A sea of hands fluttered in the air, expressing a round of applause in British sign language. As the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra launched into Holst's Jupiter, the small child mimed playing a violin. The Royal Albert Hall, no stranger to enthusiastic responses from prommers, had suspended its usual concert-going etiquette: audience members were welcome to sing, move and experience the music in whichever way they wished. It made for a lively, joyous and accepting atmosphere, for this was the Relaxed Prom, an event created for those with autism, learning disabilities, dementia and sensory impairments.
Accessible does not mean dumbed down, and the concert differed from, say, the former CBeebies Prom in that it was open to all ages (that didn't stop an appearance by Mr Tumble, much to my nephews' delight). The event provided food for thought: not least why such concerts are still relatively unusual. But given that there was yet another furore over clapping between movements during the recent Proms season, it seems we are a long way from removing stigma around audience behaviour at classical music events.
In this edition, our annual strings special, we meet violinist Nicola Benedetti, a starry soloist and staunch supporter of music education. Benedetti, who has just been announced as the new president of the UK branch of the European String Teachers Association (ESTA), recently hit headlines as part of oboist Nicholas Daniel's campaign for every primary school child in the country to be taught to play an instrument; Benedetti was a signatory on an open letter published in The Observer. Daniel, who was a BBC Young Musician winner in 1980, wants the government to roll out the Every Child a Musician scheme in Newham, London, in which every primary school child is taught to play an instrument and read music from Year 3.
Speaking of BBC Young Musicians, we are pleased to feature one of the first interviews with 2018 finalist Maxim Calver, who caused jaws to drop with his glorious performance of Tchaikovsky on our screens earlier this year. Further in this issue, we find out how a method for beginner violinists, cellists and viola players has led to an exciting new qualification (pp27-28), discover ESTA's new specialist teaching course at master's level – the ESTA Post Graduate Certificate (pp65-67), and look at all the latest shiny new products and sheet music for strings, including guitars.
And although it feels like autumn has only just got its feet under the table, winter – and, dare we say it, Christmas – is just around the corner. Those of you who find yourselves (perhaps unwittingly!) in charge of a nativity this year may find the new options highlighted on p59 of interest. In the meantime, Northern types have the chance to attend a free CPD event on 11 October: the Music & Drama Education Expo | Manchester – I look forward to meeting many of you there.
