Jazz Musician Tim Whitehead reports on his meeting with Arts Council England, at which they discussed how to secure more support for jazz.
13.5.15 regarding the funding of jazz 2015-2018
people present:
Helen Sprott – Director Of Music
Denys Baptiste – Music Liason Officer
Tim Whitehead – Jazz Musician
I’ll summarise the upshot(s) of the meeting, and provide a more detailed report following that.
From my point of view, the most important result of our one and a half hour meeting, was: 1) a clearer view of ACE’s position re funding, and
2) a strategy for increasing the amount coming our way.
1) Helen, in response to my first question re the inequality of scale of funding between opera and jazz, first presented the (not unfamiliar) argument re the cost of staging opera, which I challenged with figures of the scale of funding of administration at The Royal Opera House, aside from the cost of staging, £10 million of which represents the portion of ACE’s £28 million annual subsidy of this institution notionally dedicated to administration, i.e. not to staging.
She also explained the difference in audience sizes by saying that because of the cost of staging (grand opera), it limited the number of possible performances, but that The Royal Opera House in ACE’s estimation represented an excellent return on its investment. I questioned this, as over a quarter of its total income was ACE money (and a further quarter is raised in sponsorship, etc, so that only half its income is actually earned), representing an ACE subsidy per seat of £35.34, compared to £1.20 per jazz seat. I also challenged that the increase in funding for jazz referred to by Helen (17%) reflected an intent to address the inequality when compared to the 22.5% increase for opera in the same funding period 2015-2018... Keep reading on thejazzbreakfast
13.5.15 regarding the funding of jazz 2015-2018
people present:
Helen Sprott – Director Of Music
Denys Baptiste – Music Liason Officer
Tim Whitehead – Jazz Musician
I’ll summarise the upshot(s) of the meeting, and provide a more detailed report following that.
From my point of view, the most important result of our one and a half hour meeting, was:
1) a clearer view of ACE’s position re funding, and
2) a strategy for increasing the amount coming our way.
1) Helen, in response to my first question re the inequality of scale of funding between opera and jazz, first presented the (not unfamiliar) argument re the cost of staging opera, which I challenged with figures of the scale of funding of administration at The Royal Opera House, aside from the cost of staging, £10 million of which represents the portion of ACE’s £28 million annual subsidy of this institution notionally dedicated to administration, i.e. not to staging.
She also explained the difference in audience sizes by saying that because of the cost of staging (grand opera), it limited the number of possible performances, but that The Royal Opera House in ACE’s estimation represented an excellent return on its investment. I questioned this, as over a quarter of its total income was ACE money (and a further quarter is raised in sponsorship, etc, so that only half its income is actually earned), representing an ACE subsidy per seat of £35.34, compared to £1.20 per jazz seat. I also challenged that the increase in funding for jazz referred to by Helen (17%) reflected an intent to address the inequality when compared to the 22.5% increase for opera in the same funding period 2015-2018... Keep reading on thejazzbreakfast