Not singing but still relevant.

My young brother started playing concertina at a young age and became very good very quickly. When he changed to a new school, the music teacher asked who could play an instrument. My brother mentioned his concertina and was told it was not a real instrument and he was never asked to play it at school.

Chris (my brother) went on to make a living playing concertina and said his music teacher's words were in his mind as he walked on stage at the Royal Albert Hall in 2008 to play his concertina at the BBC Folk Proms.