The post-irony awards
mainThe Association of British Orchestras is holding its annual gabfest in Gateshead. To keep participants awake, Rhinegold Publishing announces a series of awards for the most notable small-island attainers. We present the winners below without comment. This is an irony free zone.
ABO/Rhinegold orchestra manager of the year: Auroraorchestra’s John Harte
ABO/Rhinegold orchestra manager of the year: Michael Eakin of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.
ABO/Rhinegold artist manager of the year: Jasper Parrott and the HarrisonParrott team
The overall ABO award: Mark Elder, music director of the Halle Orch.
Fail to see the problem with at least three of these: staff at three thriving, financially stable and critically-acclaimed orchestras who’ve brought their organisations through very testing times. (Michael Eakin at Liverpool is “Concert Hall manager of the Year”, and he’s overseen a huge ongoing refurbishment project at a major historic building with no break in the artistic programme – no mean feat).
The ABO conference goes like this every year:
Orchestra Manager A: “We don’t have enough funding, how about you?”
Orchestra Manager B: “Neither do we.”
Orchestra Manager A: “OK. Beer?”
What’s a “small island attainer” ?
I rather liked hearing something about the UK as opposed to some US backwater which comprise too much Slipped Disc content these days.