Music Journal - March/April 2021 by ISM Musicians

March/April 2021 Brexit update: we explain what the new agreement means for musicians Chris Collins looks back at his eventful year as ISM President ISM AGM: Reports for 2019-20 and the agenda for our virtual Members’ Day

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ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021

Welcome I am writing this editorial a few days ahead of the Prime Minister making a statement as to when we might see some of the lockdown restrictions lifted. There is no doubt that this latest lockdown has been particularly challenging for many people, for all kinds of reasons. We must hope that when it eventually lifts across the four nations we will be able to go back to some kind of normality, with live music taking place even if it is in socially distanced venues or outside. Not only do artists need to perform in front of live audiences, but audiences need to be able to listen to live music happening in front of them rather than virtually. Above: Deborah Annetts Photo: Mark Thompson

Having said that, we know just how important digital skills are and a signiﬁcant part of the upcoming ISM Members’ Day on 24 April 2021 will be focusing on these and other skills you might need in 2021, whether you are a performer or a teacher. Please see page 16 for more information. The theme of the day will be ‘Building for the future’ and we will also be celebrating music, with performances between sessions. Our current ISM President, Professor Chris Collins, will be leading the day; on page 12 you can ﬁnd out what it has been like for him both to be our President and to have moved from Bangor University, North Wales to become Head of the School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture at the University of Aberdeen in such an extraordinary year. Members Day will be another digital event and it is free to everyone who attends. In addition to COVID-19 we are also unravelling the impact of Brexit on the music sector. In Music Journal we cover Brexit from all angles, from reporting on how we are lobbying Government to improve the prospects for musicians who tour in Europe through to providing guidance on what you should watch out for when negotiating a contract for such a tour. And of course we have also launched the visa and the carnet services. Visit ism.org/Brexit to access all our Brexit-related advice and guidance.

Front Cover ISM President 2020-21 Professor Chris Collins Photo: Emily Knowles See feature The President’s year on pages 12-15 Inset image:

For many in our community 2020 was a very difficult year. The national and regional lockdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19 saw the loss of employment and, without adequate government support for many, this has led to acute financial hardship for some. In response, the ISM Members Fund has launched a hardship fund of £200,000, available in grants of £300 to our members. For more information on our criteria and how you can apply see: ism.org/advice/covid-hardship-fund. While we hope this goes in some small way to help you financially, we understand that the real solution is to bring everyone in the music sector back to work, and we will continue campaigning on your behalf. So please do remember to join us for Members’ Day: Building for the Future on 24 April which of course includes the AGM. I look forward to seeing you there.

Musicians from Aberdeen University

Contents 4 8 10 12

16 18 24 26 28 31 32 33 37 42 44

News & campaigns The Trade and Cooperation Agreement Legal & business The President’s year: Chris Collins describes his experience of leading the ISM Council in extraordinary times ISM Members’ Day ISM Annual Review ISM AGM Minutes ISM Trust Annual Review ISM Members Fund Annual Review Annual General Meeting Professional development News from our members News from our corporate members Classiﬁed advertising Ask me a question

Volume 87 / Number 6 Published by: The Incorporated Society of Musicians 4–5 Inverness Mews, London W2 3JQ T: 020 7221 3499 E: membership@ism.org W: ism.org Incorporated Society of Musicians is a limited company registered in England No. 36882. Registered Ofﬁce as address above. Editor: Deborah Annetts Sub-editors: Vinota Karunasaagarar Clare Stevens Proofreader: Christine Gwyther-Scott All ISM publications are copyright

Design: cogdesign.com Typography: marcmarazzi.com Advertising: Ruth McPherson, Senior Partnerships & Marketing Manager T. 020 7313 9316 E. Ruth.McPherson@ism.org Editorial and advertising copy date: 1 April 2021 for May/June 2021 issue Price: £7 per copy Subscription: £35 per year Circulation: 10,000 named recipients Views expressed in MJ are not necessarily those of the ISM. The publication of any advertisement does not imply endorsement of the advertiser or the product advertised.

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ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | NEWS & CAMPAIGNS

News & campaigns

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | NEWS & CAMPAIGNS

Brexit: holding the Government to account to safeguard touring The Brexit deal between the UK and the European Union (EU) was passed into law on 30 December. While leaving without it would have been disastrous for the UK economy, the agreement does not include adequate provisions for the creative services industry. This adds a great deal of red tape for touring musicians and has the potential to be extremely damaging to the music industry. Throughout this challenging and uncertain period, the ISM has continued to hold Government to account on its commitment to frictionless work travel. Our Chief Executive has met the Secretary of State as part of a series of discussions with key stakeholders from across the creative industries and the political spectrum. We have been at the forefront of efforts to unite different campaigns in order to coordinate our message, recommendations and other activities. Our External Affairs team has briefed peers and MPs for debates in Parliament, with many using our insight, and we have used our leadership of the Free Move Create network to maximise our impact. We have also maintained a high media profile throughout this process, with frequent appearances to make the case for music in the press in the UK and across the world. Our top priority is to find workable solutions that safeguard touring in the post-Brexit world. That is why we have joined forces with the Musicians’ Union to maximise our impact. Together, we are calling on the government to proactively engage with the EU to protect our industry. A possible way forward for the government is to explore new bilateral agreements with the EU and EU member states to exempt touring performers, creative teams and crews from visa and work permit requirements. In January, we raised awareness of this issue by supporting joint letters to the press and politicians. First, we helped bring together some of the biggest names in music, emerging artists and influential voices in our sector to try to save touring in the EU. They signed a letter that was featured on the front page of The Times and generated days of international, national and sector media. Following publication, we were approached by clerks in the House of Commons to help provide evidence to inquiries and committees of MPs. Visit our website to see the coverage we secured: ism.org/news/press-coverage

Then one week later, six All-Party Political Groups (APPGs) and their secretariats (including the ISM) wrote to the government to highlight the devastating consequences of the Brexit deal for the performing arts across the UK. It highlighted four principal areas for action and included possible solutions: • movement of people (visas and work permits)

Read our next feature for more information about the negotiations as well as possible solutions for the music industry

• movement of goods (cabotage, carnets, CITES and NI-GB/GB-NI restrictions) • social security coordination • funding Read the full letter: ism.org/images/ﬁles/ Performing-Arts_APPGs_Brexit-letter.pdf Musicians have rightly been at the top of the political agenda in recent weeks. On 20 January, MPs and Lords debated the impact of the Brexit Deal on touring. The ISM provided comprehensive brieﬁngs ahead of both debates. Afterwards, we put together a Twitter thread covering some of the highlights from both debates: twitter. com/ISM_music/status/1351574334108798978 Then in February, our Chief Executive spoke to MPs on the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) Select Committee setting out possible solutions for government to take forward to protect the music industry post-Brexit. You can read our evidence and see how the Government responded here: ism.org/news/ ism-evidence-dcms-committee Brexit has created enormous complexities for artists travelling to and from the UK. There are new rules to follow and processes to complete that our members need to understand. To help, we have continued to update our Brexit advice hub which includes information for UK nationals working in Europe, travelling with instruments or equipment, as well as considerations to take into account when signing contracts with EU bodies and individuals. We recently updated our guide summarising the visa and work permit requirements for UK performers touring in Europe, which is the most comprehensive document currently available in the music sector: ism.org/advice/ eu-work-permit-requirements-for-musicians Visit the Brexit advice hub: ism.org/advice-centre/brexit If you have consulted our Brexit advice resources and still have questions, then please contact membership@ism.org or call 020 7221 3499. Continued overleaf È

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | NEWS & CAMPAIGNS

Coronavirus: Campaigning for support for musicians As the crisis evolves and the situation for musicians worsens, we remain committed to ﬁghting for our members to receive the help they urgently need. We began the year by lobbying for the fourth SelfEmployment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) grant to be maintained at the 80% level. We wrote to the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, to say that it was essential for the Government to deliver on its commitment on parity between the employed and self-employed. However, government schemes only beneﬁt those eligible to receive them and it cannot be forgotten that an estimated three million self-employed workers continue to be excluded. Therefore, we emphasised that further measures are essential for preventing an exodus of highly skilled talent from our world-leading arts sector.

continue to work closely with politicians across all four nations to discuss how we can achieve that. Going forward, it is crucial that we have a clear timeline for the road map to recovery. This clarity is essential so that the music sector has enough time to implement the necessary safety measures to resume later this year. We will also be relaunching our campaign to #MakeMusicWork in 2021 by calling on the government to: • remove the obstacles to venues reopening • improve the viability of live performance • introduce measures to ensure the sector continues to attract and retain talent

As we approach the second year of the pandemic, we know how challenging this period has been for our members. That is why we are more determined than ever to make the government appreciate the contribution of the music sector and how we need Read the full letter to the Chancellor: ism.org/images/ urgent, effective support to prevent an exodus of world-leading talent. ﬁles/ISM-letter-to-Chancellor-28.01.2021.pdf The Institute for Fiscal Studies published a report which showed that the cost for extending support to some of those excluded, who have less than 50% of their income coming from self-employment, would be extremely low. Aiding those 1.3 million self-employed people would be just 1% of the total cost to date of the current SEISS and furlough support schemes.

Championing music education across the four nations

Late last year Ofsted published a report looking at the effects of COVID-19 on children and young people in England. It confirmed the findings of our report You can read our response to that report here: The Heart of the School is Missing, that the pandemic ism.org/news/institute-for-fiscal-studies-reporthas led to music education provision being reduced makes-the-case-for-supporting-excluded-musicians in England. Our research showed that opportunities While it is positive that the Treasury is considering for pupils to make and create music are becoming various proposals, England should follow the lead of more limited and now Ofsted has explained that the devolved governments and provide additional this is due in part to the decision-making of some measures to ineligible groups. Ultimately, we want to schools. However, the Department for Education see more support from the Cultural Recovery Funding (DfE) has continually published guidance at short reaching freelance musicians because the current notice, in some cases giving schools just a few days ‘trickle down’ model is not working. That is why we to implement safe practices, and this must surely

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | NEWS & CAMPAIGNS

also be a factor. We were pleased that our report received national press coverage and was later used as evidence in editorials and other content.

You can read our responses to these consultations on our website: ism.org/news/educationconsultations-january-2021

You can read The Heart of the School is Missing here: ism.org/news/heart-school-missing-report

We have been lobbying behind the scenes and meeting civil servants across four nations, Earlier this year, The DfE and Ofqual ran three consultations campaigning for the revised National Plan for Music Education and the new model music curriculum to be covering how GCSE, AS and A level grades should be published. We will update our members when more awarded in summer 2021, alternative arrangements news is announced. In particular, we have continued for the award of other qualifications and the future of our partnership with other key sector organisations post-16 qualifications at level 3. We encouraged our through #CanDoMusic. This campaign was created members to respond to these consultations because to support school music teachers and signpost them they were an excellent opportunity to ensure that to practical resources so that teaching music can teaching music remains part of a broad and balanced continue during coronavirus. curriculum. This is just one aspect of our lobbying efforts with the DfE alongside our regular meetings Find out more about the campaign here: with civil servants, MPs and other stakeholders across candomusic.org/ each of the devolved nations. Together, the ISM and its members can ensure that all pupils are able to access the rich benefits of studying music.

Why recommend ISM membership to a friend? With music professionals working in an increasingly uncertain world, ISM membership is more essential than ever. You can help to grow the ISM community by encouraging your friends and colleagues to join. We’ll also give you money off your next year’s membership fee every time someone you recommend joins us at the full or early career rate – £20 off if you are a full rate member, or £10 off if you are an early career rate member.

If they join at the full rate, we’ll give them £10 off their membership fee too. Send the name and email address of the friend(s) you are recommending to membership@ism.org. Ask your friend to quote the code FULLREC if they are joining us at the full rate or EARLYREC if they are joining at the early career rate. Find out more at ism.org/recommend

Do you receive our email updates? We regularly email members with the latest news, advice and guidance that music professionals need to know. If you haven’t been receiving our updates, please let us know, as it may be that we have incorrect contact details for you, or that

you have unsubscribed to our mailing list in the past. Make sure you are subscribed by contacting our membership team on 020 7221 3499 or membership@ism.org

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | THE TRADE AND COOPERATION AGREEMENT

The Trade and Cooperation Agreement ISM Campaigns and Research Assistant Beni Evans explains the worrying implications of the recent Brexit deal for touring musicians, outlines the new rules and summarises current initiatives aiming to improve the situation

On 24 December 2020 the government published the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) outlining the future trading relationship between the UK and European Union (EU). With just ﬁve days to scrutinise and ratify the deal, it was rushed through UK Parliament and into law in time for the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December. While the announcement of a deal was welcome, it has now become clear that frictionless work travel for musicians had been overlooked despite assurances from the Government.

Above: Beni Evans

Read our next feature on how Brexit can affect a musicians’ contract

The new rules Currently, all UK nationals holding a valid passport can travel for up to 90 days in a 180-day period in the Schengen area under the existing visa-waiver regime. However, this does not cover those entering for paid work, such as gigging musicians. Each member state can now choose to treat UK citizens as ‘visa nationals’ when entering that country for paid work, which could require both a visa and a work permit.

Work permits, a mechanism through which each individual member state can grant different permissions for undertaking paid work in their countries, are a complex hurdle that UK musicians will now have to overcome. Although not all countries require work permits, navigating the patchwork of rules for multi-country tours has become much harder. With applications taking up to three months to be Rightly however, this has not gone unnoticed. Pressure processed, touring at short notice in some countries is now virtually impossible. has been building from across the arts sector to find Furthermore, new customs’ rules mean that a solution to the web of bureaucracy which now musical instruments are likely to need expensive stands. The UK’s creative industries rely enormously on a robust relationship with the European Union, and carnets for transportation into Europe. This represents while the Trade and Cooperation Agreement threatens a worrying additional cost to already-tight touring budgets. The cost of a carnet starts at approximately the foundation of this relationship, we must quickly £400, with an issuing fee of £360 and a security find solutions to protect it. deposit, calculated based on the value of the goods being transported (between 30% and 40%). These additional costs bring into question the viability of touring in the EU, particularly for new and emerging artists, whose financial backing may not be robust enough to cover this extra cost. The EU offers UK musicians a wealth of opportunity. Not only is it a crucial gateway to the international arena, but it offers rich cross-cultural collaboration with European artists. Therefore, the ability to tour easily is essential for both UK and EU musicians alike. But the immigration rules for each EU member state now apply, in a complex patchwork of application processes and entry requirements.

Other rule changes will make life more difﬁcult for touring ensembles such as bands or symphony orchestras that require large vehicles due to the amount of equipment they bring with them. Under the new system, reduced cabotages for hauliers over 3.5 tonnes operating in the EU from the UK will now be permitted a maximum of three internal movements.

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | THE TRADE AND COOPERATION AGREEMENT

This will prove extremely difficult for tour operators protect our industry. A possible way forward for the hoping to facilitate tours organised from the UK in the EU. government is to explore new bilateral agreements with the EU and EU Member States to exempt touring performers, creative teams and crews from visa and Finding a solution work permit requirements. Meanwhile, the sector needs clear and comprehensive guidance from the The music sector desperately needs the Government government to ensure that musicians can navigate the to deliver on its commitment to frictionless work current circumstances. travel. The Culture Secretary recently said that the Stages across Europe remain dormant as COVID-19 ‘door is still open’ for establishing new touring continues to halt national and international performance. rules with the EU and the ISM has been speaking to This has masked the challenges that will become politicians and civil servants about the best way to apparent as musicians begin performing again. achieve that. It is clear that there is a will to reach Ultimately, the government must urgently secure an agreement that would benefit all sides and we international performance and uphold Britain’s global remain hopeful that progress can be made. reputation for cultural innovation. The ISM has tirelessly continued to lobby Government to deliver on its commitment to frictionless work travel, calling for proactive engagement with the EU to find a solution to

Visit the Brexit advice hub at ism.org/ advice-centre/brexit

ISM early career membership – just £50 We understand that the early stages of musicians’ careers can be tough ﬁnancially. That’s why, if you have fewer than 10 years’ professional experience, you can join the ISM for just £50 a year (less than £1 a week).

If you know someone starting out their music career who would beneﬁt from the expert advice, representation and support of the ISM, why not recommend us to them? You could even save up to £20 on your own membership fee. Find out more at ism.org/recommend

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | LEGAL & BUSINESS

How does Brexit affect musicians’ contracts? Victoria Barrett of VLT LEGAL looks at the implications of the Brexit trade deal on musicians’ contracts.

To read the full guidance and ﬁnd out what you can do to prepare for or to prevent some of the additional costs that you could incur, or to read our recommendations on dealing with a cancelled or breached contract or potential cross-border dispute, visit ism.org/advice/brexit-and-contracts-2

ISM members who need speciﬁc advice and further assistance on any of these matters should contact the ISM legal team.

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | LEGAL & BUSINESS

Above: Victoria Barrett, VLT LEGAL

See our feature on page 16 for more information about our Members’ Day, which also looks at working internationally post-Brexit

The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), the trade deal concluded between the UK and the European Union (EU) in December 2020, appears unlikely to cause any major changes to the way in which contracts and commercial arrangements function between the UK and EU; particularly because the Withdrawal Agreement transposed into UK law all EU law already in force in the UK. However, the impact on contracts could come from the wider practical implications of the government’s failure to secure for the creative industries any meaningful provisions covering movement of UK goods and services to and within the EU. Musicians should pay careful attention to their contracts, particularly at the stage of negotiation.

What should musicians look out for in their contracts? The music contracts that are most likely to be affected will be those involving gigs or touring within the EU, and those involving distribution of digital or physical content to EU member states. Below, we list a few things to pay attention to when reading and negotiating your contract.

Territory: if you have an existing contract, which grants rights throughout the EU or European Economic Area (EEA), this would have automatically included the UK up to the end of 2020, but no longer does. References to laws and regulations: remember that references to certain EU directives and regulations should now be given their new name under UK law. An example relevant to music contracts will be the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), which should now be referred to as the UK GDPR. E-signatures: these will continue to be valid for contracts signed by both UK and EU contracting parties, provided they use a secure e-signature service which is registered in both the UK and the EU. Data protection: there is currently a grace period in place of up to six months from 1 January 2021, during which personal data can continue to be transferred freely between the EU or EEA and the UK. There is a possibility that free transfer will not be extended beyond this period. If you organise gigs and tours between the UK and the EU, your ability to transfer musician information such as name, address, health issues, passport and visa information could be affected.

Costs: there are likely to be extra costs or reductions in income for performing and touring musicians at an EU-wide level or at individual member state level, due to items such as carnets, visas, CITES certiﬁcates, taxes and social security payments.

Cross-border disputes: cross-border dispute resolution is generally covered by international treaties, which will remain unchanged by Brexit. However, there are some issues around UK-EU jurisdiction that are still not settled; problems If you derive income from physical record sales in the could arise for instance in the context of a tour of EU, these too could be affected by additional costs, several EU countries where exclusive jurisdiction which are likely to reduce the royalties and proﬁt share for the entire contract has been agreed in only one due to you. EU member state. Collecting Societies: in recent years, EU law has given UK rightsholders the right to be represented in the EU by any EU collecting society. This has mainly been exercised on your behalf by your UK collecting society, which will have entered reciprocal collection arrangements. As a result of Brexit, that representation Cancellations and breach of contract: the past year has shown that force majeure clauses do not generally is no longer an automatic right. While this is unlikely to affect existing arrangements, it may impact cover the fall-out from either COVID-19 or Brexit. future musicians’ contracts if those arrangements are terminated.

VAT payments on UK goods and services are no longer protected by EU-wide double-taxation arrangements, meaning that providers of both digital and physical content to the EU must now register for VAT in each EU member state where sales are made.

Access the ISM’s new visa and work permit advice service The ISM recently partnered with touring experts Viva La Visa to offer a new visa and work permit advice service to ISM members who work overseas. You can access half an hour of free advice, helping you to navigate the required

work permits and visas in the country or countries you are visiting on your next work trip. Find out more at ism.org/visa-service

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | THE PRESIDENT’S YEAR

The President’s year Few Presidents in the ISM’s long history have served during such an extraordinary year as 2020-21. Professor Chris Collins looks back at the past 12 months in conversation with Clare Stevens

Above: Clare Stevens Photo: Bruce Childs

Read our annual review of the ISM, ISM Trust and ISM members fund on pages 18, 26 and 28 respectively

Left: Professor Chris Collins

Each of us has their own lockdown challenges; for Professor Chris Collins, ISM President for 2020-21, one of the biggest was concluding his tenure as Head of the School of Music and Media at Bangor University in North Wales and moving to Scotland to take up a new role as Head of the School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture at the University of Aberdeen. No farewell parties, no graduation ceremonies for his last cohort of students at Bangor, just a very complicated removal process involving varying COVID-related regulations for three different countries, followed by meetings with his new colleagues and students that were mainly conducted via webcam. There was a brief period in the autumn when he was at least able to visit his new campus, but when we spoke (over Zoom, of course) in January 2021 almost all the university’s administration and teaching had once more moved online. Collins became involved with the ISM when he was Vice-Chair of the National Association for Music in Higher Education – now known as MusicHE – and the two worked closely together in responding to proposed changes to GCSEs and A levels. ‘We were ﬁghting against such things as increasing the examhall-based element of the assessment, which doesn’t encourage creativity at all. I became aware of just how professional the ISM team is in the lobbying work they are doing, and how well connected they are both to their members and to the politicians, policy makers and so on; so I decided I wanted to join this organisation. I joined the Council a couple of years after that, representing Wales.’ As an aside, Collins says he would encourage any members who have never really thought about the ISM Council and its work to consider putting themselves forward. ‘Vacancies arise regularly and it’s really important that we have a good geographical representation, and a representation of all the musical

professions. We do still need more representatives of non-classical styles of music and younger musicians.’ Asked about his experience of being ISM President in this utterly extraordinary year, he responds: ‘It has been humbling, frankly, to see the amount of work the staff team has been doing, in incredibly difficult circumstances. They are all working from home, and yet they are dealing with many more enquiries and requests for help from members than ever before; their workload has more than doubled. Knowing that so many members who are in need are being provided with information and services that can help them, in the midst of all this adversity – it’s fabulous. Deborah and her colleagues are totally on top of both the pandemic and Brexit and the difficulties they are causing for musicians. It feels as though the ISM is a light that people can turn to. ‘Our involvement as Council members has two aspects. There’s the regulatory oversight, which is very important because ultimately we’re there to make sure that the members get the best out of the society’s resources. But we’re also the eyes and ears of the team, often picking up what members’ concerns are going to be in the next couple of weeks, as we are all musicians, and we represent the whole of the United Kingdom and all the different professions that fit within the music industry. ‘The decision that was taken very early on in the pandemic to make that vital practical advice linked to both COVID-19 and Brexit available to everyone, members and non-members alike, was very important. The ISM exists primarily for our members, but we also want to be the first port of call for all musicians looking for advice. Hopefully they’ll then want to join us! The website is an incredible resource: only the ISM is providing things like the country-bycountry visa advice.

Photo: Pontio / Bangor University

Continued overleaf È

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | THE PRESIDENT’S YEAR

Above: Some of the beautiful buildings on Aberdeen University’s campus Above right and far right, opposite page: some of the university’s music students photographed before lockdown Photos: Courtesy Aberdeen University

‘The growth in ISM membership through the middle of a pandemic, when many musicians are unable to work, speaks for itself. To have 400 people attending the amazing online Empowered Musician event was remarkable. ‘The pandemic has deﬁned the entire period when I’ve been President and I wasn’t expecting that,’ he continues. ‘However, I’d like to celebrate the way in which people have adjusted. I’ve seen it with my own team in two places, in Bangor and in Aberdeen, in the way for instance that the instrumental tutors, many of whom had never taught online before, have embraced that and are really making it work. I’ve been really impressed with the way in which the students have accepted that there are things that can’t happen at the moment and have found other ways of being innovative and creative.’

‘Initially it seemed manageable, because the government was giving target dates and saying, “this is for three weeks and then we’ll review it”. In our innocence we believed that we would be able to get going again quite soon. But now we’re familiar with how it works, and we simply don’t know when we’ll be back. Students are in university for three years, or four years here in Scotland, and some of them have now lost out on a third of their university experience of ensemble performance. ‘There is light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s a very long tunnel and it’s difﬁcult to see sometimes, though we know that it’s there.’

Asked how his students’ morale is holding up in these circumstances, Collins says that it varies. ‘With academic music we can carry on teaching and supporting them in their research and their composing The virtual environment did actually make it easier projects, so we can build up relationships with them for Collins to get to know his new colleagues, who on that level. We’re still delivering all our teaching and would normally have been off on holiday or pursuing we’re still as accessible to our students as we always their various academic interests when he arrived at have been, just by another route. There are some the end of the academic year. Online meetings have students who have really beneﬁted from that and enabled planning to take place and relationships to have found it a better environment to work in and to develop. Getting to know the students personally has communicate in; there are many more who haven’t. been harder; and of course that element that normally ‘Even in academic work there are challenges: how brings the members of a musical community together do we get the library open safely for research students, quickly, live performance, is missing. for example? We often overlook the physicality of the ‘Whatever the end product of virtual performances, stitched together from individual recordings – and they can be very good – it’s the process that has been lost and that’s what music is about really, it’s about communication,’ he says. ‘I last made any music in March. We went from one week of my usual life with a big orchestral rehearsal on a Monday night and a big choral rehearsal on a Wednesday night – with conversations in the tea break, “I wonder what’s going to happen here?” and “are we going to be able to do this concert?” – and then suddenly everything stopped. And no concert, of course.

books on the shelves and the serendipity of ﬁnding a better book next to the one we thought we were looking for. Of course Google has introduced us to things that we would never have found before, but for choosing repertoire, say, there’s nothing like browsing a shelf of scores.’ Collins adds that the effects extend beyond the walls of the music department, as much university music-making is extra-curricular, involving players or singers who are not actually studying music – a biologist who might be a very good cellist, for example.

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | THE PRESIDENT’S YEAR

‘Most of our students understand that the government advice and legal guidelines make it impossible to run rehearsals or performances; but they are worried about not knowing what they will be doing after they graduate. I’ve been trying to counter that by telling them that this is a strength, actually; they will be going out into their careers in a brave new world with lots of new opportunities, new avenues to explore, and, as innovators, they’ll be in a strong position when the music industry bounces back. The world is still their oyster. ‘But it is extremely difficult for them. Many had a very clear idea of what they wanted to do and it involved performing or directing, or composing soundtracks for films – there’s very little of that happening at the moment. Everybody is uncertain about where this is going to lead them.’ Collins himself is an authority on the life and work of the Spanish composer Manuel de Falla; he also works on a broader range of early 20th-century music and on popular music, focusing especially on the period from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s. Born in Warrington, Cheshire, he was the first musician in his family; he studied the piano from the age of eight and developed his interest in the subject through listening to and reading about music as much as through performance. ‘That is quite an unusual route in, but perhaps explains where I’ve ended up and where some of my interests lie.’

provides our students with wonderful opportunities to share the gift of music widely in the real world; and another in Music Education, with qualiﬁed teacher status at the end of it. That’s another can of worms really – it hasn’t been easy to provide the experience of working in schools for our students, at a time when most classrooms are virtual ones.’

Above: Chris Collins conducting an orchestral ensemble before lockdown in his previous post at Bangor University, North Wales Photo: Courtesy Pontio/ Bangor University

In comparison to other universities where music has been forced into mergers with other subjects, Collins says, ‘one of the beauties of Aberdeen is that interdisciplinarity has grown organically. I have colleagues in English Literature, for example, who are also pianists and are interested in how culture translates across different art forms; similarly, I have colleagues in Music who work on the relationships between word and sound. Creative activity spans several disciplines – performance art brings together students in ﬁlm, visual culture, electro-acoustic composition and so on. ‘A good example of the lively cultural scene is the Sound festival of contemporary music, involving both our own staff and students and guest composers, performers and speakers. This year the festival has been entirely online and this has given us an opportunity to do even more than ever, with a second tranche of events taking place literally as we speak. This is a great place to be.

‘If there is a positive message to come out of this period, it’s one that we can’t always see at the He was an undergraduate as well as a member moment, though we were getting glimpses of it at of staff at Bangor University and says there are the Empowered Musician conference – it’s that after similarities between Bangor and Aberdeen. ‘Both have the pandemic is over we will benefit from what we’ve broad music departments that cover a very wide range learned during this period. Whether that’s finding new of history, repertoire, approaches, methodologies ways of teaching, finding new audiences, operating and so on. That’s exactly what I think we should in different ways – we’ll all be even better musicians be providing students with – a very broad, holistic when that experience is layered over the top of what understanding of music and how all those things we’ve been doing for hundreds of years.’ fit together. Here at Aberdeen we also have a couple of other strands: a BMus in Community Music that

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | ISM MEMBERS’ DAY

Building for the future The ISM’s annual conference, including our AGM and members’ open forum Saturday 24 April 2021, 10am-5pm

See page 31 for the ofﬁcial notice of the AGM and proxy voting form

On Saturday 24 April 2021 the ISM community will come together online for Building for the future, the ISM annual conference – a day of music, learning and discussion. As well as providing the latest news on the issues currently affecting musicians’ ability to work – such as the fallout from Brexit or the ongoing impact of COVID-19 restrictions on music-making across the country – the day will provide you with the knowledge and professional skills to help you face your future with conﬁdence. With sessions featuring a range of industry experts, including members of the ISM staff team and fellow ISM members, we will spend the day discussing and learning from one another in order to understand better how the music sector can build for the future during a time of signiﬁcant challenges. From ensuring music education is not further eroded in schools, to combatting the additional bureaucracy for musicians working in the EU, the external world is impacting every aspect of being a music professional. As always, the ISM is by your side to keep you informed and to help you navigate this ever-changing situation.

survey also includes details of rates charged for teaching online. With future job security being a priority, we will also hold a session to look at contracts, and the differences between being employed and self-employed. This will also feature guidance on how to go about recouping unpaid fees to ensure you can keep yourself safe from exploitation. The day will also involve plenty of music, plus an exclusive ‘In conversation’ session with an inspirational musician. As well as the formal business of the AGM, there will be opportunities to hear from ISM Chief Executive Deborah Annetts, and to put questions to our senior leadership team through the members’ open forum. For non-members, there will be a concurrent session about the beneﬁts of joining the UK’s professional body for musicians. The event is free to attend and booking is now open. To register your place and ﬁnd out more, please visit ism.org/future

We want as many music professionals to experience the event as possible. With that in mind, if you need Professional development will be at the conference’s any additional support in order to attend, whether core, and we will have sessions looking at how you can in relation to access requirements or because you succeed while working online; whether that’s finding are less confident using technology, please contact new work, understanding tech, or preparing pupils for the membership team on membership@ism.org online exams. or telephone 020 7221 3499, and we will be glad to We will also be sharing the results and findings from assist you. our annual teaching, examining, and accompanying Whether you’re joining us for the whole day or fees survey. As well as showing average rates for dropping in for a single session, we look forward to employed and self-employed teachers, this year’s seeing you there.

Fees Survey The ISM’s annual survey of rates for teaching, examining and accompanying will be launched at our annual conference. This time the survey will also include online rates.

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | ISM MEMBERS’ DAY

Programme* Building for the future will be a day of music and professional development that reafﬁrms the value of ISM membership. We want to provide up-to-date, useful information on topics such as Brexit alongside practical advice to support musicians as they continue to navigate what their future working life will look like post-COVID.

Similar to The Empowered Musician, we will have music running in between sessions and the day will be open to non-members, although only ISM members will be able to attend the lunchtime AGM and open forum. Free to all to attend.

10 – 10.15am

Introduction and opening words Deborah Annetts, CEO, ISM and Professor Chris Collins, ISM President 2020-21

10.15 – 11.15am

Session 1: In conversation with Chi-chi Nwanoku, founder Chineke! In this interview with double bass player, Artistic and Executive Director of the Chineke! Foundation, academic and broadcaster Chi-chi Nwanoku we will explore her career development from performer to entrepreneur, plus her thoughts on the future of the music sector in terms of diversity, programming, international touring and live performance.

11.30 – 12.30

Session 2: Working internationally post-Brexit Following the UK’s exit from the European Union (EU), artists are facing new complexities when travelling to and from the UK. In this session, we will provide an update on the latest Brexit developments and what they mean for music professionals, as well as exploring new opportunities for those working internationally.

12.45 – 2pm

AGM and Open Forum Formal AGM business and open forum for ISM members only.

12.45 – 1.30pm

Find out more about the ISM Not yet a member of the ISM? Join the ISM’s Membership & Marketing Ofﬁcer Sam Flower to ﬁnd out how it can support you in your music career. You will learn about our campaigning and lobbying work and how we support our members with insurances, legal and business advice, promotion, professional development and much more, as well as having the chance to ask questions and meet fellow music professionals.

2.30 – 3.30pm

Session 3: Teaching music in a post-COVID world How has COVID-19 impacted music teachers, and what do they need to consider in order to protect themselves and their pupils? This session will explore approaches to online teaching and preparing pupils for online exams. We will also discuss important issues for music teachers, including contracts, employment status, safeguarding, risk assessments, and unpaid fees. The results of the ISM’s 2021 fees survey will also be examined to see how teachers’ pay was affected by the pandemic.

3.45 – 4.45pm

Session 4: Getting the best out of working online Coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions have forced us all to spend more time online. Our expert panel will offer practical advice and tips for performers, composers and songwriters on successful remote working. Find out how to maximise the tech you have available, how to make money in the digital space, and how to discover new and improved ways of working.

4.45 – 5pm

Closing words and handing over of the Presidential Medal Speakers: Jeremy Huw Williams, Professor Chris Collins and Deborah Keyser

5pm

Top: John Robinson Photo: Emile Holba Above: Chris Collins and Deborah Keyser

(* Programme subject to change)

COVID-19 advice for musicians

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | ISM ANNUAL REVIEW

ISM Annual Review Deborah Annetts summarises the ISM’s activities for the year ended 31 August 2020

The Incorporated Society of Musicians (‘ISM’) is the UK’s professional body for musicians, established in 1882 to promote the art of music and to protect and support the interests of musicians and the music profession. The Incorporated Society of Musicians Trust (ISM Trust, a charitable company limited by guarantee), of which the ISM is the sole member, the Incorporated Society of Musicians Members Fund (Benevolent Fund of the ISM, a charitable trust) and the ISM continue to work closely together and operate under the name ‘the ISM Group’. Partnership across all parts of the ISM Group has been a key focus of 2019/20 as we continue to extend and develop our range of services and resources both to ISM members and the wider music sector to protect and support the interests of the music profession.

Introduction Above: Deborah Annetts Photo: Emile Holba

As part of the planning process for the ISM, the Board had approved a strategic plan in June 2019 to take the ISM through the 2019/2020 ﬁnancial year. However, as the ﬁnancial year progressed much of the plan had to be put on one side as the Board and the staff team created a new plan to support members during the COVID-19 pandemic. From 18 March 2020 on most of the staff team have been working from home and many of them have been delivering services rather than their normal core duties. The ongoing pandemic has not adversely affected any of the services delivered by the ISM to its members despite there being a huge increase in demand.

Income Support Scheme. In his speech he recognised that musicians through no fault of their own had lost their livelihood. We know that this scheme and its successors have many issues, but they have provided some much-needed help to the sector. The ISM recognises that while ﬁnancial support is very important it is also vital that musicians can work again in their chosen profession. Accordingly the ISM has also been lobbying Government to take a more active role in ensuring that venues can reopen safely. COVID-19 has had an impact on all types of performers, from singers to conductors to composers and instrumentalists. Across the music sector the ISM has engaged with every kind of body which employs musicians, lobbying them to treat musicians fairly and avoid redundancies or loss of work. This included all the established churches. Lobbying took the form of the ISM not just writing to those who engaged musicians but also organising press coverage of the plight of performing musicians. In August 2020, an open letter coordinated by the ISM and Equity and signed by over 120 organisations and industry bodies from across the creative sector was sent to the Chancellor, calling on the UK Government to extend ﬁnancial support for freelancers working in the performing arts and entertainment industries until the spring of 2021. The letter was covered in national press such as The Guardian and The Telegraph as well as sector press.

Very early on in the pandemic it became clear just how great the need was for ISM guidance not just for ISM members but across the sector. The decision was taken Since the start of 2020 life has not been easy for those to make sure that all the ISM’s key advice pages and guidance was made available to the entire sector. Much working in music. Overnight, musicians were told in March 2020 to stop working and many were left without of that advice was focused on interpreting government any obvious way of earning their living. An immediate advice from across the four nations and we made sure that this advice was relayed to members and the wider lockdown also impacted on teachers with many sector as quickly as possible. The ISM has also contacted having to move their work to online teaching. the relevant government civil servants to clarify advice The external affairs team immediately turned its and meet with ofﬁcials where the guidance was unclear. attention to lobbying for ﬁnancial help for musicians And we know from feedback that the member updates and the ISM welcomed the news on 26 March 2020 have been hugely appreciated. when the Chancellor announced the Self-Employment Continued overleaf È

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | ISM ANNUAL REVIEW

In addition to the lobbying work around the pandemic and support for musicians, the ISM has continued to lobby the Westminster government about the possible adverse impact of Brexit on the music sector. The ISM undertook two large-scale pieces of research in connection with touring and musicians. The first report, ‘How Open is the UK for the Music Business?’, looked at the issues arising from the current immigration system for musicians wishing to perform in the UK. The second, ‘Will Music Survive Brexit?’, is the fifth Brexit report produced by the ISM. Both reports were based on personal testimony from musicians, not just from the UK but globally. The data showed the very real problems for musicians wishing to perform in the UK who come from outside the UK and the huge challenges faced by UK musicians who want to tour to the EU post-Brexit. Many of those fears have now been realised and as a result the ISM will press for a bilateral agreement between the UK government and the EU to enable musicians to be able to work freely in the EU. The ISM has also published two reports called the Global Literature Review, looking at the impact of COVID-19 on education and performing not just in the UK but globally. These reports have been shared across the world and with all four UK governments. They have been welcomed by government officials across the UK and internationally.

2019/20, including on BBC Radio 3, 4 and 5, Sky News television, national broadsheets and sector/industry press. The role of social media in the ISM’s advocacy work remained strong with increasing engagement across ISM social media platforms. The ISM achieved milestones on social media: 18,000 followers on Twitter, 1,700 followers on Instagram, 8,200 ‘likes’ on Facebook.

Deliver gold standard services to ISM members The ISM continued to offer a full range of support and services to its members over the course of the year. These services included legal support and representation, professional insurances, a wide range of resources and advice linked to key issues facing musicians. These became even more apposite as the COVID-19 pandemic saw many ISM members lose work overnight. From March 2020 onwards the ISM’s focus turned to supporting members in navigating the government guidance across all the devolved nations on working in the pandemic, understanding the ﬁscal support measures available, providing information on hardship funds available and support with transitioning to online performing and teaching. In total over 40 advice pages were produced.

Our frontline team have taken a huge number of calls and emails. Generally we receive about In July 2020, the ISM coordinated a letter which was 240 emails and calls per month. Since the pandemic published in The Times, with over 400 music education this has increased by 250%. professionals, including many ISM members, calling The ISM has tried hard to ensure that no member on the government to support and encourage music feels they have to leave the ISM because they do not education in all schools, irrespective of their status, have enough funds to pay the subscription fee and over the catch-up period. as a result of this we have created the concept of the The ISM featured in news stories and comment holiday sub. So far just over 4% of members have taken pieces across a broad range of media platforms in up this offer and we will stand by members over the

Calls and emails received by our frontline team

Post-COVID

Pre-COVID

100

200

300

400

500

600

Number of calls and emails received per month

700

800

900

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | ISM ANNUAL REVIEW

coming months if they find it impossible to pay the subscription for financial reasons. The ISM does not want any ISM member to be without our support at this very difficult time. When the ISM went into lockdown it reached the milestone of 10,000 members. Since then the ISM has continued to grow and as at the end of August 2020 the ISM had 10,203 members.

extent of the increase is measured in the comparison between the period March-August 2019, and the same period in 2020, when the pandemic hit. In the previous year, we opened 503 new cases, while in the same period in 2019-20 we opened 1,032 new cases. This is an increase of over 102% in casework.

Our in-house team was proactive in developing advice and guidance for members for our website, and extremely responsive to individuals with legal problems. The team prepared contracts for teachers moving to online working, and devised guidance for good safeguarding practice for those teaching online. Recognising that musicians would want to embrace the opportunities afforded by digital technology we also devised guidance to help members navigate their way around the complexities of using copyright material in an online environment. We utilised digital technology to the full ourselves in order to advocate effectively for members in correspondence, in virtual meetings and in ACAS early conciliation procedures. A large number of these cases involved redundancy consultations. To ensure we could maintain gold standard services to members, we added additional capacity to the Legal services legal team. We also continued to provide support Not surprisingly, the demand for our unparalleled legal to members through our legal expenses insurance services to musicians increased massively from March scheme. This scheme supported our continuing court 2020 onwards, from the moment schools started case about holiday pay for a music teacher. This case closing, first in response to the pandemic and then in will now proceed to the Supreme Court and a hearing accordance with government instructions, and then is scheduled for November 2021. Our legal team further as lockdown restrictions across all four nations recovered almost £220,000 for members in unpaid fees of the UK deprived musicians of their work overnight. and compensation during the course of the year. Our in-house legal team saw an immediate increase in Our 24-hour external legal and tax helpline, provided new cases. During the financial year our in-house legal team opened a total of 1,624 new cases, as compared by Law Express, handled 933 enquiries – an increase on with 969 in the previous year, an increase of 67%. This the previous year of 759 enquiries, reflecting an early rush to seek advice on employment issues in the first would be a remarkable figure by itself. But the true months of the pandemic and lockdowns. The annual ISM Member Handbook underwent an extensive refresh in January 2020 to include more detail on member benefits, campaigns and an extensive range of advice pages and information to assist members in their working life. Members continued to use the website to access advice, information and professional development including new resources such as the next chapter in the ‘How to…’ series, covering negotiating contracts, which was released in November 2019. The website became invaluable as a way to disseminate information throughout the pandemic and saw usage increase by 51% compared with the previous year taking the total number of visitors to 465,000 and a total of 1,089,310 pages viewed.

Number of legal cases opened 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 March

August 2019

2020 Continued overleaf È

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | ISM ANNUAL REVIEW

Events and partnerships

Post Balance Sheet Events

The 2020 ISM Members’ Day, programmed by President Dr Jeremy Huw Williams and planned for 25 April 2020 at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, was unfortunately cancelled as a result of COVID-19. The day did mark the transition of Presidents, with Professor Chris Collins becoming President 2020/21. Thomas Adès CBE was awarded the Distinguished Musician Award 2019 on 3 February 2020 at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London.

At the date of writing the Directors’ report, there has been a signiﬁcant increase in the value of our investment portfolio of approximately £89,000 because of signs of economic recovery in the stock market from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Across the country ISM members volunteer their time to run the ISM Local Group network. During the 2019/20 year a total of 20 events were held by ten ISM Local Groups. These events were a mix of social events and offered opportunities for members to hold concerts as well as share learning and best practice.

Ensure the finances and internal structures are strong to secure the future of the ISM During the reporting period, total income fell by 2.8% over the previous year to £1,731,872. Within the overall income figure, membership income improved by 5.7%. This was accounted for by a growth of 8.5% in members and a small increase in subscription rates as of September 2019 prior to the pandemic. In the area of non-subscription income, royalties from the Educational Recording Agency grew by 6.2% to £258,638. During the financial year, the COVID-19 outbreak and resulting measures taken by various governments to contain the virus negatively affected the economy and subsequently, our investment income fell in the last six months of the financial year. During the year, the value of the ISM’s investments fell by 4.0% to £1.2million in line with general market trends and these investments generated income of £30,730. The change in fair value of the ISM’s investments was an unfavourable £60,978. The portfolio is expected however to recover over the long-term. Total expenditure before taxation grew by 2.9% over the previous year to £1,712,990. Staff costs increased because additional staff were recruited to meet the demand for our services and to campaign on the core issues facing musicians. All of this demand was due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Expenditure reduced in a few areas too, namely marketing and external affairs and professional fees. The ISM slightly increased its donation to the ISM Trust, from £80,000 to £85,000. Taxation for the period was £22,430, 20.6% lower than the previous year. This yielded a small deficit after taxation of £3,548 which brought our reserves to £4.3m at the year-end of the reporting period.

Governance There were two vacancies for Elected Council Members (West and London). Nominations were received from Nicky Spence (for London), and Reg Fletcher (West). Both were elected unopposed. There were two vacancies for Appointed Council Members. Two members came forward, former President Professor Paul Max Edlin and Vick Bain who were unanimously appointed to Council. Following Deborah Keyser becoming President Elect, Eugene Monteith was appointed to Council to ﬁll the vacancy as Elected representative for Wales, in June 2020. Council would like to thank the following Council members who retired from 25 April 2020, Past President Professor David Saint, Sue Sturrock (former President), Liz Partridge, Ed Scolding, Kevin Rogers and Karl Lutchmayer. Council would also like to express its grateful thanks for the leadership and hard work of the outgoing 2019-20 President Dr Jeremy Huw Williams.

Compliance The ISM continued to take active steps to ensure compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (‘GDPR’) and the Data Protection Act 2018. The Head of Compliance (the ISM’s lead ofﬁcer on data protection matters) delivered further training to staff as part of embedding a positive culture around data protection. Staff are fully engaged with data protection issues and proactively seek the involvement of the Head of Compliance in plans for activities or services they wished to undertake.

Conclusion The work of the ISM Group and the ISM is greatly facilitated by many of its members, who give their time voluntarily to support Council, Special Interest and Local Groups, which provide such a great opportunity for members to meet, exchange knowledge and engage in professional development. Council would like to thank the ISM staff team and the ISM’s many volunteers working across the UK who continue to show a high level of commitment in supporting the ISM’s activities during these challenging times. Council thanks everyone who has helped to further the work of the ISM and offers its gratitude to all retiring members of Council and volunteers for their services. Deborah Annetts, Chief Executive, ISM

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | ISM ANNUAL REVIEW

Summarised income and expenditure account

2019–20

Total income

2018-19

1,731,872 Subscription fees Other income

1,320,839 411,033

Membership services Governance and administration Property and equipment Staff Marketing and external relations Professional costs Irrecoverable VAT Charitable donations

322,232 39,371 134,775 939,596 148,984 22,385 20,597 85,050

Total Expenditure

1,781,924 1,249,244 532,680

1,712,990

1,665,287 291,275 46,825 137,333 856,149 202,257 28,830 22,568 80,050

(Deﬁcit) / Surplus before Taxation

18,882

116,637

Taxation

22,430

28,265

(Deﬁcit) / Surplus for the year

-3,548

88,372

Summarised balance sheet Fixed assets Current assets Liabilities and Provisions ISM net reserves

2019–20

2018–19

4,385,905

4,440,868

300,562

226,911

-404,860

-382,624

4,281,607

4,285,155

Summary accounts The information provided here is not the full statutory accounts but a summary of the information which appears in the full financial statements. These summarised figures may not contain sufficient information to allow for a full understanding of the financial affairs of the Society. For further information the full annual accounts, including the auditor’s report, should be consulted. The full annual accounts, including the auditor’s report, are available to members in the members’ area of the company’s website (ism.org). The ISM financial statements to 31 August 2020 were approved by the Council on 12 February 2021. The financial statements include an unqualified audit report signed by senior statutory auditor Amy Healey FCA CTA DChA, on behalf of the auditor Lindeyer Francis Ferguson Limited.

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | ISM AGM MINUTES

ISM AGM Minutes ISM AGM, Thursday 17 December 2020 held electronically via Zoom at 10am

INTRODUCTION Professor Chris Collins (President) opened the AGM and introduced the AGM panel Deborah Keyser (President Elect) Dr Jeremy Huw Williams (Past President) Ivor Flint (Treasurer) Deborah Annetts (Chief Executive) Sabrina Taylor (Head of Finance & Facilities)

Music Directory continues to be popular with over 600 members of the public viewing proﬁles each month. The services team continue to be busy and the ISM’s in-house legal team opened 969 cases and recovered close on £400,000 for ISM members. Communications continued to be strong with coverage in national and sector press, radio, TV and social media. Twitter followers increased to 16,000 and the website attracted more visitors than ever.

The ISM had a successful Members Day at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire led by Professor David Saint, which included music performances from Lauren Zhang and BBC Young Jazz Musician winner Xhosa Cole and his quartet. Dr Jeremy Huw Williams became President for 2019-20 and John Wilson was The President asked for a minute of silence to remember awarded the Distinguished Musician Award and colleagues who had died during the past year. The names the presentation took place at the Royal Academy. of the ISM members appeared on the screen. The ISM groups held 24 events over the course of the 1. Minutes of the AGM held on 16 April 2019, year which represents twelve active groups. The CEO Royal Birmingham Conservatoire thanked the volunteers within the ISM which helped The President asked if there were any amendments to make it an effective and dynamic organisation. to the minutes of the AGM held on 16 April 2019 at the The resolution to approve and receive the report Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. There were none. was proposed by David Meacock and seconded The resolution to approve the minutes was proposed by Christopher Ray. The resolution was approved by Rodney Drew and seconded by Steven Goss. The unanimously. resolution was approved unanimously. The Chief Executive gave a short report for 2018-2019 2. Annual Report of the Council of the Society for for the ISM Trust which was given for information only. 2018-19 The Chief Executive spoke to the resources of the ISM The CEO gave the annual report for the financial year Trust such as the webinars which were created to ending August 2019. The CEO covered the cancellation support those who work in the music sector. The major of Members Day in April 2020 and the postponement highlight of the ISM Trust was the first Empowered of the AGM from 25 April to 17 December 2020. Musician event which took place in late 2018 at Milton From 18 March 2020 staff have been working Court which is part of the Guildhall, with over 400 remotely from home. The ISM continued to grow its musicians attending the event. membership; at the beginning of 2018 membership 3. To receive and approve the accounts of the ISM stood at 8,750 and the ISM closed the year with for the year ending 31 August 2019 9,150 members. Finances continue to be strong, The Treasurer spoke to the accounts for the ISM and which was covered further in the Treasurer’s report. reported that the ISM’s finances remained strong due The CEO spoke to a few highlights from the 2018-19 to the continued growth in membership numbers. year including producing ground-breaking reports Membership grew by 6.9% during 2018-2019. for which the ISM is known. The first was the ‘State Income finished 2.2% higher at £1.78 million which of the Nation’ report which looked at the state of is a small increase on 2017-2018 figures. Membership music education in England. The following report was subscription income increased by 3.4% which was due to the fourth Brexit report which looked at the adverse the small increase in subscription fees and the continued impact Brexit was already causing last year. The report growth in membership numbers. Royalty income, was circulated across Whitehall, DCMS and civil namely from the BBC, saw a decrease by 1.7% from servants. New resources were developed such as the the previous financial year. Income from investments ‘How to’ guides and the Brexit Essentials kit. The ISM grew by 11.4% due to a favourable change in the fair Apologies for absence had been received from Ian Mitchell, Jane Highfield, Jenny Jones, Ian Ludford, Shelagh M Bladon, Katherine Knock, Annette Ball, Dr Frankie Williams, Richard Hallam, Francesca Best, Judith Weir and Carolyn Westrip.

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | ISM AGM MINUTES

value of the investments. Expenditure finished the year 3.2% higher at £1.67 million, an increase from the previous financial year. Costs increased in a few areas such as membership services and goods and services, which is to be expected in line with the growth of the membership and organisation. The ISM invested additional resources into its campaigning work which saw an increase in costs by 34.3% which is largely due to the launch of the music education, State of the Nation report which was launched in January 2019. The ISM had a successful year and finished 2018-2019 financial year with a surplus of £88.4k. The Treasurer thanked the ISM staff team and the ISM membership as well as the auditors, Lindeyer Francis Ferguson and investment brokers, Investec. The resolution to approve and receive the ISM accounts was proposed by Rodney Drew and seconded by Trevor Ford. The resolution was approved unanimously. 4. To receive the report and the accounts of the ISM Members Fund 2018-2019 The Chief Executive spoke to the report of the Members Fund which was for information only. The Members Fund undertook a review of its activities in 2017 and concluded that it needed to increase the impact of its work significantly. Following a consultation with members, the fund shifted its focus from grant giving to the delivery of counselling, hearing health and physiotherapy. In 2019, the ISM Members Fund added both face-to-face counselling and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. The number of people accessing these services increased by 185% from the previous year. The Trustee is very grateful to for all the donations which are made to this Fund which support these services. 5. To reappoint Lindeyer Francis Ferguson Limited The resolution to reappoint Lindeyer Francis Ferguson Limited as auditors was proposed by Trevor Ford and seconded by Beth Fagg. The resolution was approved unanimously.

With regards to the Appointed vacancies, former President Paul Max Edlin was appointed to Council as well as Vick Bain. 8. To conﬁrm the time and place of the next AGM The next AGM will be held on 24 April 2021 and more details will be released to the membership in due course. OPEN FORUM The President opened the discussion and invited the Chief Executive to provide an update on the ISM’s activities over the last eight months during the COVID-19 pandemic. The President then invited members to ask questions during the Forum. The ISM received a question from a member regarding trends in membership growth since the 2000s and the table provided showed that the membership had more than doubled since 2008. Another member expressed their concern over whether the wellbeing of young students was being considered by examination boards. The Chief Executive said this would be followed up with the relevant exam boards. There was a discussion around using technology platforms such as Zoom as a mechanism of opportunity for including and reaching more ISM members as well as how technology has allowed the ISM staff team to grow and reach talent that would not normally have been possible in pre-pandemic circumstances. There was a discussion about the branding of the ISM and even whether we should try and update the name while using the same initials. In response to a member’s question regarding what has driven the ISM membership during the pandemic, the Chief Executive responded that she felt that it was the quality of the services from the ISM along with its campaigning throughout the four nations which were driving membership.

Various members expressed their thanks to the staff team and the Board for the useful member updates 6. To note the retirement of members of the Council that contain the relevant government guidance and ISM members were asked to note the following Council for the Empowered Musicians II conference which members who retired at 25 April 2020: Past President had proved to be a great success. David Saint, Sue Sturrock (former President), Liz Partridge, The President concluded the meeting and closed Ed Scolding, Kevin Rogers and Karl Lutchmayer. the Forum at 11:30am. The Chief Executive thanked all the Council members for their contributions during their terms on the ISM Council and the President expressed his thanks as well. 7. To note the election of the elected Members of Council and the appointment of Appointed Members of Council ISM members were asked to note the following appointment and elections to Council as of 25 April 2020. Two members ﬁlled the Elected vacancies. Reg Fletcher was elected to the Council as a representative for the West and Nicky Spence as representative for London.

See page 31 for the ofﬁcial notice of the AGM and proxy voting form

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | ISM TRUST ANNUAL REVIEW

ISM Trust Annual Review Deborah Annetts summarises the ISM Trust activities for the year ended 31 August 2020

The ISM Trust, sister charity of the Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM), was created in 2014. In 2015, the ISM Trust became the sole corporate trustee of the Benevolent Fund of the Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM Members Fund, a charitable trust). The objects of the ISM Trust are to: advance education; advance health; and promote the arts, particularly music.

inclusion in its Becoming a Better Music Teacher course available on the Futurelearn platform. The course ran ﬁve times across the ﬁnancial year with Setting up your business viewed 3,058 times and Looking after your hearing health 3,562 times. It is clear that there is a real appetite for learning digitally across a range of areas and the ISM Trust will continue to provide a highquality offer to all those engaged in the music sector.

Seminars continued to be presented on behalf of the Trust by music education specialists including Achievements and performance Dr Alison Daubney and Paul Harris. In total eight 2019-20 seminars were delivered to Derby, Cornwall, Hounslow Work in the early part of the year centred on the and Tri-borough Music Hubs, Severn Arts, Kingston implementation of a legacy plan from The Empowered and East Riding Schools’ Music Services and to a group Musician, the one-day conference attended by of ISM members in Liverpool. In March 2020 the 400 musicians in October 2018. As the COVID-19 Trust launched Indian Takeaway! Rag and Tal basics, pandemic took hold the Trust pivoted to disseminating a major new online resource by Indian music specialist information and advice through webinars to support Yogesh Dattani, at the Music and Drama Education the music profession through the crisis. Subjects Expo in London. It has been viewed 1,280 times since ranged from moving to online teaching, safeguarding it was launched. online and risk assessments. There have been approximately 58,780 visits to Across the year the Trust delivered 15 webinars the Trust’s website across the ﬁnancial year. The most in total, two of which were collaborations with The popular resource was the Primary Music Toolkit page Amber Trust. The Trust also developed closer ties to which had 8,153 views. ABRSM through the licensing of two webinars for

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | ISM TRUST ANNUAL REVIEW

The Trustees acknowledge with thanks a legacy to the Trust from the estate of the late Orience Evelyn The ISM Trust is registered as a data controller in its Burton. The Trustees are most grateful to all individuals own right at the Information Commissioner’s Ofﬁce who made donations or organised fundraising (ICO). All ISM staff working on Trust activities are bound initiatives during the reporting period. by the provisions of the ISM Group Data Governance The ISM Trust started its partnership with NMC on Policy introduced across all ISM Group companies in a new project called Discover which led to £40,000 of 2018 as part of our activities to ensure compliance recognised costs in the ﬁnancial year. with the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (‘GDPR’) and the Data Protection Act 2018. Plans for Future Periods The Trust was also registered with the Fundraising Regulator and in accordance with Charity Commission The Trust will continue to offer information to support guidance further training in trustee duties and charity the sector through online seminars and face-togovernance was provided to Trustees in 2019. New face events when possible. The Trust will continue Trustees received guidance in relation to trustee duties its partnership with NMC Records to promote and and charity governance during the course of the year. support composers and artists working in the area of

Compliance

Financial review

contemporary music in the UK. The Friends of the ISM Trust membership scheme will be reviewed.

During the reporting period, total income grew by 1.3% Deborah Annetts, Chief Executive, ISM over the previous year to £97,569 (2019: £96,284) and expenditure fell by 6.4% to £112,127 (2019: £119,828). During the year under review, the Trust generated a deﬁcit of £14,558 (2019: £23,544). The ISM Trust derives its income from three main sources: membership subscriptions, income from events, and donations. Income from membership subscriptions grew during the year with £5,377 recognised in the reporting period (2019: £4,600), an increase of 16.9%. As a result of professional development work £5,637 (2019: £11,634) has been generated, a fall of 51.5% over the previous year. During the ﬁnancial year, the COVID-19 outbreak and the resulting lockdowns around the UK led to the cancellation of all planned face-to-face events in the last six months of the year which is largely the reason for the reduced income in the period.

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ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | ISM MEMBERS FUND ANNUAL REVIEW

ISM Members Fund Annual Review Deborah Annetts summarises the ISM Members Fund activities for the year ended 31 August 2020

The Fund is an unincorporated association which was established on 5 January 1917. It is governed by a Trust Deed which states that the Fund’s object is the relief of necessitous members of the Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM), former members and widows or other dependants of deceased members.

Achievements and performance 2019-20

During the year, the Fund offered assistance to relieve a wide range of issues relating to poverty. In total, 20 individuals (2019: 30) received assistance by way of charitable grants. There were also times when By a new Scheme issued by the Charity Commission applicants to the Fund were signposted to other on 1 October 2015, individual members of ISM Council sources of help, such as medical support, debt advice, ceased to be Trustees of the Fund and the Incorporated welfare beneﬁts, and other charities. Society of Musicians Trust (ISM Trust, a charitable The Fund continued to provide an outsourced 24company limited by guarantee), of which the ISM is hour personal advice and support telephone helpline the sole member, became the sole corporate trustee available to all ISM members and their dependants. of the Benevolent Fund of the Incorporated Society The number of people accessing the service increased of Musicians (ISM Members Fund, a charitable trust). by 46% compared to the previous year. A total of 31 The three organisations namely the ISM, the ISM Trust people used the physiotherapy service across the year and the ISM Members Fund work closely together and of which eight received treatment through face-to-face are operating under the name ‘the ISM Group’. The physiotherapy sessions and a further 23 were provided registered charity number of the Fund is 206801. with a bespoke programme to self-manage their injury which was supplemented by telephone support.

Objectives and activities

The Fund continued to implement the new strategy agreed by the Trustee in June 2018 following a review of its activities in March 2017. The Fund now focuses on delivering services and resources that support physical, mental and ﬁnancial health. The ﬁrst of three new services, the addition of face-to-face counselling and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to enhance the existing 24-hour personal support and advice line, launched in July 2019. The second, a physiotherapy service to rehabilitate musculoskeletal injuries, launched as a pilot service in November 2019. The intended launch of a service to support hearing health was postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fund continued to provide assistance to regular grant recipients throughout the year.

Donations and legacies The Trustee acknowledges with thanks a legacy to the Fund from the estate of the late Anne Allan. Total donations and legacies received during the year were £2,306 (2019: £7,335). The Trustee is most grateful to all the individuals who made donations or organised fundraising initiatives.

Financial review During the reporting period, total income fell by 14.3% over the previous year to £135,364 (2019: £157,918) and expenditure grew by 4.9% to £146,934 (2019: £140,113). During the year under review, the Fund generated a deﬁcit of £11,570 (2019: a surplus of £17,805) before realised and unrealised gains and losses on the revaluation of investments. The net losses on investments were £245,575 (2019: £105,458) due to the markets having a very turbulent period in

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | ISM MEMBERS FUND ANNUAL REVIEW

the last six months of the financial year. This led to the financial year yielding a deficit after investment gains of £257,145 (2019: £87,653).

Investments During the year, the value of the Fund’s investments fell by 6.8% to £3.59 million in line with general market trends and these investments generated income of £133,058 (2019: £150,583). The portfolio is expected however to recover over the long-term.

Post Balance Sheet Events At the date of writing the Trustee report there has been a signiﬁcant increase in value of our investment portfolio of approx. £200,000 because of signs of economic recovery in the stock market from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Compliance

The Fund is registered as a data controller in its own right at the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). All ISM staff working on Fund activities are bound Charitable activities by the provisions of the ISM Group Data Governance Expenditure on direct charitable activities increased by Policy introduced across all ISM Group companies in £10,294 to £131,177, an increase of 15.5% largely due 2018 as part of our activities to ensure compliance with to the introduction of new services. Following on from the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 the launch of a new face-to-face counselling service (‘GDPR’) and the Data Protection Act 2018. The Fund and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) service in the continued to be registered with the Fundraising previous financial year the Fund also launched a new Regulator as part of our commitment to best practice physiotherapy service for our beneficiaries. Support and transparency in fundraising. New Trustees to the costs concerning charitable activities were reduced by ISM Trust who constitute the Trustee received guidance £2,755, 4.8% during the reporting period. in relation to trustee duties and charity governance during the course of the year.

Reserves The Fund’s Reserves Policy is to maintain a sufﬁcient level of free reserves to enable normal operating activities to continue over a period of up to six months should a shortfall in income occur and to take account of potential risks and contingencies that may arise from time to time. On 31 August 2020, these free reserves totalled £183,511 (2019: £179,125), the equivalent of 15 months (2019: 15 months) of the Fund’s annual expenditure, which is well above the target range and sufﬁcient enough to support the future plans of the Fund. The total funds held as of 31 August 2020 were £3.77 million (2019: £4.03 million). Of these funds, £396,336 (2019: £425,211) were held in an expendable endowment fund and £3.15 million (2019: £3.38 million) in funds held for restricted purposes in our permanent endowment. The remaining unrestricted funds amount to £223,167 (2019: £221,883).

Plans for future periods The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the music profession. As a result, the Fund has paused work on the pilot hearing health scheme to reorientate its focus towards providing support through the crisis. It will distribute hardship grants to those in most need through a partnership with Help Musicians UK. A number of resources to support the prevention of poverty will also be produced. Plans to develop and enhance the website remain in place. Deborah Annetts, Chief Executive, ISM

Continued overleaf È

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | ISM MEMBERS FUND ANNUAL REVIEW

Summarised statement of ﬁnancial activities

2019–20

Unrestricted income

2018–19

135,364 Quoted investments Interest received Legacies Donations

132,685 373 500 1,806

TOTAL INCOME

157,918 150,249 334 5,000 2,335

135,364

TOTAL EXPENDITURE

157,918

-146,934

Charitable activities Investment management fees NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)

-131,177 -15,757

-140,113 -123,639 -16,474

-11,570

17,805

Losses on investments

-245,575

-105,458

Net movement in funds

-257,145

-87,653

(before movement on investments)

Summarised balance sheet

2019–20

Long term investments Current assets Liabilities Net reserves Reserves distribution

2018–19

3,586,830

3,848,361

191,900

189,205

-8,389

-10,080

3,770,341

4,027,486

3,770,341 Permanent endowment Expendable endowment Unrestricted funds

3,150,838 396,336 223,167

4,027,486 3,380,392 425,211 221,883

The Fund’s financial statements to 31 August 2020 were approved by the Trustee on 12 February 2021. The financial statements include an unqualified examiner’s report signed by independent examiner Amy Healey FCA CTA DChA, on behalf of the auditor Lindeyer Francis Ferguson Limited.

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Annual General Meeting This page gives formal notice of the arrangements for the Annual General Meeting which will take place at the ISM on Members’ Day on 24 April 2021 at 12.45 pm at a location to be conﬁrmed. The location is not yet conﬁrmed because it is not yet clear what the position will be in April in respect of COVID-19 and related restrictions, or legislation governing virtual general meetings. Once the position is clearer, the ISM will issue a further notice about the location. Please contact Megan Hand (megan.hand@ ism.org) with any questions.

proposed as an Ordinary Resolution). 2. To receive the Annual Report of the Council of the Company for 2019 - 20 (to be proposed as an Ordinary Resolution).

7. To note the election of the Elected Members of the Council and the appointment of the Appointed Members of the Council.

3. To receive and approve the Accounts of the Company for the year ended 31 August 8. To conﬁrm the date, time and place of the 2020, and to receive the Auditor’s report (to next Annual General Meeting. be proposed as an Ordinary Resolution).

Notice is hereby given that the Annual 4. To receive a report on the ISM Members General Meeting (the ‘Meeting’) of the Fund for 2019-2020. Incorporated Society of Musicians (the ‘Company’) will be held on Saturday 24 April 5. To re-appoint Lindeyer Francis Ferguson Limited, Chartered Accountants, as 2021 at 12.45pm at a location to be conﬁrmed Auditors for the ISM and to authorise the to transact the following business: Council to ﬁx their remuneration (to be 1. To approve the minutes of the Annual proposed as an Ordinary Resolution). General Meeting held virtually on 17 6. To note the retirement of those members December 2020 at 10am as printed in of the Council who wish to retire or who Music Journal, March/April 2021 (to be

By order of Council

Professor Christopher Collins, President 2020-21 Incorporated Society of Musicians, 4–5 Inverness Mews, London, W2 3JQ 5 February 2021

An open forum will take place after the AGM A form of proxy for members who cannot attend the AGM but wish to vote on the resolutions appears below.

Notes on completing the proxy voting form

ISM Proxy voting form Before completing this form, please read the explanatory notes below I

(Name)

(Address)

being a full member of the above named Society hereby appoint Professor Chris Collins, President of the Society, or failing him (Name) of

(Address)

as my proxy to vote in my name and on my behalf at the Annual General Meeting of the Society to be held on Saturday 24 April 2021 at 12.45pm and at any adjournment thereof. This form is to be used in respect of the resolutions mentioned overleaf as follows: Resolution 1 (Agenda Item 1)

FOR/AGAINST*

Resolution 2 (Agenda Item 2)

FOR/AGAINST*

Resolution 3 (Agenda Item 3)

FOR/AGAINST*

Resolution 4 (Agenda Item 5)

FOR/AGAINST*

* strike out whichever does not apply

Unless otherwise instructed the proxy may vote as he or she thinks ﬁt or abstain from voting. Signed

are retiring by rotation.

Dated

1. As a member of the Society you are entitled to appoint a proxy to exercise all or any of your rights to attend, speak and vote at a general meeting of the Society. You can only appoint a proxy using the procedures set out in these notes. 2. Appointment of a proxy does not preclude you from attending the meeting and voting in person. If you have appointed a proxy and attend the meeting in person, your proxy appointment will automatically be terminated. 3. A proxy does not need to be a member of the Society but must attend the meeting to represent you. To appoint as your proxy a person other than the Chairman of the meeting (the President), insert their full name. If you sign and return this proxy form with no name detailed, the Chairman of the meeting will be deemed to be your proxy. Where you appoint as your proxy someone other than the Chairman, you are responsible for ensuring that they attend the meeting and are aware of your voting intentions. 4. To direct your proxy how to vote on the resolutions strike out whichever does not apply. If no voting indication is given, your proxy will vote or abstain from voting at his or her discretion. Your proxy will vote (or abstain from voting) as he or she thinks fit in relation to any other matter which is put before the meeting. 5. To appoint a proxy using this form, the form must be: • Completed and signed; • Sent or delivered to the Society at 4–5 Inverness Mews, London, W2 3JQ or via e-mail to Megan Hand at megan.hand@ism.org; and • Received by the Society no later than 12.45 pm on 22 April 2021. 6. Any power of attorney or any other authority under which this proxy form is signed (or a duly certified copy of such power or authority) must be included with the proxy form or a revocation of such form (see below). 7. If you submit more than one valid proxy appointment, the appointment received last before the latest time for the receipt of proxies will take precedence. 8. To change your proxy instructions simply submit a new proxy appointment using the method set out above. Note that the cut-off time for receipt of proxy appointments (see above) also apply to amended instructions; any amended proxy appointment received after the relevant cut-off time will be disregarded. 9. Where you have appointed a proxy using the hard-copy proxy form and would like to change the instructions using another hard-copy proxy form, please contact the Society. 10. In order to revoke a proxy instruction you will need to inform the Society by sending a signed hard copy notice clearly stating your intention to revoke your proxy appointment to 4–5 Inverness Mews, London, W2 3JQ or to Megan Hand at megan.hand@ism.org. Note the cut-off time for receipt of proxy appointments (see above) also applies to revocations. If you attempt to revoke your proxy appointment but the revocation is received after the time specified then, unless you attend the meeting, your proxy appointment will remain valid.

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Professional development The ISM provides you with opportunities to build up your skills in the digital arena with our advice pages and webinars. We also have a collection of professional development videos and resources available to members and the wider music sector through our sister charity, The ISM Trust.

Catch up – Past webinars Brexit essentials: What the deal means for musicians In this webinar ISM Research Consultant Dr Kathryn Williams looks at how the UK/EU Trade Agreement affects musicians, including the new practicalities of travelling between the EU and UK for short-term work. Transitioning to teaching online As lockdowns and enhanced restrictions continue to affect music teaching across the UK, harpist and teacher Anna Wynne and John Robinson from the ISM legal team discuss various topics such as setting up your tech, safeguarding for children and vulnerable people, and other key points to consider when making the switch to teaching online. Find them on ism.org/professional-development/webinars

Indian Takeaway: Rāg and Tāl basics Take away a lesson in Indian classical music. Our award-nominated, free online resource brought to you by the ISM Trust and Indian music expert Yogesh Dattani enables you to take away our lesson plans and successfully play or teach a piece of Indian classical music on any instrument.

Digital Performers’ Pack Exclusive to ISM members, the Digital Performers’ Pack brings together some of the most popular advice on performing online published by the ISM during the COVID-19 pandemic, and includes brand new contributions from Sam Taylor and Danny Keir of Enki Music. The pack takes you through everything you need to start performing in the digital space, including hardware and software, monetising your performances, and understanding copyright. Find it at ism.org/advice-centre/digital-performers-pack

This lesson explores the basics of the melodic (rāg) and rhythmic (tāl) al) structures of North Indian classical music sargam, as you gradually learn to play a short composition, Sargam Gīt. ism.org/indian-takeaway

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | NEWS FROM OUR MEMBERS

NEWS FROM OUR MEMBERS We welcome your brief news (max. 150 words) and high-res images. Please email mj@ism.org The next deadline for copy is 1 April for the May/June 2021 issue.

Catherine Ennis FISM Right: Catherine Ennis Photo: Clive Barda / ArenaPAL

days of her own career, when female organists were rare and she faced both misogyny and confusion (choristers addressing her as ‘sir’, audience members assuming she had been the page turner when she emerged from organ lofts after her recitals). She was also honest about the challenges of juggling professional commitments with family life.

Eric Wetherell FISM 30/12/1925 – 31/1/2021 ISM member since 1955

Conductor, composer, arranger, producer and pianist Eric Wetherell gained a music degree at Oxford, where he studied with Bernard Rose, Thomas Armstrong and Egon Wellesz, and then studied composition with As a fundraiser and organ consultant, Herbert Howells and orchestration Ennis helped to create four London with Gordon Jacob at the Royal College organs: the Rieger at St Marylebone of Music. Though trained originally as a Parish Church, where she was also pianist and organist, he left the college Director of Music for a time; the Klais to become a horn player in the London at St Lawrence Jewry; the Mander 20/1/1955-24/12/2020 Philharmonic Orchestra and the in the Lady Chapel of Westminster Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, as ISM member since 2002 Abbey; and the William Drake at Trinity well as freelancing with other London College of Music, Greenwich. She The organist Catherine Ennis, who died and provincial orchestras. was a Patron of Orford Organ Project of breast cancer on Christmas Eve, had Later, he became a repetiteur at and a recording which she made a distinguished career as a recitalist the Royal Opera House, Assistant on the Peter Collins organ recently and recording artist. She had been Musical Director with Welsh National moved from the Turner Sims Concert Director of Music at the City of London Opera, Music Director with HTV, Chief Hall, Southampton University, to St guild church of St Lawrence Jewry since Conductor of the BBC Northern Ireland Bartholomew’s Church, Orford, was 1985 and played for 35 Lord Mayors. Orchestra and up to retirement was released by Priory Records a few As a teacher, she was involved with weeks before her death. She was also Senior Music Producer for Radio 3. His three London conservatoires and with involved in a project to restore the 1911 profound enthusiasm for jazz also led St Giles International Organ School; to a close involvement with the BBC Hill organ of Shrewsbury Abbey. she gave masterclasses throughout Big Band, for whom he both arranged the UK and abroad and was a frequent Tributes to Catherine Ennis from and produced. In particular, he was a examiner and adjudicator. Passionate colleagues and friends have regular conductor and arranger for the about providing a platform for emphasised her sense of fun, her popular ‘Friday Night is Music Night’ young artists, she was a Trustee of energy and her sheer joie de vivre. on BBC Radio 2 in the early 1970s. Eric the Nicholas Danby Trust for Young In his address at her funeral at her Wetherell was also a keen jazz pianist Organists and a director of the John Hill local church in Shropshire the Revd and played regularly with his quartet, Memorial Recital Series. Richard McLaren, who worked with until recent years. her at St Marylebone Church, spoke Ennis was President of the Royal His compositions covered many for everyone who knew her when he College of Organists (RCO) in 2014 and genres – film music, orchestral suites, expressed his shock and sadness at was awarded the RCO Medal in 2018; concertos for saxophone and for flute, the loss of such a ‘luminous, lively, she was also a past President of the music for wind band, choral works lovely figure’ who was both a gifted Incorporated Association of Organists both accompanied and a cappella, solo performer and a very natural and an enthusiastic supporter of the songs, music for children and jazz. His team player, who was ‘brilliant at Society of Women Organists, which opera The Snow Child was staged at interpreting the liturgy with her was launched at her Royal Festival the Redgrave Theatre in Bristol in 2014. particular combination of discipline Hall recital in February 2019. She had and spontaneity’. a rich fund of stories about the early

Continued overleaf È

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | NEWS FROM OUR MEMBERS

Kenneth Alwyn FISM, FRAM

28/7/1928-10/12/2020 ISM member since 1974 Conductor Kenneth Alwyn’s long career included regular appearances with Sadlers Wells Ballet company and the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden, being musical director for many West End

Organs of Finedon Jonathan Harris has produced a CD of The Organs of St Mary’s, Finedon, Northamptonshire, featuring the historic c.1704 Father Smith organ built for Queen Anne which was restored in 2014, and their Peter Collins chamber organ. Music includes works by J.S. Bach, Clérambault, Croft, and Stanley, alongside contemporary works such as two by Robert Page FISM, best known for his sacred choral works (rpmusic.org.uk). Copies to ISM members are available for £5 to cover costs. To purchase contact Jonathan at jonathan.harris1717@gmail.com.

The Org ans of St Mary’s, Finedon, Northam ptonshir e

Played by Jona than Har ris

musicals, and conducting the BBC Concert Orchestra in the long-running radio programme Friday Night is Music Night. He was Principal Conductor of the BBC Northern Ireland Orchestra from 1969 to 1976, coinciding with the worst era of the Troubles which posed major challenges for live performing, but he recorded a broad range of repertoire for the BBC. Alwyn’s many commercial recordings included the classic 1958 release of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 overture and Capriccio Italien with the London Symphony Orchestra which was the very ﬁrst stereophonic LP to be issued by Decca. Born in Croydon, Alwyn was a keen champion of the music of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, who shared his birthplace. He included some of

Coleridge-Taylor’s works in his concert programmes whenever he could, and played his music often at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon, from where he broadcast the first complete performance of The Song of Hiawatha since the heyday of the work in the 1930s. Alwyn was also an enthusiastic promoter of British music when touring overseas with various orchestras. A friend of the comedian and pianist Dudley Moore, Alwyn worked with him on his final concert tour in 1992. He had recently published two volumes of autobiography: A Baton in the Ballet and Is Anyone Watching? In the latter he wrote: ‘In the beautiful garden of music, I am but a gardener. A lowly servant of an art that can touch us like no other.’

Remembering Peter Wishart

Another of Wishart’s pupils was Geoffrey Burgon, most famous for composing the signature tune for the television series Brideshead Revisited; and he was married to the singer Maureen Lehane, who founded the Jackdaws Music Education Trust at their home Great Elm, near Frome in Somerset, after Wishart’s sudden death in 1984. What is available of Wishart’s output is published by Stainer & Bell.

Composer and publisher Richard Carder (pictured below) has been reﬂecting on the legacy of the composer Peter Wishart (pictured above), whose centenary falls this year. ‘Wishart was my harmony teacher at the Guildhall from 1961-64,’ says Carder. ‘Very little of his music has been recorded, apart from one famous carol, “Alleluya”, so I hope to encourage performances this year.’

mynstrallsy.co.uk

Making friends with Zoom ‘Zoom has been my best buddy for the past 12 months and it has allowed me to reach a worldwide audience. I have presented more than 20 solo recorder recitals, performing music from ancient China via early to contemporary pieces, both original works for recorder and arrangements,’ writes recorder player Andrew Collis. ‘I have combined this with talks about the composers, styles and the recorders being used. It has been great to interact with the audience and inspire them to continue their own musical activities – also to focus on my own playing whilst putting together different programmes. A recent project was to perform the 40-minute cycle The Signs of the Seasons by Markus

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | NEWS FROM OUR MEMBERS

for competitive entrants. All entrants will receive an encouraging comment sheet by the adjudicator, June Armstrong, with a certiﬁcate and a piece of music specially written by a leading contemporary composer. Winners in the competitive category will receive a selection of inspiring music books at their playing level. The website has resources to help support teachers introduce composition in a simple and engaging way. For full information on how to enter and to register your interest please visit composeyourself.net Zahnhausen alongside a discussion by the composer. This was followed up by a series of workshops on the music. I am now planning to do similar presentations with composers from the USA, Canada, Australia, England and Europe.’

About Andria: bit.ly/bioandria

Record your vocals at home

Online vocal jazz workshops Jazz and world music vocalist Andria Antoniou is leading an online jazz workshop for four consecutive Saturdays, starting on Saturday 27 February. Mother and son ISM members Gillian Wormley and Ryan Walker join forces to create a new short online course for singers: Recording Vocals at Home. Gillian and Ryan are professional musicians but in very different spheres. Both studied at Dartington College of Arts.

andrewcollismusician.com andrewcollis@tiscali.co.uk

Calling young composers Introducing Compose Yourself! – an online composition festival created by established composers Alison Mathews (pictured) and Lindsey Berwin, to reﬂect their passion in encouraging composition from an early age. This workshop is for intermediate or advanced level singers of any musical style and training. Through the study of two jazz standard songs you will be taught the unique characteristics of jazz singing. You will develop an understanding of 2-5-1 progressions – one of the most commonly used chords progressions in jazz and learn how to improvise on the above sequence using the appropriate tools and licks. No prior knowledge of jazz is required. They are inviting submissions from pianists aged ﬁve to 18, to be received by 31 May 2021, in both the competitive and non-competitive categories. Entrants submit a video of themselves playing their composition, along with an accompanying score

Dates and times: Saturdays at 15.00-16.00 UK time 27.2.21 | 6.3.21 | 13.3.21 | 20.3.21 COST: £50 (British pound) in total for four one-hour sessions

For detailed description please visit andriaantoniou.com/jazzworkshop Promo video: youtu.be/S8VghQVc8Rk

During 2020, Gillian, seeing a significant rise in singers wishing to find a way to be involved with music-making online, began creating virtual initiatives to feed the need and to ensure her business, Little Soprano & The Voice School could continue to flourish. Ryan, who has first-hand knowledge and experience of recording studios and associated tech needs, is stepping up in partnership with Gillian in March 2021 to create a neat, simple, and userfriendly recording guide for singers, with guaranteed lifetime access for those who opt-in. Further details and news updates about the status of this joint venture can be found at littlesoprano.co.uk/ thelearningcurve

Old and new operas on disc As with London buses, it takes an age to organize an opera recording, and then two come out on the same day! John Eccles’ Semele and Stephen Continued overleaf È

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | NEWS FROM OUR MEMBERS

Dodgson’s Margaret Catchpole both dramatise the eternal story of Forbidden Love – albeit in different ways. While Semele tells of Jupiter’s affair with Semele that ends in her agonizing death, Margaret Catchpole expresses the woes of Catchpole’s g gg misguided love for a smuggler.

Music magazine and was Record of the Week on BBC Radio 3. Margaret Catchpole is on Naxos, has been described as ‘…impeccable both in quality and balance between singers and orchestra’ in David’s Review Corner, and features on Gramophone magazine’s blog. For further details, please see julianperkins.com

Sheet Music Plus (sheetmusicplus. com/publishers/robert-a-howardsheet-music/3014369?ac=1) with several ﬂexibly scored pieces published this year by COMA (Contemporary Music Making for All; coma.org/catalogue/). In both cases, works can be purchased and downloaded or printed.

Lockdown also provided the opportunity to complete two new compositions – God So Loved the World, a new setting of words familiar While 2020 has been a year like no to many, and Tantara, an extended other, it has a particular significance for piece for solo trombone which Dr Robert Howard for reasons beyond explores various themes linked by the global pandemic. 2020 marked fanfare motifs. 30 years of composing, and just over Conducted here by Julian Perkins, 300 live performances of Robert’s Just prior to Christmas, Robert was both pieces magnify life experiences compositions both within the UK and delighted to receive a Certificate of and attest to the uplifting qualities of further afield. Appreciation from the Board of British music by two composers writing 270 Mensa for his services to Classical Music For Robert, lockdown facilitated the years apart. Semele is on AAM Records (Special Interest Group). All in all, an publication of over 130 compositions. and is Recording of the Month in BBC exceptional and productive year! Most pieces are now available via

Lockdown composing marathon

OBITUARIES, we are sorry to announce the deaths of the following members: Mr Kenneth V Jones FISM of Seaford

Ms Cynthia M Aird of Horley

Miss Sheila Desson FISM of Edinburgh

Mr Kenneth Alwyn FISM , FRAM of Billingshurst

Miss Catherine Ennis FISM of Shrewsbury Miss Janet Tinbergen FISM of Oxford

Miss Jean Anderson FISM of Harrow

Miss Lorna Fensome FISM of London

Mr Eric Wetherell FISM of Bristol

Mr John Henry FISM of London

Mr David A Wright FISM of Winchester

Mr Arne Brattland FISM of Waterlooville

MEMBER COMMENTS I would just like to thank all at the ISM for your work and support at this time. It is much appreciated, and I am so glad be a MISM. Nicola Billington, ISM member since 2018 Thank you so much for the ongoing support and excellent resources that the ISM is continuing to provide, despite the huge challenges at the moment. Please know that you are all very much appreciated Jill Colton, ISM member since 1995

I’d like to say thank you for all the information and support from the ISM over the past months. Your advice, from risk assessments and working online to interpretation of confused government diktats, and much more has been invaluable and has kept me almost sane. Keep up the good work ISM member since 1991 Congratulations to the whole team at ISM for the fantastic work that you are doing currently for musicians in general. It is greatly appreciated. Meinir Heulyn, ISM member since 2003

A massive shout of thanks for your continued support over the pandemic, with advice, guidance and support. You are amazing. I have never subscribed to any membership of more worth than the ISM. Ben Matthews, ISM member since 2018 The ISM has been such a tremendous support to musicians over the past year – always ahead of the curve and ready to get new information out to members in record time. Thank you for all you do – it’s hugely appreciated by the musicians in this household! Lauren Goldthorpe MISM, ISM member since 1994

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | NEWS FROM OUR CORPORATE MEMBERS

NEWS FROM OUR CORPORATE MEMBERS We welcome your brief news (max. 150 words for platinum and gold members, max. 100 words for silver members) and good high-res images. Please email mj@ism.org. The next deadline is 1 April for the May/June 2021 issue.

Stainer & Bell Stainer & Bell has acquired the English Philharmonia Catalogue of choral music from its founders Graham and Anna Wili. In a decade of successful choral music publishing they curated a unique list of works, for ensembles ranging from community choirs to professional choruses, by outstanding composers including Paul Ayres, Andrew Cottee, Jenny Gould, Brian Knowles, Sebastian Weiss and Chris Williams. ‘The last ten years have been wonderful, working with such talented names to publish new music that both delights audiences and is rewarding for all singers,’ says Graham Wili. ‘With Stainer & Bell’s great energy and vision under the leadership of Managing Director Antony Kearns and newly appointed Choral Ambassador Angus Smith, I have no doubt this music will go on to have a very bright future.’

Right Photo: Simon Jones Below: NYJOTL Awardee David Ijishakin Photo: Tane Stappard and Theo Geraghaty

Antony Kearns comments: ‘We are absolutely delighted to welcome English Philharmonia’s composers to our unrivalled collection of British music, and we look forward to introducing these works to choirs and audiences throughout the world.’ stainer.co.uk

Trinity Laban Trinity Laban conservatoire and the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO) have pledged to support each other to ensure diversity, inclusivity and accessibility within jazz education. The initiative includes the new annual NYJO-Trinity Laban Award. Funded by NYJO, it helps support a talented young musician to study on the conservatoire’s Jazz degree programme. The inaugural recipient is ﬁrst-year singer-songwriter and multiinstrumentalist David Ijishakin, aka

Akin Soul, who comments: ‘I’m excited for what is to come within these next few years of growth as a musician and an individual.’ Trinity Laban Principal Anthony Bowne comments – ‘We are excited to build on our reputation as a future-focused and socially engaged conservatoire and explore the ways in which our newly formed strategic relationship will continue to promote jazz.’ trinitylaban.ac.uk

Guildhall School of Music & Drama In 2020, Guildhall School installed ground-breaking low latency technology. The new network, connecting 22 rooms across Guildhall’s buildings, allows musicians in different spaces within the School to play with virtually no delay in audio and video. It is believed that Guildhall School is the ﬁrst institution to use this technology for the rehearsal and performance of a full orchestra. Guildhall welcomed soprano Julia Bullock as Artist in Residence. During her residency, Bullock will draw on her depth of experience, working with students in masterclasses and performance projects, and guiding them in development of their own creative processes.

pathways in Performance/ Composition, Jazz, Popular Music and Production, commended for its ‘authentic and innovative assessment tasks’ and the way the pathways ‘prepare students for working in a rapidly changing industry’. The new programme builds on a well-founded diversity and specialist expertise in classical, jazz and popular musics, while using a growing strength and investment in music production to add as a specialist pathway. A new state-of-the-art recording studio at its Hendon campus has proved a useful addition to the university’s facilities.

While COVID-19 continues to impact students’ learning, Middlesex University has done whatever possible to allow students to continue making music at home, offering remote software licenses and distributing packs of technical equipment. mdx.ac.uk/courses/ performing-arts

Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama

Guildhall was also the top-ranked conservatoire for Music in the 2021 Guardian University Guide. gsmd.ac.uk

Middlesex University Middlesex University has recently undertaken a comprehensive review of its music offering. The result is a new BA (Hons) Music programme, led by Dr Brian Inglis, with dedicated

Despite the unprecedented challenges during last term, the RWCMD Strings department actually managed to Continued overleaf È

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | NEWS FROM OUR CORPORATE MEMBERS

increase the number of performance opportunities for its students. The department worked alongside a number of visiting professional musicians, including a series of masterclasses with performers such as Philip Higham, Carmine Lauri and Rachel Podger. Students have also enjoyed chamber coaching from the Albion Quartet and workshops with RWMCD Strings staff including David Adams and Lesley Hatﬁeld. ‘The essence of our programme has always been to integrate as much performance as possible by working with professional musicians and learning through participation,’ said head of department Simon Jones.

to give their congregations, choirs, colleagues and family an insight into the intricacies and wonder of their chosen instrument. rco.org.uk/events/ international-organ-day-2021

Practising the Piano

Practising the Piano’s collection of resources and online workshops for the new ABRSM Piano Syllabus now features almost 100 videos covering pieces from the Initial Grade through rwcmd.ac.uk to Grade 8. As a complement to these resources, we’ve also created Royal College of Organists a programme of online workshops in Chief executive Sir Andrew Parmley which Graham Fitch provides insights writes: Pandemic restrictions on how to learn, practise and interpret mean the RCO will be presenting selected repertoire, in addition to interNational Organ Day 2021 as offering tips on other elements such as an entirely online event. But far from scales, sight-reading, preparation and reducing the scope of the celebrations, performing. this has given us the opportunity to More information on our resources extend interNational Organ Day into a for piano examinations is available week-long digital festival. here: mailchi.mp/informance/ piano-examination-resources ISM members are entitled to 30% discounts on online workshops and annual subscriptions (please visit mailchi.mp/informance/ismmember-offers for more information on ISM member discounts).

Right: Sir Andrew Parmley

Running from 18-24 April, the festival will be streamed as a series of daily one-hour broadcasts including interviews, features, chat and guests. We will be joining colleagues around the world to explore themes including choral music, the parish organist, cinema and theatre organ, and young organists. The aim of the event remains to celebrate the organ, organ music and organists, and to inspire a new generation of musicians and enthusiasts. Organists everywhere are encouraged to join us online, celebrate #internationalorganday on social media, and share the links

innovative straw technology; Filipa La (Spain) on attaining feedback on airﬂow in phonation and Ilter Denizoglu (Turkey) on keeping the voice exercised in this non-singing pandemic period.

Association of Teachers of Singing SOVT ‘Singposium’ 11 April, 2-5pm, online AOTOS provides a rich programme of online events for the wider public and members. Next up, open to ALL, is our SOVT ‘Singposium’ conference. SOVT (Semi Occluded Vocal Tract) exercises – where the mouth is partially closed – have been an essential part of vocal training and rehabilitation for some years. We are thrilled to have secured the expertise of three international specialists on the subject for this event. Oren Boder (UK), on his

Do join us. You can book directly via this link bit.ly/3cl4X3f Price: £15 (AOTOS members), £20 (non-members) aotos.org.uk

British Voice Association The British Voice Association (BVA) is pleased to announce new dates for our international, multi-disciplinary conference, ‘Choice for Voice’, postponed from last year. Choice for Voice will now be a fully online event on 3-5 September 2021. Further details will be announced nearer the time and all conﬁrmed programme information will be published on our website: britishvoiceassociation. org.uk/events.htm. In the meantime, our exciting programme of online training continues with events planned for Spoken Voice (April) and Speech and Language Therapy ( June) – please see the website for the latest on these. Our website contains a wealth of information and advice about all things voice including resources for the annual World Voice Day (16 April). BVA members can also enjoy the most recent episode of our ‘Keynote Conversations’ series, featuring acclaimed mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly in discussion with her friend and colleague, the celebrated tenor Richard Edgar-Wilson.

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | NEWS FROM OUR CORPORATE MEMBERS

planned for the fall of 2021 and it is recommended that O and P visa applications be started as soon as possible. With two U.S. ofﬁces, BAM! Baird Artists Management Consulting acts as petitioner for any artist or performing groups applying for O and P visas and can advise on the newest requirements. Contact Robert Baird, an acknowledged expert on North American touring, at 01-416-887-2151, Skype: robert.baird7132 or robert@ bairdartists.com. BAM! Baird Artists Management has a 100% success rate in obtaining O and P visas.

Left: AYM award winners work with BBC Musicians at a past AYM Awards Day Photo: Edward Webb

bairdartists.com

Awards for Young Musicians holds online Awards Day Each year, Awards for Young Musicians brings together young people from across the country for a day of exceptional music making, as part of the charity’s annual Awards Day. The event had to be held online this year, and saw 193 young musicians invited to take part in a series of online sessions and workshops. Leading industry ﬁgures and members of the BBC Symphony Orchestra explored a variety of topics, such as composition, careers beyond the stage, songwriting, higher education in music, and much more. The event culminated in a virtual awards ceremony to welcome the new Award winners, each of whom will receive a means tested grant to support their musical journeys.

music, providing much-needed support for teachers in the way of guidance notes, extended tasks, and clear pathways through the childfriendly material. More information and free trial of the education version is only available from Julian jedwards@naxosmusic. co.uk 07768 448381

BAM! Baird Artists Management Consulting

a-y-m.org.uk

Music Education Solutions Music Education Solutions® is pleased to announce a new partnership with psychologist Dannielle Haig. The Palladium resilience programme is a support programme speciﬁcally for students who are training for professional careers in the performing arts, and the lecturers and student services staff who support them. The programme will help students both during and beyond their studies, supporting their transition into the working world, and building the self-sufﬁciency and resilience that is important for success. Further information can be found on the Music Education Solutions website: musiceducationsolutions.co.uk/ mental-health

Left: Robert Baird

Naxos Music Box Naxos Music Box, the newest education resource from the recording giant, has been shortlisted in the Music and Drama Education Awards’ ‘Outstanding Music Education Resource’ category. Naxos’ Julian Edwards said: ‘We’re delighted that MusicBox has caught the attention of music educators with this prestigious nomination and has been recognised as a valuable resource at KS2 and KS3’. MusicBox is a comprehensive introduction to the world of classical

BAM! Baird Artists Management Consulting, is pleased to offer free consultation to any ISM member on the current state of affairs in regard to touring the United States or Canada. Current travel restrictions in both countries affect the entry of artists who are looking to tour North America in 2021. With vaccinations currently under way in both countries, the possibilities for performances and touring are optimistically being

Friends of the Musicians’ Chapel The Friends of the Musicians’ Chapel hold annual services commemorating the lives of musicians in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Holborn Viaduct in the City of London. Sadly, we had to abandon our 2020 Service Continued overleaf È

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | NEWS FROM OUR CORPORATE MEMBERS

Right: St Sepulchre’s Church, home to the Musicians’ Chapel

At Impulse, we have the skills to save musicians that time and trouble, which is why we are developing ways of helping musicians develop their digital output. We can certainly provide advice, but better than that, we can now provide the production facilities to help you create short videos to showcase your talent. The Impulse ‘Creative You’ brand has been designed especially to help musicians promote themselves through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube channels. You provide the inspiration and we use our expertise to produce the videos. Find out more at impulse-music.co.uk or call 01760 441448.

Right: Beth Macdonald

of Thanksgiving and we have now decided to postpone this year’s service which was scheduled for Tuesday 27 April 2021. We will be investigating the possibility of a service at St Sepulchre’s in September, when names of the musicians newly inscribed in the Book of Remembrance in 2019-2020 will be read aloud. As soon as we are able to reach a decision the date will be advertised on our website and in the music press. We also plan to hold our Requiem Service on 2 November. musicianschapel.org.uk

MTB Exams MTB Exams – who now have over 1,000 exam centres in 40 countries – are delighted to announce the launch of our new Performance Grades on 3 February 2021, running alongside our existing practical grades. Our established Practical

Grades, which include technical and musicianship elements, differ from our new Performance Grades, which are designed to develop candidates’ experience of the creative process in both planning and performing recital programmes. MTB’s Performance Grades comprise a videoed recital of four or ﬁve pieces, with a target duration for each of the grades. At grades 1-5, we provide a target duration, whereas for grades 6-8 we provide a minimum and maximum time for your programme, as learning to manage recital duration is a key skill to develop for realworld performances. With MTB’s Free Choice option, you can assemble a programme comprising the music you really want to perform. MTB – exams to smile about! mtbexams.com

Impulse Music Showcasing your work on social media The 20s in this century are not so much ‘roaring’ as exploding, particularly across social media platforms! Musicians need to ride this wave and turn it to advantage. All well and good, but for many, if not most, that means getting a handle on how everything works and even investing in quality hardware and software to achieve the best results.

Trinity College London Sir James MacMillan, composer of global acclaim, has launched a major initiative in partnership with Trinity College London, aimed at putting Scotland and particularly his home town of Cumnock, Ayrshire, at the centre stage of world composition. Cumnock will become a new centre of excellence in the learning and teaching of composition, not limited to Scotland but for teachers and composers across the world, from those at the beginning of their careers to those teaching composition in schools, composers studying within higher education and young composers still at school. Trinity College London has also commissioned a new book for music teachers and young composers from James MacMillan and Jennifer Martin to illustrate the compositional process and to support those teaching and learning composition in the upper years of secondary school. This book incorporates much of the teaching processes used in The Cumnock

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | NEWS FROM OUR CORPORATE MEMBERS

Collins Music news

Left: Dorico software in use

OUT NOW! More Ukulele Magic Tutor Book 2 Continue your musical journey on the ukulele! Fully supported with audio performances and backings, this second book builds on the learning in Book 1 with new chords, scales, ﬁnger-picking patterns as well as opportunities for composing, improvising and ensemble playing. The teacher’s edition includes a downloadable whiteboard e-book with embedded audio and video demos, making it ideal for whole-class teaching.

Tryst’s composition projects for projects with other Dorico users – ideal schools and will be launched at The for homework if students and their Cumnock Tryst Festival in October 2021. teachers have Dorico at school. You can OUT NOW! Get Set! Piano and even open full orchestra projects from My First Piano Read more at: bit.ly/3pDyRU1 Dorico Pro in Dorico SE to print them Get Set! Piano for beginner students and play them back. To download Dorico SE visit: new. steinberg.net/dorico/se

The National Schools Symphony Orchestra The NSSO was finalist in the 2020 Music & Drama Education Awards and our Digital Celebration films can be Stuck at home? Create beautiful sheet found on YouTube. This year, 8-18 July, music with Steinberg’s free music brings an exciting return to live musicnotation software: Dorico SE making. Malvern College, home of If you haven’t tried Dorico SE yet NSSO, has highly regarded COVID-19 you should definitely check it out! protocols in place, and with fewer Dorico SE is the latest addition to the people on campus, shorter residential Dorico product family. Not only is it courses, boarding at only 50% of completely free to download and use capacity and concerts live-streamed, forever, it also includes many of the we are sure that we will deliver advanced features in Dorico Pro, used safe courses. Applications are now by professionals in the fields of film open with auditions online. Full and TV, video games, concert music, details of the three NSSO orchestras jazz, music publishing, and teaching. (differentiated by age and ability), Projects you create in Dorico SE are Conducting Course, and the new Big fully compatible with all other versions Band can be found at nsso.org of Dorico, so you can easily share

Steinberg

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My First Piano Book introduces young children to the piano and musicmaking through fun activities, rhymes, songs and pieces. My First Piano Pieces, Puzzles & Activities includes traditional and new pieces, plus lots of additional activities to consolidate learning and offer an extra layer of fun. Stay tuned … Sign up to our newsletter at collins.co.uk/music and follow us on Twitter @CollinsMusicEd.

discuss hot topics, the group offers you a chance to network and feel supported by your peers.

Stay connected to your fellow ISM members by joining over Access the group at facebook.com/groups/myismis 1,500 other music professionals in our exclusive Facebook group. A space to share stories and ideas, ask questions and

Classiﬁed advertising HOW TO BOOK: please send advertisement copy with payment (cheques payable to the ‘Incorporated Society of Musicians’ or T: 020 7221 3499 with credit card details) to the ISM, 4–5 Inverness Mews, London W2 3JQ or email mj@ism.org Copy date by 1 April for the May/June 2021 issue. PRIVATE AND TRADE 50p per word, minimum £5. Advertisements from ISM members are half-price (i.e. 25p per word, minimum £2.50). Name, address and contact details must be paid for if included. Box numbers £2 extra. Prices include VAT. A series of six or more identical insertions qualiﬁes for 10% discount.

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MUSIC COPYING SERVICE. Quality printed music produced at reasonable prices. For further details contact David Turner, computer-based music copyist, at 23 Overbrook, Hythe, Southampton SO45 5BE, Tel: 02380 848146, email: dfturner@waitrose.com

PROOFREADER AND COPYEDITOR: Karen Cox, Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP). Music graduate. For academics, SPINNETT WITTMAYER (German) Four I offer pre-submission copyediting and octaves, C-D, light walnut. VGC needs proofreading of books and journal articles, tuning, hence £395 for a quick sale. and preparation of music examples for Tel 07974 412269 publishing using professional music DOUBLE BASS PAESOLD concert model 590. notation software. For PG students, I offer Excellent condition cost £3k plus in 1997, proof-editing of theses and dissertations. £895 ono 01747 828552 Contact me to discuss how I can help you: karen@karencoxeditorial.co.uk. BASSOONS several. 07974 412269

ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2021 | NEWS FROM OUR CORPORATE MEMBERS

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If I could have the chance to speak to one artist however, it would be the Scottish conductor Bryden Thomson. I grew up listening to his great recordings with the Ulster Orchestra and have since spoken to many musicians here in Wales who remember him fondly. They say he was a musicians’ conductor. I’ve always been convinced that ﬁnding the correct tempo is key to any work, and I’ve never disagreed with any of Bryden Thomson’s.

Eugene Monteith Conductor, and currently Music Librarian at BBC NOW Tell us a little about yourself

What was the last CD/music download that you purchased?

I come from Strabane, County Tyrone, a working-class border town in the North of Ireland. I was pretty shy and reserved growing up, but I began to ﬁnd my own distinct voice and passion through music. I beneﬁted greatly from having access to free cornet lessons at school; soon I was playing in brass bands four days a week and playing trumpet in youth orchestra on Saturdays – so I got most of my formative musical training away from the classroom.

Photo: Chris Stock

The Thin Red Line Recording Sessions. A rare CD of unused session music by Hans Zimmer for Terrence Malick’s 1998 war epic. It’s an incredible film, one that allows for introspection and self-reflection through the eyes of one of the main characters, Private Witt. Hans Zimmer’s score (his best they could – financially, and perhaps most in my opinion) gives you the space to have importantly, being the taxi service we all that inner monologue to explore your own need growing up as young musicians! They thoughts. It was a film I loved in my teens, worked very hard to give me and my sister and, I guess after the past year, it just felt I went on to read music at Queens every opportunity to thrive and pursue like something I needed to go back to. University, Belfast, and afterwards studied our passions and careers. I try to take their orchestral and choral conducting at the generosity of spirit with me every day and What are your plans for the future? Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in emulate it, whether in my professional or At the moment, I’m just taking every day Cardiff, the city where I met my lovely wife, my personal life. as it comes. I’m looking forward to our soprano Llio Evans, and which I happily industry getting fully opened again very now call home. What would you say is your greatest soon. achievement to date? Away from music, I am a keen cricketer, and, thanks to the 2020 lockdown, Professionally, conducting the RTÉ Concert Finally, what is your ISM membership to you? I’ve finally developed a healthy and Orchestra in the National Concert Hall in sustainable relationship with running – I wouldn’t have said that back in 2019!

Dublin comes pretty close. It’s a special place for every Irish musician. It was also the first professional gig that my parents Who (or what) has most influenced you were able to attend. They were so proud. and your career? For the first time they could really see the I’ve had many great teachers and mentors; years of hard study I went through coming however, the greatest influence has together at last. And on a personal note, certainly come from my parents. They gave marrying my beautiful wife Llio of course – me the confidence and support I needed to Diolch o galon blodyn! raise my head above the parapet and push Who is your all-time favourite artist myself out into the wider world. I was the first person in my extended family to go to and why?

To me, the ISM is a community, a support network, and an invaluable resource to any musician. I joined as a student to take advantage of the fantastic student membership rate, and initially used the organisation as a resource to set my fees – something I had very little experience of doing. As time has gone on, I’ve taken advantage of the career development, tax, insurance, and contractual advice on offer. I currently feel very proud to be an ISM Member. The team has worked tirelessly university, so, most of the time, my parents I don’t think I have one! Having studied over the past few years, supporting us all didn’t understand what I was doing as they music for so long, I’m probably too critical through Brexit and now the pandemic. were not musicians or college-educated, now to have a single favourite. I go through Their work on behalf of all musicians has but they helped in every way phases, so I’ve had my Karajan phase, been second to none. my Bernstein phase, my Kleiber phase.

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Music Journal - March/April 2021

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The President’s year: Chris Collins describes his experience of leading the ISM Council in extraordinary times