A complaint to Emma Stenning gets you this
OrchestrasSlippedisc readers who have made various complaints to the chief executive of the CBSO are receieving identical letters in reply, regardless of what they wrote to her. Here’s the pro forma response:
Dear . . .
Thank you for your e mail, and my apologies for such a delay in replying.
I see that you are referring to CBSO’s ‘Everyone is Welcome’ statement, which is where we set out our expectations for the respectful treatment of our staff.
This is entirely in keeping with respect policies at many other cultural and public facing organisations.
The policy is written to encourage a friendly and mutually respectful mode of interaction between our staff and the public, and hopefully deters people from behaviours that could be seen as threatening or harassing.
It is vital in our support of more junior members of staff that they know they can make their line managers or senior managers aware of any inappropriate behaviour, and our duty then to take action by addressing the incident.
We have a happy and collegiate working atmosphere at the CBSO, which I support and celebrate.
With regards to our policy regarding mobile phones, we have an approach whereby audiences are encouraged to take pictures or short video clips at theapplause breaks in our concerts. From time to time, artists welcome people to film or photograph at other times also, and we are happy to work with them in support of this.
I happily engage in conversation with many of our audience members about our plans at the CBSO, including members drinks and open meetings to whichanyone can attend.
Kind regards,
Emma.
One complainant tells us: ‘the CEO must think we are all daft.’
That may be very close to the heart of the matter. If Stenning cared for her audience as much as she professes to do for ‘junior members of staff’ the present problems at Symphony Hall could be dealt with very smartly.
She talks about a delay in replying. Why? Was she so busy making that presentation where she accused the orchestra of being racist and irrelevant?
This is simply automated contempt. At least The Bedbug Letter (google if necessary) was an accident, not deliberate policy.
Hypocrite.
A well-known concertgoer in Birmingham was disturbed by a clicking camera shutter during a concert and kindly asked him to ‘shhh’. Stenning heard about this, traced the man’s personal details from his seat number and sent him a threatening letter.
Other threats are being made to ban people who have raised concerns in public.
Stenning talks about ‘joy’ and ‘happy working atmosphere’, but in reality it’s only when it suits her.
That’s disgraceful behaviour from her. These people with their clicking cameras and videos disturbing a live concert. Please let’s see the threatening email your friend got.
If her behavior devolves to any sort of threat against paying audience members who rightfully expect to enjoy a performance without disturbance from others, then Ms. Stenning is done. Over. Such vindictive behavior is sick.
All people coming to CBSO concerts sign up for the Respect Policy, if you break the Policy then there can be consequences…
We give Final Warnings before the Ban so that they have the chance to learn and improve their Behaviour
You make me laugh like a hyena, “I support Emma.”
Just have the decency to resign, Emma.
That’s assuming that you know what decency means.
Jawohl!
Your bullying approach is getting akin to the third reicht and is totally unacceptable to us concert supporters.
leave now before you are sacked or worst still play to no audiences
Strange – I have been to countless CBSO concerts over several seasons, yet have NEVER signed anything remotely resembling a Respect Policy’. Perhaps this is just a figment of Emma’s twisted imagination.
This was me.
Here is the email I got from her.
Hello Tim,
Several of my team have reported to me, both on Saturday evening and this morning, that you were aggressive and abusive towards our photographer, Andrew Fox, who was employed by the orchestra to take pictures of the concert.
Andrew is an extremely experienced photographer, who regularly shoots at Symphony Hall for both us and other organisations. I know him to be highly professional, and deeply respectful of only disturbing those around him to a minimal degree. Andrew reports that he has never before been subject to such behaviour from an audience member, and I must add that I too have never experienced a performance photographer being treated in this unacceptable way.
I must refer you to our respect policy, which is on our website here: https://cbso.co.uk/terms-conditions/respect-policy
If you have an issue with any aspect of our work at the CBSO, I ask that you raise it with myself, Beki or the relevant member of the Senior Management Team in a respectful and calm manner.
Your consistent failure to do this is now a matter of note for us, and I ask that you give the nature of your future approaches to our staff some thoughtful consideration.
Best wishes,
Emma.
The only person I have ever spoken to about these problems is Emma – I had a personal meeting with her & yes, I was blunt in my opinion!
I have never had any reason to complain about any other member of the CBSO staff. The only member of staff who is causing a problem is Emma.
This is the reply I sent to Madam Emma. Needless to say, I never got a reply.
Emma,
I’m sorry about that, but he was sitting on the floor within 3 feet of me and his camera was continually clicking, which was distracting.
I said – Stop clicking and move. That is all.
My brother-in-law is a professional photographer and his equipment cost tens of thousands. His camera doesn’t make clicking noises every time he takes a photo so there is no reason why your photographer can’t use a silent camera and then he wouldn’t annoy anyone.
Sorry, but the paying audience is more important than anything else.
It won’t happen again as long as he brings a silent camera, after all, Berlioz didn’t include a clicking camera in his score, and neither did any other composer, as far as I am aware!
(Corrected by me due to a spelling mistake!)
This is astounding! Even the tone, how she speaks to you like a child when you’re one of CBSO’s most loyal supporters. She has to go.
Is that tracing of the subscribers contact details compliant with the CBSO policy on GDPR? It doesn’t appear so after reading my work’s policy. It may with a complaint to the ICO (information commissioner office I think) sorry I’ve got chemo brain at mo. Anyway ICO are found on Google and they do respond on queries and will investigate. If the CEO is having meetings with them, she won’t have time to meddle with the music, especially if she has to find the money for a fine.
Stenning is a liar.
Just before subscriptions went on sale, she wrote to patrons and assured them:
‘To put your mind at ease, we are not encouraging filming at our concerts.’
Now we know this isn’t true. She uses many words, such as in this reponse to complaints, but actually says nothing.
Yes, she is! Otherwise this would not have errupted on here or in Birmingham. See how many buy and crunch their popcorn at the Proms since it’s now on sale at the Albert Hall.
Despotic, deranged, deluded and, I hope, soon to be defeated and deposed.
Yeah, How did she get appointed in the first place? What was her ‘story’? Or was she in fact what the powers-that-be were really looking for? Was there a probationary period before the appointment was confirmed? What do the trustees (chairman Tony Hall) really think? I think we should be told!
The chronology is in fact that Emma Stenning was appointed a full six months before Tony Hall, and may well have had a say in his appointment. Need I go on?
I sat close to Emma Stenning at a concert in May. She took in a drink for during the performance, which was distracting to those sitting nearby and also disrespectful to the orchestra, who played brilliantly. She also appeared to be fidgeting through most of the concert: it genuinely seemed to us that she did not want to be there.
Stenning mentions in the letter ‘I happily engage in conversation with many of our audience members’. In May, Emma spent the whole interval on her laptop working on e-mails. Given the phone debacle, this felt like a missed opportunity to be speaking to audience members and trying to restore trust.
At this stage, I fear the trust has gone forever.
Stenning is out of her depth and has burnt too many bridges.
She called the orchestra racist. She called the orchestra irrelevant. She dismissed the current patrons as being ‘only part of the city’. She lied to patrons saying she does not encourage phone use. She criticised Bostridge for pausing a concert because of phone lights. She changed a concert without warning to include films and lights and refused refunds to disappointed visitors. She ignores feedback but wrote a policy that gives her the option to ban people who criticise her.
And these are only some of the examples…
She needs to go. I have written to all board members and commercial sponsors and drawn their attention to what is happening, including these articles and comments. I hope others do the same.
Well said DK!
Ms Stenning is out of control as a CEO, and should resign before she is pushed and destroy this fine band any further.
She has already brought the CBSO into disrepute internationally by her silly and unecessary tampering by an amateur theatrical intent on trying to bring a new younger audience to hear classical music concerts.
She has become the laughing stock of the orchestral management world and needs to go – asap before she does any more serious damage.
If she treats her paying audience like this, imagine how she treats her orchestra…
It’s so demotivating to have her destroy what we’ve worked so hard to build.
She treats us very well, thank you.
I don’t know who you are, but you really do spout an awful lot of nonsense.
Hi Emma!
She called your orchestra irrelevant last week and boring the week before.
Or are you another one of Emma’s friends?
Our Respectful Behaviour Policy (RBP) begins:
“Anyone who engages with the CBSO is committing to being part of a culture that values compassion, respect, and joy.”
Maybe you can take this whole article down and post something Positive and Joyful about our upcoming concerts instead? When you attack Emma and the Management Team you are attacking the orchestra players also.
The Respectful Behaviour Policy explicitly does not allow Rudeness or Unreasonable Demands. As a final reminder from the Policy:
“However, in extreme or continuous circumstances, we reserve the right to cancel tickets and/or stop someone attending or engaging with future CBSO events.”
https://cbso.co.uk/terms-conditions/respect-policy
You keep talking about respect yet say nothing about Emma ‘I need a drink in a concert’ Stenning!
Looks like the only respect that matters to you is bowing down to Emma, who cares about respecting the music or the players?
Respect and Joy, is this verbatim from the so-called Respectful Behaviour Policy, or all your own work? Whoever wrote it might benefit from a GCSE in English, which would provide instruction on the appropriate use of uppercase and lowercase letters. Then, your bovine excrement would at least look like literate bovine excrement.
In any case, which other orchestra’s or ensemble’s CEO finds it necessary to issue such policies to its audiences and threatens them?
I am assuming that you are not Emma Stenning under a pseudonym; if not, the real Emma Stenning seems not to have the bottle to enter the fray on SD; maybe she has consumed too many bottles herself during the concerts.
When you attack Emma and the Management Team you are NOT attacking the orchestra players too.
Players are not the CEO nor are they “management” – what kind of idiot would believe this kind of blanket nonsense???
“L’Orchestre, c’est moi!” – Emma Stenning.
This is the voice of trouth comming from the PRC.
Emma’s letter is 238 words and says basically nothing except ‘I’m right’!
Even the last part (‘I happily engage….’) is a stubborn defense rather than a sign she wants to engage with others
Yes Andrew, she’s like Stalin without his warm-hearted humanity.
As a young black woman who loves all music genres I was excited when Emma joined. I got it wrong though.
I don’t need dumbing down to appreciate a concert.
I don’t need special treatment as if I’m less clever than everyone else.
Emma’s comments recently are really upsetting. 🙁
I don’t believe you are who you say you are. Incidentally, it’s interesting how well trained some hidden conservatives are. I’ve noticed it lately, the talking point about “black people don’t need stuff to be dumbed down”.. is the latest right wing strategy to combat any policy they feel is “woke”. Verbal jiu jitsu.
You say you don’t believe the poster is who (actually, what, because they didn’t give their name) they say they are. Do you have any evidence for this or is it just something you say when in a corner? May we believe you to be Nigel Farage?
If Emma wants to spread joy then she should resign
I happily second that motion.
Emma, the trap door is underneath you.
Please, go back to counting paperclips or whatever it is people do at your level of staggering incompetence.
Feedback and opinions are always mixed.
We listen carefully to all feedback taking into account that current subscribers are only a tiny proportion of the Diverse Population of Birmingham.
Thanks.
You are welcome, Emma.
You cannot serve all interests and social groups of Birmingham with one modern symphony orchestra, no matter how many drinks and smart phones you allow.
If your aim is to please the masses you should better organise pop music events or football matches.
Great ideas! We’re doing sport next month actually: CBSO renditions of Sweet Caroline, You’ll Never Walk Alone, UEFA Champions League Theme, it will be a Big Joy!
We’re also getting street food (including fried chicken) bar service and a DJ! This Diversity is our Future with Emma as our Leader, really exciting
Fried chicken to appeal to black people?
I thought this was a parody but it’s real:
https://cbso.co.uk/events/symphonic-sessions-summer-of-sport
Is this parody by a 5 year old?
And maybe some of that other Diverse Population of Birmingham (whatever the capital letters mean) has no interest in attending symphony orchestra concerts.
As long as everyone has the same access to classical music, those who do enjoy and appreciate it will attend, and pay.
If you alienate your core audience, by not allowing them to concentrate on the music because of extraneous distractions, you will lose them and, with them, your primary source of income.
You will not build a larger, alternative paying audience unless you change your product to something totally outside the symphony orchestra experience which appeals to those who don’t like classical music – which, to be frank, is unlikely to be achievable.
I’m not a member of the population of Birmingham. I visit Birmingham to engage with the music events in the city. I therefore put outside money into Birmingham’s economy. This fiasco of a CEO doesn’t just mean the organisation which they serve is now a laughing stock , but that people who would have travelled to attend performances now chose to attend performances elsewhere, with all the associated loss of income into the city. The CBSO is part of the international music provision. It’s reputation for its music is keeping it there, whilst the negative press re the CEO is merely encouraging audiences to have a joyful evening in a more welcoming organisation. Audiences vote with their feet, clap with their hands and cheer with their voices. The CEO appears to only want an empty hall. That makes them a janitor, not a CEO.
She doesn’t listen to anyone outside her bubble. She’s still ramming her theatre friend Tom Morris down our throats and trying to turn us into a music/theatre hybrid.
Well this simply isn’t true. If you were in the orchestra you would know that.
Why not going on strike for six months or till she is gone?
Respect from a woman who stumbled out of a CBSO Centre concert halfway through?
“stumbled out” . . .
This and one or two other remarks concerning Stenning’s concert habits & conduct are really quite suggestive. Though of what I had better not say.
Maybe it explains why she’s constantly making ridiculous decisions
If she was actually at a CBSO Centre concert in the first place, that is more than her predecessor ever achieved.
It is extremely sad to hear this comment from within the players.
Bravo Violins for speaking out.
It’s maybe time to revolt against the damage of this mad woman and strike like WNO are doing.
Tony Hall as Chair of Board, should also resign in shame for appointing such an inappropriate woman in the first place.
What a horrific mess for the CBSO!
Hold in there violins, Ms S may be sacked yet as criticism reaches an all time high against her madness!
Yeah, screw the junior members of staff. Who needs them, eh?
If you have issues with the CEO and her policies, raise them by all means. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with a CEO being concerned with the wellbeing of the hardest-working and lowest paid staff members: the ones, more often than not, who are on the receiving end of abuse and anger from the public.
There are things that are wrong with the current regime at the CBSO. This is not one of them. Disappointed to see this site punching down.
If you try to raise them with the CBSO, this pro forma letter is what you get.
Yes, but this site chose to emphasise that particular aspect of the letter -ie, the one aspect of the whole mess which ought to be above criticism by any reasonable person.
It’s a sad fact that any classical music audience contains its share of bullies, bores and blowhards, some of whom enjoy taking out their frustrations on (often young and usually badly paid) staff, safe in the knowledge that they will be too polite and too professional to reply in kind. The CBSO audience has its share of these people, and some of them have even been given a platform on this site – where they have apparently been taken entirely seriously.
The previous CEO took a firm line when staff were threatened or humiliated by members of the public and it’s surely correct that the current incumbent is upholding that long-established policy.
‘It’s a sad fact that any classical music audience contains its share of bullies, bores and blowhards…’
Quite so. I have been going to concerts for more than 60 years and I have always noticed the drunken brawls among the audience of bullies; I got beaten up almost every time.
I finally decided to become a Millwall fan. What a difference – after the matches, I always enjoyed discussing with the departing fans the late Beethoven quartets, the Hegelian Dialectic, Caravaggio’s paintings and Harold Pinter’s plays.
You, good Sir Herbie, are on song today!
Who has the ultimate authority to decide whether she stays or goes?
Can she be removed from her post and if so by whom?
seems to me like this is the all too common case of a bully who has realized she can use the language of social justice to shut down criticism.
That might be about all she has realised – certainly nothing about managing an orchestra or engaging meaningfully with loyal, paying audiences.
The more I read about or from her, the more I want to hurl. CBSO, save yourselves, please.
Five stars for that.
She’s running CBSO as if it were a circus.
It will become one if she isn’t removed.
Orchestras should be run by people who like classical music…
It helps but it also helps if they have a sound head for business and finance.
Where is the Musician’s Union when it is most needed?
And where is the petition to get her out of post? Come on somebody, please start one online. It would gain thousands of signatures surely.
There is something very wrong with taking the message (music) and turning it into nothing more than a trojan horse to carry a new message (Emma’s lunacy of the day) to those whose greatest desire is to get back to the core message (THE MUSIC!!!). Beware any “manager” whose efforts ignore the core message of the group they supposedly “manage”; the core is why any group exists, and that group immediately gets put in harm’s way, if the core message is used only so that other competing messages can be promoted.
She knows nothing about music and management! She is just another of those people hopping from one job to another (see Linked In). I am pretty sure that her degree is in History.
Privilege, privilege, privilege! What a big joke!
In response to her letter, there is a saying that French musicians use to describe any conductor on a podium : “The more you talk, the less you do”.
Applicable here, and from what we can all gather, she’s not listening to the mood of the general consensus.
She’ll still hold on to her power just to be in the news with her original “PHONE-y” ideas.
As Charles Moore would put, she has a “left-wing face”…. So good luck with complaining!
To whom is Emma Stenning answerable? Are they not concerned sufficiently to investigate this whole farrago and take appropriate action? What do all those people on https://cbso.co.uk/about-us/staff-trustees#trustees think? Let the music speak for itself!
Very good question!