Page 854 - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Coverage Book 2023-24

at entry-level to conservatoires there are actually more women than men
but by the time it comes to graduation, and particularly post-graduation

and taking that through, then the women drop out and the men carry on.

“We have no ready answers as to why that is, but we do feel that we can at
least put in place measures that enable us as an organisation and the jury to

question whether we are doing the right thing, and without in any way
seeking to influence their judgment, we do allow them the possibility,

should the balance be skewed far too much in the male direction to

reconsider if they want. They’re not forced to, if they re-vote they can vote
exactly as they did before, but just to at least reconsider in the light of (the

initial result).”

A “passion” of Gatehouse’s is to have a “very strong” learning and

engagement programme. “We have a commitment to taking the piano out

to not just children but communities of all sorts, both locally but also
nationally and internationally.” Their Count Me In programme for children,

staged at the Carriageworks Theatre, in Leeds will be distributed digitally

with the help of world-famous pianist Lang Lang’s foundation, which has
ties in China and the US.

As well as sparking interest in the piano in schools, Gatehouse hopes to
reach out to “rusty pianists – those who studied when they were younger

and want to start up again”. He adds: “We are evangelical about that, about
spreading the word about the piano and getting it out to as broad a public as

we can.”

His vision is for the Leeds to continue to evolve year on year. One of his ideas
is for a “piano-verse” which “acts as an umbrella for anything that’s out

there to do with the piano – it can be piano lessons, it can be keyboards,

how a piano works”.

“There are so many things out there in the digital sphere but they’re all

spread around, so we would in a way act as an umbrella for all of those