Challenging times

What a moment for the arts! What a moment for the UK! The ramifications of a world in financial crisis, of a country that faces a generation of debt, of trust funds worth far less than they were a year ago and with reduced income, and a country were money is targeted to the 2012 Olympics, must be taken seriously. The implications to artists and musicians are profound and will surely increase over the next year.

What do successful performers face? Surely soloists will be pushed to reduce their fees by promoters whose income is inevitably going to be considerably lower. Orchestral players may have fewer gigs. Many parents may ponder whether they can afford private tuition. At a time when budgets are squeezed, what plight should composers expect?

Challenging times provide opportunities, and a chance for reflection and innovation. An enthusiastic embrace of technology and its merits, combined with a sense of vision that thinks innovatively and acts innovatively, is surely something we must all embrace and welcome.

Let us look at the grass roots. My colleague, Dr. Rosemary Dunn, has rightly pointed out that music is the only subject on the school curriculum where the teachers are under no obligation to keep genuinely up-to-date. Imagine a science, history or geography teacher getting away with teaching virtually nothing that emerged after 1945. In the music curricula, ‘contemporary classical’ is virtually ignored. Post 1960s rock and pop is studied, and rightly so. But the balance between styles is ill considered and frequently politically motivated (on a socio-political dimension). Both composers and performers must put themselves in positions to be able to influence this situation for the better, so that composers and performers among the school population are equally encouraged and perceptions change over time.

Roger Wright, Controller of BBC Radio 3 and the new Director of the Proms, is leading the promoters’ path. Composers must seize initiatives and continually aspire for the best. Performers must play challenging new work (and please not opt for ‘accessible’ or ‘easy listening’ options). Promoters must enthuse and entice. And exactly who are promoters? They are leaders of arts councils and foundations, directors of concert halls, recital venues, theatres and festivals, heads of music in schools, colleges and universities, teachers at every level, they are performers and they are composers, and indeed, even audience members promote via their own enthusiasm.

What do I want to bring to the ISM’s table? I have no specific agenda. I will aim to address the considerable needs of the current difficult time, and to encourage common sense values to music-making and music promotion – and to do my best to make sure performers and composers are appropriately recognised and supported. I will do my utmost to help make sure that the ISM represents the very best aspects of performance and composition at a time of which we should all be immensely proud.

Paul Max Edlin is the incoming Chair of the ISM's Performers & Composers Section. This is an abridged version of his address from our 2009 annual conference, Exploring New Frontiers.

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