AS a parent of two children learning instruments through the Wiltshire Music Service I am utterly dismayed to hear that the axe is about to fall on this excellent provider of music lessons to local children.

My children not only have individual instrument lessons but also gain vital ensemble practice through the wonderful Salisbury Area Young Musicians (SAYM) group that is also run by the Wiltshire Music Service teachers and my eldest daughter also benefits from being part of a string orchestra, organised as an after school club, once again provided by a Wiltshire Music Service teacher.

It is very easy for Wiltshire Council to glibly say that provision will continue as before from September – we will have to wait and see if this is really the case.

My concern is that the charismatic and talented music teachers currently employed by Wiltshire Music Service will decide to work elsewhere; prices of lessons will increase, leading to fewer families being able to afford them; whilst the logistics of hiring an instrument (currently included in the cost of the lessons) will become problematic as the issue of finding somewhere to store such a large number of instruments, outside of the council, will inevitably include a cost which will then necessitate an additional charge being passed on to parents.

The music industry is the second biggest income generator for the UK, after the financial sector - surely this 'cuts for cuts sake' strategy is now getting ridiculous and is in danger of scoring an own goal as more and more young people will undoubtedly miss out on the experience of learning music and the potential of talented future professional musicians could remain completely undiscovered?

I would rather have an increase in my council tax than see Wiltshire Music Service dissolved as this service brings real benefits to local children and our wider economy.

Kirsty Maguire

Salisbury

I NOTE that Councillor Laura Mayes says the “children will not be affected” by the proposed closure of the Wiltshire Music Service. It is heartening to read that “music lessons for children will not change”, but I wonder on what basis she makes this assumption.

Children’s musical education extends far beyond music lessons. For several years I have been in the audience in a packed City Hall to enjoy excellent concerts given by members of the Salisbury Area Young Musicians.

From seven-year-old members of Beginner Strings to teenagers in the Jazz Band, the children and young people learn to respect each other’s needs, to realise that each is an important member of an orchestra or choir, to be aware that the concert could not happen without their weekly Saturday practice sessions – and to enjoy the wonderful opportunity to make great music. The logistics of ensuring that dozens of musicians and their instruments are in the right place at the right time in the City Hall pale into comparable insignificance compared with planning transport for musicians and instruments, accommodation and concert venues before a visit to one of Salisbury’s twinned towns. Members of the Music Service have been vital in enabling these wonderfully successful activities to take place.

Without the Music Service, what does the future hold for our young musicians?

Margaret Hillier

Tonbridge, Kent