BANGING THE DRUM
I was delighted to read Parv Kaur's account of how she came to be one of the UK's foremost dhol drummers in February's edition (Opinion, MT February, page 15). Her story, of having been born into a musical family, picking up a loud instrument to ‘stand out from the crowd’, and only then wondering ‘where all the ladies were’ certainly struck a chord with me.
I believe that it is only through concerted action that we will be able to shake off the entirely destructive gender norms that still play a part in music of all types: just look at how many female conductors there are in top positions to see that the battle is a long way from being over.
That Parv decided to set up her own dhol team, Eternal Taal, in 1999, is testament to her brilliance. Without trailblazers like her, we cannot possibly expect things to change: it is only through the cumulative effect of individual actions like this that change will take place. If I look back to 1999 I see that significant change has indeed taken place, but I look around and see that we have such a long way to go.
Music can be a force for good in so many ways. I just wanted to applaud Parv's effort, and also to applaud the aims of Learn to Play Day, for which she is an ambassador. Bang the drum!
- Joanne Dean, Bromley
THROWING THE TOWEL
I very much welcome the Musicians’ Union's recent appeal to the government to review its education policies – particularly the way in which music is treated in schools – but how much is really going to be done? Everyone from the teachers on the ground to the likes of the MU and the Bacc for the Future campaign have been appealing to the government for years, and our cries seem only to have fallen on deaf ears.
It is at the point now, where I am almost losing hope. Were it not for the pupils, and their collective future, I might entirely.
I realise that this is hardly a letter full of optimism. Where the future of music education is concerned, I don't really have optimism anymore – and neither, according to the BBC survey that prompted these fresh calls from the MU, do many of my counterparts across the UK. Lesson times are being mercilessly cut, staff are quitting or feel forced to change career paths, and pupils are disengaging. A part of me feels as though something, surely, at some point, has to give. The other part of me is wondering at what point it's time for me to throw in the towel and say: ‘I tried.’
- Pippa Evans, Gloucester
