Major agency is rocked by director resignation
mainThe AskonasHolt director Gaetan Le Divelec has just gone online to say he’s leaving the agency at the end of the year. Gaetan, who has worked for AH since 1999, looks after Andras Schiff, Robin Ticciati, Alina Ibragimova and other leading talents.
He says his reasons for leaving are ‘purely connected to my personal journey’ but he goes on to write that the past five months have represented ‘an unprecedented challenge for anyone working in the performing arts.’
AskonasHolt has made unprecedented personnel cuts in recent weeks. It has also seemed fairly inactive and confused through the Covid period compared to its chief London rival HP. In any event, this is a major upheaval at Askonas, at the lowest moment in its history.
It feels like there should be a 50-75% closing (temporary & permanent) of these agencies given the shutdowns, just simple trickle down economics: Musicians no eat, agents no eat.
No agents = no musicians. Dumbass.
I’m not sure I agree with this artful analysis. As I was told at opera school upon asking when I should anticipate requiring the services of an agent: when one has a career to manage, one will need a manager. In the chicken/egg between artists and artist managers, the artist is definitely primary.
perhaps artists can use this downtime to think about ways to get rid of the agent middleman (or middlewoman) altogether.
Agents are necessary and if they are good are well worth their price and share of the take.
The problem is that there are very few who actually create more work, do all the travel arrangements, and take care of business that allows the artist to focus on just their art.
And so you have a culture of leeches that suck the blood of anything that shows life in the Deep Ocean of Classical Music. You may be better fishing for a Trout (Quintet) in a quiet Alpine stream.
Many of those leeches will indeed die a slow and uncomfortable death due to Covid.
Babies can’t change their own diapers. Artists deserve to focus all of their attention and efforts on making music, while having a devoted agent to relieve them of the burdens of business & politics.