(Here is an extract from an exclusive MMA interview with Edward Gregson, taken from the latest edition of Ensemble magazine. Feel free to make comments on some of the issues raised.)

Classical composition may have been Edward’s first passion, but his ‘being in the right place at the right time’ when the government was proactive regarding creative education ignited something inside that stayed with him for the rest of his life.

“When I left the Academy, I got married and began a family quite soon. The 1967 Plowden report concluded that there should be more creative teaching in primary schools. Children from 7 – 11 should be involved in more music, painting, dancing and acting. The Government of the time started to put music specialists into primary education and I was one. This supplemented my composing income but also led me eventually into college and university lecturing, and subsequently Goldsmiths where I became a professor. ”

During Edward’s experience with music education there have been many changes as successive governments have inherited different models and tried to make their own mark.

“It is easy for me to look back and say that things were always rosy in the past, but I’m wary of doing that. On the other hand the latest education report and music manifesto started to talk again about inspiring creative teachers in primary schools. This is exactly what was advised in the 1960s. It’s full circle.

After the war music education was very healthy with the development of music services and instrumental teaching in both the public and private sector. By the 1960s things had really accelerated. Then, without being too political, during the 1980s music became deregulated and unfortunately a lot of the music services were closed down. It’s only recently that this has been addressed and there has been a resurgence. Organisations such as Youthmusic, of which I was a founder trustee, gets 10 million pounds a year from the government for projects to re-energise music inside and outside schools.

The state sector seems to have declined in recent years because parents have been asked to pay for lessons. The private sector hasn’t suffered quite as much because parents were always used to paying. It appears that private sector music is as strong as it has always been. It is terribly important that music is put back in the forefront of curriculum in schools.

Over and over it has been proved in research, that music has a direct linkage to literacy and numeracy. The more creative work that children do in schools, the better their numeracy and literacy skills become. Politicians still seem to think of the three R’s as separate, when the part of the brain that deals with creative processes transfers stimulus to numeracy and literacy! No child in this country should reach the age of thirteen without having the opportunity to learn an instrument. David Blunkett, when he was Minister for Education, made that promise.”

(Read the complete interview in Ensemble magazine – become an MMA member HERE)