CBSO in Peril?

[subcontrabass]

Perhaps the CBSO would benefit from a similar arrangement with all the places that they visit in the West Midlands..

So that's Birmingham and ... er ... um ... er ... um .... ?

[Simon B]

So that's Birmingham and ... er ... um ... er ... um .... ?

It does depend on how, and how loosely "West Midlands" is defined:

The West Midlands metropolitan county? In which case the answer is indeed "nowhere else really".

The official West Midlands Region? In which case the answer includes Bedworth, Warwick, Lichfield, Stoke-on-Trent, Worcester, Malvern and Hereford - all of which get at least occasional visits of some sort from the CBSO. These do seem to have become more sporadic, limited and lower key over time.

The significant drop in public funding of the CBSO in recent years has had a noticeable effect in terms of programming, ticket rebanding and rapid price increases. Having skimmed through the accounts a few years ago, it wasn't hard to see why. (As an aside, the LPO@RFH takes the prize for most rapid price increases recently - 18% in one go, again the accounts probably tell the story.)

IIRC, Birmingham City Council is laden with a gigantic compensation bill consequent to losing an equal pay case in recent years - something on the order of a billion quid. This, combined with a particularly tough settlement in terms of recent cuts in central government funding, has beset them with financial problems considerably worse than the already significant challenges faced elsewhere. The only upside is that bodies like the CBSO have seen the inevitable cuts coming in time to at least try to do something to manage the effects.

[MrGongGong]

Perhaps the CBSO would benefit from a similar arrangement with all the places that they visit in the West Midlands..

With all due respect I think that these kind of arrangements have already been either
1: Explored but not taken up by the local authorities
2: Used to be in place but now stopped due to local authority financial constraints
3: Uneconomic, it might cost more than one gets back

Orchestras Live http://www.orchestraslive.org.uk do excellent work
BUT sadly most people think arts funding is not worth it, wasteful or unnecessary.

The CBSO are rather good at these kind of things in my experience but swimming against the tide

[teamsaint]

I'm not sure that most people think that about arts funding.
But they might take exception with, for example, the fees reportedly paid to top conductors, when compared to ticket income, and paid for partly out of public subsidy.

[Anastasius]

...
But they might take exception with, for example, the fees reportedly paid to top conductors, when compared to ticket income, and paid for partly out of public subsidy.

I doubt it very much.

[teamsaint]

I doubt it very much.

So do you think that those poeple, ( the ones who are sceptical about this kind of arts funding, as described by gongers) are in favour of public subsidy being spent on what are said to be, and might be thought to be, extremely high fees for conductors?

[Anastasius]

So do you think that those poeple, ( the ones who are sceptical about this kind of arts funding, as described by gongers) are in favour of public subsidy being spent on what are said to be, and might be thought to be, extremely high fees for conductors?

I very much doubt that they care one way or the other.

[ahinton]

It does depend on how, and how loosely "West Midlands" is defined:

The West Midlands metropolitan county? In which case the answer is indeed "nowhere else really".

The official West Midlands Region? In which case the answer includes Bedworth, Warwick, Lichfield, Stoke-on-Trent, Worcester, Malvern and Hereford - all of which get at least occasional visits of some sort from the CBSO. These do seem to have become more sporadic, limited and lower key over time.

Sporadic? That's putting it mildly where Hereford is concerned. Three Choirs once every three years (if they do come then) and that's about it, as there's nowhere other than Hereford Cathedral to accommodate them.