The Week in Light & Sound
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Geldof said: "It's two-fold. One is the income it generates for this country, £94bn, contrast that to the NHS spend, of £115bn, almost the same. The second reason is cultural - the voice of Britain, the genuine, global British voice is music, it has been since the Beatles. No one knows quite why this tiny island produces such vast reservoirs of talent but we do know the entire planet dances, eats, sleeps, and plays hard to our noise. That is being endangered by a recklessness which is existential and historically self-damaging."
A joint letter states: "Imagine Britain without its music. If it's hard for us, then it's impossible for the rest of the world. In this one area, if nowhere else, Britain does still rule the waves. The airwaves. But Brexit threatens, as it does so much else, this vast voice. This huge global cultural influence. We are about to make a very serious mistake regarding our giant industry and the vast pool of yet undiscovered genius that lives on this little island."
Backstage - A technical apprenticeships scheme aimed at closing a skills gap in the sector is being launched by Trafalgar Entertainment Group, the company formed by Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire. Launched initially as a pilot programme, the scheme will employ two paid apprentices, for 21 months each. One will be based at the company’s main home in London, Trafalgar Studios, while the other will be part of the events team at Stagecoach Theatre Arts, the performing arts schools network TEG took over in July.
It’s part of a collaboration with National College Creative Industries, which specialises in training the next generation of backstage staff for theatre.
Squire said the placements would focus on training young people “with skills suited to a 21st-century technology-based workplace”. She adds: “Howard and I have always believed in building creative skills for the future and growing a workforce from the grassroots up. It’s therefore essential that employers offer unique training opportunities for young people wishing to pursue careers in the creative industries.”
Classic Move - The BBC has announced plans to make its back catalogue of classical music available to the public. Director general Tony Hall said: "In an age of ever growing platforms and social media sharing, these historic and recent performances will be returned to the public." They will be available on services such as BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sounds app. Lord Hall revealed the plans at the launch of the BBC's year-long classical music project, Our Classical Century.
The corporation has one of the biggest classical music archives in the world, with recordings from the BBC Proms, BBC orchestras and choirs along with BBC Young Musician and BBC Introducing.
Sold Out - Tickets for next year's Glastonbury Festival sold out in just over half an hour. Organiser Emily Eavis tweeted to say a record number of people tried to buy tickets when general admission sales began at 09:00 BST on Sunday. Ms Eavis said she was "blown away" by the demand. Earlier, coach travel packages also sold out within minutes.
About 200,000 people are due to attend the festival at Worthy Farm, Somerset, in June. The line-up for the event has not yet been announced, but Sir Paul McCartney is rumoured be one of the possible headline acts.
(Jim Evans)
9 October 2018
