English ensemble: The Arts Council have killed us
NewsThe only contemporary music ensemble in northwest England, Psappha Ensemble was forced this afternoon to shut down. They were part of the nation’s infrastructure for 32 years. Composer Gavin Higgins eulogised it as the best contemporary group in Britain.
Another devastating loss to our cultural landscape – totally gutted for everyone at Psappha, the best contemporary music ensemble in the UK. The blame for this lies solely at the feet of @ace_national – we are becoming a poorer and poorer every day. Complete solidarity with you😢 https://t.co/UFnGIIrYar
— Gavin Higgins (@gavhiggins) May 5, 2023
Composer Adam Gorb writes: ‘Such a sad day for new music in Manchester with the closure of the fantastic group Psappha. Alongside all the wonderful educational opportunities for young composers so much of their aesthetic put the quality music at the forefront. ‘
Here’s the Psappha statement:
We write, with deep regret, to inform you that Psappha has made the very difficult decision to close.
The ensemble has had an outstanding history, and we still have plenty of ideas and plans for future projects. However, the loss of 100% of our regular public funding from Arts Council England, which constitutes around 40% of our income in an average year, has ultimately proven too great a challenge for an organisation of our size and scale to overcome, especially in such a difficult funding climate for the arts. We’ve worked tirelessly behind the scenes and considered every possible alternative, but we haven’t identified a realistic new funding model that would allow us to continue working to the high standards we’ve set ourselves over three decades of commissioning, performing and promoting new music.
We’d like to take this opportunity to extend our heartfelt thanks to you, our friends and supporters, who have been such an important part of our work over the years. We look back on more than 30 wonderful years since our organisation was founded by Tim Williams, and feel very proud of all that the group has achieved.
We’re committed to completing our current Composing For… scheme as planned, after which we will wind down the charity. This will take some time, and we will continue to be available for any questions or enquiries until we close – most likely around the end of this summer. If you have any questions, please contact info@psappha.com and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
Best wishes,
Kate Stross, Chair
Benjamin Powell, Artistic Director
Sally Cook, Managing Director
ACE – dedicated to closing, cancelling and abolishing arts and culture across England.
Not the only new music ensemble in the North West – there’s the Manchester Collective and Ensemble 10:10.
But this is still a stinking disgrace.
No need to split hairs….Psappha https://www.psappha.com/ has been dedicated, exclusively, to the cause of new music for over thirty years. Manchester Collective is a relatively new outfit by comparison, and it’s repertoire includes main stream classical repertoire too. And Ensemble 10:10 is in effect an offshoot of the RLPO, with all the protection that affords.
What price solidarity in the arts?
Try Michael Gove in his capacity as the Minister for ‘Leveling Up’. ACE is floundering from it’s lack of policies and is certainly, nor ever has been appreciative of the regions, so highlighting the conflict between the two policies and their agencies might get a result.
ACE are a disgrace to the Arts in the UK. Run by Suits and failed musicians/singers/actors. Unfortunately, it’s becoming more apparent that the Artists are being superseded by Suits/Clipboard Warriors. Look at the orchestras, whose management frequently out numbers the players! Yet without above said players, these bureaucrats wouldn’t have a job. It has to be sorted very soon.
Please give an example of an orchestra where the management outnumber the players?
LSO.
Cultural vandalism doesn’t begin to describe this. My heart goes out to Psappha. I was privileged to work with them several times and they were so committed and imaginative and simply brilliant and irreplaceable. Shame on you Arts Council
By now it must be evident that the time is well past when the Art Council should be shut down. It is indeed a disgrace.
“we haven’t identified a realistic new funding model that would allow us to continue working to the high standards we’ve set ourselves… ”
Britain today: increasingly no-longer world-leading…
The cultural vandalism being dished out by overpaid sycophant executives over artists is a national scandal.
Pen pushing suits, building their careers on the destruction of those who demand and rely on so little but give so much.
They know who they are.
Germany has more than one hundred fully professional full time symphony orchestras. About ten time more than the UK.