Page 15 - Final_RPS Awards 2020 Media Coverage Book

11 June 2020

Elder and Rattle call for action to tackle threat facing music

Thursday, June 11, 2020
'Orchestras may not survive' write the conductors in a joint letter

Sir Mark Elder wrote a joint letter highlighting music's perilous situation (photo: Hallé)

In a powerful letter to the British newspaper the Guardian, conductors Sir Simon Rattle and Sir

Mark Elder have vividly presented the perilous situation the UK classical music scene finds itself in
as result of the coronavirus. While online concert series such as that by London's Wigmore

Hall have caught the listening public's imagination in recent weeks, there is little sign yet that live
concerts in front of present audiences will return to the UK in the near future, despite some
European countries beginning tentative steps in that direction. For musicians and venues who

make most of their money through live performance, the financial implications are serious, with
even organisations such as London's Southbank Centre suggesting they could run out of money.

'There’s a real possibility of a devastated landscape on the other side of this; orchestras may not

survive, and if they do, they may face insuperable obstacles to remain solvent in our new reality,'
the world-leading conductors write in their jointly signed letter.

'Our music is essentially a live experience and requires all the participants, performers and