One drizzly evening last autumn, Ed Gardner and I were stomping our feet and slapping our thighs in a Croydon hall. We were doing body percussion with teenage refugees. At one point Gardner, one of Britain’s most eminent conductors, was tasked with counting in our group. “No pressure, eh?” he laughed, counting to four before we started to move.
We were being led by an 18-year-old Somali who had fled conflict in his homeland, and would not have looked out of place in an international dance troupe. During a break, a young Afghan man raved about the cello lessons he had been taking courtesy of Play and Progress, the same charity that had brought Gardner to this suburban corner of south London. He told us that the rich, calm sounds of the cello helped him cope with his chaotic life.
“We want more people to benefit from the world we’re in”, Gardner told me later. “The idea that we can be altruistic and help communities that don’t have that in their lives is a really wonderful thing.”