Yesterday, when I was coaching at King’s Place, we had a tea break between sessions. Some of the younger participants were airing their current dilemmas about fees and conditions. In particular, they were wondering aloud about their situation as young professionals: how willing should they be to do things for very little money, in order to get their names in front of the public? And for how long should they be willing to do this – one season, five seasons, ten?

More experienced players were giving them some informal advice, but also sharing the fact that this kind of dilemma is by no means confined to those starting out. It happens at all levels.

It struck me later that this kind of sharing of information, swapping of experiences and pooling of ideas is hugely helpful, but awfully hard to come by. Most of the time we free-lance musicians operate in isolation, and in ignorance of what our competitors are asking or receiving. I came home wondering if there was a way to build this kind of information-sharing forum into training programmes?