London’s Southbank music merger
mainA merger has been announced between an orchestra and a venue, the Southbank Sinfonia and St John’s Smith Square.
The Sinfonia is an ensemble for new graduates who are generally not paid for their work. St John’s is a former church in search of an audience.
Press release here.
Why the click bait photo?
St John’s Smith Square is not a church, it is deconsecrated and a concert venue. Please get these small facts right.
Southbank Sinfonia members are each given a grant in return for being available to the orchestra Tues-Thurs each week with occasional other dates. It works out around half the hours of an average working week and the grant is similar to half the starting salary a new grad would expect in many industries, including in the office side of classical music. Completely inaccurate to say they’re ‘generally not paid’.
This is great news for the orchestra and the venue.
misleading photo which suggested a more serious happening
This article reaches new heights in misleading and badly researched reporting from Slippedisc.
A great PR stunt for both, with St John’s benefiting from getting concerts from a good band for free without having to pay pro’s.
No wonder you are bored.
Northbank Sinfonia?
Nice picture of the London HQ of Royal Dutch Shell. But what’s the connection with this story ?