Beyond talent: what music education must address

The people who accompany you make all the difference, because there are perspectives that, unfortunately, are still scarce. We should not only talk about music; we must also talk about business, industry, innovation, gender perspective, feminism, and social and cultural rights, among many other issues. Updating curricula is not only a duty toward students’ professional futures, but also toward their health and well-being, both in the present and in the long term. This is how I would sum up my contribution to the round table I had the opportunity to take part in last week, as a guest of the Centro Integrado de Música Padre Antonio Soler in San Lorenzo de El Escorial in Madrid, focused on professional guidance for young people who are about to enter higher music education. I am deeply grateful for the invitation and for the recognition of my work, career, and experience, as well as for having been given the space to speak candidly about many issues that elsewhere are often softened or glossed over, in front of younger generations who need, more than ever, responsibility and knowledge in order to make conscious and strategic decisions that will guide their development. The good news is that there is still much to be done, much to be said, and many spaces left to be challenged by naming the issues that must be named—even when that means embracing the urgent need to transform educational and training approaches for the benefit of both younger and not-so-young people. An area where you can be part of the change.