Leon Bosch: 'Against the odds I’ve felt optimistic for the ultimate future of music'

The trials of 2020 stirred extraordinary levels of energy, imagination and determination in many corners of the classical music world. Ways were found to keep performance alive and provide spiritual sustenance in our time of need. Double bassist Leon Bosch acknowledges the benefit gained from the dedicated work of colleagues; the other side to his story demonstrates the level of personal musical reinvention possible during troubling times, rooted in a resolute insistence that only upsides to the Covid predicament would be countenanced.

Struggling to keep up with Bosch’s turbo-charged account of his 2020 gives you some idea of what it must feel like trailing Lewis Hamilton around Silverstone. It’s full throttle all the way. ’The best year of my professional life. No question. Against the odds I’ve felt optimistic for the ultimate future of music. I’ve been energised. I can regularly be at the desk each day at 7am and keep going until midnight. I’m never exhausted.'

Talk about clouds and silver linings. When Covid-19 struck last spring, Bosch barely skipped a beat. ‘On 16 March I was driving home from a studio session when the mobile started ringing with people cancelling work. In no time, two or three months of engagements had been called off. Then the cancellations stretched further and further into the future. Tens of thousands of pounds of lost income. But I don’t scare easily. It’s not the first economic crisis I’ve lived through. Added to which I know what really scary looks and feels like, having been a political prisoner during my teens in South Africa.'

Bosch immediately decided the situation was a heaven-sent opportunity to re-set his life. That had been his intention back in 2014, the year he called a halt to playing in orchestras (most notably the Academy of St Martin in the Fields) to concentrate on developing his overall musical portfolio — above and beyond his longstanding solo and chamber music careers. ‘Somehow, though, I allowed work I was offered to divert me from the ambitious goals I’d set myself. The Covid crisis offered the chance to really focus on those goals with no distractions.'

A major priority was to re-think the relationship between musicians and the marketplace. Bosch took on an Open University course in mathematics and finance. ‘Such an eye-opener. Musicians don’t tend to have the best financial nous, one consequence of which is that they aren’t able fully to exploit their worth and intellectual property. We’re not used to being fully in control. Too often it’s a case of just being hired to do things, and that’s that. I can use my studies to make far better decisions in the future, decisions which allow me to seize what you might call my own personal artistic sovereignty.'

That decision-making is rooted in the twin aims of uncovering new income streams while gaining the fulfilment which comes from achieving personal ambitions. One early Bosch move was to more strongly back himself as a journalist and/or commentator. He successfully pitched ideas to such publications as the Guardian, Musical Opinion, The Strad and Classical Music. More is in the pipeline. This work has supplemented offers to give online talks and interviews for organisations both in this country and abroad — themselves a response to Covid. Bosch’s eloquent contribution to the Wigmore Hall’s ‘Lockdown Conversations’ series was a virtuoso verbal performance in its own right.

At the same time, in 2020 Bosch dramatically expanded his role as a publisher of musical scores, under his I Musicanti Publishing imprint. One dimension has been the instigation of the British Double Bass Sonatinas project. Seven composers have thus far been commissioned to write chamber music works. ‘One of these is Geoffrey Poole’s remarkable Lockdown Dialogues: Sonatina for Socially-Distanced Double Bass and Piano’, Bosch relates. ‘The two instruments never actually play together, and yet they’re inextricably linked. The majority of these pieces are now completed — I’m looking to release all of them on CD and video in 2021.'

In addition, Bosch commissioned a work based on the South African national anthem from Grant McLachlan. Again it was a case of the Covid situation spurring Bosch to turn aspiration into reality — the piece was given its debut online during the 2020 London-based African Concert Series. And there’s more. Bosch has been commissioning Carl Hinde to make arrangements of a string of violin concertos for performance by the double bassist’s I Musicanti ensemble — one such, of the Beethoven concerto, was given an outing online in an Imperial College concert during November.

Equally, Bosch will not forgive me if I fail to mention his championing of works for double bass by the Catalan composer Josep Cervera-Bret (d.1969) — three of which were published by I Musicanti Publishing last year.

‘All of this music is available from my website as hard-copy or download’, Bosch advises. ‘There were a good number of sales across 2020, plus lots of enquiries and suggestions of other things that deserve publication’.

Ultimately this enterprise is a long-term investment, one which has seen Bosch dig deep into his own pockets. Those pockets fund the extensive freelance team which underpins his range of projects — from office staff, consultancy, copy-writer and PR specialist to designer, typesetter and videographers… not forgetting the musical partners who help turn print into performances. ‘All these colleagues contribute to my mission in life and I remain committed to contributing to their lives too, especially during this difficult time.'

Another Bosch 2020-inspired initiative has seen him immersed in preparations for a music festival this summer at his home town of Tring, in the Chilterns. ‘An extraordinary number of professional musicians live in the area,' he observes, ‘as do many influential businessmen, a number of whom are already sold on the idea of this event, especially given these difficult times. Themes are emerging, one of which will be a belated celebration of Beethoven, given that his 250th birthday year was unfortunate enough to coincide with the arrival of the virus.'

Furthermore, the space afforded by the Covid predicament has allowed Bosch to spend time working on scores to further his developing career as a conductor. ‘This is another of those ambitions which go back several years — Neville Marriner encouraged me in that respect. I did the groundwork by studying in London with Sian Edwards and in St Petersburg with Alexander Polishchuk and I now have the dates in the diary to capitalise on this new dimension to my work.'

Much else in Bosch’s frantic 2020 will have to remain unsaid. But it would be remiss not to prompt a few words of advice for fellow musicians who might be inspired to follow his example. Bosch’s thoughts are instantaneous. ’Think back to how you felt when you were learning your instruments, and the dreams you had. Dream again, and don’t let anything get in your way. Invest financially in your future. If you need to pay a professional to help you acquire new skills, do it! It will be money well spent. Put your own personal wellbeing first. If you don’t, nothing of lasting value will follow’.