BBC Shutters BBC Singers, Announces 20% Pay Cut For All Other Orchestras

[rando]

The cuts will see the end of the BBC Singers, its in-house chamber choir, resulting in the loss of 20 posts.
There will also be a 20% reduction of roles in the BBC's English orchestras - Symphony, Concert and Philharmonic.
The BBC said it was part of a plan that "prioritises quality, agility and impact".

In the time since this was announced last week, over 700 composers have joined the increasing numbers expressing concerns over ability to sustain or host arts programs in the UK. Removal of public funding and access granted to the larger population outside London these larger bodies served to provide is potentially a tipping point in already fraught relations strained by legal barriers preventative of crossing the Channel.

Disclaimer: Linked article below is a flushed out PR statement which undoubtedly has a counterpart fulfilling BBC's longstanding policy of fairly covering news.

BBC cuts to classical singers and orchestras labelled 'utterly devastating'

The BBC Singers will be closed, while there will also be cuts to three BBC English orchestras.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[rando]

Appears BBC has yielded to outcry in the case of BBC Singers being reinstated.

The largesse of cuts appear to still be in place. Whether that means a 20% reduction in salaried orchestral positions or passing the buck further is yet to be publicly announced.

“The BBC has received approaches from a number of organisations offering alternative funding models for the BBC Singers. We have agreed with the Musicians’ Union that we will suspend the proposal to close the BBC Singers while we actively explore these options.

“If viable, these alternative options would secure the future of the ensemble. We can also confirm the Singers will appear in this year’s BBC Proms.

“We know that the BBC Singers are much loved across the classical community and their professionalism, quality and standing has never been in question. We have said throughout these were difficult decisions.

“Therefore, we want to fully explore the options that have been brought to us to see if there is another way forward. The BBC still needs to make savings and still plans to invest more widely in the future of choral singing across the UK.

“The BBC, as the biggest commissioner of music and one of the biggest employers of musicians in the country, recognises it has a vital role to play in supporting orchestral and choral music.

“We will continue to engage with the Musicians’ Union and the other BBC unions about our proposals on the BBC’s English orchestras. We are committed to meaningful consultation and to avoiding compulsory redundancies, wherever possible.”

 

[adrianywu]

In the time since this was announced last week, over 700 composers have joined the increasing numbers expressing concerns over ability to sustain or host arts programs in the UK. Removal of public funding and access granted to the larger population outside London these larger bodies served to provide is potentially a tipping point in already fraught relations strained by legal barriers preventative of crossing the Channel.

Disclaimer: Linked article below is a flushed out PR statement which undoubtedly has a counterpart fulfilling BBC's longstanding policy of fairly covering news.

BBC cuts to classical singers and orchestras labelled 'utterly devastating'

The BBC Singers will be closed, while there will also be cuts to three BBC English orchestras.

www.bbc.co.uk

A string of very poor, even catastrophic policies, of which Brexit was only one, has left the UK facing an economic calamity. When food banks are running out of provisions and some kids are only having one meal per day, the arts is hardly a funding priority. I can foresee British orchestras facing a very bleak future.

 

[Keith_W]

 

[rando]

Careful on, I've got a full DVD set "Rumpole of the Bailey" to mine culinary and artistic fanfares peering through a near agricultural level of examinations.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Appears BBC has yielded to outcry in the case of BBC Singers being reinstated.

The largesse of cuts appear to still be in place. Whether that means a 20% reduction in salaried orchestral positions or passing the buck further is yet to be publicly announced.

Maybe the BBC should cut back on its eye wateringly expensive and frankly poor 24/7 news channel, stop paying it's frankly undeserving "star" sports presenters such frankly undeserved mega salaries, and put the cash instead into frankly way more deserving areas like music, the BBC Singers a case in point.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Careful on, I've got a full DVD set "Rumpole of the Bailey" to mine culinary and artistic fanfares peering through a near agricultural level of examinations.

Ah Rando, now you're talking, when the BBC made proper contributions to the culture (despite Rumpole being ITV lol), instead of woke crap like the upcoming Great Expectations that will be more Peaky Blinders than Charles Dickens.

 

[rando]

Seems worth noting instigation for posting this topic was an update on the larger concerns of centralizing the arts around cosmopolitan arenas susceptible to large donors. Partaking in a donnybrook out on the field directly before filing in to sing like angels, as freshened wounds seep through muddy clothing, is a uniquely British undertaking. Turning both into a commodity is a strike across the worthwhile elements being interred through these acts.

At least in the US, life would be all the poorer without hearing a fisherman out singing across the lake or small community gatherings outdoors producing music devoid of popular intent. Never enough is a constant that is enriched by these moments. A great many in history have taken hold of their being through such small nourishment.

Ah Rando, now you're talking, when the BBC made proper contributions to the culture (despite Rumpole being ITV lol), instead of woke crap like the upcoming Great Expectations that will be more Peaky Blinders than Charles Dickens.

I'll do better to discern proper associations next time.

Hard to associate woke culture with that show. Dénouement of the plot hardly depends upon a ripple capable of disturbing a baby. Talk about a slow moving comedy that hides it's laughs well.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Rumpole would have laughed like a drain at today's woketards. No, I'm talking about the 2023 Great Expectations where Mrs. Haversham is an opium demon. Don't QUITE recall that in the original text.
Not so much Peaky Blinders Dickens as Peaked Dickens.

 

[Kingrex]

I stopped going to many local theatre because the content is not my taste. I don't know, but I assume the arts are also struggling in the US for such reasons. The last few orchestra I went to were so empty I could only scratch my head and wonder how they paid the musicians. It wasn't from ticket sales.

 

[rando]

Rumpole would have laughed like a drain at today's woketards. No, I'm talking about the 2023 Great Expectations where Mrs. Haversham is an opium demon. Don't QUITE recall that in the original text.
Not so much Peaky Blinders Dickens as Peaked Dickens.

Or are we are talking about the opposite event where obliterating the senses with all manner of disfiguration repels a majority back towards focusing on self reliance inside their own sane outlook?

Ostensibly reestablishing inertia to the high end pursuit or at least those focused on music worth recording for playback in the high end.

 

[bkatbamna]

The BBC will never do anything like "I, Claudius" ever again. It is only a shell of its former self because it has been too busy checking off all the PC check boxes instead of quality writing and acting.

 

[Al M.]

I stopped going to many local theatre because the content is not my taste. I don't know, but I assume the arts are also struggling in the US for such reasons. The last few orchestra I went to were so empty I could only scratch my head and wonder how they paid the musicians. It wasn't from ticket sales.

Boston Symphony Hall is usually fully packed during concerts. But the sales of the (often very) expensive tickets *) don't cover the musicians' salaries either. These institutions do have their sponsors.

_______________

*) still cheaper than tickets for big pop/rock acts