CC(3) AC 11

Communities and Culture Committee

Inquiry into the „accessibility of arts and cultural activities in ‟

Submission by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales

We are grateful for the opportunity to provide evidence for the Committee‟s Inquiry. The first part of our submission provides an overview of the Orchestra‟s work. The second part addresses a number of questions posed in the consultation letter.

A. Background

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) is the nation‟s only full-time professional orchestra. It has an established reputation as one of the leading orchestral ensembles in the UK. It has won considerable audience and critical acclaim in recent years, under its conducting team, led by Thierry Fischer.

The Orchestra‟s home is the newly-built Hoddinott Hall at the in Cardiff, and it produces extensive output for BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru.

With the crucial funding support of Arts Council Wales, the Orchestra has also developed a major national role, touring throughout Wales each year (this role is described in more detail in our response to question 1) and delivering a highly-regarded community outreach and education programme (please see our response to question 2).

In any one season, BBC NOW strives to present a broad repertoire of both past and contemporary music to allow audiences to experience works drawn from the whole panoply of orchestral music – from the baroque to present day film and jazz.

The Orchestra works with a wide range of contemporary composers and has two positions specifically for composers within its artistic roster. Both these positions guarantee a series of three commissions from the Orchestra as well as exposure for existing works in the Orchestra‟s programmes.

In Summer 2008, Simon Holt took up the role of Composer-in-Association, and Guto Puw has just completed a four-year period as Resident Composer with the Orchestra. This latter post is designed to give emerging Welsh composers the opportunity to work with a professional symphony orchestra for a significant period of time.

BBC NOW commissions new work from Welsh and non-Welsh composers. Recently, the orchestra premiered a cello by Adrian Williams and next spring it will perform a new orchestral song cycle by Christopher Painter.

As well as the core classical repertoire and new music, the Orchestra also performs important Welsh music from the past. For example, in 09/10 the Orchestra performed pieces by ten Welsh composers, including centenary tributes to Mansel Thomas and , as well as ‟s last orchestral work Taliesin. We will also celebrate the 75th anniversary of William Mathias with a series of his .

The Orchestra also runs annual Welsh Composers workshops where scores from a wide-range of composers are performed, discussed and recorded. The importance of this experience for composers cannot be overestimated.

“For Composers in Wales the workshops offer an unrivalled opportunity. It has given me essential training in the business of making my orchestral music work and on how to present myself to a group of professional players. Above all it has given me the best possible platform for getting my music heard. I am grateful for this wonderful experience.” Christian Morris

“The project was invaluable to me personally and the experience was entirely positive, uplifting, educational and vitally useful to my continued work as a composer.” Tim Raymond

B. Response to Committee questions

Response to Question 1

Do you consider the Welsh Government to have achieved its commitment of ensuring that „high-quality cultural experiences are available to all people, irrespective of where they live or their background?‟ How effective has its investment in arts and cultural activities been in realising this objective?

We believe the Welsh Assembly Government and Arts Council Wales have made significant progress on this matter, but we recognise that accessibility to high-quality cultural experiences remains a work in progress in Wales, as it is in many other parts of the UK.

Supported by Arts Council Wales, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales plays a central role in helping to ensure communities across Wales are able to enjoy high quality cultural experiences. There are three aspects to this: touring, broadcasting and community outreach work.

Touring performances across Wales

BBC NOW undertakes two annual tours to North Wales; presents an annual concert series at the Brangwyn Hall, ; and performs regularly in Newtown, Brecon and at Music Festivals throughout the nation (including St David‟s, St Asaph, Vale of Glamorgan, Swansea and Fishguard). Schools and family concerts are also a part of the mix, along with the annual Proms in the Park. In 2009/10 the Orchestra performed 24 concerts outside of Cardiff, reaching a total audience of nearly 20,000.

Broadcasting

BBC NOW performs across three major BBC radio networks: BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru. This mix of services ensures that a wide variety of music is broadcast, and that we are able to reach out well beyond the more traditional audiences that are drawn to Radio 3.

The Orchestra‟s partnership with the BBC Wales production, , has also helped us to reach out beyond our core audience base. For more than five years, BBC NOW has performed all the music for this major network programme. The series‟ success has meant that our performances are enjoyed by more than 400,000 viewers in Wales each time the programme is broadcast.

Education and Community outreach activity

In addition to formal concerts, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales has been a pioneer in the development of Education & Community outreach, and devotes more scheduled time to these activities than any other BBC performing group. This work extends the orchestra‟s reach beyond the confines of concert halls and takes the Orchestra into schools, factories, village halls and communities. We have provided more detail about the powerful impact of this work in our response to question 2.

Response to Question 2

How exactly are arts and cultural venues – including museums, libraries and archives – actively promoting access, attracting new audiences and encouraging participation in line with the One Wales commitment and the Arts Council‟s strategies?

BBC NOW is actively promoting access, attracting new audiences and encouraging participation through a wide range of activity.

The orchestra‟s home is the newly built Hoddinott Hall at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. It produces extensive output for BBC Radio 3 from this state-of-the-art recording and rehearsal base. The venue has also quickly established itself as a base for educational events, community workshops, commercial recordings, concerts and other public events such as the Young Musician of the Year semi-finals.

As we outlined in our response to question 1, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales has also been a pioneer in the development of Education & Community outreach.

In 09/10, BBC NOW undertook 18 separate outreach projects in Wales, reaching a total of 16,202 participants. Two-thirds of these projects were held beyond Cardiff. These projects offer unique opportunities for people to rehearse and perform alongside professional musicians. The aim of the outreach programme is to make music for everyone and inspire people to try something new. The BBC National Chorus of Wales also has an extensive outreach programme, reaching communities across Wales with choral workshops.

The outreach activity aims to inspire young people and help them to develop an enjoyment of music and to actively participate in musical activity. In July 2010, for example, BBC NOW performed five concerts over four days in Cardiff, Newtown and Llandudno. Nearly 5000 pupils from 125 schools across Wales were given the opportunity to experience first hand the sound of a complete symphony orchestra in flow. As part of the project, pupils from three special schools in mid and north Wales were involved in a series of workshops which led to the opportunity to perform in the full concerts.

Exposure to live orchestral music and working with professional musicians frequently opens new doors for children and suggests creative possibilities for them and talents that they may not have been aware of previously. The experience is overwhelmingly positive and, frequently, transformative.

Concert for Special Schools, Theatr Hafren, Newtown - Wednesday 7th July 2010 “My students have gained a huge amount of confidence and self esteem from their involvement with the orchestra. I have been so very impressed with the ease with which the players have worked with our students, some of whom have very challenging behaviour. The students have felt valued and respected throughout the workshops and were so proud of themselves to have performed with the orchestra in front of such a large audience.” Adele Thomas, Brynllywarch Hall School, Kerry, Near Newtown

Concert for primary school pupils - St David's Hall - Tuesday 6th July 2010 “I have just got back from the best show ever in my life. It will be the show I will never forget. The day of my first ever concert and it was amazing”. (Pupil, Baglan Primary)

“The children thoroughly enjoyed the experience and it has certainly inspired many of the children to take up an instrument and to practise even harder.” (Teacher, Landsdowne Primary)

“The concert was amazing. Thank you for the opportunity - we would love to come again. Some of the group didn't like classical music before the concert but afterwards they had changed their mind.” (Teacher, Ysgol Gymraeg y Ffin)

“For our pupils, attending such a first class concert at St David's Hall was a unique experience and the only opportunity for most of them. It was a wonderful morning - they still talk about it!” (Teacher, Brynhyfryd Primary School)

Concert for Special Schools, Venue Cymru, Llandudno - Thursday 8th July 2010 and music education project leading up to concert “Just a quick message to thank you for a wonderful concert on Thursday at the Arena, Llandudno. Every pupil and all members of staff enjoyed themselves thoroughly. It has been an amazing experience for us all (especially Carys and I!!) and we appreciate all your time, kindness and hard work. Parents who saw the concert were also extremely proud of their children and have been asking if they can obtain / buy a copy of the recording made?” Rhian Evans, Teacher at Ysgol y Gogarth Special School, Llandudno

Partnership work is also central to the Orchestra‟s outreach activities. It has established longstanding professional mentoring relationships with the Music Schools at Cardiff & Bangor Universities, the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and the National Youth Orchestra of Wales. For the past ten years BBC NOW has combined with the National Youth Orchestra of Wales for a 50/50 orchestral project, to give aspiring orchestral musicians a taste of professional life and standards. Originally studio-bound, this has now blossomed into a one week intensive period of study culminating in a public concert and recording, allowing students to experience the full gamut of professional orchestral music-making.

Response to Question 5

The Welsh Government will not be announcing the Arts Council‟s budget for 2011-2012 until December 2010. What impact do you believe a reduction in the Arts Council‟s budget would have on the accessibility of arts and cultural activities in Wales?

Even before the potential impact of the UK Spending Review is considered, it is worth noting the serious funding challenges already faced by BBC NOW.

The BBC as a whole is currently undertaking a programme of continuous savings spread over five years (2008-2013). The Orchestra is playing its part in this process and has achieved its efficiency targets by means of a tighter talent spend, some reduction in administration staff, a more focussed marketing spend, a tighter control of spend on extra orchestral players, and a more restricted policy on salary negotiations. In this way the core purposes of the Orchestra have been protected, whilst the organisation is now as financially lean as its mission allows. This process is under constant review.

BBC NOW‟s annual turnover is £6.1m. The Arts Council of Wales‟ contributes an annual grant of £844k towards this amount.

The ACW‟s contribution towards the orchestra is directed at two primary purposes:

. The part funding of orchestra players to maintain the orchestra at core strength, and the entire funding of the BBC National Chorus of Wales . The fulfilment of the orchestra‟s national role – including year-round touring, community outreach and partnership activity.

A reduction in the Art Council‟s contribution to the Orchestra as a result of the Spending Review would clearly have a significant detrimental impact on its activities. All orchestras have a high proportion of fixed costs. This means that the only areas where significant savings can be made are in salary costs, personnel or by reducing activity. Reducing the size of the orchestra would significantly weaken its position as the national symphony orchestra and its artistic standards. The size of the orchestra is dictated by the repertoire it plays: reducing its size affects its ability to function.

Significant cuts in either personnel or activity would place significant restrictions on BBC NOW‟s national role in Wales and the invaluable outreach works that it currently undertakes. This would hamper efforts to reach out to younger audiences and future generations of concert-goers. Without this funding, BBC NOW risks becoming largely restricted to its broadcasting role.

It should also be noted that the Arts Council‟s current inability to provide multi-year funding arrangements hampers the Orchestra‟s long-term planning, and we would support the introduction of longer-term funding models, similar to those enjoyed by arts bodies in England. While this would not solve the funding challenges currently facing many organisations, it would provide a more stable and predictable base for resource and activity planning.

Response to Questions 7&8

The Arts Council of Wales‟s 2008 Omnibus Survey suggested that people who were professionals, qualified or involved in non-manual work were more likely to attend an art event than those who were Skilled or semi-skilled manual workers, and non-working people. Is this consistent with your own experiences? Can you provide an explanation for this variation, and how can this variation be addressed?

The Arts Council of Wales‟s 2008 Omnibus Survey suggested that younger adults were more likely to attend an arts event than older adults. Is this consistent with your own experiences? Can you provide an explanation for this variation, and how can this variation be addressed?

In response to question 7, the research findings are largely consistent with our experience. Accessibility to a wide range of music and the opportunity to learn an instrument or take part in a at school appear to be key factors in stimulating interest in the arts. These early experiences - and the knowledge gained from them - stays with people throughout much of their lives and often shapes their interest in new artistic and cultural experiences.

Indeed, it is this insight that has driven our approach to education and community programming, with a deliberate focus on bringing classical music and performance to less privileged audiences.

With regard to question 9, the majority of audiences in the classical music genre are over 50. However the age range will clearly vary significantly according to the nature and location of the specific activity (with much of the community and outreach work described earlier focused on younger audiences).

In order to stimulate attendance and provide adequate access points for a number of budgets and communities, the Orchestra is committed to a keen pricing policy and offers a range of concessions, discounts, subscription packages and schemes to encourage audiences to attend. Initiatives such as the Family Ticket Scheme, free tickets for school groups and special offers for students have succeeded in attracting younger audiences to performances.

Detailed audience research is undertaken on a biennial basis. This research provides demographic and buyer behaviours insights in order to inform marketing planning processes.

The Orchestra is currently focussing on utilising new marketing tools in order to promote performances to new audiences. The Orchestra‟s website has developed into a key and cost-effective marketing platform. It is currently developing the use of social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter to reach diverse audiences. In common with all of the National Orchestra‟s public facing activities, all marketing activity is conducted in both languages.

Another key orchestra activity in order to attract greater attendances is focussing on creating a sense of belonging and ownership among audiences and communities. Events such as „Meet the Orchestra‟ and pre-concert talks and workshops assist in deepening the audience‟s relationship with the ensemble and encourage interaction. BBC NOW also aims to convert participants in communities visited by the Orchestra to become regular concert attendees. For example, legacy plans in communities such as Corwen and Ammanford, where community residences have been held in the past, has led to the establishment of transport services to ensure that audiences in those communities can access concerts in and Swansea.