Fresh from the BBC, Lincoln Abbotts has returned to the charity that helped inspire his enthusiasm for music twenty-five years ago when he played at the Schools Prom with the Staffordshire Youth Wind Band. ‘I still remember with huge affection playing the flute in a MFY Schools Prom in 1982. Playing at the Royal Albert Hall was amazing and unforgettable, so to lead the organisation responsible for these life-changing opportunities is not just a job, it is the experience of a lifetime.’

For the past five years, Lincoln was Learning Consultant to the BBC Proms and Learning Manager with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.  He devised the Family Orchestra and Chorus programmes and was the driving force behind collaborations which brought together musicians of all ages and experience to work with performers from Indonesia, Africa, Iran and South America. Virtually every project resulted in a BBC Radio 3 broadcast including Brass Day, his most recent production for the Proms, which involved Uzbek trumpeters, the Coldstream Guards and brass players aged eight to eighty. 

‘Because it’s the BBC, the projects attract the media and are more likely to be broadcast on radio and television. This is exactly the sort of exposure that MFY needs as it will allow many more people to experience what we do.’

Four months into his new post at MFY, Lincoln has identified three strands that he is committed to evolving and developing. ‘The first strand is performance. MFY provides a platform for young people who are already playing and singing to perform in an environment other than their school hall.’  These performance opportunities are provided through the Regional Festival Series, the National Festival and the Schools Proms. The Regional Festival Series have the greatest reach, currently involving around 45,000 young people from across the UK. ‘The Regional Festivals are open to groups of any standard. You can pitch up with your classroom project put together a month ago or you can be a hugely polished choir. Both are equally valued and it’s a great learning experience for everyone. Over the next three years, I want to extend these festivals to the areas of the country that we don’t currently operate in to ensure we meet the national remit we have as an organisation. It is important that young people and their teachers can get involved with MFY regardless of where they live.’

‘Inspiration is the second strand. We currently organise eight Primary Prom concerts, free concerts for young people, performed by young people. This combination works really well: it’s incredibly exciting for young kids to see musicians of their own age performing on stage. It creates a heady mix of aspiration and inspiration that we hope sparks their enthusiasm to get involved with music. MFY is a national organisation with an experienced team who can make events like this happen, so I see no reason why we shouldn’t have more of these free concerts around the country. It’s equally important that we engage with appropriate local organisations so that if a child comes to one of our concerts and is inspired, say, to play the saxophone there is a local support network that can make it happen.’

‘The third strand is about engagement and developing everything else that MFY should be doing as a national music education organisation. As we move forward, it’s important that we continue to build and develop the relationships that we have with other like-minded organisations. MFY can offer fantastic platforms to showcase major initiatives which are going on in music, such as Sing Up, and it’s important that we are appropriately linked with the many initiatives that are out there.’  

Having recently returned from his first National Festival, Lincoln is excited about the possibilities of expanding the Festival and is confident that Birmingham is the city where it can best grow. ‘The National Festival is about young people from across the country coming together to play music. 10,000 young musicians take over the city of Birmingham for six days and I really want to capitalise on the fact that there are so many musicians in one place at the same time. The National Festival has great potential and in a city that has so much going on that we can engage with there are countless possibilities.’

The culmination of the MFY Season is the Schools Proms. On 10, 11 & 12 November this year over 3,000 young musicians will perform at the Royal Albert Hall to showcase innovative and high quality music-making from across the UK. The aspiration for the Schools Proms is to make sure that they truly reflect the diversity of music-making in this country. ‘I want the Schools Proms to become the event that people come to to see new and exciting projects. This year’s concerts will already feel different with linked repertoire, group collaborations and guest performers.

‘I’m committed to keeping what works about the organisation – it’s a highly successful model that has stood the test of time. What I want to ensure is that it is as relevant as it needs to be in 2008 and beyond. We also need to make sure that everyone who takes part in our events knows that MFY is the largest youth music festival in the world and get better at conveying that. We have recently refreshed our relationship with Classic FM and this is a positive step forward to growing MFY’s public profile.’