I am delighted to write my first editorial for Music Journal. I feel very honoured to have been appointed to the position of CEO, following Neil Hoyle who quite clearly made an immense contribution to the ISM over many years. So much has already been achieved by Neil, the staff at Head Office, and you, the members of the Society, many of whom give up your time to serve on the ISM’s various committees. As you can imagine my first week has been very busy reading copious amounts of documentation and talking to the staff team. I have also had the good fortune to attend the Private Teachers Section Committee and the Music in Education Section Committee and was struck by not only the diversity of the membership of these committees but also their enthusiasm and their stimulating contributions.

My own experience of music was shaped firstly by my parents who were both keen amateur musicians and then by my wonderful piano teacher Harvey Dagul who is an ISM member. My abiding memory of Harvey was his ability to inspire me to play pieces of music which I initially thought were outside my capabilities. I was also lucky enough to attend a state school which had a superb madrigal choir and I do wonder how many children these days would have the same kind of opportunity. Finally at Oxford where I studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics I was able to sing in various choirs and enjoy the magical experience of hearing Bach’s B Minor Mass in the Sheldonian Theatre, the excitement of which I still remember to this day.

There is no doubt that the objects of the ISM laid down many years ago, namely the promotion of the Art of Music and the maintenance of the honour and the interests of the musical profession, are still highly relevant today. Indeed one could argue that these objectives are even more critical in a society where music is all around us and is seen as a way of tackling a myriad of issues. A very good example of this was the case of the Governor of the US State of Georgia, Zell Miller who allocated over £50,000 to pay for albums of selected classical music to be distributed to every new mother in maternity wards to create ‘smarter babies’. History does not record how smart these babies became!

The role of music and that of the musician was discussed at the Annual Conference in Buxton. The Presidential Address by Roger Vignoles and the talk given by Frank Furedi both asked some searching questions about music as a means of delivering social policy. I particularly liked Roger’s description of music becoming a sticky substance like a ‘sort of cultural ointment’. While this may be where arts policy now finds itself, the ISM has a vital role in promoting classical music as something which is central to the experience of life for all of us. I believe the challenge for the ISM is to identify ways in which the Society can increase its influence in both arts and education policy and I am very interested to hear from you the member as to how you believe this might be achieved.

Deborah Annetts