Its safe to say that the pandemic has caused some of the biggest disruptions to culture humanity has seen in a longtime. Since the end of WW2 populations have exploded, and with that access, funding and the reach of culture has also grown. In Australia that has meant that every major population hub has gained further funding and audiences for orchestras, ballet companies, theatre companies, galleries and cultural institutions. In the 90s a lot of these organisations grew further and got swept up in the broader neo-liberal corporatisation of many industries. This has led to larger budgets, bigger projects and more employed. However there has also been challenges for these larger companies to create more innovative and collaborative work; we’ve seen a lessening of original Australian work being programmed, especially more experimental work and a reliance on international names to beef up marketing pull of the classical music organisations specifically.
This growth of the industry is something I am supportive of, and I know that the organisations work their butts off to present as much Australian content as they can with the small wiggle room these organisations are afforded from major funding bodies to do so. However, the sector anxiety around taking risks and presenting events that may not be “successful” (and so the thinking is that funding maybe cut of “failed”projects) has led to some very safe programming. Innovation is not something I would necessarily associate with a lot of these organisations. We get glimmers of hope of more diverse and innovative programs but often they fall short in artistic capital, appropriate marketing angles or box office pull. There are times where I think the more innovative programming could have been marketed in a way which showed how different and special these events are compared to the usual fare, and so could have garnered new audiences in the process. However I don’t want to give fault solely to the organisations. I think it’s more governments fault. My understanding is that they specially ask many of these organisations to use the funding they provide to bring big international names to Australia, as the main priority. I think this almost toxic obsession (and I have experienced it first hand working at some of the major festivals) over international work being prioritised by Government over more local work has forced a lot of these organisations into corners which doesn’t allow the right amount of resources to be put into commissioning path ways, young artist pathways, hiring locals etc. There has been some good work by many to rectify some of these issues, which I spoke about in this blog post about diversify, but we still only see Aussie content in the fringes of programs.
ANY WAY, aside from all this, we’re in launch season and I’m so glad to read that so many of my colleagues have received a lot of work opportunities with the major organisations! From what I can see just by glancing through the various programs there are more Australian works and artists being presented. Many brilliant artists have returned home to Australia from OS, OS artists obviously can’t travel here on the scale they could pre-Covid, so local artist living in Australia are getting those gigs and also budget are probably more limited at organisations, so it’s cheaper to high locals and avoid transport, visa and accom costs.
What I hope is that audiences, government, funding organisations both public and private and the organisations themselves see the rich vein of local artists beyond these 2021 seasons and program further along this route going forward. Seeing that Perth Festival is only WA artists and projects is so inspiring. The number of Australian conductors, soloists and composers involved in the programs of Sydney & Melbourne’s Orchestras is really wonderful and also many organisations looking into new and unique ways they can bring what they do into the digital sphere in a more innovative way is another great step forward, needing to utilise more local talent and ideas.
I said recently in a live stream that classical music isn’t dying, it’s dead. Of course that is a really loaded thing to say. But from my perspective as a composer & conductor of contemporary music, aside from independent and small work, my job prospects for the larger organisations have been slim. Audiences as we’ve heard 100, 000 times are aging, less young people are going, all the orgs are freaking out over how to engage young audiences blah blah blah. Covid has accelerated this, and forced the sector to rethink it’s function and role. Older patrons now have (and have learnt the skills to) access to a wonderful variety of digital experiences, wider audiences and I think more diverse audiences have had an easy way to dip their toe into the world of classical music. At the beginning of lock down so many friends I know who have never experienced the Melbourne Symphony live tuned in for the live streamed free concerts. What I’m saying is audience behaviors, tastes and wishes are changing, and have been since the 1990s, and it seems that Covid was the right kick up the bum to change some deep routed systemic issues.
I now see many of my peers being employed, which will in turn free up the next level of gigs, commissions and appointments so that other Aussie artists can move into those. Many commissions & collabs have gone to people of color, indigenous artists and a lot more women. As I said, I just hope this programming out of necessity changes opinions so that audiences and programs can and need to pivot (eugh, the worst word de jeur right now) permanently to more open, diverse, innovative and local projects.
Everyone, every industry, every community has had a shake up and wake up call due to Covid, and wonderful things have come from this. Lets keep the fight going to make sure this is the beginning of a flourishing of Australian creative endeavor, and not just a blip.