“I cannot imagine a life without music”
Mia’s story: how our music bursary helped keep her playing
Mia is a talented young musician and remarkable young lady. She plays the flute and has weekly lessons, is part of her local borough band and creative jazz ensemble.
Mia has faced huge obstacles in her life, but through music, Mia has built confidence in herself, believes in herself, and has real aspirations to succeed musically.
Mia says, “playing music means everything to me. It has made me confident and helps me forget about all my worries. I feel safe when I am playing by myself or with others. It has helped me make friends which is something that I can find hard to do. I cannot imagine a life without music inside it.”
Mia dedicates much of her time to her music making. She is utterly committed to her playing and she has blossomed as an orchestral player, as well as in her individual flute lessons. Playing in ensembles, sight-reading, and improvising, for example, were all well outside her comfort zone, but despite many challenges, Mia is extremely proud to represent her school in her borough ensembles and is thriving. Music has been a constant for her, her mum describes it as Mia’s ‘safe’ place. It is a real lifeline for her.
When her school music award finished, it would have been a huge struggle for Mia’s family to pay for her flute lessons / exam fees / books and resources, so they applied for an NYAT bursary.
“I would like to keep going all through my flute grades and I would like to study music as far as I possibly can.”
Mia hopes to study music in future but needed to be able to keep having lessons so she can make progress. “I don’t have my own flute as this is too much for my mum to buy, but I would be so proud to have an instrument of my own.”
State schools in England have seen a 21% decrease in music provision over the last five years. The gap widens amongst poorer pupils, with just one in four schools in deprived areas offering music lessons. There are constant barriers for young musicians like Mia to access affordable lessons and music making opportunities and thanks to you, Mia is thriving, and will hopefully one day have a career in the arts. Mia dedicates so much of her time to music, the transformative impact that learning an instrument and being a member of her ensembles cannot be emphasised enough.
