The Opera comparison

Following my previous post, I thought it would be useful to put ACE's funding of jazz into some perspective (again).

The Arts Council's funding for jazz has been cut by 10.6% - falling from £1.5m to £1.4m in total, a cut of £160,000.

Just to make clear how pitiful that figure still is, I have set out below the list of RFOs specific to opera funded by the Arts Council.

I mentioned previously that we should cry foul if funding for jazz is cut at all - £1.4m is a ridiculously small amount of subsidy, and the £160,000 which has been saved by the Arts Council will have real impact on grass roots jazz, and do practically nothing to help with the national debt. In addition, due to the fact the Arts Council no longer fund NYJO, jazz has suffered a cut of 10.6% - much larger than the average cut of 6.9%.

I would like to make it clear that I am not calling for an end to opera funding, or cuts to any aspect of the arts. I am merely setting these figures out to show how unbelievably small the subsidy for jazz is, and to make it clear that cuts to that figure will have a much larger impact than they will on other art forms with deeper pockets.

The total Arts Council funding for jazz is £1.4m, while the total Arts Council funding for opera is £62.4m.

1. Royal Opera House

£26,342,464 in 2011/2012 (£26,961,420 in 2008/2009, £27,689,378 in 2009/2010 and £28,294,806 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £1,952,342 or 6.9%

2. English National Opera

£17,078,058 in 2011/2012 (£17,479,333 in 2008/2009, £17,951,274 in 2009/2010 and £18,343,779 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £1,265,721 or 6.9%

3. Opera North

£9,185,134 in 2011/2012 (£9,400,952 in 2008/2009, £9,654,778 in 2009/2010 and £9,865,880 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £680,746 or 6.9%

4. Welsh National Opera

£6,294,674 in 2011/2012 (£6,442,576 in 2008/2009, £6,616,525 in 2009/2010 and £6,761,196 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £466,522 or 6.9%

5. Glyndebourne Touring Opera & Education

£1,464,566 in 2011/2012 (£1,498,978 in 2008/2009, £1,539,451 in 2009/2010 and £1,573,111 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £108,545 or 6.9%

6. English Touring Opera

£1,440,196 in 2011/2012 (£1,474,036 in 2008/2009, £1,513,834 in 2009/2010 and £1,546,934 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £106,738 or 6.9%

7. Birmingham Opera Company

£325,756 in 2011/2012 (£334,410 in 2008/2009, £342,412 in 2009/2010 and £349,899 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £24,143 or 6.9%

8. National Opera Studio

£174,796 in 2011/2012 (£178,903 in 2008/2009, £183,733 in 2009/2010 and £187,751 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £12,955 or 6.9%

9. Buxton Opera House

£44,525 in 2011/2012 (£45,570 in 2008/2009, £46,800 in 2009/2010 and £47,825 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £3,300 or 6.9%

10. British Youth Opera

£42,374 in 2011/2012 (£43,370 in 2008/2009, £44,541 in 2009/2010 and £45,514 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £3,140 or 6.9%

(Source: Arts Council England)

Here come the cuts: Arts Council England Jazz Funding 2010/11

The Arts Council have passed down a 6.9% across the board cut to Regularly Funded Organisations:

"The majority of arts organisations will be given an equal cut which has been kept to 6.9% for 2011/12. This approach keeps the overall percentage cut as low as possible and gives organisations a quick and fair decision. It allows them a degree of relative stability in a very challenging economic climate, particularly in the context of the large cuts to local authority budgets implied in the Spending Review.

...

Over the four-year period 2011-2015, the percentage budget cut for funded arts organisations will be 14.9%."

(Source: Arts Council - http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/news/across-board-69-cut-funding-arts-organisations-201/ )

So how will these cuts impact the RFOs that deal with jazz?

Jazz RFOs have received a uniform cut of 6.9%, with the total amount of funding for jazz-specific RFOs falling from £1.5m to £1.4m (a total cut of £160,000 to jazz RFO funding - taking into account to termination of NYJO as a RFO)

The total cuts to RFOs over the 4 year period will be 14.9%, so there are more cuts to come. These cuts are part of a 29.6% cut to total Arts Council funding, so the question of how the rest of that number will be absorbed is not yet fully clear - for example there is no statement on the impact on Grants for the Arts.

Here are the numbers:

*= non-jazz specific RFO

1. Serious Events

£470,474 in 2011/2012 (£384,000 in 2008/2009, £494,362 in 2009/2010 and £505,343 in 2010/2011.)

CUT OF £34,869 or 6.9%

2. Jazz Services

£433,723 in 2011/2012 (£370,000 in 2008/2009, £379,990 in 2009/2010 and £465,868 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £32,145 or 6.9%

3. *The Stables

£255,403 in 2011/2012 (£266,839 in 2008/2009, £243,309 in 2009/2010 and £274,331 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £18,928 or 6.9%

4. *Cheltenham Festivals

£212,320 in 2011/2012 (£178,361 in 2008/2009, £223,177 in 2009/2010 and £228,056 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £15,736 or 6.9%

5. *Bath Festivals Trust Ltd

£190,218 in 2011/2012 (£194,688 in 2008/2009, £199,945 in 2009/2010 and £204,316 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £14,098 or 6.9%

6. Tomorrow's Warriors

£161,778 in 2011/2012 (£165,579 in 2008/2009, £170,050 in 2009/2010 and £173,768 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £11,990 or 6.9%

7. *Anvil Arts

£141,193 in 2011/2012 (£144,510 in 2008/2009, £148,412 in 2009/2010 and £151,657 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £10,464 or 6.9%

8. *Music Beyond Mainstream

£136,786 in 2011/2012 (£140,000 in 2008/2009, £143,780 in 2009/2010 and £146,924 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £10,138 or 6.9%

9. *Inner City Music

£119,112 in 2011/2012 (£92,000 in 2008/2009, £142,002 in 2009/2010 and £127,940 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £8,828 or 6.9%

10. Birmingham Jazz

£69,858 in 2011/2012 (£71,500 in 2008/2009, £73,430 in 2009/2010 and £75,036 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £5,178 or 6.9%

11. Jazz Action

£65,623 in 2011/2012 (£67,165 in 2008/2009, £68,979 in 2009/2010 and £70,487 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £4,864 or 6.9%

12. Manchester Jazz Festival

£63,075 in 2011/2012 (£34,918 in 2008/2009, £52,377 in 2009/2010 and £67,750 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £4,675 or 6.9%

13. Jazz Yorkshire

£54,766 in 2011/2012 (£56,054 in 2008/2009, £57,567 in 2009/2010 and £58,824 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £4,058 or 6.9%

14. Em Jazz

£51,431 in 2011/2012 (£52,635 in 2008/2009, £54,060 in 2009/2010 and £55,242 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £3,811 or 6.9%

15. *Turner Sims

£38,596 in 2011/2012 (£70,003 in 2008/2009, £40,570 in 2009/2010 and £41,457 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £2,861 or 6.9%

16. NWJazzworks

£31,006 in 2011/2012 (£31,734 in 2008/2009, £32,591 in 2009/2010 and £33,304 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £2,298 or 6.9%

17. *J-Night

£20,068 in 2011/2012 (£20,540 in 2008/2009, £21,095 in 2009/2010 and £21,556 in 2010/2011)

CUT OF £1,488 or 6.9%

NO LONGER FUNDED:

National Youth Jazz Orchestra

(£53,194 in 2008/2009, £54,630 in 2009/2010 and £56,105 in 2010/2011)

(see my previous post on UK jazz funding to see the mission statement of each RFO - http://jdodavies.blogspot.com/2010/07/uk-jazz-funding-ace.html )

The Jack Davies Big Band - 29th October

On 29 October, my big band will be doing a gig at the Forge, a really nice venue in Camden Town.

I'm very excited as the line-up is very exciting. Check it out below.

More details, tickets etc here - hope to see you there!

The blurb for the gig is as follows:

The Jack Davies Big Band

This exhilarating large ensemble presents a programme of original music, featuring some of the finest young jazz musicians in the capital. Influenced by the music of Colin Towns, Loose Tubes and the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, this is contemporary big band music at its finest.


The Band:

Saxophones: Simon Marsh, Nadim Teimoori, Josh Arcoleo, Joe Wright, Rob Cope
Trumpets: Tom Walsh, George Hogg, Freddie Gavita, Mark Perry
Trombones: Kieran Mcleod, Alex Paxton, Zeb Tonkin, Mark Francis
Guitar: Alex Munk, Piano: Tom Taylor

Bass: Calum Gourlay, Drums: Jon Ormston

Music by Jack Davies and Matt Roberts

A tax on social mobility: Variable interest rates on tuition fee loans

The debate on tuition fees seems to make a huge, erroneous presumption: that all students take out a tuition fee loan.

Here is the reality:

• In 2009 only 36% of those who took out a maintenance loan from the Student Loan Company also took out a tuition fee loan. By the end of the year this figure had increased, but only to 42%. (Source: Student Loans Company - http://www.slc.co.uk/pdf/slcsfr032010.pdf )

The simple fact is that students from the richest families do not have to take out a tuition fee loan at all - they can afford to pay the fees upfront.

And here is the problem with the debate: using student debt instead of a graduate tax to finance universities punishes those who are less well off.

Using variable interest rates on these loans is simply a tax on social mobility - those from less well off backgrounds who go on to earn more will pay more than those who earn the same amount but who came from affluent backgrounds.

Obviously, the percentage of those taking out a tuition fee loan will increase once the fees are uncapped, but it will not reach 100%, and I suspect it won't even get close. This is yet another reason why a graduate tax, not punitive student debt is a fairer solution.

Further reading:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/oct/11/tuition-fees-graduates-browne-review?intcmp=239

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/oct/11/variable-tuition-fees-universities?intcmp=239

Jazz in the Present Tense

"There's a movement about of some young guys, that's the quietest revolution in jazz I've ever heard in my life." Terence Blanchard's quote that begins and ends this 2009 documentary, which I finally got round to watching today. Terence never really elaborates exactly what that revolution is or who's responsible (it must be really quiet), but the film nicely outlines the uneasy relationship between the views of Wynton Marsalis and his followers and just about every other jazz musician around, and showcases a lot of great New York artists.

I found the film ended just as it was beginning to touch on a really interesting topic: the relationship of European jazz musicians with the tradition, and how far away from the tradition it is possible to go without moving outside of it altogether. But maybe that's another film waiting to be made.

It would've been nice to have a bit less focus on the Great Dictator of jazz, and a bit more on the really important contemporary US trumpet player: Dave Douglas (only one brief soundbite quote), but other than a few notable exceptions (Uri Caine?) the film was nicely balanced and covered more contemporary ground than any other documentary I've seen.

Worth a watch.

Read the All About Jazz review here: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=36419&pg=1

A system in need of overhaul: Postgraduate conservatoire funding

I write this article to illustrate what are real problems with the way funding for postgraduate conservatoire study is handed out. My personal experience has shown that often it is an elite minority of students who tend to receive what funding there is. It seems that those awarded funding are often students who have received high quality musical tuition from a young age, and that students who receive funding from one body are likely to receive funding from a variety of sources.

I believe that postgraduate funding should be awarded on a means-tested basis, with only those who have a genuine need of funding being awarded it. Postgraduate courses at conservatoires are now prohibitively expensive, and getting more so, and due to the lack of postgraduate student loans, funding is often the only way students can get access to the education they need. At the moment, there are a multitude of examples of students who have received funding from various funding bodies, in addition to conservatoire scholarships, often exceeding the actual amount needed to pay for their course.

Conservatoires award scholarships to the best students, and these are used as a carrot to lure already high-flying musicians to study at a particular college. Bidding-wars can ensue, with the best students receiving full scholarships. Again, I think this is completely wrong. In my view all conservatoire scholarships should be converted to bursaries, awarded on a means-tested basis. The great thing about conservatoire education is that it levels the playing field for those lucky enough to receive it. This money should be used to ensure that those students with great potential and a less privileged background are able to receive the highest quality musical education. These awards should not be used, as they are at present, to shore up an already privileged economic and educational elite.

I have seen talented musicians from poorer backgrounds unable to receive the additional postgraduate training they need due to lack of funds, and I have also seen students with no undergraduate student debt receive more money than they actually need for their postgraduate course and their accommodation combined.

The MBF kindly sent me the results of a survey they undertook in 2009, assessing the background of students they had funded. There was a 70% response rate to this survey, and I have extracted the following statistics from it:

• 42.6% of respondents received private or specialist music education at secondary level. The national average is 7%.

• 27.5% of respondents did not even take out a student loan for undergraduate study.

• 56% of respondents owe less than the 2007 national average graduate debt of £12,850

• 60% of respondents did not undertake any non-musical work in order to support themselves during their undergraduate course.

• 66% of respondents are receiving additional funding (excluding MBF support) for their studies, with an average additional amount of £5,087, and the highest amount being £16,000

Sadly, these statistics confirm my own personal experience, and in my view illustrate very clearly why there is a real need for an overhaul of the current funding ethos.

These statistics show that the students the MBF have funded are by-and-large not the students who really need funding. 27.5% did not even take out a student loan for undergraduate study, 60% did not need to take a non-musical job to support themselves and 66% are receiving additional funding from elsewhere.

The MBF state that their Postgraduate Performance Awards “are offered to outstandingly talented instrumentalists and singers to help with full-time postgraduate study costs or towards the costs of buying a musical instrument.”

There is no mention of need here, and as their own survey confirms, these “outstandingly talented” students are outstanding because of the education and support they have already received.

Another major postgraduate funding body, the Munster Musical Trust, state the following: “We support postgraduate music students undertaking performance based courses with the aim of having a platform career. To this end we look for students who we believe will have a good chance of making it as a performer.”

Again, no mention of need, and a reference to a “platform career” – in other words, the priority is to fund those students they think are likely to have a high profile in future, not to fund those students who genuinely need financial aid.

Postgraduate fees for the Royal Academy of Music are at present an average of £8,720 per year. The Royal Academy also suggests that living costs for London are around £10,000 for one academic year. This means that the cost of a one-year postgraduate course there will cost just short of £20,000 for one year. The only source of funding available other than scholarships and awards are Career Development Loans, which at present can contribute a maximum of £10,000, and have consequences in terms of interest and repayments. This means students who do not receive funding from a trust or a scholarship have to find an additional £10,000 per year, whilst studying on an intense full-time course.

The consequences of all this are obvious: the current system is geared to furthering those who have already had opportunity and economic support, and hinders those who have not been so lucky – both in terms of future debt, and the time to make the most of the course they are undertaking.

The MBF state that a “funding policy review is currently taking place” – I hope the review sees sense and uproots the unfair, elitist attitude which currently pervades postgraduate conservatoire funding.

Sources:

“Progression routes of postgraduate musicians / Survey Findings” Musicians Benevolent Fund

Royal Academy of Music Fees - http://www.ram.ac.uk/study/tuitionfees/Pages/default.aspx