Young Voices UK

The ever-hardworking BBC Symphony Orchestra invited me, on a Sunday afternoon, to hear them play Music, Spread Thy Voice in a "side by side" performance at Maida Vale. The side-by-side players had come from Young Sounds UK, an organisation which I'd never encountered before. It has been in existence for 25 years, and is now in ACE's National Portfolio. Their raison d'etre is to support musical young people from low income families.

We know that's a crucial barrier to learning an instrument, so it particularly impressed me to see some really young, sometimes tiny, players who obviously had the chops to sit in the BBCSO front desks, or play wind solos. While we rightly worry about the general "music in schools" situation, some of the particular solutions, such as the work of this organisation, are being ingeniously successful. (And as ever, bless the BBC orchestras for their fullhearted involvement in projects like this one.)

Pictured: The gardens outside Ainola, the Sibelius house. Finlandia was on the programme this afternoon at Maida Vale (under Geoffrey Patterson's excellent direction). After which I hotfooted to the Barbican to hear the LSO/Klaus Makela play Tapiola - also worth hearing !