Independent schools are, by name and nature, independent both from the state and from each other. However, during the 1960s many schools called for greater communication with each other, particularly between junior (preparatory) schools and senior (public) schools. It fell to A. R. Donald Wright, Headmaster of Shrewsbury, when Chairman of the Headmasters' Conference (HMC), to make the first move. Donald Wright had as his near neighbour, in terms of northern English schools, Roger W. Ellis, Headmaster of Rossall School between 1967 and 1972 (when he moved to become Master of Marlborough College). Ellis was an imaginative teacher who was known to be active in curriculum matters. Wright suggested that Ellis address the HMC at their 1969 gathering in order to illuminate the need for greater contact between preparatory and senior schools, particularly in academic and curriculum matters. The result was the establishing of what became known as ‘Ellis Meetings’ (later known as Independent Schools Curriculum Meetings) in 1972; these meetings became the main forum for debate and curriculum planning in independent schools. Each curriculum subject had its own annual meeting in each local area, and music was certainly one of the more active subjects. The meetings were designed to give teachers at grass-roots level the opportunity to influence curriculum development and, in particular, to consider the transference of children from preparatory schools to senior schools.