What year 7 learned at the Royal Albert Hall

The best lesson I taught last week started the day before, in a concert hall with musicians I'd never met.

I took Year 7 to the Royal Albert Hall for Future Makers, the Hall's competition for young musicians, whose final took place on Wednesday 4 November. Our town is close to London, but many of my students had never been to the city. They were amazed by the buildings and the venue. The trip opened their eyes to the wider world outside our town, and that alone was worth the coach.

Then the music. An eclectic mix from young musicians: modern classical, jazz, metal, indie rock, grime, Cameroonian-inspired folk, and pop. No playlist I could build would cover that range in one afternoon, and none of it came through a classroom speaker.

The real payoff came the next day. In a Year 7 lesson, a discussion occurred around what "soloist" means in a performance. One student raised their hand and asked whether it was like the guitarist in the first band the day before, the one who played a ridiculous guitar part behind his head. It was. A guitar solo, with a soloist taking centre stage. Real music, real ideas, wider listening in the real world. It changed how they understood the word, and no definition on a slide would have done that.

The winner, Nabhan Chowdhury, was named Future Makers Champion 2026. His prize is a year of support from the Hall and its industry partners, including a headline show in the Hall's Elgar Room, mentoring, a major UK festival slot and recording sessions with a producer. Most of my students walked away not thinking his music was the best. But I agreed with the judges decision. What set him apart for me, though, was his professionalism: the way he carried himself, and the way he spoke in the interview after his performance. I wondered whether the judges took that into account too. Of all the young performers that day, he was the one I could look at and imagine having a long career in the industry. That is the other side of music, the professional industry around it, and it matters too.

Go if you can. Next year's final is on Wednesday 3 November 2027. And if you teach students aged 14 to 19 who write their own music, they can enter: this year, applicants submitted a video of under six minutes through the Royal Albert Hall's website, with applications open from 30 March to 1 May.

Do now: Search WiderListen.ing for "Solo" and play a cued example without telling the class what to listen for. Ask three questions on the board: Who is the soloist? What is everyone else doing while they play? How do you know which is which? Then search "Melody and accompaniment", play one of those examples, and ask: is there a soloist here, or not? Why?

Track of the Week

Requiem - Libera me by Gabriel Fauré — featuring Bass, Pizzicato, Chordal

Listen on YouTube

New in the database this week

• Gerakina by Koros and Kokondinis — featuring Irregular, Conjunct, Microtone
• The Windmills of Your Mind (from "The Thomas Crown Affair") by Michel Legrand — featuring Minor, Chromatic movement, Ritardando
• My Generation by The Who — featuring Call and response, Bass guitar

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