying at the Royal College of Music. On The Bridgewater Hall’s mighty pipe organ was George, leaving Chetham’s after ten years as a chorister, trumpeter, organist and singer to take up an organ scholarship at Cambridge. In the chorus was head girl Josephine, a hugely talented pianist and singer also predicted superb A-level results, and heading for a highly competitive academic programme at university. Principal bassoon was Jamie from Glasgow, aged just 16, fresh from his GCSEs and with a Wigmore Hall debut already under his belt. Younger still were the children’s chorus members, mainly the choristers of Manchester Cathedral and Chetham’s. Among them was Molly, aged 11 from Lancashire, inspired to sing after an outreach programme created by Chetham’s and The Bridgewater Hall. 90% were in receipt of funding through the Department for Education’s Music and Dance scheme; others from the Cathedral’s choristership programme. With music at the very core of Chetham’s being, those few who do pay full or partial fees can be confident that they include all music tuition, orchestral programmes, and over 300 performance opportunities each year. There’s even a bespoke sports programme, Fit to Perform, designed around the special demands of music practice on students’ growing bodies.

This elite training camp has already produced many of the Olympians of the music world. Its alumni fill concert halls across the world, as performers, conductors, composers and leaders of the music sector, as classical musicians, jazz artists, folk singers, electronic DJs and hip hop stars. It’s a place where all remain welcome – as students, as audiences, as parents, alumni and friends – to play their part in an orchestra of equals.

This article first appeared in the 2020 edition of Which School. You can read the e-guide here: