Editorial: The Music for Youth Prom 2021 offered a glimpse of what is possible

It’s been years since I last stepped foot into the Royal Albert Hall. Like most of us, I have missed the spectacle and awe of live music, particularly on this kind of scale - the dramatic lights, the excited rumble of thousands of people side-stepping into their seats armed with popcorn and wine, the giant ‘mushrooms’ hanging from the ceiling (they’ve always been softmints to me), and the pit-of-your-stomach anticipation of the performance to come. 

Last night (3 November), nearly 2,000 children and young people from around the UK gathered in the Royal Albert Hall to perform in the Music for Youth (MFY) Prom 2021. The culmination of a year of music making under the theme ‘REMIX’, the Prom was an opportunity for musicians of all abilities and ages to showcase their creativity. It was also the first time all 2,000 young people had come together to share MFY’s national creative project: All the Hall’s a Stage, led by Tim Steiner.