Elton John together with Ed Sheeran in asking for funds for music
Elton John is the last in order of time to support the appeal of Ed Sheeran so that the government of the United Kingdom destinies 250 million pounds for musical education. Also i Coldplay, Harry Styles And Stormzy They recently joined the Suffolk songwriter in the campaign for the financing of music in schools.
As part of the Ed Sheeran Foundation, recently launched, the Suffolk singer -songwriter fights for the financing of music in schools, for the training of music teachers, for the financing of clubs and basic spaces, for the apprenticeship in the music sector and for a more diversified musical curriculum.
Sheeran wrote to the Prime Minister: “As an industry, we bring 7.6 billion pounds to the United Kingdom economy, but the next generation is unable to take the reins. Last year it was the first, in over 20 years, without a single or a British album in the global top 10 of the rankings”.
Sheeran asked the government to establish an interdepartmental task force that collaborates on these issues to ensure that musical education remains at the top of the agenda.
The letter to the head of the British government continues: “The time to act is now. State schools – which educate 93% of the country’s children – have seen a 21% decrease in the musical offer … We also need you to defend musical education. The artists and industry cannot be successful on the world scene for the United Kingdom without schools, youth clubs and stage. Music in the United Kingdom this spring, to repair at decades of dismantling music … music inside and outside school should be for everyone, not for a few “.
A report on Music Mark’s 2025, the British association for musical education, found that the Labor government inherited a deficit of 161.4 million pounds in its budget to guarantee the future of musical education in the next five years. Before winning the 2024 elections, Starmer – a former child flutist who told the joys of travel with his youth orchestra and who was also seen at the London concert by Taylor Swift -declared to Classic FM that he wanted to “passionately” reverse the “degradation of creative arts and music” in public schools.
In addition to the signatories Annie Lennox, Dave, Paloma Faith, Yolanda Brown and the Sleaford Mods also the winner of the Brit Awards Rising Star, Myles Smith invited the government, the associations of the clubs and the managers of the music sector to support emerging artists. “How many other places will have to close, how many music programs must be cut before we realize that we cannot limit ourselves to celebrating success, but we must protect the foundations that create it?”, He asked.
The supporters of the arts hope that the long -awaited revision of the Labor curriculum, led by Professor Becky Francis, leads to a push for the arts and greater educational inclusion, filling the access gap between state and private schools, and among those of the rich and less wealthy areas.
Even Femi Koleoso, the drummer of the Ezra Collective, sided in favor of supporting musical education when the London jazz band won the prize as a group of the year at the Brit Awards. The ensemble formed in 2016 after meeting through the Jazz program Tomorrow’s Warriors. Their victory, said Koleoso, is “due to great youth clubs, great teachers and great schools” who support young people who play music. The reason why we continue to beat this drum is that many of the problems that afflict society in the United Kingdom, for which we are not sure of how to solve them … The solution lies in giving a young man a trumpet, the solution lies in giving a young man an saxophone, because when you make him give him a dream, an aspiration and a goal “, he added.
Previously Sheeran had asked for public funding for music in schools in 2023. He signed a letter from Andrew Lloyd Webber to Starmer and Sunak, in which funding were asked to increase the work of the charity for music education of Lloyd Webber, the music in Secondary Schools Trust, which provides free musical instruments and weekly music lessons in schools in schools in schools disadvantaged.
A government spokesman said: “High and growing standards are at the center of the mission of this government to break down the barriers to opportunities and we are committed to ensuring that art, music and theater are no longer a prerogative than privileged few”. To contribute to this goal, our revision of the curriculum and the evaluation will try to offer a wider curriculum and our new National Center for Music and Artistic Education will promote the opportunities for children and young people to pursue their artistic and creative interests at school. We are also – concludes the political press release – expanding the program for creative careers with 3 million pounds in the next financial year, to help provide an even greater number of school information, advice and orientation on creative career paths. “
