February 26, 2015 – 9:39 PM
Charlotte Higgins wrote an article in The Guardian, 23rd February 2015, “Simon Rattle is waving his baton at the wrong cause”, which was right on target. The article dealt with Simon Rattle’s cry for a new concert hall for London, presumably so that he can conduct the LSO. What is needed is a level playing […]
February 26, 2015 – 9:23 PM
A fight at the opera:Arts Council gives English National Opera last chance to improve”. The Guardian 13th February 2015. This soap has been running for some time. “The Arts Council set strict criteria for awarding National Portfolio funding status, two of which are a competent business plan and sound governance. The Arts Council has blown the […]
February 10, 2015 – 5:11 PM
Charlotte Higgins in her article “Opera’s malaise does not stop at the Coliseum” (2.2.2014) fails to get to grips with the problem of opera “reinventing itself as a crucial part of our national cultural fabric”. The problem is there is no policy for the arts in England. Arts funding is now run like a fifth rate hedge fund that […]
In the recent Arts Council funding round Jazz Services did not secure funding. To put the cut in context it is always useful for people to look at the work Jazz Services has undertaken by visiting the last Annual Report – a labour intensive exercise with two more are on the way http://www.jazzservices.org.uk/index.php/jazz-services-resources-reports/item/773 Jazz Services […]
There was an article in the Observer on the 15th June 2014 by Vanessa Thorpe “Arts in crisis – blame lies with council cuts”. For the chairman of the Arts Council to pin the blame on local authorities budgets is disingenuous at best. Finding a scapegoat reminds me of the the young aristocrat expaining to […]
January 25, 2013 – 7:40 PM
The Guardian reported on the 17th January 2013 that English National Opera had made a loss of £2.2 million for the financial year 2011/2012. Opera is an expensive form of music to put on and it would be easy to snipe away about under represented musics at the expense of opera. How ever there are musicians livelihoods at stake and the financial loss […]