Music for life

Yamaha has been pioneering Class Band music education right across Europe for the past 22 years, with incredible success – Nicola Bland finds out why the system gives children the gift of music for life

In a world in which the recession of the last ten years and related austerity cuts have impacted every area of education right across Europe, a commercial company that has spent over two decades pioneering, developing and supporting a class tuition scheme in northern and central Europe, as well as the UK, is to be admired and praised.

Yamaha Class Band, hailed by Yamaha as providing students with ‘music for life’, has been rolled out over the last 22 years with massive success to Year 7 (nine-ten-year-olds) in music associations, state and public schools in 16 different nations, and now operates in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, France, Holland, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Poland, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Lithuania and the UK.

Said Vincent de Leur, Head of Yamaha Class Band for the whole of Europe except Germany, Switzerland and Austria: “We started Yamaha Class Band in Germany 22 years ago, extended the scheme to Holland about 12 years ago, and then to other countries such as France, Spain, Italy and the UK about five-six years ago.”

Why has Yamaha Class Band been so successful? To find out, subscribe to this month’s BBW…