Music Education in England

[DracoM]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03pd0k1

Item on Music hubs and Education. Hear it and tremble.
Incidentally, four experts gathered, segment FAR too short for such a crucial topic.
R3 has a responsibility to reflect the incremental crisis in funding, teaching, access to music of all kinds in schools.
If R3 doesn't, then who the heck does?

[Anna]

Just caught the end of the programme, need to LA, but my goodness that James Rhodes did speak a lot of common sense didn't he?!!

[DracoM]

Absolutely, Anna, Top drawer from James Rhodes, and far, far more utterly fearless than any R3 presenter could be. Talk about calling it like it is!! That Ch4 doc series looks one not to miss!!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

All rather depressing. The Hubs were a cosmetic way of hiding huge funding cuts. Ofsted is now no more than an arm of the government's policies/opinions.

[MrGongGong]

Predictable and superficial
and no discussion of MUSIC

Why on earth does PT keep referring to "Headmasters" ??
Guess what, some schools are run by WOMEN (it's like CE )

It's a bit of a car crash after all the enthusiasm for the Henley Review which so many folks, naively imv, got so excited about.
Guess what, there's not much money and less is yet to come.
Only when there is a real discussion (which does take place amongst many music educators) about what music is in schools for that we might get somewhere. But the sad fact is that many of the schools I don't visit anymore to run projects don't event do music at all.

[french frank]

Only when there is a real discussion (which does take place amongst many music educators) about what music is in schools for that we might get somewhere.

What is it?

[MrGongGong]

What is it?

What is music for ?
This has been going the rounds for a while



If we think that music education is simply a talent quest to fill the orchestras/x factor shows of the future then we loose so much

[Anna]

Absolutely, Anna, Top drawer from James Rhodes, and far, far more utterly fearless than any R3 presenter could be. Talk about calling it like it is!! That Ch4 doc series looks one not to miss!!

I'd like to see James Rhodes in conversation with Roger Wright - He was so spot on re crossover and classical. I'll listen again tomorrow to hear it all but I think I missed something, what Ch4 docu did you mean?

[DracoM]

JR is making a doc ref music in schools for Ch4.

[MrGongGong]

He was so spot on re crossover and classical.

I thought he was a little confused
At the start he said how the word "Classical" wasn't always useful and we should maybe use the word "music"
then seemed to use it over and over
Though I thought he was spot on with regard to the "classical brits" ..... fake shite that it is.

Enthusiasm is always engaging
sadly being a music teacher isn't something that many of the most enthusiastic musicians would consider as an option

[DracoM]

He actually made some pretty clear distinctions, named names eg Clayderman, and then said that 'crossover' was NOT 'classical'. Which seemed to make sense to me. But maybe I'm not very bright this morning.

[gradus]

I thoroughly enjoyed Mr Rhodes interview and agreed with his comments, although I had thought that he'd rubbished the label 'classical' but later went on to use it which slightly confused me, but the general drift was clear. I've seen him on television and hope that R3 broadcast one/some of his innovative-sounding recitals.

[Honoured Guest]

I agree that James Rhodes's contribution was very clear and persuasive. I would appreciate a weekly Radio 3 music programme presented and personally programmed by someone like him (or a small rotating team), ideally regularly scheduled in one of the Late Junction slots - a Classical on 3 equivalent of Jazz on 3 and World on 3, but maybe with less of their emphasis on balanced coverage of the current live and recorded music scenes. I think that Radio 3 is missing a properly "authored" classical music programme (except for specialists The Choir and Hear and Now). The daytime strands are too bland and general. Is there a classical music Andy Kershaw out there to get stuck in and to enthuse us? Maybe one might emerge from the Saturday Classics guest roster ...

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Is there a classical music Andy Kershaw out there to get stuck in and to enthuse us? Maybe one might emerge from the Saturday Classics guest roster ...

But isn't this once again slipping into the trap of the presenter becoming more important than the topic/programme? HG's idea has much merit, but I would prefer it not to be personality-based.

[MrGongGong]

I think it's a little amusing that some folks are cheering him as he is saying (and in the same vernacular ) the same kind of things that Nigel Kennedy has been saying for years. NOT that there's anything wrong with that BUT more that many of the folks who lambast Nige for how he speaks and the way he presents himself seem find it ok with mr Rhodes....




Do you think he will be taken more 'seriously' if he put his shirt on and cut his hair ?