The outgoing head of a county’s music and performing arts trust said his retirement after 32 years in the role brought “mixed feelings”.
Peter Smalley originally joined Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust (NMPAT) as its head of brass in 1993 and said it was time for “somebody else to take the reins”.
Mr Smalley’s career has spanned four decades, having started teaching music at a secondary school in Staffordshire in 1985.
He said he would use his retirement to “do all the things I haven’t for the last 42 years… so much travelling to do, mountains to climb and long distance footpaths to walk – and I want to get my bicycle out”.
As head of NMPAT, Mr Smalley has supported hundreds of students to go on to have full-time careers in music.
He said that while he may be leaving teaching, he had no plans to stop playing his beloved trumpet, despite “not having played for a while and having some serious work to do”.
NMPAT, which was established as a charity in 2012, had previously operated as Northamptonshire’s local authority music service.
It offers a wide range of music programmes for schools and individuals of all ages and is the largest provider of music lessons in the county.
Reflecting on his time in charge, Mr Smalley said: “We [in Northamptonshire] are very lucky to have this institution [NMPAT] flourishing and thriving, perhaps when in other years it’s got too difficult [with funding].
“It’s good for every single child [to have access to music education], and for it to be available to every single child.”
Rachel Coles from NMPAT said it was “difficult to imagine” what the trust would be like without Mr Smalley.
“It’s going to be really odd,” she said. “We’re excited for the future, and for him, but he’s going to leave a big hole”.