A REVIEWER has criticised suggestions that music education is dying.
Longborough Festival Opera (LFO) work with primary and secondary school children in the region and Clive Peacock, who has followed the group says it proves that music education is still strong.
Mr Peacock said: "Too often, press articles bemoaning state of provision for music education in the UK, do nothing to encourage parents to enthuse their offspring to build their social interest in music.
"The situation is nowhere near as critical as doom-mongers will have us believe.
LFO’s outreach team visits schools across Gloucestershire, Warwickshire and Oxfordshire to introduce opera to hundreds of children.
Jessica May, heads the initiative at LFO to design and build the workshops for differing age groups, supported by professional singers and workshop tutors.
Young people meet actors, singers and plan their own versions of established operas.
They gain enormous confidence from taking part in a learning experience, which, for many, ends with a visit to live opera to see the professional production.
The group visited Chipping Campden recently to teach opera to year 7, 8 and 9 pupils.
With support from Helena Hesketh, director of music, some 50 teenagers, in two groups of 25 over two days, worked to produce their own interpretation of Mozart’s The Magic Flute.
The performance, on Saturday July 17 was described by Mr Peacock as 'hugely enjoyable.'
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