Have your say: letters to the editor, May 2024

Celebrating music festivals

David Barton’s article on local music festivals (MT, April 2024) is to be highly recommended and should be staple reading for all music teachers, perhaps passed on, developed and encouraged by leaders of local authority music education providers. It should also be required reading for all classroom music teachers – even part of pre-service training.

Graded exams for instrumental or vocal learners have their place. The exams serve an essential need to measure progress, and support application for extended studies at universities or music conservatoires. But Barton’s point about performance is spot-on. An exam may involve the act of performing but is not necessarily a performance (other than to one person), whereas a live, venue-held performance with, as he says, an audience of parents, friends, volunteers and so on brings the act of performing to a new level of experience.

Each and every local festival is different – whether for music only or with other art forms – and is tailored to its geographical and cultural environment. City-wide or rural, each is developed to encourage appropriate participation. Festivals in Scotland fit this description, and the highly-praised volunteer committees and colleagues are like professional event, venue and performance co-ordinators, giving every opportunity to musicians (and others).

The reference to adult performers’ involvement is never more apt and pertinent, and the gamut of early years to most senior performers should invade every festival.

For over 30 years I’ve been chair of the wholly independent Fife Festival of Music, which has been running in its current form since 1980. FFOM is a member of Making Music (NFMS), an umbrella organisation for festivals. We embrace schools and the community with open arms, and are a top-flight event in Scotland and the UK. Our adult choir (non-competitive) evenings have maxed out at 18 entries, involving groups of all sizes; large instrumental ensembles, for adults, are also well represented. These are in addition to the solo, duet and group instrumental and vocal classes, both competitive and non-competitive.

An area not fully covered in the MT article is the availability of festival performance opportunities for schools, for both primary and secondary. For non-competitive or competitive choirs, orchestras, bands and smaller ensembles, these all-come, all-go opportunities enhance school student experiences. We do this well in Fife; I am sure that other festivals do so, too.

A final boast for Fife is that its work is not restricted to the annual Festival. For 10 years now, an annual Family Funday is organised, attracting a whole new raft of participants, with opportunities for short come-and-try sessions or short performances from local groups. It also features performances by Travelling by Tuba, for example, from Manchester. Further workshops within the year are organised in local areas, often in conjunction with local authority providers.

Let’s keep music festivals alive: encourage all schools and music staff to become supporters and participants. Festivals can engender a love of music for life – with no Grade exams in sight!

Remember, a ‘festival’ is a celebration.