The Mayor of London has launched ‘Making Music Matter’, his music education strategy for London 2010–2012, and unveiled plans for a £100,000 fund for music education. The fund will offer seed money for partnerships between local authority music services and orchestras in the capital, so that more pupils can learn an instrument and work with professional musicians.
The end of February saw the first National Sing Up Day, celebrating the fact that 83% of British primary schools are now engaged with the Music Manifesto’s singing programme, Sing Up. Participating schools were invited to record a special song, and every submitted recording will now be combined to create a mass choral effect.
{http:/www.singup.org}
This year’s Laurence Olivier Awards for theatre will be broadcast live online for the first time. The awards ceremony, to be held on 21 March, will be available to the general public along with performances from some of the nominated shows.
http://www.olivierawards.co.uk
Arts Council England (ACE) has published a framework for its relationships with regularly funded organisations (RFOs) in England. It covers funding agreements and assessment and evaluation, and emphasises the need for a partnership between ACE and its RFOs.http://www.artscouncil.org.uk
Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London and Acme Studios have agreed a two-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership to help businesses to improve competitiveness and productivity through the better use of knowledge, technology and skills. The project will review the changing role of the artist’s studio within contemporary art practice, and will result in new design specifications for artists’ studios.
http://www.acme.org.uk; www.arts.ac.uk
The Association of British Orchestras has launched its five-year vision for orchestras, ‘A Platform for Success’. The document claims that British orchestras are in “exceptionally good shape”, but calls on the government to maintain this by: guaranteeing that music education will continue to be delivered in the face of cutbacks to education spending; enhancing private giving by offering tax breaks; and giving orchestras the chance to be an integral part of the Cultural Olympiad.
http://www.abo.org.uk
The Cultural Leadership Programme’s (CLP) inaugural list of ‘Women to Watch’ has been published, recognising women who are making a significant contribution to the creative industries. CLP received almost 200 nominations, and the list of 50 women includes artistic directors, producers, diversity officers and artists.
http://www.culturalleadership.org.uk/w2w
The national voluntary sector organisations in each of the four UK nations have published manifestos in advance of the upcoming general election. The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations calls for “greater investment and focus on the third sector”, while the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, in England, suggests that workers should be granted and annual five days’ paid leave for volunteering.
The Tate and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra have been awarded funds from Arts Council England, London’s Family Development Fund, to create a model for galleries and music organisations to engage and retain family audiences. Other recipients of money from the £25,000 fund include the South London Gallery, for work with parents to devise its families programme, and Polka Theatre to develop relationships between its staff and local families, to establish a Family Advisory Forum.
http://www.artscouncil.org.uk