ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
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Tories arts funding cuts leave musicians high and dry
In today’s Britain musicians, like cicadas, lesser spotted woodpeckers or hedgehogs, are rapidly becoming an endangered species
HITTING THE RIGHT NOTES? (L to R) Cartoon by JAB; Thangam Debbonaire, Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport rehearses with Statutory Instruments, a Parliamentary String Quartet
SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
MICK McSHANE rubs shoulders with Mod legend Steve Craddock and joins in with the joyous Glasgow choir
DENNIS BROE sifts out the ideological bias of the newest TV series offerings, and picks out what to see, and what to avoid
THE Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM) has just released the findings from its study looking at how Brexit has affected musicians’ ability to tour, gain work in the EU, and overall impact on work. The negative impact is plain to see with half of the musicians losing potential engagements work.
For many this will be of little surprise. Two flaws do appear within the research, however. First, it is unclear how much the Covid pandemic has impacted on touring — many musicians the globe over lost work.
Second, it is unclear if income from the EU prior to Brexit was taken into account. Musicians’ careers are, at times, strange and fluctuating beasts. To use myself as an example: I lived in Lithuania for two years prior to Brexit but I have received more work offers in the EU since Britain made its unceremonious departure.
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