Page 834 - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Coverage Book 2023-24

Channel 4’s The Piano — with Claudia Winkleman, Lang Lang and Mika — has increased interest in
the instrument
NIC SERPELL-RAND/CHANNEL 4
Other methods of learning have democratised the process, notably apps such as

Flowkey, Piano Vision and Simply Piano. On YouTube, 12 Levels of Beethoven: Easy to
Impossible has about ten million views.

Worryingly, however, a 2022 report by the Independent Society of Musicians found that

music provision in state schools is in decline, with an average yearly music department

budget as low as £1,865 compared with independent schools at £9,917. The days when

the majority of schools could provide one-to-one tuition are long gone. Charitable
initiatives, such as the excellent London Music Fund, plug some gaps, but only for those

lucky enough to have access to them.

The Leeds team are also consultants on The Piano and its associated Piano Trail festival.

The winners from The Piano have since been performing — Lucy Illingworth, who is

blind and autistic, and Brad Kella, who grew up in foster care. “Few people on that

series receive piano lessons,” Fiona Sinclair, the Leeds chief executive, says. “Most have

learnt to play from YouTube tutorials, or from books. Some of them don’t read music. If