MDEE 2024 exhibitor showcase: Charanga

MB: I grew up in Bolton and started learning guitar, encouraged by my dad, who played country and western and had some pretty eclectic records: Los Paraguayos and flamenco guitarist Carlos Montoya, to name two. I read about something called the Royal College of Music, wrote to them, got an audition and moved to London to study. This was my first exposure to the arts, culture and orchestral instruments, and it changed the course of my life.

MB: After graduating and spending 10 years as a professional musician and teacher, I hooked up with one of my oldest school friends, Paul Fletcher, who, by then, was a computer scientist and educational technology expert. We felt strongly that integrating technology into aspects of music teaching and learning could help more people achieve their musical ambitions. So, in the mid- to late-90s, we built an early form of Charanga 0n the growing popularity of CD-ROMs. We enjoyed success in the UK and US and learned a lot about business along the way! Around 2005, burgeoning internet and broadband allowed us to develop our approach into an online service and create something significantly more flexible and valuable for formal education settings. This was the start of Charanga as you might recognise it today: a cloud-based platform supporting early-stage instrumental teaching across all instruments and music teaching in the classroom.