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3. JULY 2016 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 3
CONTENTS
COVER STORY
44 PROMS
David Pickard on his first
season as director
FEATURES
48 CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL
Sally Beamish’s 60th
birthday showcase
52 NYCOS
Youth choir turns 20
57 VAUXHALL PLEASURE
GARDENS
Unearthing the musical
legacy
60 MAX BAILLIE
The violinist on folky
Schubert
62 FIDELIO TRIO
Rhinegold LIVE
preview
64 CLASSICAL: NEXT
Phillip Sommerich reports
from Rotterdam
67 FILM MUSIC
Howard Shore on Oscars
and more
71 AUDIOFILE
Naim’s UnitiQute 2
REGULARS
5 EDITORIAL
6 LETTERS & HORNBLOWER
7 NEWS
14 BARLINES
News in brief
20 ARTIST MANAGER
NEWS
Jilly Clarke retires from
Askonas Holt
22 NEWS REVIEW
Katy Wright on the
month’s big stories
23 INSIDE VIEW
From Kent to Aldeburgh
via New York and St Louis
OPINION
24 Frederic Wake-Walker
27 Charlotte Gardner
28 Graham Sheffield
3O PREMIERES
Lera Auerbach, Matthew
Martin and Edward
Gregson
34 Q&A: OLIVER KNUSSEN
Composer/conductor
reflects on a life in music
36 MEET THE MAESTRO
Kah Chun Wong,
Bamberg winner
39 INSIDERS ANONYMOUS
The session musician
41 MUSICIANS’ UNION
The importance of behind-
the-scenes work
42 SOUND AND MUSIC
The third year of
New Voices
72 RECORDING
 Reviving the carnyx
 Universal Music’s Costa
Pilavachi
 Gothic Voices
77 CD REVIEWS
79 BOOK REVIEWS
81 BROADCASTING
The Proms’ digital success
82 ENIGMA
Cryptic crossword and quiz
84 RECRUITMENTADVERTISING
86 EXTENDED INTERVALS
Michael White’s critic’s
month
CM0716_001_F_Cover.indd 2 17/06/2016 15:21:40
JULY 2016 ISSUE 1022
©NOIRINO’SULLIVAN-MOLONEY
©BENJAMINEALOVEGA
COVERCREDIT:AGORABYRICHARDWENTWORTH,COMMISSIONED
BYBOLDTENDENCIES.PHOTO:©QUINTINLAKE
IN THIS ISSUE
36 62 67
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5. JULY 2016 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 5
EDITOR’S LETTER
A
t the time of going to press it’s quite summery and I’m in short sleeves, but don’t
blame me if it’s back to raining in your world. Check the weather forecast and act
accordingly. Similarly, I’m writing these words shortly before going to exercise my
democratic right in the EU referendum but you’re in the future and you already know hap-
pens, so I’m at a slight disadvantage. So if you want to know how the classical music world re-
acts to the result, I recommend you check www.classicalmusicmagazine.org. I’m going to take
a risk and predict a remain vote based on what the bookies are offering; and consequently,
by way of reaction, not much more than a big shrug. I’m not a betting man myself, so let this
editorial be my flutter – and feel free to give me a hard time over being wrong.
It is a sad duty indeed to print the obituary of someone you know, and so it is in this issue
where we bid farewell to Jeremy Siepmann, one of whose lesser achievements was to be my
boss on Piano magazine when I was just starting out in this racket. He was working remotely
at the time so I didn’t get to spend much time with him, but I fondly remember our phone
calls: that voice! Like having my own personal radio broadcast, full of wit, advice and un-
compromising standards. See page 17 for our short note on a life lived well.
The death of Peter Shaffer was also cause for reflection. I wonder how many people, of my
generation or otherwise, point to the film of Amadeus as a seminal part of their cultural
education. Or perhaps education isn’t the right word – most of it is made up, after all. But the
feeling of that music as alive, composed by a real person, intended to be enjoyed not revered,
was very compelling to my young self and must surely be part of why I’m doing this now.
Instead of counting the zeros on my robber baron’s bonus. Thanks Pete.
Welcome
©FRANCESINNES-HOPKINS
KIMON DALTAS EDITOR
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6. 6 classicalmusicmagazine.org july 2016
Letters and diary
TVCOUNTSLESS
Andrew Mellor’s opinion piece in the last issue
of Classical Music magazine (‘That Theodora
was an intravenous shot in the arm’, CM June)
makes valid points about the declining status
of classical music on tv, but fails to account
for how consumption is changing. With the
rise of iPlayer and other on-demand services,
increasing numbers are likely to browse
online rather than flick through channels.
Given that they are no longer bound by the tv
schedule, they can personalise their viewing
as never before, meaning that they can switch
between a seemingly endless collection of
programmes at will.
However, this is the advantage of the new
mode of consumption – with viewing tailored
to the individual, anyone who is curious about
classical music has an array of concerts and
documentaries at their disposal 24/7. They can
try out a concert, and switch to another one if
they are not immediately taken. Some might
argue that the digital world makes it easier
to avoid classical music altogether, but it also
makes it easier to encounter.
Classical might have been downgraded
on tv, but it stands to benefit from the
online world.
Jessica Drake
Nottingham
VARIETYSHOW
Both fascinating and cheering to read of
Neil Ferris’ plans with his new Sonoro choir
(‘We need to talk about vibrato’, CM June).
He is very careful not to impugn the saintly
English choral tradition (and it’s definitely a
case of English, not British) but I’ll be a bit
more brash.
To my humble ears, it is an adult sound
which has been reverse engineered to
blend with children’s voices. Jolly nice and
appropriate in a cathedral but once you have
adult sopranos, what’s the point exactly? Lots
of fine work is produced, I won’t deny that,
and I wouldn’t want it gone. It’s just so all-
pervasive and samey from one choir concert
to the next – hurrah for variety!
Peter Knox
Essex
letters
EMAIL: letters@rhinegold.co.uk
WRITE To: The Editor, Classical Music, Rhinegold
Publishing Ltd, 20 Rugby Street, London, WC1N 3QZ
FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK: Classical Music Magazine
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @ClassicalMusic_
It’s the operatic title role selfie challenge!
ENO’s financial troubles are clearly not
affecting greasepaint supplies as Stuart
Skelton (left) sports what he refers to
as his ‘contour de force’ look as Tristan.
Meanwhile, down the road, Johan Reuter
opts for a more rustic style as Œdipe.
Ongoing strife at Southern Rail led to
tannoy announcements about delays
and cancellations caused by ‘a high level
of conductor sickness’. ‘Perhaps they
should have taken some Beechams,’
quipped Chandos press officer Paul
Westcott on Facebook, wiling his life
away at Redhill station.
Opera Holland Park resorts to propaganda
to keep its production of Mascagni’s
Japanese tragedy Iris on track (or perhaps
radical landscape gardening and collusion
with Kuraokami, the Shinto rain goddess).
hornblower’s diary
CONTACT the captAIN:
EMAIL: hornblower@rhinegold.co.uk
WRITE TO: Captain Hornblower, Classical Music,
Rhinegold Publishing Ltd, 20 Rugby Street London
WC1N 3QZ
It comes to
our attention
that Lidl’s
coffee capsule
range now
includes
this ‘Viola’
espresso.
Presumably
it is full-
bodied with
rich and
creamy mid-
tones. We
look forward
to the rest of the quartet, though can’t yet
guess how Violin 1 and Violin 2 will differ,
expect in price perhaps.
CM0716_006_R_Letters & Diary.indd 6 21/06/2016 16:04:41

7. july 2016 classicalmusicmagazine.org 7
news
The Paul Hamlyn Foundation has awarded
£329,000 to the Royal Liverpool Phil-
harmonic to further expand the In Harmony
Liverpool scheme between 2016 and 2020.
The programme, inspired by Venezuela’s
El Sistema, uses orchestral music-making to
improve the health, education and aspirations
of children and young people in Everton.
The funding will enable Liverpool Philhar-
monic to expand the reach of the initiative
from 720 to 1,000 young people aged up to
18 by 2020.
It will also allow for additional investment
in the In Harmony Liverpool research and
evaluation programme led by Dr Susanne
Burns. An initial report revealed In Harmony
Liverpool has made a positive contribution
towards children’s educational achievements,
aspirations, resilience, wellbeing, family life
and their relationship with their community.
The Liverpool Phil also plans to use the
money to invest in curriculum develop-
Liverpool Phil awarded more than £300,000 to expand
In Harmony Liverpool
katy wright
The PRS Foundation has launched two
projects, one encouraging orchestras to
perform their favourite contemporary works,
the other offering a boost to composers in
mid-career.
The Resonate programme will invite UK
orchestras to programme music of their choice
written in the past 25 years by British-born
or resident composers. ‘Rather than get-
ting composers or publishers decide what is
performed, we will be going to the people
playing the music,’ said Naomi Belshaw, grants
and programme manager at the foundation.
‘Orchestras need to make a case for why it
is the best work, and how they are going to
programme it and reach their audiences. It is
very much audience-focused.’
Again, funding will be up to £10,000 to
assist up to a dozen orchestras – particularly
those that perform relatively few contem-
porary works – in programming the chosen
pieces. The ABO is supporting the venture
by providing a database of thousands of
works, along with details of rights, reviews
and recordings.
There are also discussions with iTunes about
setting up a dedicated Resonate page.
The BBC has agreed to broadcast many of
the performances on Radio Three and possibly
perform one in the Proms next year.
The second initiative, the Composers’ Fund,
will announce in June the first recipients of
funding from some 70 applicants. ‘There are
a number of opportunities for emerging com-
posers but we felt there was a gap for those who
are in the middle of their careers and want to
work with high-profile ensembles in the UK,’
Ms Belshaw said. Eight or nine applicants will
receive up to £10,000 each for efforts to take
their careers to another level. ‘They will have
made a case for what they want, whether it be
childcare or equipment or working with an
ensemble. It can be the case that you reach the
age of 40 or 50, have become an academic and
are struggling to find the time to write.’
Ms Belshaw said she would study whether
the grants made a difference to recipients’
careers over the next three to five years, and the
project will be held twice a year.
The foundation also announced that the
third edition of its biennial will be held next
year, linked to Hull’s activities as City of
Culture. Over one weekend in June next year,
20 works will be presented in Hull, and at
London’s Southbank Centre on the following
weekend. Composers involved will include
Mica Levi, Simon Holt, Anna Meredith and
Mark Simpson. NMC will release a recording
of the works.
The PRS Foundation had also partnered
with the Codarts Centre of the Netherlands to
take six young composers to Classical:NEXT.
They are Elaine Mitchener, Laurence Osborn
and Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch from the
UK and Meriç Artaç, Constance Sannier and
Georgi Tsenov from the Netherlands.
PRS Foundation announces new projects
Phillip Sommerich
ment and sharing of In Harmony pedagogy,
practice and resources with teachers, the music
education sector and other Sistema-inspired
programmes in the UK and internationally.
Liverpool Philharmonic chief executive Mi-
chael Eakin said the orchestra was ‘incredibly
grateful’ to the foundation. ‘Their commit-
ment over four years will benefit hundreds of
young people and families, and ensure that
Liverpool Philharmonic can share our learn-
ing and practice throughout the field of music
education in the UK and internationally.’
One of six Sistema England programmes, In
Harmony Liverpool was established in 2009 at
Faith Primary School with 84 children.
Participants and their families now take
part in orchestral music-making every week,
free of charge, in and out of school.
Children perform between three and 12
times each year in community settings in
Liverpool and professional venues includ-
ing Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, the Royal
Albert Hall and Southbank Centre.
In Harmony Liverpool activities include
weekly parents and tots drop-in sessions; up
to two hours of music-making for children in
early years; twice-weekly group instrumental
tuition from age five onwards; weekly orches-
tra rehearsals from age seven; primary school
provision of up to four hours, a week music-
making in curriculum time; and after-school
ensembles for primary school children.
Windfall: In Harmony Liverpool in action
©MarkMcNulty
CM0716_007-013_R_News.indd 7 20/06/2016 14:45:58

8. 8 classicalmusicmagazine.org july 2016
news
Plans to launch a Big Noise Centre in
Douglas, Dundee have been given the
go-ahead by city councillors.
Big Noise Douglas will work with
children from P1 and P2 in Claypotts
Castle and St Pius Primary Schools from
spring 2017, with the first concert planned
for June 2017. The team will work during
school hours for the first year, but will work
through afterschool clubs and in the nurser-
ies as the orchestra develops.
Sistema Scotland will start with a
programme of community engagement,
followed by the recruitment of the Douglas
team leader and the operations manager
who will create the centre.
Big Noise Douglas will be the fourth
centre established by Sistema Scotland:
there are already Big Noise projects in
Raploch in Stirling, Govanhill in Glasgow
and Torry in Aberdeen.
According to a press release, Dundee was
selected because of its ‘strong sense of com-
munity, its self-identity, size, history and
educational needs’.
Campaign group Optimistic Sound,
which was formed in 2013 with the aim of
bringing a Big Noise orchestra to Dundee,
will be the principal funder of the pro-
gramme, providing an investment of £1.4m
over five years, and Dundee City council
will be providing payment ‘in kind’.
Colin McKerchar, CEO of Sistema
Scotland, said he was ‘overwhelmed’ by the
support and welcome the team has received
in Douglas. ‘We can’t wait to start working
with our partners, the schools and the local
community to get this centre up and run-
ning as quickly as possible.’
‘This project will help in the efforts to
transform Douglas and help young people
maximise their potential and give them new
life chances,’ said children and families ser-
vice convener Councillor Stewart Hunter.
‘Sistema Scotland will have an amazing
reception in Douglas and I can’t wait to see,
and hear, how it progresses.’
Sistema Scotland, which is modelled on
Venezuela’s El Sistema, works to create per-
manent social change in some of the most
deprived communities in Scotland. It aims
to use participation in the Big Noise orches-
tra programmes to change lives by fostering
confidence, discipline, teamwork, pride and
aspiration in the children and young people
taking part.
SistemaScotlandtolaunchinDundee
cm staff
The Orchestra Mozart will resume concert
activities after three years of silence.
Bernard Haitink will conduct a concert at
Bologna’s Auditorium Manzoni on 6 January
2017 featuring Beethoven’s Egmont overture
and violin concerto (with Isabelle Faust as
soloist) and Schumann’s Rhenish symphony.
The same programme will be repeated on 8
January at Lugano Art and Culture.
Both conductor and soloist are closely tied
to the orchestra – Faust has collaborated with
the ensemble a number of times, and Haitink
conducted its last concerts in Vienna and
Bologna in 2013.
The orchestra’s website describes the con-
certs as the beginning of ‘a new era’.
The ensemble, created in Bologna by Clau-
dio Abbado in 2004, stopped playing in 2014
due to a combination of Abbado’s ill health
and Italian government spending cuts.
The OM Encore crowdfunding campaign
is inviting donations towards the orchestra’s
rebirth. It requires €500,000 (£387,780) for
two years of activity; the total donated at the
time of writing was €57, 255 (£44,220).
The website reads: ‘With this project we
want to write a new chapter, we want to restart
an articulated and extraordinary cultural pro-
ject that proposes an innovative artistic line, a
new bond with the city and the local territory
and a strong international inclination, not to
forget the educational programmes and the
involvement of very young talents through the
“Accademia dell’Orchestra Mozart”.’
All funds raised will go to the Regia Acca-
demia Filarmonica di Bologna, the institution
from which OM was born and which is now
promoting the campaign.
Orchestra
Mozart to
resume activities
katy wright
Golden days: the Orchestra Mozart
under Claudio Abbado
©MarcoCaselliNirmal
Big Noise Govanhill playing side-by-side with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in Glasgow’s
City Halls for the first time on 22 May
CM0716_007-013_R_News.indd 8 20/06/2016 14:46:50

9. july 2016 classicalmusicmagazine.org 9
news
The European Commission will grant the
EUYO a short-term subsidy of €600,000
(£465,000) for 2016, allowing it to continue
its activities.
The announcement was made on 1 June by
Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the Euro-
pean Commission.
The European Parliament is proposing a
‘pilot project’ to ensure that the EUYO has
operational funding for 2017 by amending the
commission’s general budget proposal.
Mr Juncker also said that the provisions
regarding the EUYO in the Creative Europe
programme would be adjusted to provide
financial support in the long term.
‘When I learned that the orchestra had
financial problems, I was very worried,’ he said.
‘I am happy to announce that we have found
a solution, which will allow the European
Union Youth Orchestra to continue in 2016
and 2017 and even beyond. Together we have
shown that we can find creative solutions by
overcoming bureaucratic procedures when
something is in the interest of our citizens. I
wish the EUYO a very successful future.’
TheEUYOsaiditwelcomedtheproposals,
butwarned:‘Theorchestraisawarethatonly
whentheprecisedetailsoftheseproposalsare
confirmedbyboththecommissionandthe
EUYOcanthefutureoftheorchestrabesaid
tobeassured.Giventhelongleadtimeofthe
classicalmusicindustry,inwhichcommitments
havetobemade2-3yearsahead,wehopeto
completethisworkwithurgencyandspeed.’
Thanking all who had supported the
#SaveEUYO campaign, the EUYO added:
‘Once funding is in place and confirmed, the
orchestra looks forward to continuing its role
as a cultural ambassador for the EU and as a
beacon for the European spirit of excellence,
freedom and creativity, both in Europe and
also in the rest of the world.’
The EUYO was supported by the EU as a
cultural ambassador between 1976 and 2013,
but a change in the EU’s cultural funding
policy in 2014 meant that the orchestra was
funded under the Creative Europe programme
from 2014/15.
Over the last 40 years, the ensemble has
supported more than 3,000 young classical
musicians from all 28 EU member states.
EUYO secures short-term funding
cm staff
The Budapest Festival Orchestra has
seen its funding cut from 260m forints
(£650,000) to 60m forints (£150,000).
The Hungarian Free Press attributed
the cut to founder and music director Iván
Fischer’s criticism of the Orbán regime.
In December 2015, it was revealed that
Fischer had written that the Orbán gov-
ernment was ‘dismantling democracy’ in
Hungary and that the prime minister was
‘building a bleak regime’ in a 2011 letter to
Hillary Clinton.
Budapest Festival Orchestra suffers major funding cut
cm staff
The letter came to light as part of documen-
tation released in an unrelated court case.
The cut means that the orchestra will
have to cancel 30 visits to schools, ten opera
performances for children, and a series of
concerts in nursing homes.
Commentator Christopher Adam wrote:
‘It is clear as day that the decision of the
Fidesz-dominated Budapest municipal
government and council to massively cut
Mr Fischer’s funding five months after this
letter came to light is yet another example
of the political revenge that we have already
witnessed in many quarters.
‘It is shameful that Mr Fischer’s personal,
critical views of the Orbán government
resulted in such a major cut in funding.’
More than a thousand of the orchestra’s
supporters protested the cut at the orches-
tra’s concert in Vörösmarty Square on
4 June.
The Budapest Festival Orchestra was
formed in 1983 by Fischer and Zoltán
Kocsis. In 2003, the Hungarian Ministry of
Cultural Heritage declared the orchestra a
national orchestra supported by the state.
©MARCOBORGGREVE
Punished for comments: Iván Fischer
CM0716_007-013_R_News.indd 9 20/06/2016 15:46:01

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Tickets are also available fromTetburyTourist Information
33 Church Street,Tetbury, Gloucestershire GL8 8JG • Tel: 01666 503552
For more information email: info@tetburymusicfestival.org.uk
Tetbury Music Festival
Thursday 29 September – Sunday 2 October
Schubert Ensemble l
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Choir of the Age of Enlightenment
2 0 1 6
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CM_July_2016.indd 10 20/06/2016 09:49:36

11. july 2016 classicalmusicmagazine.org 11
news
The Metropolitan Opera has announced
that Yannick Nézet-Séguin will become
the company’s third music director.
The position was previously held by James
Levine, who will step down at the end of the
2015/16 season after 40 years to become the
Met Opera’s first music director emeritus.
Mr Nézet-Séguin will be music director
designate from 2016/17 and will assume the
position in 2020/21. He will conduct two
operas each season as music director designate,
and will thereafter conduct five different
operas each season.
Describing himself as ‘honoured and hum-
bled’, Mr Nézet-Séguin said that the appoint-
ment was ‘the fulfilment of a lifelong dream’.
He added: ‘I will make it my mission to pas-
sionately preserve the highest artistic standards
while imagining a new, bright future for our
art form.’
Mr Nézet-Séguin made his Met debut in
the 2009/10 season with Richard Eyre’s new
production of Carmen. He has returned in
every subsequent season, leading performances
of Don Carlo, Faust, La traviata and Rusalka.
HeopenedtheMet’s2015/16seasonwith
BartlettSher’snewproductionofVerdi’sOtello.
NewYorkTimescriticAnthonyTommasini
wroteoftheconductor:‘Ratherthanpushing
themusictoextremes,hedrewcrisp,subtlyde-
tailedandcolorfulplayingfromtheformidable
MetOrchestra’,andtheGuardian’sSethColter
MetOperaappointsYannickNézet-Séguinasmusicdirector
CM STAFF
Mark Simpson and English National
Opera are among the recipients of this
year’s South Bank Sky Arts Awards.
This year’s ceremony was held at the Savoy
Hotel on 5 June.
Mark Simpson’s The Immortal (libretto by
Melanie Challenger) won the classical award.
The oratorio, which explores humans’ fascina-
tion with death and the afterlife, was described
as ‘the most thrilling new choral work I have
heard for years’ (Richard Morrison, Times).
The other nominees in the category were
Stephen Hough, for his recital of Debussy
and Chopin at the Royal Festival Hall as part
of the International Piano Series, and Andris
Nelsons’ farewell concert with the City of
Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
English National Opera received the opera
award for its adaptation of Verdi’s The Force
of Destiny. Calixto Bieito’s production set the
work during the Spanish civil war, resulting in
a ‘bold and confident’ performance (Michael
White, New York Times) which was ‘un-
flinchingly brutal and finely sung and played’
(Andrew Clements, Guardian).
Mark Wigglesworth accepted the award,
paying tribute to ‘an extraordinary group of
people at ENO who, whether on the stage,
under the stage or behind the stage, do so
much more than just be brilliant and show up
for work’.
The category’s other nominees were the
Royal Opera House’s production of Krol Roger
and Glyndebourne’s Saul.
The South Bank Sky Arts Awards have been
given annually since 1996. Previous winners
include the Royal Opera House’s production
of Die Frau ohn Schatten (opera, 2015), Peter
Maxwell Davies’ tenth symphony (classical,
2015), George Benjamin’s Written On Skin
(opera, 2014) and the Southbank Centre’s The
Rest is Noise (classical, 2014).
MarkSimpsonandENOwinSouthBankSkyArtsAwards
KATY WRIGHT
WallspraisedMrNézet-Séguin’s‘slyfeelfor
buildingtooneofVerdi’sorchestralclimaxes’,
continuing:‘Nézet-Séguinsoundedinlockstep
withtheorchestraallnightlong,frequently
bringingoutdeliciousdetails’.
Jessica Phillips, clarinettist and chair of
the Met’s Orchestra committee, spoke of the
ensemble’s ‘tremendously fruitful, positive rela-
tionship’ with Mr Nézet-Séguin. ‘He embod-
ies the artistic leadership, musical excellence,
and respect for rich tradition that opera lovers
around the world have come to cherish.’
Mr Nézet-Séguin began his operatic career
as chorusmaster and assistant conductor of the
Montréal Opera at the age of 23. He is cur-
rently music director of Montréal’s Orchestre
Métropolitain, the Rotterdam Philharmonic,
and the Philadelphia Orchestra (with whom
he has extended his contract until 2025/26).
A statement from the Met Opera said that
it will be exploring the possibilities for artistic
collaboration with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
©MarcoBorggreve
New role: Yannick Nézet-Séguin
CM0716_007-013_R_News.indd 11 20/06/2016 15:50:23

12. 12 classicalmusicmagazine.org july 2016
news
The 2016 Ivor Novello award for clas-
sical music was awarded to Oliver
Knussen on 19 May, the day before he was
presented with the Queen’s Medal for Mu-
sic in a private audience with the Queen.
Oliver Knussen picks up Novello award and Queen’s
Medal for Music
KATY WRIGHT
Figures released by the Department for
Education show a drop in entries for
GCSE and A-level music.
The overall entry for GCSEs in England
increased from 4,916,000 to 4,929,000 be-
tween 2015 and 2016; over the same period,
entries to GCSE music declined by 3% and
A-level music by 8%.
The decrease in entries for GCSE and
A-level music in Wales was even more severe.
The overall entry for GCSEs and A-levels
in Wales dropped by 2% from 308,760 to
303,620 between 2015 and 2016; over the
same period, GCSE music fell by 11% and
A-level music by 13%.
Deborah Annetts, chief executive of
the Incorporated Society of Musicians,
described the figures as ‘deeply concerning’
and said that they were evidence that the
new EBacc proposals were already under-
mining the take-up of music in schools.
‘There is compelling evidence that shows
how music education benefits a wide range
of skills including listening, language, lit-
eracy, mathematical and personal and social
skills. Why risk the provision a subject that
enhances so much of a pupil’s learning in
other areas?
‘We urge the Department for Education
to rethink its harmful proposal.’
DfEfiguresshowadropinGCSEandA-levelmusicentries
CM STAFF
Atranche of Aldeburgh Music’s plans
for the Snape Maltings site has
been revealed.
In an interview with the Times, chief
executive Roger Wright spoke of his plans
to transform the site into ‘a creative campus’
and a ‘centre for music, health and well-
being’ for East Anglia.
Mr Wright told of a ‘ten-year masterplan’ to
turn Snape into ‘a year-round arts powerhouse
founded on a much-expanded programme of
residencies in which performers, composers,
artists, writers and especially young musicians
are given time to develop new projects’.
Aldeburgh Music purchased Snape Malt-
ings in 2015 in a multimillion-pound deal in
which it acquired shops, galleries, cafes, the
freehold to the whole site, and other build-
ings which are yet to be developed.
The charity has already developed a num-
ber of aspects of the site, including the crea-
tion of a new visitor centre, a new concert
hall café, a new programme of workshops
at the Snape Maltings Tack Room, and the
installation of a new sculpture (Myriad by
artist David Rickard and architect Germano
Di Chello).
Aldeburgh Music announces plans for Snape Maltings
CM STAFF
In his Ivors acceptance speech, Mr
Knussen warned the government to keep
its ‘hands off the BBC’.
He also urged the broadcaster not to
sideline challenging new works, saying:
‘There are an extraordinary number of in-
credibly gifted young composers … please
BBC, don’t relegate all of us to a two-hour
slot that you seem to regard as a place to
put pond life.’
Regarding the Queen’s Medal, Mr
Knussen noted that ‘Sir Peter Maxwell
Davies, much-missed colleague and friend
of more than 40 years, was instrumen-
tal in the instigation of this marvellous
symbol of professional recognition, which
I am extremely happy – and humbled –
to accept.’
Master of the Queen’s Music Judith
Weir, who oversees the nominations for the
award, said: ‘Greatly admired and much
loved by his musical colleagues, Oliver
Knussen is both a revelatory conductor and
a masterly composer, whose work always
persuades audiences to listen carefully.
‘With characteristic generosity and
warmth, he has supported the practice
of music in numerous ways: as a musical
director of leading festivals, orchestras
and ensembles, including the Aldeburgh
Festival, BBC Symphony Orchestra,
London Sinfonietta and Birmingham
Contemporary Music Group; and as an
informal adviser, teacher and friend to
several generations of musicians in the
UK and further afield.’
©HanaZushi-Rhodes
Happy and humbled: Oliver Knussen
CM0716_007-013_R_News.indd 12 20/06/2016 15:50:43

13. july 2016 classicalmusicmagazine.org 13
news
Representativesofsmallandregionalarts
organisationshavesubmittedevidenceto
theCulture,MediaandSportselectcommittee
aboutthefundingdifficultieswhichtheyface.
Promptedbycomplaintsthat‘Londonhas
longreceivedadisproportionateshareofarts
funding’atapreviousinvestigationintothe
workofArtsCouncilEngland,theCountries
ofCultureinquiryisexaminingfundingoppor-
tunitiesforculturalorganisationsintheregions.
The committee had received 59 written
submissions at the time of writing, in addi-
tion to oral evidence offered by representa-
tives of the British Museum, Arts Council
England, Heritage Lottery Fund and
University of Manchester.
A representative of the Musicians’ Union
noted: ‘Although it can be argued that much
of ACE’s funding goes to London-based
organisations, this does not mean that the
regions do not benefit from this funding.
Orchestras and theatrical productions tour
regularly and so provide arts and culture far
beyond London.
‘Furthermore, London theatres and other
institutions provide an essential testing ground
for many performers and productions which
then filter out to other areas of the country.
Cutting funding to London-based organisa-
tions would be wrong and would end up nega-
tively impacting on regional arts and culture.’
The MU identified that ‘many organisations
outside of London struggle to match the fund-
ing that they receive because there simply isn’t
the same level of investment available in the
regions’, but suggested that ‘rather than taking
money away from London-based organisa-
tions, it would be far better for the economy if
further support were made available to repair
some of the damage that has been done to the
arts in the regions as a result of ill-thought-out
cuts in the last parliament.’
The committee will be holding further
evidence sessions over the coming months and
will publish a report in the autumn.
Queen’s Honours List 2016: classical music
CM STAFF
Small and regional arts organisations testify
to funding difficulties
KATY WRIGHT
Simon Robey, chair of the Royal Opera
House and Aldeburgh Music
Knighthood
XX Lucian Grainge – Universal Music Group
chair and chief executive officer
XX Simon Robey – Chair, Royal Opera House
and Aldeburgh Music
CBE
XX Althea Efunshile – Deputy chief executive
of Arts Council England
XX Dr Brian Lang – Chair, Royal Scottish
National Orchestra
XX Professor Colin Lawson – Director, Royal
College of Music
XX Paul Lewis – Classical pianist
XX John McLeod – Composer and conductor
OBE
XX Alison Balsom – Trumpet soloist.
For services to music
XX Ian Rosenblatt – Founder, Rosenblatt
Recitals Series. For philanthropic services
to music
XX Nicola Thorold – Executive producer, the
Roundhouse. For services to the arts
Selectedmusicalhonours
The Queen’s Birthday Honours list
for 2016 has been announced, with
Royal Opera House and Aldeburgh Music
chair Simon Robey receiving a knight-
hood and CBEs going to Royal College of
Music director Professor Colin Lawson
and pianist Paul Lewis.
Ian Rosenblatt, who received an OBE
for philanthropic services to music, said:
‘Music is an important element of what
makes us a civilised society, and I am
proud to do what I can to support
young talent and make world-class music
more accessible to the general British
public.’
Trumpeter Alison Balsom, who was
also made OBE, described the honour as a
‘wonderful surprise’. Speaking to Classic
FM, she added: ‘Especially being the year
of the Queen’s 90th birthday, it seems
even more special in some ways for me.
I’m just delighted.’
©DANIELHAMBURY
CM0716_007-013_R_News.indd 13 20/06/2016 15:50:56

14. 14 classicalmusicmagazine.org july 2016
barlines news listings
Music Drama Education Expo is pleased
to announce that applications for the 2017
conference programme are now open.
The event will be celebrating its fifth an-
niversary at Olympia London on 9 and 10
February 2017.
Prospective speakers will need to complete
an online form clearly indicating the aims of
the seminar (including intended audience,
learning objectives and relevant key stages) and
providing a detailed overview of the content in
lesson plan format.
To be considered for a session, please com-
plete the application form by 19 August 2016.
Head of music content and Music Teacher
editor Alex Stevens said: ‘Music Drama
Education Expo 2017 will be showcasing the
most interesting, innovative and useful ideas
and approaches, so if you are doing fantastic
work with relevance to the field of music
education, we want to hear about it: fill out
the simple form to share your ideas with music
educators from across the world.’
Music Drama Education Expo is Eu-
rope’s largest exhibition and conference for
music and drama teachers, with more than 60
sessions taking place across two days and the
chance to meet and network with 2,500 other
teachers from 40 different countries around
the world. The event also features a trade
exhibition with more than 130 exhibitors and
several live performances. It is completely free
to attend.
www.musiceducationexpo.co.uk
Music Drama
Education Expo
2017: call for
papers now open
Rajar figures for the first quarter of 2016
show Radio 3’s audience reach as 2.12
million (up from 2.05m last quarter and
2.08m last year) giving it its best figures in
three years.
Its mid-morning show Essential Classics
had a record reach of 909,000 listeners. In
Tune also fared well, receiving its second
highest figures on record.
Helen Boaden, director of BBC Radio,
said that the station was in ‘rude health’.
The quarter marks the end of Alan
Davey’s first full year as controller; he
said: ‘I’m thrilled with our highest reach
in three years which reflects a very strong
year of special programming including
Why Music? with Wellcome Collection,
BBC Proms, Northern Lights, New Year
New Music and International Women’s
Day composer focus.
‘The record figure for Essential Classics,
the highest in ten years, shows the
tweaks we’ve made are really paying off,
like introducing contemporary music
and fixed features such as “music in our
time”.
‘I’m proud of Breakfast’s highest reach in
three years in a year where we’ve intro-
duced longer pieces of music, dropped the
call feature and cut back on news bulle-
tins; also too the continuing strength of In
Tune, our drivetime show, with its unique
live music and culture news having its
second highest figure on record.
Radio 3 achieves greatest reach in
three years
BBCMusiclaunchesvirtualorchestra
BBC Music is offering amateur musicians
the chance to feature in a digital perfor-
mance as part of this year’s Last Night of
the Proms on 10 September.
The BBC Get Playing virtual orchestra will
be led by Marin Alsop and will also include
musicians from the Royal Academy of Music.
Anyone interested in playing will need
to upload a short video of themselves
playing the Toreador’s song from Carmen
to the BBC Get Playing website by 27
August. Arrangements for a wide range of
instruments are available.
The BBC will then edit the videos
into a three-minute performance which
will be shown on
iPlayer and on big
screens at Proms in
the Park around
the UK.
The BBC’s Get
Playing campaign aims
to involve amateur musicians from
around the country. Making
Music, Music For All and
ABRSM will be offering public
practice events, free instrument
lessons, support videos and
online tips, and James Rho-
des, Alison Balsom, Evelyn
Glennie, Thomas Gould,
Courtney Pine and Nitin
Sawhney will be giving
online masterclasses.
Get Playing ambassador:
comedian David Baddiel
CM0716_014-019_R_Barlines.indd 14 21/06/2016 15:47:10

15. july 2016 classicalmusicmagazine.org 15
barlines news listings
Mark Wigglesworth broke his silence
for the first time since resigning as music
director of English National Opera on
22 March.
In an interview with the Times, Wig-
glesworth addressed Cressida Pollock’s
statement at the ENO season launch on
5 May that he had planned to cut all fund-
ing to learning and outreach.
Wigglesworth admitted that his pro-
posals did not specify a budget for these
activities and that his plans were not ‘fully
costed’, saying: ‘I’m a musician, not an
accountant’. However, he stressed that the
central point of his plans was that everyone
in the company should retain their jobs.
The conductor also alleged that chief
executive Cressida Pollock told him in late
December 2015 that the company would
not return to a full-time chorus, regardless
of the amount of money it got in
the future.
Speaking of his attempts to provide
alternatives to the proposed cuts, Wiggles-
worth said: ‘I felt a huge responsibility to
try and protect the musicians and the musi-
cal qualities of the company.
‘Defending the musical quality of the
organisation is the job. It stands to reason
that when you can no longer maintain
that defence, you are no longer able to do
your job. I have lost the debate, and am
incredibly sad about that, both for myself
and for what I believe to be the needs of
the company.’
Admitting that he felt ‘the classic
emotions: sadness, anger, denial’ after he
stepped down from the post, Wiggles-
worth spoke of his love for the company
and its work. ‘I’ve loved ENO for over 30
‘I think I have a right to defend
myself’ – Mark Wigglesworth
| q u a r t z |
AN HISTORIC RECORDING OF CECILIA VAJDA’S
A Tribute to Bartók from Wales
PARTSONGS
THREE VILLAGE SCENES
Ensemble of soloists from
the Welsh College of Music and Drama
Jeanette Massocchi
QTZ2110
Follow q u a r t z
on Facebook www.quartzmusic.com
Released on CD
for the first time
Available online and from all good record shops
sung in English
years. I love the people in it. I love the audi-
ence. And I love the philosophy of what the
company stands for. Those things, in my
opinion, are being let down by the proposal
to do significantly less work.’
Speaking up: Mark Wigglesworth
©BenEalovega
CM0716_014-019_R_Barlines.indd 15 21/06/2016 15:47:25

16. 16 classicalmusicmagazine.org july 2016
barlines news listings
The St Magnus International Festival raised
£115,000 to buy Orkney’s first Steinway
piano. The Model D concert grand arrived
on the islands on 7 June, shortly before the
launch of the 40th edition of the festival.
The instrument was selected from
Steinway’s workshops in Hamburg by the
festival’s artistic director Alasdair Nicolson
and pianist Steven Osborne earlier in 2016.
The fundraising for the instrument began
when Nicolson assumed his current role in
2010. Around half of the cost was made up
by grants from Creative Scotland, Orkney
Islands Council, and Highlands and Islands
Enterprise; the remaining sum came from
264 private donations.
The instrument will belong to the St
Magnus International Festival and will be
housed in St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall
when not in use.
‘I knew that we could attract some of
the finest pianists in the world to come to
perform at the festival, but only if we had
the right piano,’ said Nicolson. ‘St Magnus
has never owned its own piano before, and as
Steinway Model D pianos are generally the
instrument of choice of international concert
pianists, this is what we aspired to own.’
Orkney acquires first Steinway
XX The 15th Oxford Lieder Festival (14-
29 October) will be dedicated to the songs
of Schumann. The Schumann Project,
which falls on the 160th anniversary of
the composer’s death, places his songs
alongside his other works and songs by
friends and contemporaries. The event,
which runs 14-29 October, will also
include Clara Schumann’s 29 songs, mark-
ing the 120th anniversary of her death.
The two-week festival also encompasses
piano recitals, chamber and choral works,
Season previews
New arrival: the Steinway in
St Magnus Cathedral
©TomO’Brien
study events, artistic partnerships and
masterclasses.
XX The City of London Sinfonia’s 2016/17
season includes a Folk Tunes Tall Tales
series which will explore traditions and folk
stories from around the world and a na-
tional tour of England’s cathedrals in which
the ensemble will perform choral anthems
alongside cathedral choirs and organists
under artistic director Stephen Layton.
XX Cadogan Hall’s ninth choral series
opens and closes with performances from
the Tallis Scholars and Peter Phillips, and
also includes a rare UK performance from
Nederlands Kamerkoor, festive pro-
grammes from The Sixteen and the Choir
of St John’s College, Cambridge.
XX The 16-concert ‘At Home’ series will
be at the heart of the Royal Northern
Sinfonia‘s 2016/17 season, which includes
includes performances of all five Beethov-
en piano concertos (featuring RNS music
director Lars Vogt as soloist), appearances
from five guest orchestras and the launch
of a new series of children’s concerts.
XX Garsington Opera will stage five opera
productions for the first time in 2017.
The season comprises new productions
of Handel’s Semele, Debussy’s Pelléas et
Mélisande, Rossini’s Il Turco in Italia; the
premiere of Roxanna Panufnik’s Silver
Birch; and a revival of John Cox’s 2005
production of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro.
XX The centrepiece of the third Cum-
nock Tryst will be the Scottish premiere
of Cecilia McDowall’s Stabat Mater.
Headspace (including Clarence Adoo)
and Pandora’s Box with John Kenny are
artists-in-residence, and the festival will
conclude with promenade performances
in Dumfries House.
XX Opera Holland Park’s 2017 season, its
first planned and programmed as an inde-
pendent company, is to include new pro-
ductions of Puccini’s La rondine, Mozart’s
Don Giovanni and Leoncavallo’s Zazà, as
well as a revival of Olivia Fuchs’ 2009 pro-
duction of Janáček’s Káťa Kabanová. The
season will be the first in a new production
model which will see OHP present four
productions instead of five.
XX St John’s Smith Square’s 2016/17
season features more than 300 concerts
(including a number from the Southbank
Centre’s International Piano Series and
International Chamber Music Series) and
over 30 premieres. The season includes
the inaugural Holy Week Festival (9-14
April 2017), a ‘Vaughan Williams and
Friends’ series and the next instalments
of the London Mozart Players’ ‘Mozart
Explored’ series, as well as debut perfor-
mances from La Serenissima, Les Talens
Lyriques and the Society of Strange and
Ancient Instruments.
Schumann Project: Christian Gerhaher
opens the Oxford Lieder Festival
©JimRakete/SonyClassical
CM0716_014-019_R_Barlines.indd 16 21/06/2016 15:47:46

17. july 2016 classicalmusicmagazine.org 17
barlines@rhinegold.co.uk
obituaries
Jeremy Siepmann
16 January 1942 - 6 April 2016
Jeremy Siepmann,
who died on 6 April
aged 74, was a musi-
cal polymath and
a champion of the
art of piano play-
ing, writes Owen
Mortimer, editor
of International Piano magazine. From
1997 to 2010, he was editor of Rhinegold
Publishing’s Piano magazine, which was
subsequently absorbed into International
Piano. His ‘Symposium’ was a popular and
unique fixture, offering a masterclass in
playing-styles and techniques from some of
the greatest living exponents of the piano,
from the likes of Brendel, Pires and Goode
to Schiff, Ax and MacGregor – many of
whom Siepmann counted as his friends.
Jeremy Tyler Siepmann was born in Bos-
ton, Massachusetts and received his early
education at Putney School in Vermont.
His first experiences at the piano consoli-
dated a lifelong passion for the instrument:
‘I certainly love the piano,’ he wrote. ‘I fell
helplessly and permanently in love with it
when as a child I first struck a single note
[…] With that one sound, which seemed to
my childish ears to go on forever, I entered
another world. It was like a kind of aural
Narnia, but without the witch. And rather
than being always winter but never Christ-
mas, it was like all possible seasons – and
Christmas all the time.’
On completing his studies at the
Mannes College of Music in New York,
Siepmann moved to London at the sugges-
tion of Sir Malcolm Sargent. After several
years of freelance teaching, he was invited
to join the music faculty of London Uni-
versity, which formed the basis of his ca-
reer as a highly respected teacher, writer,
lecturer and broadcaster on both sides
of the Atlantic. He wrote biographies of
Brahms, Mozart and above all, Chopin,
The Reluctant Romantic (Gollancz, 1995).
The book, which brought together a wide
range of recent scholarship and research
on Chopin, presenting a coherent, con-
temporary view of the composer and his
works, was widely praised – notably by Dr
Anthony Storr who wrote, ‘I have read a
good many books about Chopin, but this
is far and away the best’.
Siepmann’s multifarious career was
symptomatic of his lively mind and wide-
ranging learning. He wrote frequently
for Gramophone, Musical Times and BBC
Music Magazine, and he created the Life
and Works series for Naxos Records,
which focused on the genius of individual
composers with tremendous erudition,
worn lightly.
He was a prolific broadcaster, starting
in his twenties when, based in New York,
he had his own radio series on the BBC
Home Service taking a satirical look at
American life, in the manner of legend-
ary broadcaster Alistair Cooke, who was
a friend of the family (Siepmann’s father,
a former BBC executive, had given Cooke
his first job at the corporation). From 1988
to 1994, Siepmann was head of music at
the BBC World Service. Among his crown-
ing achievements was the award-winning
series, The Elements of Music, a rigorous
but entertaining and discursive exploration
of classical music which gained a popular
international following.
The writer and broadcaster Jessica
Duchen, Siepmann’s predecessor as editor
of Piano magazine and regular contributor
to CM, described him as ‘idealistic, gentle,
enormously knowledgeable and full of
terrific anecdotes, a fount of information
about the world of music and musicians’.
Alberto Remedios
27 February 1935 - 11 June 2016
English tenor Al-
berto Remedios has
died aged 81.
Remedios was
renowned for his
interpretations of
Wagner, with his
performances in Eng-
lish National Opera’s productions of The
Mastersingers of Nuremberg and the Ring
cycle winning him particular acclaim.
His signature role was Siegfried, but
other acclaimed parts included Samson
(Samson and Delilah), Alfredo (La tra-
viata), Bacchus (Ariadne auf Naxos) and
the title role in Peter Grimes.
Born in Liverpool, Remedios sang in a
church choir as a child and took singing
lessons with Edwin Francis.
He left school aged 15 to play football
semi-professionally and work as a welder,
but continued his singing lessons. Follow-
ing national service, he took up a place
at the Royal College of Music with Clive
Carey, where he won the Queen’s Prize
in 1957.
He made his operatic debut as Tinca in
Puccini’s Il tabarro for Sadler’s Wells (later
ENO) in the same year, and later toured to
Australia with the Sutherland-Williamson
company and Luciano Pavarotti.
The tenor returned frequently to Aus-
tralia, where he eventually made his home;
he also performed for opera houses in
San Francisco, Seattle, New York and
Frankfurt.
Remedios was appointed CBE in 1981.
He retired in 1999.
Linda Esther Gray, who sang Isolde to
Alberto’s Tristan at English National Op-
era in 1981, wrote: ‘It was a joy to hear such
wonderful tenor sounds in my ears, my
heart and my soul […] he had a natural in-
strument which obeyed his inner thoughts
with ease.’
Sir Peter Shaffer
15 May 1926 - 6 June 2016
Sir Peter Levin Shaffer has died aged 90.
Although the English playwright won
widespread acclaim for Equus, Black Com-
edy and The Royal Hunt of the Sun, he was
arguably best known for Amadeus.
Inspired by Pushkin’s Mozart and
Salieri, the play was first performed at the
National Theatre in 1979 and won the
1981 Tony Award for best play.
Shaffer also wrote the screenplay for the
1984 film adaptation. Directed by Miloš
Forman and starring Tom Hulce as Mozart
and F Murray Abraham as Salieri, the film
won eight Academy Awards, four BAFTA
Awards and four Golden Globes.
He was appointed CBE in 1997 and
knighted in 2001.
CM0716_014-019_R_Barlines.indd 17 21/06/2016 15:48:10

18. 18 classicalmusicmagazine.org july 2016
barlines news listings
MUSICAL CHAIRS
XX Daniele Gatti has been appointed
artistic advisor to the Mahler
Chamber Orchestra. He will work
with MCO musicians to shape the
orchestra’s artistic profile, and will
develop projects and programmes
that will be performed several times
throughout each season.
XX Poole’s Lighthouse has appointed
Stephen Wrentmore as its first artistic
producer. He took up the post in June.
XX Holly Mathieson will join the Royal
Scottish National Orchestra as
assistant conductor with the 2016/17
season, becoming the second female
conductor to be appointed to the
RSNO’s artistic team.
XX Ian Taylor will replace Sir Simon Robey
as chair of the Royal Opera House’s
board of trustees and Suzanne
Heywood (who will succeed Sir
Anthony Salz as senior independent
director) has been appointed deputy
chair. Both appointments will come
into effect from September 2016.
XX Carnegie Hall has elected Robert F
Smith as chair of its board of trustees,
effective immediately. A trustee since
2013, Smith succeeds Carnegie Hall’s
acting chairman Mercedes Bass, who
will resume her position as vice chair.
XX The Birmingham Contemporary
Music Group has appointed Caroline
Newton as executive producer. She
will take up the role in August, working
alongside incoming artistic director
Stephan Meier and replacing Jackie
Newbould, who has been with the
ensemble since its formation 25 years
ago.
XX Jaap van Zweden has extended
his contract with the Hong Kong
Philharmonic Orchestra for three more
years. He will remain music director
until the end of the 2021/22 season.
XX Stephen Cleobury has been appointed
president of the Herbert Howells
Society. He succeeds founding
president Sir David Willcocks, who
served from 1987 until his death in
2015.
XX Royal Albert Hall CEO Chris Cotton
has announced his retirement. He will
step down at the age of 67 following
seven years in the post. It is hoped
that a replacement will be appointed
by the end of March 2017.
XX The Royal Northern College of Music
has appointed Donald Grant, violinist
with the Elias String Quartet, as deputy
head of chamber music. He will take
up the role in September.
XX Universal Music Group has appointed
Graham Parker as president of its US
classical music labels. He will oversee
UMG’s US classical music labels
and will serve as the US lead for the
company’s classical music initiatives
to develop and promote emerging
artists and composers on a global
scale.
XX Nicola Luisotti will step down as music
director of San Francisco Opera when
his contract expires at the end of the
2017/18 season. The 55-year-old
made his company debut in 2005, and
has been in the post since 2009.
XX Mark Williams will start as the new
informator choristarum (choir master),
organist and tutorial fellow in music
at Magdalen College, Oxford from 1
January 2017. He is currently director
of music, fellow and college lecturer
at Jesus College Cambridge, and chief
guest conductor of the City of London
Choir.
XX Lawrence Power will become artistic
director of the English Chamber
Orchestra charitable trust from the
2016/17 season. He announced a new
partnership with the Royal Academy
of Music in which members of the
ECO will mentor and nurture emerging
young players as they make the
transition to professional careers.
XX The City of Birmingham Symphony
Orchestra has appointed Jonathan
Bloxham as its next assistant
conductor. He will work closely with
conductors, providing rehearsal notes
and advising on balancing issues
for main-season CBSO concerts at
Birmingham’s Symphony Hall.
AWARDS
XX The Royal Northern College of Music
has awarded fellowships to alumni
YCAT chief executive Alasdair Tait and
composer Gary Carpenter.
XX Baritone Emyr Wyn Jones has been
awarded the Royal Welsh College of
Music Drama’s Ian Stoutzker Prize,
worth £10,000.
XX John Gilhooly, chief executive and
artistic director of Wigmore Hall, has
been awarded the Order of Merit of
the Federal Republic of Germany in
recognition of his ‘distinction as an
artistic programmer and his strong
relationship with Germany’.
XX Nicholas Moroz has won the £7,000
Mendelssohn Scholarship. The Royal
College of Music student will use the
scholarship towards private tuition and
international courses.
XX Oboist Olivier Stankiewicz, Castalian
Quartet, soprano Nika Gorič and violist
Timothy Ridout have been selected as
YCAT artists for 2016.
XX The Calidore String Quartet is the
inaugural winner of the University of
Michigan’s M-Prize, worth $100,000
(£70,000). The ensemble was formed
in 2010 at the Colburn School of
Music.
XX Australian violinist Emily Sun won the
Royal Over-Seas League gold medal
2016, worth £10,000. She currently
studies with Itzhak Rashkovsky at the
Royal College of Music.
XX The winners of this year’s Royal
Northern College of Music gold medal
competition 2016 are James Girling
(guitar), Tyler Hay (piano), Danny Ryan
(composer), Abel Selaocoe (cello) and
Andres Yauri (bassoon).
XX Lukáš Vondráček is the winner of
the Queen Elisabeth Competition
2016. The Czech pianist, who received
€25,000 (£20,000), also won the VRT
and the Alberto Ferro Musiq’3 prizes.
XX Stephen Upshaw and the Dulcinea
Quartet have been awarded Trinity
Laban’s Richard Carne Junior
Fellowships for 2016/17.
XX Allan Shiers, founder of Telynau Teifi
in Brief
CM0716_014-019_R_Barlines.indd 18 21/06/2016 15:48:24

19. july 2016 classicalmusicmagazine.org 19
barlines@rhinegold.co.uk
Harps, has been named UK maker
of the year by the Heritage Craft
Association. He was presented with
the award as part of the HCA’s annual
conference on 7 May.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
XX The National Opera Studio has
announced its young artists for
2016/17. They are Elizabeth Karani,
Sophie Levi, Caroline Modiba and
Sophie Troncoso (sopranos); Penelope
Cousland, Grace Durham and Laura
Zigmantaite (mezzos); Joseph Doody
and Bechara Moufarrej (tenors);
Christopher Cull and Benjamin Lewis
(baritones); Bongani Kubheka (bass-
baritone); Freddie Brown, Iwan Teifon
Davies, Killian Farrell and Edmund
Whitehead (repetiteurs)
XX Michael Berkeley, Kuljit Bhamra and
Judith Weir have been announced as
honorary patrons of Sound and Music.
XX New music licensing and rights royalty
processing service ICE has announced
its first licence agreement with
Google Play music. ICE will process
online music usage using a single
matching engine attached to the most
comprehensive copyright database
in Europe, meaning that unnecessary
processing will be eliminated and
disputed claims will be significantly
reduced.
XX John Hornby Skewes Co Ltd is to
take on the UK and ROI distribution of
pBone instruments.
XX A year of record ticket sales by lottery
operator Camelot has resulted in a
£21m increase in lottery funding for
the arts: 20% of the £1.9bn raised
by the National Lottery Good Causes
went to the arts in 2015/16 – a total of
£380m.
XX The inaugural International Youth
Choir Festival will take place on 15
and 17 April 2017. The event, which
is promoted by the National Youth
Choirs of Great Britain and the Royal
Albert Hall, will celebrate choral singing
around the world.
XX Universal’s Decca Records has signed
a record deal with 87-year-old Italian
composer Ennio Morricone. The label
will release an album celebrating
Morricone’s six decades of music
making in October.
XX Help Musicians UK is launching its
MAD (Music and Depression) campaign
by commissioning the country’s first
academic study into mental health
in the industry. ‘Can Music Make
You Sick?’ will be undertaken by the
University of Westminster and will aim
to raise the profile of mental health
issues and investigate solutions.
XX The Orchestra of the Age of
Enlightenment has recorded its first
charity single in support of Wateraid.
The single is a new work written for
period instruments by composer James
Redwood, and features the voices of
schoolchildren and community choirs
from the OAE’s Watercycle education
tour.
XX The Ligeti Quartet has been appointed
as the inaugural holders of the
Cambridge Chamber Music Residency.
The quartet will be collaborating with
graduate composers, performing and
creating events for performers.
XX The Royal College of Music has
commissioned a new organ from
Flentrop Orgelbouw. The new
instrument is due to be completed
in January 2018 and will replace
the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall’s
current organ, which is more than
100 years old. work on challenging
repertoire.
OPPORTUNITIES
XX Enrolment is now open for the
European Sponsorship Association
Arts Sponsorship Certificate. Now in its
second year, the course will run from 2
September 2016 to 31 January 2017.
The qualification is for practitioners in
the arts and cultural sectors who deal
with commercial relationships.
XX Opera North is to run its first orchestra
camp 22-26 August at the University
of Leeds’ School of Music. Young
people aged ten and above who play
orchestral instruments will have the
chance to perfect their playing and
learn new skills.
XX Aldeburgh Young Musicians is
offering full and part bursaries for
composers and string players under
the age of 18 who can demonstrate
‘exceptional potential, passion and
creativity’. Applications close on 1
August.
XX The City of Birmingham Symphony
Orchestra and Qatar Airways are
inviting primary schools to apply to
be part of the ‘Spirit of Birmingham’
project. The education project will see
children from local schools explore
what the city means to them through
the creation of a new musical theatre
song.
XX St Albans International Organ
Festival has launched its 2017
competitions, which will take place 10-
22 July. The closing date for entries is
24 March 2017.
EVENTS
XX Northamptonshire’s Boughton House
will host a specially curated exhibition
about the life of Handel. The exhibition
will chart key episodes in Handel’s life
and will bring together a collection of
rare artefacts.
XX The Tetbury Festival has announced
the programme for its 14th edition
(29 September - 2 October). The
event will launch with a performance
from the Schubert Ensemble, and will
conclude with the Choir of the Age
of Enlightenment’s first solo festival
performance.
XX The National Youth Choirs of Great
Britain’s Summerfest takes place 11
June - 20 August. The second edition of
the summer festival features concerts,
pop-up performances, non-auditioned
singing days and open days around the
UK.
XX The Simon Langton Grammar School
for Boys is hosting the Langton
Festival of Music and Health on 4-6
July 2016, which will examine the
health benefits associated with music.
CM0716_014-019_R_Barlines.indd 19 21/06/2016 15:48:41

20. 20 classicalmusicmagazine.org july 2016
artist manager news by andrew green
H
igh summer. An auspicious time
for Jilly Clarke to retire from
AskonasHolt after close on 30
years’ service. Classical artist management
was the last career move Clarke had in mind
while working in the Capital Radio press of-
fice when DJs like Greg Edwards and Chris
Tarrant were roasting the airwaves. ‘I loved
it,’ she says, ‘but eventually felt it was too
full-on. Too many late nights and so on!’
Clarke became the quintessential
London temp, which brought her to
pre-merger Harold Holt Ltd. Having
done her stint, she was then invited back,
and found herself PA to senior executive
Martin Campbell-White. ‘Martin was a
fantastic mentor. He taught me so much,
the way he dealt with people, his ideas and
creativity. One thing we worked on was the
1991 Japan Festival. I’ve particularly fond
memories of sumo wrestling at the Albert
Hall and the Kyoto Garden in Holland
Park, which is still there.’
Campbell-White himself observes
that Clarke was always destined to rise
through the ranks ‘on the basis that you
can’t keep a good person down! Jilly
became an artist manager, moving up to
senior manager after the merger with the
Lies Askonas office. It was inevitable that
she ultimately became a valued director of
AskonasHolt.’
The first artists entrusted to Clarke as a
fledgling manager were Viktoria Mullova
and Evgeny Kissin. ‘Viktoria in particular
taught me so much, taught me how to be
an agent. She has such a clear idea of how
to run her life and career.’ Clarke has gone
on to build an impressive list of instrumen-
talists and conductors, often seeing them
through their early years as performers –
including Vilde Frang, Alisa Weilerstein
and Piotr Anderszewski. ‘One key thing is
knowing when to advise caution over taking
on particular challenges too soon, even if an
artist then leaves. At which point you just
have to be philosophical and continue to
believe in what you’re doing.’
Passing artists on now to AskonasHolt
colleagues is potentially unsettling for them,
she observes, ‘but without sounding too
glib, you want them to see this as a moment
of opportunity, a chance to work with some-
one who’ll have new ideas.’
Martin Campbell-White sums up
Clarke’s contribution to the company: ’Dili-
gent, caring, painstaking and enthusiastic,
extremely good with colleagues both senior
and junior. A very hard act to follow.’
Meanwhile, AskonasHolt chief execu-
tive Donagh Collins describes Clarke as ‘a
passionate and accomplished artist manager
and a genuine, open-minded person – great
company, and a joy to work with. We need
more people like her in our business.’
Plans? Clarke will be travelling abroad
with her husband, who appropriately is also
retiring. ‘Then maybe I’ll explore my passion
for creative design. But I won’t lose touch
with AskonasHolt. It’s been a huge honour
to work here.’
Good innings
The business salutes Jilly Clarke as she hands in her office keys at AskonasHolt after
almost three decades
Hard act to follow: Jilly Clarke
From strength to strength: Maestro Arts
CM0716_020-021_R_Mangers.indd 20 20/06/2016 11:39:11

21. july 2016 classicalmusicmagazine.org 21
artist manager news by andrew green
T
alking of retirements, we shall be
marking the departure of one of
the artist management profes-
sion’s legendary figures, David Sigall, in
the September issue of CM. Suffice it
now to note that the break-up of Ing-
pen Williams which Sigall’s farewell
precipitated appears by all accounts to
have been a good-natured affair all round.
Artist managers Thomas Hull and Nicki
Wenham carry off artists to Maestro Arts
and Maxine Robertson Management re-
spectively, leaving Jonathan Groves happy
to run a boutique management under his
own name.
Clearly, though, the major beneficiary
is Hull’s new employer, Maestro Arts,
which five years after its creation goes
from strength to strength, its combined
music/visual arts portfolio now keeping
busy a staff of 15. What other manage-
ment could carry on its artists webpage a
painter-sculptor (George Nama) between
a stage director (Elijah Moshinsky) and
a composer (Michael Nyman)? Hull’s
arrival at the start of this month coincides
with that of Myriam Blundell, whose
projects company has been working in
everything from film and photography
to live art performances combined with
contemporary music and dance.
W
ith BBC Young Musician
2016 just over as I write, a
word from the past to deflate
the notion that establishing a career as a
youthful performer is tougher than ever. I
see in the autobiography of singer/teacher
Roland Foster a recollection of the dozens
of London ‘concert agents’ active in the
1890s. The belief was common, Foster
writes, that concert agents were ‘always
ready and eager to welcome new talent.
Nothing of the kind! Once in a thousand
times they may be willing to do so … but
not in the ordinary course of events. Why
should they be, when already they have
scores and scores of well-tried and expe-
rienced artists on their books who are in
more or less constant demand?’ CM
Monday 8 - Friday 26 August 2016
www.edfringe.com
0131 226 0000
Over fifty performances
in three weeks!
BOOK NOW
ROSL_MM_2016_Ad_182x123mm.indd 1 21/06/2016 11:26
What other management
could carry on its artists
webpage a painter-
sculptor between a
stage director and a
composer?
CM0716_020-021_R_Mangers.indd 21 21/06/2016 14:53:46

22. 22 classicalmusicmagazine.org july 2016
News Review
F
igures recently released by the Depart-
ment for Education show that the
government’s EBacc proposals are
already damaging creative subjects. The
uptake of GCSE music dropped by 3% and
A level music by 8% between 2015 and 2016
in England; the decline was even more severe
in Wales.
Creative subjects have been fighting for
their place in the curriculum since the EBacc
was first mooted some five years ago; it is
little wonder that schools, already suffering
from budget cuts, are choosing to place their
resources elsewhere, and students are choosing
different subjects. Even if the current EBacc
proposals are revised to include arts subjects,
their reputation and their place in schools
must be restored – the future of the country’s
arts sector depends on it.
The Countries of Culture inquiry is examin-
ing how arts funding is distributed between
London and the regions. Evidence provided
by organisations, festivals, museums and
individuals reveals the difficulties in finding
funding in rural areas. Especially concern-
ing is the Buxton Festival’s statement, which
suggests that many local councils view the
professional arts as ‘a community activity’ and
provide limited financial support.
George Osborne’s acknowledgment of the
importance of investing in the arts in his au-
©JamesTaggart
tumn 2015 spending review was accompanied
by cuts to local authority funding. The effects
of this are already being felt: with a limited
budget, local authorities are already having to
reclassify the arts as non-essential. As with the
EBacc proposals, the arts must be revalorised
– and fast.
Good news for Sistema projects in Scotland
and England, with In Harmony Liverpool
having attracted £329,000 and the Dundee
government having given the green light to a
new Big Noise centre in Douglas. It has been
seven years since the first Sistema project
launched in the UK, and the projects now
involve tens of thousands of children and
young people.
Part of the grant awarded to In Harmony
Liverpool will be used to invest in the future
of the programme, supporting research into
the benefits, developing the curriculum and
allowing resources to be shared internation-
ally. Initial reports show that the Sistema
programmes impact positively on children’s
wellbeing, aspirations, resilience and educa-
tion, as well as benefiting their families and
the wider community. It might be some time
before quantifiable benefits become evident,
but the projects have shown themselves to be
well worth investment.
The news that the EUYO has had short-term
funding confirmed by the EU is to be greeted
with cautious optimism. The grant will see
the ensemble through to the end of this year,
but at the time of writing nothing further
had been confirmed for 2017 or beyond. The
EU needs to move swiftly: the success of the
ensemble is contingent on a secure future.
Further good news in the shape of the
Orchestra Mozart, which is to resume its
activities after three years. Silenced by founder
Claudio Abbado’s ill health and government
spending cuts, the orchestra is being revived by
its musicians, who have turned to crowdfund-
ing. According to its website, the ensemble is
aiming to raise €500,000 (£387,780), which
will guarantee two years of activity and build
‘financial stability’, allowing it to undertake
educational programmes, a strong local focus
and international projects. With the sup-
port of the Royal Philharmonic Academy of
Bologna (from which the orchestra was born)
and a clear set of goals, hopefully this first-rate
orchestra will have a second chance.
Rather less bright is the future for the
Budapest Festival Orchestra, which has
seen its government funding slashed by
more than a quarter in what appears to be
an act of retribution against founder and
music director Iván Fischer’s criticism of
Hungary’s Orbán regime. The orchestra has
been forced to reduce its outreach work and
presumably its concert activities will also
suffer. This again exemplifies the perception
of music as expendable, with politicians
seemingly happy to sacrifice arts projects in
a way that they would not other initiatives.
In any case, the resilience of the Orchestra
Mozart and the EUYO offer hope; let’s hope
that this ensemble finds a way to rebuild its
former strength. CM
katy wright
News Editor
Repairing
reputations
©MarkMcNulty
From strength to strength: In Harmony Liverpool
CM0716_022_R_Katy column.indd 22 20/06/2016 13:18:31

23. july 2016 classicalmusicmagazine.org 23
inside view
A
letter from our old friend Johanna
Platt reminds us that this year
marks the 50th anniversary of the
founding of Kent Opera. Well, it does if you
cheat a bit – it’s 50 years since the founda-
tion of Regional Opera, which became
Kent in 1969. It would be a cause for much
celebration and Albert Herring-style bunt-
keith clarke
Consultant Editor
ing had the company survived, but it was
effectively killed off by the Arts Council
in 1989 after 20 glorious years. Some who
should have known better spoke out against
it at the time, but for my money it was an
innovative company that took opera to areas
where it was thin on the ground, commis-
sioned new works for children and did great
work in developing new audiences. Its first
music director was Roger Norrington and
it gave Jonathan Miller his first chance to
direct opera. It deserved every support.
It also gave me one the worst hangovers
of my career. After a run of performances
of Don Giovanni in Singapore in 1988, the
orchestra flew back a day earlier than planned
for some reason, and being a good-natured
bunch as well as brilliant players, a good
number of them gave me a little voucher that
they would now be unable to use. Each little
pink slip could be exchanged for a Singapore
Sling in the Long Bar at Raffles. It would
have seemed ungrateful not to redeem them
all, and I put in a heroic effort before passing
out under a palm tree.
Kent Opera was full of happy memories,
and founder Norman Platt moved heaven
and earth to sustain a company that was
a lifeline to young performers and put on
so many brilliant shows. Johanna Platt has
put together some 16 CDs and 9 DVDs
of performances, interviews and presenta-
tions telling the Kent Opera story. If there
is any justice, the BBC will be persuaded
to make use of these for a 50th-anniversary
programme.
Singapore
slings and
circus acts
A recent trip to New York was a good op-
portunity to catch up with its executive and
artistic director Clive Gillinson for the first
time since he left the London Symphony in
2005. He has done great things at Carnegie,
yet was almost stopped in his tracks last year
when the Trump-like billionaire chairman
took against him, fired him, and told him he
was banned from entering the building. ‘He
tried to chop my head off,’ he told me. Luckily
the board knows a first-class manager when it
sees one, so got rid of the chairman and had
Gillinson back at his desk the next day.
Probably the proudest achievement of
his Carnegie years to date has been buying
up neighbouring property to create a new
education wing, which opened in autumn
2014. There was a bit of grumbling about
the property acquisition, but the result was a
spanking new facility with 24 new rooms and
a state-of-the-art home for the archives.
Just as impressive in its way is the newly
opened National Blues Museum in St Louis,
Missouri, where an impromptu demonstration
on a player-piano set the scene for a lavishly il-
lustrated walk through the history of a musical
form that had so many offspring. As is the way
with modern museums, there is a good deal of
gadgetry to play with, but the audio and video
history of the blues was more than enough
to keep us off the streets for a morning. One
curious omission: there was no mention of a
unique blues created by pianist, broadcaster
and composer David Owen Norris, who
turned up at my 40th birthday party a worry-
ing number of years ago, proudly presenting
the manuscript of the Keith Clarke Blues. It
contains the requisite 12 bars and bears the
instruction: ‘Write your own words’.
The quaint seaside town of Aldeburgh seems
to grow more twee every year. It’s like walking
through a movie set where all the actors are
Conservative third agers, where honest local
traders have been ousted by fancy theme-park
shops selling overpriced dainties. Luckily, its
festival leans in the other direction and is cer-
tainly getting no less wacky in Roger Wright’s
hands. This year’s opener put a circus troupe
on stage along with soprano Sarah Tynan for a
programme centred on Britten’s Les Illumina-
tions. They jumped, they juggled, they swung
on ropes – and that was just the orchestra.
Singing on a hoop that disappears into the
roof has to be a new challenge, so hats off to
Sarah Tynan. If the music business ever fails
her, she could run off and join the circus. CM
All lit up: Circus Illuminations
©BENHOPPER
Missouri marvel: National Blues Museum
CM0716_023_R_Inside View.indd 23 20/06/2016 12:01:28

24. 24 classicalmusicmagazine.org july 2016
OpINION
T
en new, ten-minute operas by ten
composers and writers created with
ten groups of young people – in
partnership with ten organisations across
ten areas of England – and performed by
many more. That is, in short, Mahogany
Opera Group’s newest and most ambitious
project, Snappy Operas.
Snappy Operas will be the most intensive
period of commissioning and devising that
Mahogany has ever undertaken. Although
we’re used to creating new opera in new
ways, this is the first time we take it out
of the rehearsal room and into the class-
room, bringing young participants into the
process. This will extend our reach further
than ever before, enabling thousands of
primary school children across the country
to benefit from the experience of crafting
and performing an opera.
Snappy Operas is inspired by former
Master of the Queen’s Music Malcolm
Williamson’s series of short operas for
children, Cassations (1967-82). The project
is designed for young people aged seven to
11 (Key Stage 2), to introduce all the facets
of making an opera, and places them at
the heart of the creative process. At every
stage they will take a leading role, allowing
them to develop musical and performance
abilities, and explore their own creative
skills and impulses. As testament to this, the
name itself, Snappy Operas, was coined by a
young performer from Pembroke Academy
of Music when taking part in Mahogany’s
Brundibár production last year.
Each of the ten new pieces will start
its journey by bringing together a com-
poser, writer, and director with a group of
children to discuss and devise initial ideas,
experiment with musical material, gradu-
ally bringing the opera into existence. From
there, young people will work with music
leaders, directors and repetiteurs to stage the
works, leading to a series of performances
across the country. And this is just the
beginning; once all ten Snappy Operas are
complete Mahogany will publish the scores,
and further resource materials – audio
tracks, costume and prop templates, teach-
ing tools – to enable them to be recreated
by primary schools and youth groups, with
the intention that they can be mounted in a
single day using classroom materials.
It’s not only the young people who will
benefit from the project. We are also offer-
ing a complementary programme of profes-
sional development for the artists involved
and local practitioners in the regions in
which we are working. Personally, I’m very
Whatbetterwaytointroduceyoungpeopleto
operathantogetthemtocreateonefromscratch?
FREDERIC WAKE-WALKER
 ‘Creating opera is an inclusive activity’ – children take part in a Mahogany Opera Group workshop
©JamesBerry
CM0716_024-025_R_Opinion 1.indd 24 20/06/2016 11:45:18

25. JULY 2016 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 25
OPINION
excited about the opportunity we have as a
company to bring together such an exciting
array of creative voices. They include those
who are new to working with young people,
more established artists, and creators who
are starting to make a name for themselves.
In the first year of the project we are work-
ing with composers including Emily Hall,
Errollyn Wallen, Luke Styles, Jamie Man
and Luke Carver Goss and writers Toby
Litt, Ian McMillan, Peter Cant and Sjón.
The impact of Snappy Operas will, I be-
lieve, be enormous and long lasting. Despite
commonly-held misconceptions, creating
opera is an inclusive activity. I have seen
first-hand the transformative power of music
and drama on young participants when they
are given these kinds of opportunities; the
confidence that comes with learning how to
express and share ideas in an environment
of mutual respect, to create something of
which they can be proud.
We know, however, that these experi-
ences are not available as widely and equally
as they could and should be. Geography,
socio-economic background, and pressure
on schools’ time and resources all have the
potential to create barriers. Snappy Operas
aims to help counter this. Not only does the
structure of the project defy the notions of
opera as ‘long’, ‘difficult’ or ‘expensive’, but
by working closely with partner organisa-
tions across England we can identify where
this work is most needed. Mahogany exists
to stretch the boundaries of what opera
can be and who it is for, and working with
children and young people is a fundamental
strand of our exploring the ‘who it is for’.
Through Snappy Operas we hope to inspire
generations of young people to see opera as
being for them, making it their own and
allowing the art form to thrive. CM
Frederic Wake-Walker is artistic director of the
Mahogany Opera Group
www.mahoganyoperagroup.co.uk/productions/
snappy-operas
Join our growing membership
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Make us your ISM.
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Nicola Corbishley
Soprano
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Just the beginning: Frederic Wake-Walker
CM0716_024-025_R_Opinion 1.indd 25 17/06/2016 15:39:20

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27. july 2016 classicalmusicmagazine.org 27
OpINION
O
ne of the more interesting digital
streaming-related news nug-
gets to emerge in recent months
was the announcement in February that
the Recording Industry Association of
America would now be counting streams
of individual tracks towards its Gold and
Platinum Album Awards, with 1,500 on-
demand song streams now equalling ten
track sales and thus one album sale.
On the one hand, this can simply be
viewed as unavoidable progress given the
steadily rising figures for music stream-
ing; in May, Spotify announced that its
pace of growth had actually increased
since the launch of Apple Music last June,
with paid subscribers rising from 20
million to 30 million, while Apple Music
itself has so far gained 13 million users for
its own subscriber-only service.
However, a more doom-and-gloom
angle is the implication this has regard-
ing the culture of the concept album.
After all, what’s the point in artists and
record companies bothering over carefully
crafted programmes if from henceforth
consumers don’t listen to albums as a
whole, and if complete album sales are no
longer markers of success?
Right now, it’s hard to know how far we
can apply all this to classical, given that
the genre only made up 1% of total music
streams in 2015 (BPI). Still, I suspect
we’ll see that percentage rise over time,
particularly given the evidence of an as-
yet untapped classical streaming audience;
classical accounts for 6% of average music
distribution across online streaming and
social media (Next Big Sound), while
Grammofy, the newly-launched special-
ist classical streaming service I curate
and present on, was experiencing around
1,000 page visits a day during its open
beta phase, and without any marketing.
As a result, I still sat up when I heard it
suggested recently that streaming would
lead to classical listening being based on
work-by-work, rather than album-by-
album, consumption. ‘Really?’ I thought.
Well planned albums can survive the age
of streaming
CHARLOTTE GARDNER
To first nail my concept album colours
to the mast, one of the most pleasure-
filled aspects of life as a recordings critic
is allowing myself to be taken on the
intellectual journeys so many artists plot
out for the listener over the course of their
recorded programmes. When I think of
knockout albums that have hit my desk
just over the past six months, there was
Janine Jansen’s pairing of the Brahms and
first Bartók violin concertos for Decca;
a combination that had never occurred
to me or indeed to anyone else, but one
that seemed so right once done. Or Vilde
Frang’s pairing for Warner Classics of the
Britten and Korngold violin concertos,
lifting the Korngold out of the context
of Hollywood and into the context of the
second world war.
Likewise, it’s often the ingeniously
programmed discs that continue their
relationship with my stereo years on from
their initial release, such as baritone Wil-
liam Berger and pianist Iain Burnside’s
ingenious Insomnia album for Delphian,
which took 17 songs from Mozart to
Raymond Yiu and created a new narrative
around a sleepless lovesick man.
We must hang on tight to the idea of
such rich listening experiences as these,
and champion them loudly, and I don’t see
that opinion as incompatible with my also
being a cheerleader for digital streaming,
because rather than anticipating that the
one modus operandi (ie streaming) will
torpedo the other (ie album), I actually
hope that the two can enrich each other.
First, I suspect that it’s streaming that
holds the key to eventually expanding the
listenership for classical per se. Second,
digital streaming doesn’t necessarily mean
the death of the recorded programme;
the whole raison d’être of Grammofy’s
weekly themed collections is to take
listeners on conceptual journeys, and
while the works in these collections have
certainly been pulled from the context of
their original albums, we’re still hopefully
introducing new classical listeners to the
joys of hearing works within the context
of a musical journey.
Plus, as each work also contains a link
to purchase it, we’re presenting people
with the option of also hearing any given
work within the context of its original al-
bum, while at the same time earning clas-
sical labels some download sales. And that
last point doesn’t appear to be pie-in-the-
sky thinking either; when I interviewed
Signum Records’ Steve Long for Gramo-
phone earlier this year, he commented that
listeners appeared to be streaming Signum
recordings and then downloading, every
thousand streams on Apple equating to an
iTunes sale.
Ultimately therefore, I think the future
of the whole classical album probably lies
in the hands of artists and record labels
themselves; certainly, if streaming rockets
then lazily compiled programmes won’t
elicit whole-album success. However,
beautifully considered programmes
should survive for as long as artists con-
tinue to make them. CM
Cheerleader: Charlotte Gardner
CM0716_027_R_Opinion 2 Gardner.indd 27 13/06/2016 11:50:39

28. 28 classicalmusicmagazine.org july 2016
OpINION
O
n the face of it, symphony orches-
tras are a strange medium in which
to conduct contemporary inter-
national cultural relations. They are outsized
beasts: expensive to transport, often playing
standard classical repertoire from nations
unconnected with the orchestra itself; and
dissociated from the life of the community in
which they are appearing.
The subject came to the fore a few weeks ago
when one of the most admired examples of
orchestral cultural diplomacy, the European
Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) announced
it was closing due to withdrawal of its EU
subsidy – a poor decision, to say the least, and
one which it was good to see reversed follow-
ing Jean-Claude Juncker’s intervention. The
EUYO’s advantage, rather like Daniel Baren-
boim’s West-East Divan Orchestra, is that its
core membership is multi-cultural; crossing
boundaries and religions in a way that more
conventional bands can’t quite match – keep-
ing bridges open to Russia, for example, and
even accommodating Armenian and Azerbai-
jani musicians, despite the traumatic history
between those two nations. Like Barenboim,
Marshall Marcus, the CEO of the EUYO,
would emphasise that ‘It isn’t an orchestra for
peace, but an orchestra against ignorance’.
On several occasions orchestras have been
used as ‘blunt instruments’ in unambiguous
political gestures which are, more often than
not, totally ineffective. One of the most pecu-
liar of them was the New York Philharmonic
Orchestra’s much-vaunted trip to North Korea
in 2008, intended to open doors and herald a
new era in the DPRK’s relationship with the
US. The reality of relations between North
Korea and much of the rest of the world,
however, challenged this premise – and the
grand orchestral gesture of playing Wagner,
Dvořák and Gershwin in Pyongyang now
seems a somewhat misguided gesture. At least
Condoleezza Rice (US Secretary of State at the
time, and herself an accomplished musician)
was pretty sanguine about the likely impact:
‘I don’t think we should get carried away,’ she
said, ‘about what listening to the concert is go-
ing to do in North Korea’. How right she was.
Even crasser is the Maryinsky’s recent
concert with Gergiev in the ruins of Palmyra
– an odd event that saw the orchestra fly in,
play some Russian music in the middle of the
day and leave, almost immediately! Bizarre...
Orchestral manoeuvres: aid to cultural
relations or diplomatic window dressing?
GRAHAM SHEFFIELD
 Digital takeover: The Philharmonia’s Virtual Orchestra will use technology to bring orchestral music to
new audiences on their own terms and beyond the traditional concert hall
but does this necessarily mean that orchestras
don’t have a part to play in cultural relations?
I would strongly argue that they do – but that
we also need to look closely at the rationale,
the model, the repertoire and the methodolo-
gy, as well as the potential legacy of such work.
Amoreconsideredapproachwasadopted
bytheBBC,inpartnershipwiththeBritish
Council,in2014.AsaleaduptotheGlasgow
CommonwealthGamestheBBCScottish
SymphonyOrchestra–underitsenterprising
CEOGavinReid–plannedathree-stagetour
acrossIndia;andatrueculturalexchangebe-
tweenmusiciansfrombothtraditions.Students
fromboththeKMMusicConservatoryin
ChennaiandRoyalConservatoireinScotland
wereinvolved,andfollowingthetour,theIn-
dianmusiciansplayedagainwiththeirScottish
peersatCelticConnectionsinGlasgow.Itwas
aconcertedattempttoreachasmanypeople
throughthecollaborationaspossible;andto
sharetraditionsfromeastandwest.
Reid sees the coupling of UK soft power ob-
jectives with culture as a great thing, reporting
that both professional musicians and students
found the experience a wholly positive one.
There is a desire to do something similar again
but, with too little investment, what was a
great and successful enterprise will not turn
into a world-changing one.
Still, I retain some misgivings. The way
western classical music is presented to those
from a different musical culture can be a very
sensitive issue, particularly in this instance,
where this was the music of the colonial power.
A different approach was adopted by the
BBC National Orchestra of Wales in its ven-
ture to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the
Welsh colonisation of Patagonia. Though the
word ‘colony’ remains, there are none of the
stigmas of British India, nor of the dichotomy
of musical languages.
Michael Garvey, the orchestra’s general
manager, is pragmatic regarding the value
in taking Welsh musicians elsewhere to play
Brahms: musicians and audiences benefit in
many ways. An added benefit in this case was
the celebration of a remote outpost of Welsh
culture, now fully integrated into Argentina.
CM0716_028-029_R_Opinion 3 Shefield.indd 28 21/06/2016 15:49:43