Page 833 - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Coverage Book 2023-24

A second British pianist, Julian Trevelyan, 25, from St Albans, was first reserve: in a

dramatic last-minute twist, he was given a place after a Russian contestant experienced

visa problems.

“I’ve been in other competitions where I’ve been the only British contestant,”

McLachlan says. “In British state schools access to music is lower than it is in some
other western nations. I’ve observed that many candidates in piano competitions are

studying in Germany and Austria.” McLachlan has been studying in Salzburg.

Those countries, he points out, have numerous music colleges that offer free tuition

within a culture that grants classical music prestige and funding. “I think we need a shift

of mindset towards musical education in Britain,” he adds.

McLachlan is the first to acknowledge that he has been lucky: his family knew how to

nurture his talent. Two of his four siblings and his parents are also pianists. His father,

Murray, is the head of piano at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester. (Bucking the

trend, his youngest brother is a footballer in the US.)

However, there is no shortage of enthusiasm in the UK for the piano. Whenever I pass

the piano in Waterloo station, someone is always playing it. There’s excitement around
the instrument, increased by the Channel 4 reality TV show The Piano, hosted by

Claudia Winkleman. It’s estimated that there are about two million pianos in the UK,

and about 4,000 to 5,000 acoustic instruments are bought each year. Electronic

instruments sell about fivefold more.

In 2023, after Elton John performed at the Glastonbury Festival, the electronic piano

manufacturer Casio reported a 133 per cent jump in keyboard sales. And the piano is the
most widely taught of instruments. A 2021 survey of music teachers by the Associated

Board of the Royal Schools of Music found that 69 per cent of them taught piano, while

44 per cent of music teachers said that their number of students had increased since

2014.