Today’s young creative minds are unafraid to challenge the norm. We need to learn from them as well as help them do more

AS we start rehearsals for what will be one of the biggest weekends ever for the orchestra in London, with a performance of Stockhausen’s Gruppen in the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern on Saturday and then a free open-air concert in Trafalgar Square on Sunday, I have been reflecting on how we can make a truly transformative contribution to the cultural life of London.

With both of these very different events, we are trying to reach people in ways they might not expect, to expose them to the power of orchestral music and to amplify our dearest belief, which is that classical music is for everybody.

Trafalgar Square, one of London’s most vibrant public spaces bang in the middle of town, is open to everyone. It will be my first experience of performing there.

I see it as a chance to show a way of working that brings together the best of professional players alongside talented young people, each contributing to a whole, on a grand scale. An audience of more than 10,000 makes Trafalgar Square among the largest concert spaces in the world. In addition, we will reach many more people through live streaming on YouTube for the first time.

The LSO has been a trailblazer for music education for years, one of the reasons I was so attracted to come to work with them. Though the opportunity for young people to perform with us in such a huge event is the icing on the cake, what is vital and much more important is the unsung, day-in day-out work which the orchestra undertakes with these students, which makes all the difference to their lives and their cultural future, whatever profession they may choose later on.

For example, the orchestra is working with more than 15,000 young people from east London in the On Track programme.

After a pilot run in 2007, On Track was launched in 2008, getting young talent ready for the London 2012 Olympics and beyond. When 80 young people stepped onto the stage and took part with us in Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony, before the whole orchestra joined in with Mr Bean, that was the start of creating a legacy. One that continues today. And we want to see that grow and expand. This year’s group will be sharing the platform with us in Trafalgar Square as well as young musicians from the Guildhall School.