The UK’s only full-time professional choir is set to disappear, while one in five jobs are at risk in the UK broadcaster’s other musical formations. The BBC’s new strategy for classical music has had the effect of an electroshock in the industry. The project, which aims to “prioritize quality, agility and impact”, provides for the dismantling of its chamber choir and endangers 20% of salaried jobs in its orchestras. According to Simon Webb, responsible for orchestras and choirs within the group, it is above all a problem of financing: “These changes will give us a sustainable financial model for our orchestras, so that we can invest in their long-term future,” he assures the British press. The BBC will work with a wider selection of UK choirs, and increase its investment in educational projects.
The Musician’s Union denounced a decision “devastating”, and the Finn Sakari Oramo, who conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra, was indignant at this “overt vandalism”. Some 20 artists and conductors working for the broadcaster wrote a letter to its director expressing their “incredulity”. “The ramifications of such improvidence are incalculable,” they write, insisting on the consequences for “future generations of singers”. Founded in 1924, BBC Singers are internationally recognized and regularly perform at national events. The ensemble is a staple of the “Proms”, the BBC’s summer performances, and has a varied repertoire, with more than a hundred contemporary pieces composed in particular by Pierre Boulez, Thea Musgrave and Benjamin Britten.
The English National Opera has managed to release aid for another year
The broadcaster’s orchestras aren’t the only ones having to tighten their belts. Last November, Arts Council England, the institution responsible for distributing government investment and National Lottery funds in arts and culture projects, announced drastic cuts to some of the best-known ensembles. That of chamber music Britten Sinfonia has lost the entire sum normally allocated to it, i.e. half of its total budget, and has launched an appeal for donations to raise 1 million pounds (1.13 million euros ). The London Philharmonic saw its grants cut by 12%, while orchestras elsewhere in the country saw their share grow in a clear effort to decentralise. Major opera houses were also losing funds: after initially seeing its £12.6million in funding evaporate, English National Opera has managed to release aid for a further year but says its future remains “uncertain”. The Glyndebourne Opera also had to cancel its tour due to lack of funds.
The BBC, which relies on British television license fees, is looking to save money after the levy was frozen for two years. This fee could disappear completely in 2027.