Do music and politics mix? While they may not seem the most immediate bedfellows, they have on occasions been seen to work in close harmony. Here are six politicians who knew their way around a musical score.
Michelle Wu
The Boston Symphony Orchestra has hosted many illustrious soloists over its 143-year history, though Michelle Wu, who joined it for the slow movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 in May 2023, is a little different – Wu is the city’s mayor, no less. ‘Music unites and inspires us,’ she said, as she prepared to join the list of political notables to have displayed their musical skills in public…
Several US presidents have been fine musicians. These include….
Harry S. Truman
Describing a White House Steinway as having ‘the most wonderful tone I’ve ever heard’ in an interview for NBC, demonstrated it by playing the opening bars of Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 11. In 1992.
Bill Clinton
The saxophone-wielding, shades-wearing Bill Clinton, governor of Arkansas, opened the Arsenio Hall Show with a rendition of ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ – his election to the presidency followed soon after. The perfect audition for the world’s biggest role?
Here he is playing sax at a White House party.
Condoleezza Rice
George W. Bush wasn’t, it’s fair to say, that musical, but his Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice certainly was. In 2008, Rice, a fine pianist, joined four musicians from the London Symphony Orchestra – including Louise Miliband, wife of then-foreign secretary David – for some Brahms in front of the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
Ed Balls
Could Rice’s way with Brahms have been the spur that inspired the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Ed Balls to take up the piano? Five years later, Balls, by now shadow chancellor, was confident enough to show off his new skills with a little Schumann live on BBC Radio 2. Impressive…
Edward Heath
That said, as the prime minister who in 1971 conducted the LSO in Elgar’s Cockaigne while in office, Edward Heath remains the UK’s loftiest musical politician. Here he is rehearsing the European Youth Orchestra in 1978 (no longer PM by that stage, but you can get a feel for his way with a baton).