Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau has said he thinks amateurs and prodigies alike should have the chance to pursue their interest in music.
Trudeau spoke to British pianist James Rhodes about how he saw music opportunities developing in Canada and said that chances to learn shouldn’t be limited to the super talented.
Rhodes visited Canada, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary year, as part of the Sunday Feature for BBC Radio 3 titled Geeking Glenn Gould, in which he traced the old haunts and acquaintances of his pianist idol who died 35 years ago.
Trudeau told Rhodes: “We can always recognise the prodigies.
“There always will be opportunities for someone with incredible skill to end up going to a top music-focus school.
“Where I worry is, it’s not just about the prodigies, it’s not just about the Olympic athlete, it’s about making sure that everyone has the capacity to discover, to evolve, to grow, to challenge themselves in multiple directions and music is, as we all know, an extraordinarily powerful way of connecting, of developing, of growing.
“Quite frankly, your story is an incredible example of that.”
:: Geeking Glenn Gould airs on BBC Radio 3 on Sunday at 6.45pm.
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here