Cuts threaten the future of Lancashire orchestra (From Chorley Citizen)
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Cuts threaten the future of Lancashire Sinfonietta
12:00pm Tuesday 29th January 2013 in East Lancashire
By Emma Cruces, Reporter
The Lancashire Sinfonietta performs at the Prince's Trust gala concert at Blackburn Cathedral
EAST Lancashire is in danger of losing its cultural ‘pride and joy’ due to local funding cuts.
Lancashire Sinfonietta faces losing 50 per cent of its budget, an amount of around £60,000 to £70,000 following the withdrawal of funding from Lancashire County Council.
The group now faces making bids to various funding pots alongside dozens of competitors.
The sinfonietta is made up of A-list soloists, directors and orchestral musicians, whose aim is to keep a passion for music within the county.
The group has bases in Clitheroe, Burnley and Nelson and features local musicians such as principle violist David Aspin from Accrington.
It said it now needed to focus on remaining afloat and providing the same level of participation in the county’s arts scene as previously.
Fiona Sinclair, general manager of Lancashire Sinfonietta, said: “We’ve been working in East Lancashire for 17 years. Last year we did a full scale opera at Accrington Town Hall and if we scale back as much as 50 per cent of our spending, there will be no funds for that kind of thing.
“We will be struggling to keep ourselves afloat, and we perform to around 12,000 local people every year.
“We have become an independent charity which was really encouraged by the county council so we can bid for funding.
“However due to cuts in the Arts Council budget we will be competing with many other groups in the same boat.
“If we cannot find a way it will be a tragedy for Lancashire as we produce international quality art and encourage the next generation to do more of the same”.
Ian Watson, the county council’s head of cultural services, said: “We have long supported the Lanc-ashire Sinfonietta.
“We fund around 20 key arts organisations across Lancashire, which apply to us for annual funding through the Central Gate-way funding process.
“This process is now open, with £150,000 available for 2013/14, and we would welcome bids from all of these organisations, in-cluding the Sinfonietta.
“However the county council has had to reduce its budget by £205m over three years from 2011 to 2014, and the arts will have to make their contribution to the savings”.
Comments(3)
DEO VOLENTE
says...
8:37pm Tue 29 Jan 13
Deus Vobiscum
Morris Stemp
says...
4:05pm Fri 15 Feb 13
In their own way, the musicians who play for Lancashire Sinfonietta have already taken a pay cut. As mainly Freelance musicians, there is much less work around, as funding bodies as well as local authorities do not have adequate funding from central government. Indeed, it's always been acknowledged that they never have had proper funding, and everything that arts organisations do such as this is done on a very tight budget - some would say a shoestring. Most of the musicians freelancing in this genre have to supplement what they earn from performance with other strands in music, for example, instrumental teaching, outreach work or playing in Sure Start Centres (what's left of them), and have to have portfolio careers in order to sustain themselves. They are indeed 'A list' players, but contrary to common belief this does not make them high earners. Most would also be hard pressed to even bring home the current National Average Wage, mainly because of the chronic underfunding in this sector, especially currently. The musicians who play for the Lancashire Sinfonietta are in the main each from Lancashire, and get together to support where they first started to learn their instruments, so that they can give something back to the community that they are from, many of whom also choose to be based in Lancashire too. Classical music is no more elitist than any other form of music - people simply enjoy the type of music that they do, and few peoples taste encompass every genre, but surely every genre should be made available to people in every community. All these musicians would earn twice the amount they do were they to move over to mainland Europe, or further afield, and for less work, where quite rightly all music is better funded and accessible to everyone, and no genre is seen as elitist..There is plenty of paying demand for their concerts, houses are usually full, but ticket prices are kept low precisely so that music like this does not become the preserve of the rich, but be part of what's available to the community. Thus, proper funding is key to all this, and be assured it does not end up in the pockets of the performers.
Legal Beagle says...
6:47pm Tue 29 Jan 13
I'm quite sure they wouldn't miss one or two of them.