Thousands of school children across the country will benefit from the generosity of acclaimed pianist Lang Lang after his project bringing music to one East London primary school was hailed a huge success.
The Chinese musician, who has sold out venues from Carnegie Hall to the Royal Albert Hall, provided dozens of keyboards and a dedicated piano teacher through his foundation to work with children at the Winns Primary in Walthamstow and now plans to roll out the scheme across the country.
His Keys of Inspiration programme was set up to address “the lack of equitable access to music education” and has also been trialled in schools in Haringey, Brent and Enfield and will be extended throughout the UK this year.
Lang Lang, who started playing the piano aged three and gave his first public performance at five, said: “I am truly delighted to see the incredible impact that Keys Of Inspiration has had on The Winns Primary School in its first year.
“When I hear about the positive effects the program has on both the school and the students, it continues to reinforce why we are doing what we are doing, and I cannot wait to see the program's continued expansion unfold across the UK and around the world.”
It comes as campaigners have criticised the state of music education in the UK.
Last year, Oftsed inspectors reported a “significant variation in the quality of music education” in the country’s schools and in November stars including Dua Lipa and Ed Sheeran signed a letter calling on politicians to increase funding for music teaching in disadvantaged schools.
