Skip to main content
Everyone should have the chance to learn music
Decades of studies demonstrate the benefits of giving young people access to a musical education – so why is it often the first school subject to get the chop, asks MEGAN BIRCHALL

I AM a musician — I have played in national orchestras and although I never intend to go professional, the joy that music has brought to me can never be underestimated. 

I began playing when I was in Year 3 at my primary school as part of the Wider Opportunities scheme which has been delivered to more than two million nationally and from then on — admittedly changing instruments several times until I finally settled on saxophone aged 11 — I have never stopped playing. 

If there is one thing I can truly say that music brought me it was a sense of camaraderie.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Print depicting the 1791 Bastille Day celebration in Belfast, discussed in the entry for Society of United Irishmen  Pic: John Carey/CC
Ireland / 5 February 2026
5 February 2026

TOM GALLAHUE argues that asking what role Irish diaspora educators can play in shaping Irish unity is to ask a deeper question about democracy itself

UNRECOGNISED POTENTIA:L: Girl students conduct an experiment by throwing cotton balls to demonstrate the instinctive reaction of flinching at The Big Bang Fair 2025, for young scientists and engineers, at the NEC in Birmingham on June 18 2025
Science and Society / 16 July 2025
16 July 2025

What’s behind the stubborn gender gap in Stem disciplines ask ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT in their column Science and Society

sofia
Interview / 2 July 2025
2 July 2025

CHRIS SEARLE speaks to Ethiopian vocalist SOFIA JERNBERG

themen
Interview / 18 June 2025
18 June 2025

CHRIS SEARLE speaks to saxophonist and retired NHS orthopaedic surgeon ART THEMEN