“The government has pledged £85 million [$112 million] for music education and will pay for lessons to ensure ‘all children’ know their arias from their cello bows,” writes Craig Simpson in Friday’s (1/3) Telegraph (U.K.). “Ministers hope the investment will be instrumental in making students musically literate and exposed to a wider range of styles and traditions. The funding announcement follows claims that music was becoming the preserve of the privileged…. It is hoped that thousands more young people will join choirs and orchestras as a result…. The funding scheme for 2020/21 follows concerns music was disappearing from the curriculum in schools, with … less privileged students being priced out of tuition. An £80 million package will fund hubs offering participatory musical activities, promoting choirs, orchestras and bands. A further £4 million will go towards cultural education programs, and £1 million will be allocated to charities ensuring exposure to a breadth of styles…. Part of the decline [in music education] has been blamed on the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), which was introduced in 2010 [and] focuses on core subjects…. Funding will go to music hubs established in 2012, which offer specialist support outside the school curriculum.”
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