One of the best ways to engage young children in music is to play to them and for them to experience live music. There’s nothing like it. I’ve had incredible responses when I’ve performed to children. Recently, I played to 300 seven-year-olds and told them to react however they felt the music, and that they didn’t have to sit quietly. By the end of the piece they were all up on their feet dancing and clapping. Seeing that instinctive reaction to music is amazing.

Children have an intuitive reaction at a young age, but then music is often not incorporated into the mainstream curriculum in any way. It’s seen as an add-on in schools and is side-lined early on. To me it should be an integral part of any education.

Music one of the most demanding subjects and there is so much to take from it, aside from the mechanics of learning an instrument. It can enrich so many other parts of a child’s life, teaching them cooperation, resilience, determination, communication and interaction. The fact that it’s side-lined affects how creatively children can think, which has an impact upon every other subject area. That’s why music should be a core subject within the curriculum.

Free music and instrumental tuition should also be available for every child, and even for adults who haven’t been exposed to music at a young age. I meet so many older people who say they’d love to be able to play an instrument and I always tell them that it’s never too late to learn.