Mark Hanson, the new executive director, has told staff he is getting rid of the marketing director and eliminating other posts, including COO and artistic administrator in charge of pops, or so insiders tell Slipped Disc.
This, as you may imagine, has gone down like a runaway streetcar heading for the bay.
We hear that the Philadelphia Orchestra, anxious to fill its chief executive post, is looking at…
Cressida Pollock, English National Opera’s makeshift ex-chief.
Most sane people agree that both genders and all ethnic minorities should have equal opportunity in art, as in life.
Some pay lip service to this principle. Others try by word and deed to open doors for the under-privileged and ensure that the arts have a level playing field.
That is social justice and plain common sense.
But it’s a very long way from here to the Guardian’s editorial today which calls for the imposition of fairness. Here’s the nub of a rather woolly argument:
Attending to diversity does not quash quality but increases it, widening the pool of talent rather than reducing it to a small, historically privileged group. And, by boldly looking outwards at the world around it – in all its richness – British classical music stands a greater chance of flourishing and growing as it should, rather than withering as so many fear. Naturally, it would be preferable if equality could be achieved without targets imposed and commitments signed up to – but Thursday’s International Women’s Day will be a fitting moment to recall that shifting traditional inequalities is a struggle, and takes more than a vague sense of optimism. The power of unconscious bias – the unreflecting process by which racism and sexism are perpetuated even by decent and fair-minded people – demands to be combated with something stronger than good intentions. A healthy cultural world is one in which all kinds of voices are heard and enjoyed. A healthy cultural world is one that honours the moral imperative to be fair.
An imperative? Backed by law? Or social sanction?
Is the next stage for male artists to be deplatformed?
Heaven’s sakes, art is not fair. There is no gender equality in the Last Supper. The Ring of the Nibelungen is both sexist and racist.
By the Guardian’s rules, neither Leonardo nor Wagner could have functioned.
Nor could Virginia Woolf (no minorities), nor George Orwell (distinctly sexist), nor Tracey Emin, nor….
Art needs to be free. Free from manipulation of every kind, including the imposition of equality.
We must try harder to give everyone an opportunity. But we must not preach, and we must never enforce an external doctrine on the free flow of the creative process.
Your views?
The soprano Elina Nechayeva will represent her country at the Eurovision song farce in Lisbon this May.
Imagine what might happen if we organised votes for her in all the different nations…. Can we do it?
On the other hand, I can’t find her listed in any working opera directory, so she may be just another case of the KJs.
The late and much-lamented Nikolaus Harnoncourt, who died two years ago this week, wrote a memoir for his family, which his widow has just edited for publication.
Among many recollections, he writes of alcoholism and anti-semitism in the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, where he was principal cellist in the 1950s and 1960s, and of the limitless vanity of its chief conductor, Herbert von Karajan.
Karajan, he writes, drove ahead of the orchestra’s tour bus in a green sports car. And he took lessons from the dancer Harald Kreutzberg to improve his podium choreography.
Can’t wait to read this:
Nikolaus Harnoncourt: „Wir sind eine Entdecker-gemeinschaft“. Aufzeichnungen zur Entstehung des Concentus Musicus. Hrsg. von Alice Harnoncourt. Residenz Verlag, Salzburg und Wien 2017. 208 S., geb., 24.– €.
photo: Marion Kalter/Lebrecht
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English National Opera, drifting in choppy waters, has found a chief exec who can start work immediately.
Press release, just in:
Stuart Murphy, former Director of Sky Entertainment Channels, has been appointed Chief Executive of English National Opera (ENO). He will take up the post on the 3 April, joining Daniel Kramer and Martyn Brabbins on ENO’s leadership team. He succeeds Cressida Pollock who announced in September last year that she would be stepping down from the role this summer.
In 2013 Stuart took charge of all Entertainment Channels at Sky, including Sky 1, Sky Living, Sky Arts and Sky Atlantic. Under his tenure Sky won its first Emmy Awards and Oscar nominations as well as multiple BAFTA’s, British Comedy Awards and Royal Television Society Awards. He oversaw the substantial expansion of Sky Arts, increasing the channel’s commissioning budget by more than 40% and turning it into the biggest on-demand library of arts and cultural content in Europe. Stuart spearheaded Sky’s huge increase in investment in original productions, the budget for which tripled during his tenure.
In senior management positions at both Sky and the BBC, Stuart has brought to the screen some of the UK’s best-loved titles, from Penny Dreadful, Sky Arts’ Portrait Artist of the Year Competition and Torchwood through to Little Britain and Game of Thrones. He was on the board of BBC TV, the Executive of Sky and was made a Fellow of the Royal Television Society in 2016.
Dr Harry Brunjes, Chairman of ENO, said:
“I have been thrilled by the calibre of the candidates who applied for this position, and know that Stuart’s history of enabling great creativity alongside his commercial acumen will perfectly complement ENO’s artistic and musical excellence. We were impressed by the significant growth in both Sky’s audience and output under Stuart’s direction, and by his proven ability to unite and motivate his teams through a clear and inspiring vision. Under the leadership of Cressida Pollock, and through the hard work of every single member of the company, ENO has regained its financial stability and position in Arts Council England’s National Portfolio. I look forward to seeing the company continue to prosper and grow with Stuart at the helm.”
Speaking of his appointment, Stuart Murphy said:
“I’m absolutely delighted to have been appointed Chief Executive of English National Opera. For a long time now I have wanted to pursue my passion for classical music and opera in a professional capacity, and so it is a privilege to lead an organisation that is so committed to world-class artistic, musical and technical excellence. I very much look forward to joining Daniel, Martyn and the whole ENO team. I am personally committed to ensuring that ENO continues to develop new audiences, new partnerships and on new platforms in order to ensure that the company remains as thrilling and vital now as it was when it was first founded.”
Daniel Kramer, Artistic Director of ENO, said:
“I am very excited that Stuart will be joining ENO. His decades of experience working with award-winning creative teams and enabling world-class work against a background of challenging financial realities will be hugely valuable at ENO. I look forward to working with him from April.”
Martyn Brabbins, Music Director of ENO, said:
“Stuart Murphy impressed me as a man of great integrity. He has the confidence borne of being a highly successful leader, while at the same time he displays a refreshing humility in his willingness to listen and learn from all those around him. We are looking forward to the new dynamism he will bring to ENO at this time of renewed energy within the company.”
Darren Henley, Chief Executive of Arts Council England, said:
“Stuart will bring a wealth of experience and energy to the role, building on all the dedication and hard work of Cressida and the team which has enabled English National Opera to return to our National Portfolio.”
Stuart Murphy grew up in Leeds, where his passion for classical music was sparked by playing the clarinet in Leeds Youth Orchestra and Leeds Youth Opera. He began his career at BBC Manchester, worked in Africa on the BBC’s Great Railway Journeys with Professor Henry Louis Gates Junior, and became the country’s youngest TV Channel Controller at the age of 26, running comedy and music channel UK Play.
Stuart subsequently became Channel Controller of BBC Choice, then devised, launched and ran BBC Three in 2003. While at BBC Three he commissioned shows from Gavin and Staceyto Bodies and developed a reputation for developing new talent as well as for commissioning innovative, award-winning programming. Particularly notable was Flashmob The Opera, a live opera from Paddington Station in October 2004, which brought together opera choruses from across the country with the BBC Concert Orchestra and was watched live by almost 100,000 viewers. This was followed, in April 2005, with Flashmob The Opera: Meadowhall , a specially adapted version of the Faust legend, again bringing opera to new audiences in an unexpected setting. BBC Three went on to win both Channel of the Year and Best Entertainment Channel.
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance in east London has said it will ensure that at least half the music it performs in future will be by women composers, with a particular focus on ‘missing’ modern British women.
The Labour MP Harriet Harman, Trinity’s chair, said: ‘Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance will encourage and inspire its students – many of whom will go on to shape the future of the performing arts –to engage with the historic issue of gender imbalance in music by women, and ensure that it does not continue into the next generation. I welcome this bold initiative to raise awareness of the disparity that has long existed in music and shine a light on music that has so frequently been overlooked. I am also greatly looking forward to hearing some of the musical treasures by women I might not otherwise have had the chance to hear.’
Climate change or virtue signalling?
Time will tell.
The Japanese conductor has been admitted to hospital in Tokyo with heart problems and will remain there for at least four weeks.
Ozawa, 82, has been diagnosed with aortic valve stenosis, which can usually be treated with minimally invasive measures to reopen the valve.
The former Boston Symphony and Vienna Opera chief has recovered from esophageal cancer and repeated attacks of pneumonia in the past eight years.
Press release:
ELORA, ONTARIO – The Elora Singers and Elora Festival announce that renowned choral conductor and music director Mark Vuorinen will be appointed Interim Artistic Director for both organizations, effective immediately.
Mark recently guest conducted The Elora Singers to great acclaim for their February, 2018 Soup Concert. He is currently the Artistic Director of Kitchener-Waterloo’s Grand Philharmonic Choir and Assistant Professor of Music at Conrad Grebel University College….
The Elora Festival & Singers Conductor and Artistic Director Noel Edison is on a leave of absence while an independent third party investigation is conducted in response to allegations against Noel received by The Elora Singers.
The claim comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, which is down for abolition by President Trump.
Here’s the calculation, released today:
Washington, DC—New data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) offers an insightful picture of the impact the arts have on the nation’s economy. The arts contribute $763.6 billion to the U.S. economy, more than agriculture, transportation, or warehousing. The arts employ 4.9 million workers across the country with earnings of more than $370 billion. Furthermore, the arts exported $20 billion more than imported, providing a positive trade balance.
• The arts added four times more to the U.S. economy than the agricultural sector and $200 billion more than transportation or warehousing.
• The arts saw a $20 billion trade surplus, leading with movies and TV programs and jewelry.
• The arts trended positively between 2012 and 2015 with an average growth rate of 2.6 percent, slightly higher than 2.4 percent for the nation’s overall economy. Between 2014 and 2015, the growth rate was 4.9 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars.
We should perhaps be slightly wary of a computation that includes jewellery and junk TV.
David Ogden Stiers, one of the medics in the long-running TV series M.A.S.H. television series, who died earlier this week, was for many years resident conductor of the Newport Symphony Orchestra in Oregon and the Ernest Bloch Music Festival.
Juilliard trained, he also guest conducted in San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Chicago and Toronto.
Who knew?
