VIOLINIST Tasmin Little has spoken about the importance of music in schools ahead of her performance at the Ealing Music and Film Festival in February.

Having performed across the world, she will now use her talent to assist Ealing Youth Orchestra in the lead-up to their collaborative performance of the Sibelius Violin Concerto.

Tasmin said: “I want to help the young musicians create an exciting and dynamic performance and solve specific difficulties with the piece.

“The Sibelius Violin Concerto is one of the most tremendous pieces for an orchestra to accompany.”

She plans an inter-active masterclass and promises: “ I plan to take cues from the young musicians and make suggestions on creating a united sound in the strings.”

In 2007, Tasmin decided to do some incognito busking, inspired by an experiment by musician Joshua Bell, and the experience changed her life.

She resolved there and then to bring music to the people who are most unlikely to enter a concert hall.

She developed her online project, the Naked Violin, and says she wants to change the fact that classical musicians are often perceived as removed from society.

She was the first musician to release an album purely for free online and saw half a million downloads worldwide.

Asked what drives her to work with young people and bring music to unlikely audiences, she said: “When I was young, I was generally quite a bored child at school and I hadn’t really found what I wanted to do.

“Then, when I found I had a talent for music, it transformed my life. I went from somebody who was intelligent but not very focused to somebody that was absolutely driven by a passion to play my instrument.”

She added: “There are so many studies now, such as from Harvard University, showing that when young people play a musical instrument it has a significant effect on their neural pathways.”

“It’s literally a workout for the brain and it improves pupils’ standards in every single subject because music uses the entire brain, rather than being right or left brain centred. “

For tickets to any of the Ealing Music and Film Festival events, visit http://www.ealingmusicandfilmfestival.org

To find out more about Tasmin’s Naked Violin Project, go to http://www.tasminlittle.org.uk/free_cd/index.html