What did music give this intelligent but socially awkward little girl with the stripy hair? It gave her a place to belong, to make friends, to be herself & express herself, & learn to manage her anxiety. Most importantly, music gave her a voice & she isn’t afraid to use it.
Why do we need the arts? An almost-blind 88-year old recites a Shakespeare sonnet conjured from her memory, and a rowdy crowd is quieted and listens in enraptured silence. Magnificent.
Judi Dench was on Graham Norton last night to push her new book about her life and work with Shakespeare. After making the point we quote Shakespeare daily without knowing it, this happened:
@JeremyClarkson
A clumsy reference?! You demonstrated profound misogyny and essentially incited violence against a woman that you also say you ‘hate at a cellular level’. It’s beyond the limits of acceptability and this isn’t sufficient as an ‘apology’.
Whatever your view of Prince Harry, he could have written a book about the British press, intrusion, and the tabloidisation of the British broadsheets without blowing up his relationship with his family to the point of no return.
#HarryTheInterview
Prime Minister, before proposing to extend the burden on Sixth Formers by forcing them to study maths until they’re 18, why don’t you try improving the state education system for young people up to the age of 16, including investing in and supporting music teaching in schools…
It is now £535 to buy a first class anytime return from Liverpool to London on
@AvantiWestCoast
if you buy your ticket at the station, for a 2 hour train ride. You could fly to Barbados for less. Our railways are a complete joke.
#RipOffBritain
I represented the racist police officers in the civil case that arose out of the Stephen Lawrence murder. I also represented doctors unfairly accused of negligence. The Cab Rank rule means barristers represent all sorts of people so our legal system retains fairness at its heart.
The Greens now hold as many seats as Reform (4), so why haven’t they been given as much airtime? Even the LibDems (60, so 15x’s more seats than Reform) have barely been featured, yet Reform are hogging the limelight. This has to stop.
Classical music IS music. It’s always left out of end-of-year ‘best of music’ lists, which cover all other genres, and is hardly seen on TV. How can we expect to improve audience attendance and involve young people, if mainstream media and TV call it specialised and exclude it?
Hands up who took a 'low value degree' & wouldn't be where you are without it. Hands up who thinks EVERY young person should have the opportunity to do the same. Hands up who thinks higher education shouldn't be reduced to 'produces high earners'.
Is opera elitist? NO. Is opera accessible? YES. Does it deserve to be properly funded as a sector? YES. Do young people love opera if they’re exposed to it without the prejudices of adults getting in the way? YES.
👀
@michelledonelan
@DCMS
@HENLEYDARREN
@ace_national
Just to give you an idea of the atmosphere at the Schools Matinee performance
@RoyalOperaHouse
of Magic Flute and what it means to us all, performers and the primary school children attending. These were the curtain calls! We need more music in schools!!!
Morale amongst British opera singers, for whom singing is our actual job NOT A HOBBY, is at an all-time low. If you see one in person, give them a hug, they’ll need it. Opera singers are for life, not just for Christmas…
“Why can’t the 93% of children in our state schools receive the same musical offering that the 7% in private schools take for granted?”
Lord Bragg quoted
@Howard_Goodall
in criticising unequal access to arts education.
I would lay a bet Kirsty Young was being screamed at in her earpiece to shut him up, as he talked unprompted about the behaviour of
@ace_national
&
@BBC
towards classical music, but oops. BRAVO JEG.
After the bleakest day for classical music and opera in my lifetime in the UK, it beggars belief how little support there is for our art form and puts us to shame compared with all other European states, who invest in and value their national world-class cultural institutions 1/3
A statement by
@HellTweet
, one of the world’s leading composers, is something
@BBC
should sit up and take notice of: “the BBC now apparently wants to join the march to the bottom by cutting its invaluable institutions.”
#JohnAdams
A Year In Music At The BBC on
@BBCTwo
. And no mention of classical music whatsoever. The closest was Cynthia Erivo at the
@bbcproms
. The Proms lasts 8 weeks, some televised concerts, surely one could have been featured?! Sidelining the work of the BBC Orchestras is an own goal.
WORLD-CLASS MUSIC at the
#Coronation
yet future generations won’t hear music of this quality if the government doesn’t fully invest in music education & support British classical music. By diminishing us, you diminish our international reputation
@ace_national
@DCMS
@hmtreasury
Today is a cautiously optimistic day for
@BBCSingers
, and happy they’ll be performing
@bbcproms
. With thanks to the hundreds of thousands from all over the world who have demonstrated that the UK is a world leader in choral singing, something to celebrate.
Why does society embrace the term ‘elite’ in sport but consider it a dirty word in music? ‘Elite sportspeople’ are paid £££, yet classical musicians & opera singers are told to ‘get a real job’ and face perpetual denigration of our artform in the media & in funding decisions 😡
EVERY CHILD should be given the chance to learn to read music, play an instrument, and become a musician if they wish, no matter their economic or family background. Music education, & YES that includes classical music, brings recognised educational benefits and lifelong skills.
The power of singing and learning to use your voice is beyond dispute. My daughter (then 5) who has multiple learning difficulties, was struggling to learn to read until I suggested she try singing the words (recitative!), and then magic happened (and yes, I was crying)…🥹
Students and those with no photo ID, PLEASE ARRANGE A POSTAL VOTE. That can be done now, well in advance, and guarantee your vote. This is a critical election, and one timed to exclude the student vote (photo ID req affected local election turnout).
There isn’t a covert campaign to diminish & sideline classical music and opera in the UK, you say?
In the past 6 months:
•
@E_N_O
,
@BrittenSinfonia
&
@PsapphaEnsemble
removed from the National Portfolio by
@ace_national
, ENO must move out of London.
• All orchestras and opera
This is the first time in years that I’ve heard a party leader openly discuss music and its importance in education, training and skills, which is heartening. Hopefully
@Kier_Starmer
will translate his words into action when he becomes PM.
I have such fond memories of playing music at school.
It doesn't just give young people joy, it teaches the skills and creativity essential to future learning and work.
That's why I will change the curriculum so that all young people have access to music.
Utterly shocked by the decision to close
@BBCSingers
, one of the BBC’s major assets and one of the world’s finest choirs. Shortsighted and devastating.
For anyone at the back who can’t hear me, opera is my ACTUAL JOB (not a hobby). I’m not going to apologise for advocating for it as an artform, nor does my focus on it mean I don’t support & have respect for other artforms. ALL arts should be properly funded by our government.
Wouldn’t it be refreshing to see politicians of all stripes openly enjoying and celebrating music and the arts, instead of worrying about what impact revealing their cultural taste will have on their political reputation. No-one worries about disclosing they’re a football fan…
I’ve become *that* woman, alone on a Friday night, drinking a glass of red wine (a jammy Shiraz) accompanied by a jammy doughnut, watching home improvement programmes on TV with a cat on my lap. I’d love to know where I put my social and love lives, but I’m too old to remember…
Morale amongst UK professional classical singers (yes, incl opera) is at an all-time low today. Please think first before having a go, or telling us why arts subsidy is wrong or how much you hate classical music or why you think we should get ‘proper jobs’. We are real people,
I’ve appeared as a soloist a number of times with
@BBCSingers
, I have first-hand knowledge of how exceptional they are. I have to bring my musicianship up to their standard, they are peerless. They are also PROFESSIONAL, and can’t be replaced by amateurs.
Another morning of having potshots fired at me for openly talking about cuts to classical music and opera by other people from the arts, who resent our very existence, and who don’t see any value in what we do, whether societal or educational. Utterly depressing.
Exhausting levels of vitriol being fired at opera from others working in the arts. We wouldn’t dream of collectively rounding on other artforms, or show glee at potential job losses elsewhere. There is a human cost to cuts, real people with homes and children to feed.
Do I live in Norway, where high prices are matched by high taxation but with substantial community benefit? No. Today, in
@Tesco
, a pack of Anchor butter for £5.05.
If pro classical musicians went on strike over pay & working conditions, no-one would bat an eyelid until no music at the King’s Coronation, or no more Last Night of the Proms. Is that what it would take to demonstrate how important classical music is in our national existence?
Queen
@lizzo
playing the flute, A CLASSICAL INSTRUMENT, onstage, demonstrating excellence but not remotely elitist. So many great musicians across all genres are classically trained, demonstrating what we stand to lose if classical music is pushed to the margins, whether
Sir
@eltonofficial
believes that classical training was critical to his development and financially supports students
@RoyalAcadMusic
where he studied. Classical training is a facilitatory gateway, not a bar to development, contrary to what some in education believe.
“I’m so grateful for my classical training. I played Chopin and Bach, and Mozart and Debussy. Without my training, I never would’ve been able to write the songs I’ve written.”
– Sir Elton John in 2019, speaking to Classic FM’s
@TimLihoreau
about his
@royalacademy
training. ❤️
A certain amount of questions about my background, suggesting that I am privileged. Yes, I’m white, and yes I went to a private school because my mum taught there (geography), and I went to Cambridge University. But I am from working class stock in Liverpool. Is opera elitist? NO
A 52-year global career that wouldn’t have happened without free music education and the recognition and encouragement of talent at a young age, despite lack of means. An emotional goodbye from the UK to
@eltonofficial
at
@glastonbury
, his last ever concert on these shores 😢
As a Scouser, may I recommend to the rest of the UK that you stop buying the S*n newspaper as of today? The only way we’ll be free of tabloid rags is to put them out of business, and the sooner that happens, the better.
Thanks to those who’ve taken time to check if I’m ok. I am, I’ve a pretty thick hide & have been on the receiving end before on social media, but even I am shocked that talking about opera in a positive way could provoke such vile behaviour. It’ll take me a while to digest it.
I would love to stay up to watch
@cardiffsinger
but the
@bbc
has relegated it to an unreasonably late 10.30pm to midnight slot on BBC4, and some of us have to work tomorrow. WHY can’t it be shown live?! Another example of the sidelining of classical music & opera.
#CardiffSinger
Another death knell for music education in the UK. Without Junior conservatoires, where will our talented young people go to learn to play their instruments at an advanced enough level to be able to apply for undergrad? Where are all the talent pipelines?
The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama told its staff today that it is axeing its junior department at the end of this term. Almost 200 children study there on saturdays. That will all stop in July. This is not rich kids playing expensive instruments. One of them texted...
Utterly baffling that the
@BBC
didn’t film and televise this concert, a real lost opportunity. I cannot understand why they would fund something to then not maximise its potential for audience reach.
Today audiences of the Royal Albert Hall were left astonished by
@auroraorchestra
’s incredible production of The Rite of Spring from memory 🎻💥
A special thanks to actors Karl Queensborough and Charlotte Ritchie as well as the brilliant
@nicholascollon
👏🏻
📸 Andy Paradise
Many children are being denied any music education in state schools, yet the benefits of it are ENORMOUS:
• improves neural activity in the brain
• improves concentration
• enhances academic achievement
• improves physical co-ordination
• develops creative skills
🧵1/3
The biggest obstacle the music industry at large faces is the decimation of music education in schools. W/o it, people won’t play instruments or read music, let alone become pro musicians. Combined with funding cuts, cost of living, Covid & Brexit, we are at a critical juncture.
A passionate letter to
@BBC
management from all of the conductors and associated artists of the BBC orchestras and singers, offering to help craft the future for all of the ensembles and demanding that
@BBCSingers
and orchestral jobs are saved.
Congratulations to all of the incredible world-class musicians who did us all proud in today’s
#Coronation
, including all the choristers, orchestral musicians, composers, Sirs Antonio Pappano and John Eliot Gardiner,
@Bryn_Terfel
,
@RGCWbaritone
,
@PrettyYende
&
@ANethsingha
👑🇬🇧
Spare a thought for chorus, orchestra & music staff at
@E_N_O
, for whom a new era begins today, one of reduced contracts & huge uncertainty, both professional & financial. ENO won’t be seen at the Coliseum until next season, depriving London of great opera thanks to
@ace_national
What a day, making my (unscheduled & very last-minute) London opera and
@E_N_O
debut, singing Judit in Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle. Thanks to the team at ENO for looking after me so well and
@LidiyaConductor
for being brilliant. Get well soon, Allison Cook.
I’m told that everything I’ve written on here about preserving our national treasures & ENO is entirely self-motivated. Not so, I haven’t ever worked at ENO (or the ROH), but I care deeply for our country’s cultural life. If that is too much for you, tough…
Good morning. Still here. Still breathing. Still going to wang on about opera & classical music. It takes more than a death threat to silence the
#ScouseDiva
😂
The power of social media. It shouldn’t have come to this,
@ukhomeoffice
, but we now need to welcome the young Afghan musicians with open arms. Looking forward to hearing them in Liverpool.
Great news - Home Office has overturned their decision & the Afghan youth orchestra will now be coming to UK and playing their women’s day concert at
@southbankcentre
then Bham,, Liverpool & Manchester. . Pls go see them & show your support for Afghan women & girls 🙏
“Classical music is not something sealed off from the rest of society. It is the thread that unites varieties of art and culture, high and low, music and film, sport and fashion, young and old. It is not elitist. It is democratic.” 👏🏻
It is unbelievably tough to be told your life’s work has no value & your artform cast aside, 1 reason why the petition to save the
@BBCSingers
has been so critical, it shows that there are people out there (at least 130,000) who care. PLEASE SIGN:
Now listen here
@BBC
,
#CardiffSinger
is a flagship international competition (great job
@BBCWales
), so next time put it back on to
@BBCTwo
where it belongs, not hidden away on the graveyard shift on BBC4. Why fund something if you’re not going to develop its audience?!
THIS is why we do our job. 6000 people in the Albert Hall on a rainy Thursday night to listen to Mahler 2 demonstrates that classical music has value and IS NOT DEAD.
“Brexit is quietly killing our world-class music sector and its impact cannot be overstated. It is time for the government to pull its finger out and reverse some of the damage being done before it is too late."
🚨'Paying the price' is a major new report by the ISM about the impact of Brexit on UK musicians
💰It reveals the true cost, with almost 50% of musicians working in Europe less than before
🎵It provides a pathway to make Brexit work
Read more 👇
So much abuse fired at me for supporting
@BBCRadio3
. Radio cannot be everything to everyone all the time, suit every individual need & schedule, and we should be grateful we still have a station that caters for serious fans of classical music. Shame some fans aren’t nice.
Every year I make my own wreath and this year is no exception. For austerity’s sake (and because I can), I have made it with cuttings from my garden and a hoop I bought for £3. And I love it.
Very sad to hear of the death of Sir Andrew Davis, a conductor with both huge respect for others and a sense of humour: a rare breed, and a huge loss to our global music community. Rest in peace, Maestro.
Sir Simon Rattle in
@thetimes
: ““Have you ever known the direction of travel to be this bad, in our lifetimes? […] The BBC and Arts Council England [ACE], the two largest funders of musicians in the country, seem to be operating a pincer movement against [classical music].” 🧵
Shocking to imagine that had Handel not been permitted to come to the UK and not received patronage, he wouldn’t have written Zadok the Priest for George II in 1727, such an iconic piece of British music that was the star of the show in yesterday’s
#Coronation
.
Since 1727 there as been a consistent star at
#Coronation
’s. Handel came to Britain thanks to the ease with which talent could cross borders. He stayed because of state patronage. Tragic to think, on both criteria, that he would be unlikely to come to 🇬🇧 today.
“The provision of musical tuition is enshrined in Icelandic law and organised via a network of 80 music schools, and countless Reykjavík musicians grew up singing in the Hamrahlid Choir under its visionary conductor, among them Björk”
Almost 3 years since 1st UK lockdown, during which we survived on a diet of arts and culture, critical for the mental health of the nation. If the government would impose a windfall tax on energy companies’ profits & invest that money in arts & culture, we would all benefit…
I’ve been cross for months. Cross at the denigration of my artform. Cross that opera is being relegated to car parks. Cross that
@E_N_O
has become a target. Cross that
@BBCSingers
are threatened with closure. Cross that our young singers are presented with a difficult reality.
State schools are facing a creativity crisis. Since 2010, enrolment in arts GCSEs has fallen by 40% & number of arts teachers by 23%. Shift most pronounced in deprived areas, where pupils are far less likely to sing in a choir or play in an orchestra.
In case all hell breaks loose on here from tomorrow, I just want to say THANK YOU to all of those standing alongside us in the ongoing fight to preserve opera & classical music in the UK, we’re all grateful for your support. We’re going to keep shouting!
How do we put a stop to tag of ‘elitism’ hung on opera & classical music? By educating our young people at school age, opening up their minds to it without judgement, so that as adults, even if they don’t like it, they don’t believe it’s not for them. It’s not rocket science.
So moving to see a young girl with challenges perform to this standard. If this doesn’t demonstrate the life-affirming power of music, nothing will…
#ThePiano
Also, loved the trio of
@mikasounds
,
@lang_lang
and
@ClaudiaWinkle
. More please!
Whatever your view on
@E_N_O
and funding, it is a dark day when musicians in our national opera company are made redundant, and some won’t/can’t afford to return to work on new reduced 7-month contracts. This is on you,
@ace_national
…
Now you can see how much support classical singing and opera has,
@BBC
, let’s see lots more of it on BBCTV. There’s space on
@BBCiPlayer
for a whole music channel…
Thanks to Brexit, it’s not just a visa issue per se, British singers aren’t being hired in Europe for political reasons. Fest contracts and chorus jobs in many opera houses are only open to EU citizens or those who have residency. BLEAK.
Brexit has done "terrible damage" to opera and curtailed the careers of British singers, who are being forced to turn down roles in Europe, creatives have claimed.
@simonharris_mbd
The ultimate self-inflicted wound, given that the Romanian authorities knew he was in the country because of the text on the pizza boxes in his Thunberg reply vid 🤣
A-level students choosing narrower range of subjects, decline in arts & humanities: no dispute that the worst thing to ever happen to our education system was
@michaelgove
.
@KadiatuKM
@ShekuKM
So sorry you’re experiencing such vile abuse.
@BBCNews
needs to take some responsibility for causing a pile-on by making one comment into a ‘story’, when the real story is the superb work Sheku is doing in encouraging young people into classical music and to play instruments.
Pappano in
@thetimes
: “It’s scary how opera is still viewed as something elitist or niche, even by the Arts Council, who are supposedly on our side, and it really pisses me off. We do everything we can to demystify the product and make it as inviting as possible.” 1/2
Another
@E_N_O
marketing corker. A suggestion: consider employing people who know and care about opera, or at the very least who have access to Wikipedia…
“I’m a composer because at my school we were all taught to read & write music, it was a natural part of our daily life & that’s not the case now…Music used to be free.” 👏🏻
@ErrollynWallen
@lisanandy
@DCMS
@educationgovuk
Very shocked & disappointed to learn that the
@BBC
is closing down its remarkable choir, the
@BBCSingers
. I sang with them in “A Man from the Future” at our Prom concert in 2014 and loved their beautiful singing and also their commitment to music and sense of fun. Neil
#PetText