Reprinted with permission, a letter from Mr.Pete Edwards from the Wolverhampton Music Education Hub to Rotarian and Past District Governor Richard Green who organised and hosted the event on Sunday 4th February……..

Hi Richard

Thank you so much for inviting me to be an adjudicator for the Rotary competition on Sunday. I thoroughly enjoyed the event which is of such huge benefit to the youngsters taking part and hope my contribution met with your approval 😊. The organisation of the event was brilliant, your hosting skills are impeccable, and the youngsters performing were of course, wonderful.

Organiser Rchard Green with adjudciators Pete Edwards (left) and Simon Platford (right.)

Back in the day we used to have the annual Wolverhampton Music Festival which was several days of competition split into voice, speech, strings, brass, woodwind etc. and I can recall many afternoons spent at the civic hall performing (I still have my certificates and winners medals to prove it!) Those competitions were a fantastic opportunity to develop the performance skills and confidence of many youngsters, all of which were of use in their future careers (not just music of course)  So this Rotary event is a very important focus for budding instrumentalists and singers in the city today.

Sadly I didn’t get the opportunity to say publicly how much the music hub/service value the support the Rotary club provides for Music in the City,  particularly through events like this one and of course the Youth Orchestra tours etc. and how much opportunities like these continue to affect all who have taken part, not only at the time but by also developing contacts, establishing friendships etc. that last a lifetime.

I was at dinner at a friends house in Lapley the other week, sat next to a High Court judge, a successful local businessman, a teacher, a property developer, an engineer, a nurse, and my wife (civil servant), all of whom were from completely different backgrounds, all went to different schools, and all of whom I met at the Music school through the Orchestras some 45 years ago!

So the support of the Rotary club is tremendously important to the City (in all its’ guises, not just Music)

Thank you again and good luck in all your future endeavours, not least the regional event later in the year.

Pete