Art or status symbol? Some thoughts on that Guardian editorial.
The arguments and rebuttals following the Guardian’s posing of the question ‘What is classical music for?’ (4th July) have continued to roll in. Best of the bunch has been Richard…
May’s disintegrating Brexit deal: why musicians must get involved.
Over the last two-and-a-half years I have come to admire those people for whom Brexit is a turnoff. The mere mention of the word produces a glassy-eyed look, or, perhaps…
Why Womad Matters
If British musicians' Brexit frustrations have sometimes lacked focus, the furore surrounding this year’s Womad Festival has clarified matters a great deal. As mentioned in an earlier blogpost, the festival organiser,…
Composer Competitions: Caveat Emptor
After updating C:T’s opportunity page today, I came across this article by Norman Lebrecht over at Slipped Disk. It describes how this week’s Singapore Violin Competition has effectively been rigged, since the…
Bingley Grammar School charges pupils for GCSE music
It has been reported that Bingley Grammar School charges children £5 per week to take GCSE music lessons after school. The decision was described by the Incoporated Society of Musicians as ‘shocking…
Where are the competitions for older composers?
I can imagine that the story of Richard White has warmed the heart of many a middle-aged (and older) composer. White has just had his 900-page opera selected for a workshop…
What if East Midlands Airport had advertised for composers?
The latest request from a commercial organisation that musicians work for free has been given a withering response on social media. The organisation in question was East Midlands Airport, who recently…
Why we shouldn’t worry about the future of opera
After spilling more than a few column inches over the Tête à Tête Opera Festival I thought, today, that it was probably time to move on. Then I came across…
Music education is now only for the white and wealthy: a response
Charlotte C. Gill’s article Music education is now only for the white and the wealthy, published in The Guardian on 27th March has caused quite the furore. A response by pianist Ian Pace has…
Promoting Women Composers
Susanna Eastburn, Chief Executive of Sound and Music Today is International Women’s Day, which celebrates the ‘social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women’ whilst calling for action to…