Why peer-to-peer role modelling can be our north star in music education
Sarah Alexander OBE, CEO & Creative Director of The National Youth Orchestra (NYO), talks to us about the importance of peer-to-peer role modelling for young musicians.
At NYO, peer-to-peer role modelling is fundamental to how change happens. When teenagers see musicians their own age performing at the highest level, orchestral music stops feeling distant or elite and becomes something they can imagine themselves doing. The message is simple but powerful: someone like me can belong here.
A distinctive part of our approach - what we call Play Your Part - is the power of relatable teenage role models, teenagers inspiring teenagers. When a NYO musician sits beside a less experienced player, leads a workshop, speaks about why music matters to them, or performs for youth audiences, their relatability makes both the music and the next steps in playing feel visible and attainable. We empower every NYO musician to find the confidence to share their skills with others. Their role is not only to play, but to connect and create change through openness, enthusiasm and a commitment to sharing music with other young people. Crucially, we frame this as a shared responsibility: every musician has a part to play in shaping the experience of others, not just their own performance.
This idea underpins our nationwide schools concert tours. These encounters are intentionally peer-to-peer rather than adult-led. Players meet audiences on their level, perform exciting repertoire and introduce it in accessible, jargon-free language. At its best, teenage role modelling is less about polish or expertise, and more about generosity. It shifts musical development from something shaped by adults to something shared between young people. For adults, this means recognising and valuing that generosity, and trusting young people to connect with each other in their own way.
In February 2026, this approach was brought to life in Blackpool and Bolton, where concerts were shaped for connection with teenage audiences. From the moment students arrived, musicians created a welcoming, informal atmosphere, including a lively musical entrance that broke down the distance between performers and audience. The programme combined high-energy, familiar repertoire - including soundtrack pieces like 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and a new anniversary version of 'The Phantom of the Opera' - with more expansive works such as Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Scheherazade'. Across free concerts at the Blackpool Tower Ballroom and Kearsley Academy in Bolton, 4,000 students - many experiencing an orchestra for the first time - encountered it not as something distant, but as something designed with them in mind and brought to life by teenagers their own age.
Role modelling works because it shifts both aspiration and agency from something abstract to something young people feel able to act on, work towards and contribute to. Many teenagers feel wary of performing classical music to their peers, sharing a part of themselves they fear others may not like. We explicitly ask NYO musicians to lean into that vulnerability: to play to their own generation, make the case for the music they love and discover the pride and agency that follow. What they quickly realise is that teenagers do not have negative perceptions of orchestral music - they just don’t know much about it.
As musicians grow in experience, they take on visible roles welcoming audiences, leading sections, mentoring newer players and shaping how music is presented to young people. Tutors and staff intentionally design multiple settings where musicians practise leading, facilitating and communicating – from rehearsals and performances to informal interactions - so leadership is shared across the ensemble rather than concentrated in a few voices.
We are already seeing how transferable this approach can be. Musicians who begin their journey through NYO Inspire - many at an earlier stage of learning - quickly adopt the same peer-to-peer mindset, asking to take on active roles in sharing music with others. This has led to young musicians co-creating and delivering new forms of music-making in youth centres, where they are not only developing their own skills but shaping each other’s journeys through the same culture of openness, encouragement and shared responsibility.
This principle resonates strongly for music educators. All ensembles are sustained by participation across generations and by welcoming new musicians into a lifelong musical journey. NYO’s model shows how peer visibility can ignite that journey early: teenagers inspiring teenagers to start, continue or re-engage with music. We hope many of the young people who encountered NYO in Blackpool and Bolton will begin or deepen their musical journeys in local ensembles, on NYO programmes, or simply as engaged audiences.
A call to music educators and ensemble leaders
If relatable role modelling is fundamental to sustaining participation across generations, it cannot sit only within youth organisations; it must be cultivated across the whole music ecology, from classrooms to community ensembles. When more experienced players sit alongside newer ones, when musicians speak openly about why music matters to them, and when ensembles create space for authentic encounters with audiences, aspiration shifts from distant to reachable.
This is not about creating stars or formal leaders. Whilst that can happen, it’s not what should drive us. It should be about recognising that visibility itself can create pathways into music feel real for someone else. When ensembles share voice as well as skill, rotate who is seen and heard, and actively connect performers with listeners – especially young people – they cultivate cultures where belonging is continually renewed. We invite music educators and ensemble leaders to recognise the quiet power they already hold: to treat every musician as someone with a part to play, and every musical encounter as an opportunity to shape someone else’s journey.
Find out more about The National Youth Orchestra on their website and follow them on Facebook / Instagram / Threads / YouTube
Apply to join the Orchestra of 2027 (Grade 8+) or register your interest for NYO Inspire 2027 (Grade 6+) - no graded exams needed
Get tickets to see The National Youth Orchestra this April, in London and Manchester (free for teens and any accompanying music educators)
Banner photo credit: The National Youth Orchestra ensemble in Blackpool
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