Tony Hall, Chief Executive, the Royal Opera House, London says:

I’m very privileged at the Royal Opera House to work alongside some of the world’s finest singers, dancers and musicians.  And when you talk to them, so many have a story to tell as to how an inspirational teacher or coach in their early life sparked a passion and started a journey that has led to a vocation and career.

It’s vital that children at a young age should have the opportunity to discover their artistic talents and it’s equally vital that those talents are then developed and nurtured. The higher the quality of training and guidance, support and encouragement that young people receive from an early stage, the greater the likelihood that they’ll reach their full potential.  

I have a vested interest in this of course.  As Chief Executive of an organisation that’s home to a world class opera company, ballet company and orchestra and chorus, I know that our future rests on the development of the next generation of world class artists who can take to our stages and thrill our audiences.

…and Charles Hazlewood, the eminent conductor comments:

Music is the most universal language we have.  You can play a melody to a child in China, and the same melody to a child in South Africa; despite the vast differences in background and experience that separate them, these two children will draw much of the same truth from this melody.  Music is a tangible act of communication from one to another, the most universal form of storytelling.  A successful musician is one who takes the essence of a composer's ideas, and internalises that essence, presenting in performance their own compelling story through the prism of the composer's work.  If you don't make this personal commitment to the music, then what is the point, and why should anyone listen?  The results may be polished, but are ultimately empty.  Everyone who makes music has this potential; the idea that you'll convince more people if you've had a makeover is risible. 

On the question of talent being innate or trainable, every child has a spark of potential, it is just that some are less visible than others!  The great opportunity for any teacher is to see what it takes to get fuel to the spark.  At the same time, to instill patience in the student: I worked and worked at my organ playing as a teenager, only to be told again and again that I just didn't have ultimate keyboard facility.  But the 'spark' was definitely present.  It took my amazing music teacher to engineer a situation where he didn't show up for a choir rehearsal, knowing in the end I'd get so bored I'd have to take the session!  So I did, with instant rocket fuel in my veins - THIS WAS IT! - after a while the organ wafted in under our singing: he'd been there all along, just waiting for me to do it.

I love this quote from Zoltan Kodaly (the famous Hungarian composer and music educator):

"If a child is not filled by the life-giving stream of music during the most susceptible period - between 6 and 16 - it will hardly be of any use to them later.  Often a single experience will open the young soul to music for a whole lifetime.  This experience cannot be left to chance, it is the duty of those around them to provide it".