Chances to play music

SIR – Ivan Hewett’s interview with the musician Chi-chi Nwanoku (Arts, August 16) does not give a full picture of the recruitment of musicians for Britain’s major symphony orchestras.

As a former manager of one of London’s symphony orchestras, I know that musicians of colour, if they were of the right standard, would be welcomed – but this is unlikely to happen if they do not apply.

If there is a problem, it goes back to our education system, which has marginalised music in the curriculum. If children are not given the chance to learn to play orchestral instruments – irrespective of their colour – it is unlikely they will take them up later. Ian Maclay

Chorleywood, Hertfordshire