News

Creative Scotland has made £1.2m available to support out-of-school music making for young people across Scotland.

The Access to Music Making fund is open to anyone delivering musical projects to under 25s, while Strengthening Youth Music will fund research or training projects to bolster Scotland's youth music sector.

Applications are open until September 6.

Creative Scotland's announcement coincides with the 2021/22 Youth Music Initiative annual plan.

It pledges to support the Music Education Partnership Group's manifesto, which includes free instrumental tuition in schools.

Culture Minister Jenny Gilruth said: "We know that taking part in music activity gives young people new skills, improves wellbeing and boosts confidence, so I am delighted that this funding will support projects to increase access to high quality music-making".

Liverpool Council is expected to pay £685,000 in administration costs for a theatre that failed under a fraudster's management. 

The authority will meet on Friday (July 30) to discuss plans to transfer the lease for Epstein Theatre to a new operator, Epstein Entertainments Limited, and rehire staff who were made redundant for an autumn reopening.

Former Assistant Manager Kelvin Lloyd was jailed in 2019 after defrauding the theatre of £273,000.

The council attempted to transfer the lease then but threats of legal action from former operator Epstein Theatre Limited and the pandemic delayed the handover and increased the administrator's costs by £117,000.

Auditors will review how the situation at the Epstein Theatre unfolded.

People who were vaccinated in the US or EU will no longer need to quarantine in England from Monday (August 2).

The change applies to visitors from all amber-rated countries except France, who now only need a PCR test before and after their arrival.

It allows international performers to feature at summer festivals and other events.

"[This] will provide a vital boost to our iconic live music industry as we come out of lockdown," industry collective LIVE said.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will make their own rules.

The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) and hospitality bosses say they are ready to take the Government to court over its plan to introduce vaccine passports at event venues.

A letter to Health Secretary Sajid Javid warns such a plan runs the risk of discriminating against young people and some ethnic groups, who are less likely to be fully vaccinated.

Despite previously deciding that vaccine certification was more trouble than it's worth, the Government has started pushing through legislation to make vaccine passports mandatory in nightclubs and other crowded venues.

NTIA and others argue there is no legal definition of nightclub and question how nightclubs and "crowded venues" would be identified.

"Is it proposed that this be defined in some way, for example in terms of number of people admitted per square foot? What, if any, other types of venue are under consideration?"

NTIA is asking members to write to their MPs.

The Music Publishers Association is launching a diversity, equality and inclusion council to "address the lack of executive Black talent" and other disparities in the music sector.

The DEI Council will meet quarterly to work on gaps outlined in the UK Music Diversity Report 2020, including better transparency around gender and ethnic pay gaps and increasing diverse representation in middle and senior management roles.

Music Publishers Association (MPA) Chair Roberto Neri said its board and membership approved the new council and the organisation is seeking "highly experienced and high-profile policy strategists and public influencers” to join.

MPA and nine other UK Music membership bodies have committed to the UK Music Diversity Taskforce’s Ten-Point Plan.

UK Music Chief Executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin said: “There is a real determination and commitment across the music industry to quicken the pace of change when it comes to diversity and inclusion”.

Casting artists of colour in roles traditionally played by White actors could “work to balance out [their] historical and current exclusion," according to British East and South-East Asians in Theatre and on Screen (BEATS).

The playing field for British East and South-East Asian artists is “not level”, a new colour-conscious casting guide says, highlighting access and opportunities in opera as “highly limited”.

Pan-Asian casting - casting people of the same ethnicity but of different Asian nationalities - is “generally acceptable” in the UK due to these actors historical exclusion from acting.

But make-up to make actors look more like a certain ethnicity is “never acceptable,” BEATS adds.

The guide advises opera companies should include Asian artists in creative teams and commission Asian composers in order to “have more nuanced understandings of East and South-East Asian race relations, history and culture”.

Bristol Old Vic will continue to host some socially distanced shows to cater for vulnerable people who need extra precautions.

The theatre has guaranteed two socially distanced performances of its long running shows each week until March 2022.

Mandatory mask-wearing will be enforced at these showings. It is one of the first theatres to promote a hybrid model of Covid safety restrictions.

Executive Director Charlotte Geeves said the decision was made as "public confidence varies widely".

“This theatre belongs to everyone, so we wanted to make sure everyone has the opportunity to return to the theatre in their own time and in a way that feels right to them."