ABO Conference Recap: Day Two

The first event I attended on day two was the Breaking through Brexit panel. Chaired by Scotland political editor at Global’s LBC, Gina Davidson, the panel included Deborah Annetts, Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM) chief executive, and Hanna Madalska-Gayer, ABO’s head of policy & communications.

Both ABO and ISM have worked hard over the last year to help their members navigate work and touring post-Brexit and although this adversity has brought people together in the music industry, the panel did not deliver much positive news. Annetts opened her speech by reading a few of the hundreds of personal testimonies received by ISM over the last year, detailing how musicians are being forced to give up their careers due to the pressure caused by Brexit.

She detailed the efforts of the ISM to protect the cultural sector even before the referendum and described how every aspect of being a musician in Europe has been affected by Brexit, as well as explaining the practical solutions found by the ISM which, she said, were rejected in her meetings with government officials due to a lack of ‘political will’.

Madalska-Gayer explained how the ABO is working on practical solutions to the problems facing orchestras when trying to organise cabotage, carnets, visas and work permits for touring. For example, tours scheduled to take place 2 years ago which were postponed due to the pandemic are now due to go ahead but did not budget for the increased paperwork now needed in order to travel in the EU.

The fast-changing visa and cabotage rules also cause issues as they can be misunderstood by border officers and customs officials. Madalska-Gayer also pointed out that ‘I didn’t get into the arts to talk about road haulage’, shining a light on the fact that ABO staff have gone above and beyond their job descriptions to find these solutions.

Another problem pointed out on this panel was the lack of clarity in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) which came into effect at the start of 2021, and the difficulty the ABO and ISM have faced in trying to get the technicalities of the TCA clarified by government.

The ensuing Q&A made abundantly clear the pain and upset caused that Brexit has brought to the music industry, with delegates discussing their own issues with touring, visas and the increased expenditure this has caused.

The It’s Not Easy Being Green panel held at the RSNO Centre was led by Nevis Ensemble chief executive Jamie Munn and Henry Southern, HarrisonParrott tours & projects manager. Munn and Southern discussed the ways their organisations are ‘meaningfully and realistically’ tackling climate change and what the implications are for the orchestral sector, particularly in the movement of people, nationally and internationally. The session then moved on to tackle the possibility and viability of positive change, with a chance for delegates to lead the conversation and pitch their own solutions for a greener orchestra.