I’m
not a great fan of Norman Lebrecht, but he has written an excellent article in
the latest issue of The Critic:
https://thecritic.co.uk/defend-the-arts-before-its-too-late/
Incidentally,
have we heard anything from the new
culture minister, Lisa Nandy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th-OVpcr_jE
‘The arts are being systematically undermined and devalued and
incompetently treated. That's where we are. That's the sort of country we are
at the moment. And it's a disgrace.’
Responding to a newly-published Campaign for the Arts report, Melvyn Bragg calls on the UK to address the languishing state of the arts
as a matter of urgency.
Read the State of the Arts
report by the Campaign for the Arts and the University of Warwick here: https://www.campaignforthearts.org/reports/the-state-of-the-arts/
Apologies for another long pause between posts on this site,
partly owing to having been in Intensive Care in Ipswich Hospital for eleven
days followed by necessary convalescence, which is proceeding as hoped for, with
no expected long-term consequences.
As for the General Election: It is a shame that the election of the excellent Carla Denyer for the Greens in Bristol Central has knocked out Thangam Debbonaire, who would have been Culture Secretary in the new Government. A cellist, educated at Chets and the RCM, she would have been just the person to encourage recovery in this sector, though the PM apparently plays the flute, recorder, violin and piano, was a junior exhibitioner at Guildhall and has declared that playing in an orchestra gave him 'life skills'. Improbably, even deputy PM Angela Rayner is said to be an opera enthusiast! So perhaps there is some cause for mild optimism, though their minds will no doubt be on more 'important' matters, at least initially. The actual new Culture Secretary is Lisa Nandy, whose biography reveals no special interest or involvement in the Arts in general or music in particular, so we will have to wait and see what happens.