Roger Wilson: A Classical Music Change Maker

Briefly, what does Black Lives in Music (BLiM) aim to achieve, and how?

Black Lives in Music aims to address the lack of diversity at all levels and in all areas of Jazz and classical music in the UK. It aims to work in solidarity alongside like-minded groups and individuals to partner with organisations and professional ensembles. It will recommend effective diversity actions and initiatives that cover areas of recruitment, governance, learning and training for staff at all levels. It also aims to provide ground-breaking data through two annual, national surveys on the lived experience of people of colour in the music industry and on diversity in organisations.

What do you think are some of the reasons for the classical music industry’s slowness to address its lack of diversity?

There is a lack of effective policing, both on the part of the organisations themselves but also from the funding bodies who support them. Subsequently, the incentive to expedite change simply is not there. The proms concerts receive shamefully little public comment on the lack of diversity in the orchestras that perform each year. This is the accepted norm, the culture needs to change. For this to happen organisations need to be honest in accepting that systemic racism and unconscious bias doesn’t just stop at the doors of the concert hall. A lack of honesty about the effectiveness of any actions taken, a lack of acceptance that the agenda for diversity action is long overdue, inertia (organisations, ensembles and funding organisations) on the part of organisations and a near total lack of involvement of lived experience in the discussion are all contributing factors to the problem.

I spoke with one orchestra CEO who told me that their orchestra was taking appropriate steps with regards to diversity. This manifested itself in the form of an EDI committee from within the organisation that had zero lived-experience (people of colour) involved and support from an outsourced EDI consultancy that had no people of colour employed within their organisation. The question needs to be asked: how effective can any such action be without the involvement of lived experience? My sincere belief is that particular orchestra will continue to struggle to address its diversity problems for years to come and while that is the case, its audiences will fail to be diverse too, a real own goal.

The recent ABO conference opened the conversation on diversity in UK orchestras. What are some of the ways in which music industry professionals can begin to translate conversations into action?

As Linton Stephens, freelance bassoonist, said at our session at this month’s ABO conference, the industry needs to be brave. The life blood of the orchestras, the musicians need to buy-in and face themselves in the context of diversity. All orchestral musicians as well as administrative staff should take part in diversity training. Systemic racism and unconscious bias permeate every level of society, why should it not manifest itself on audition panels and recruitment processes within the UK’s orchestras? Chi-chi Nwonoku advocates for the European Audition Alliance Support which will help facilitate the involvement of more musicians from Black and ethnically diverse backgrounds in the audition process. HR departments could review staff recruitment strategies to welcome staff from diverse backgrounds.

Why, with 40% of London’s population being from Black and ethnically diverse backgrounds, can I walk into the studios at Maida Vale to see people of colour exclusively in roles of security, catering and cleaning, while all other roles are exclusively the realm of white professionals? This should not need thinking about! Vocational opportunities such as internships, scholarships, entry level and pathway opportunities are all needed now and these initiatives can be started in earnest. Black Lives in Music will be starting their national mentoring scheme and we would love to see orchestra musicians playing their part in this. This would help to break down barriers and also build relationships.

UK orchestras can visit us at blim.org.uk if they are brave enough to register their interests and support us to support their own long-term existence – and it does come down to that! If orchestras do not modernise and address diversity successfully then they will see this reflected in their audiences and ultimately, somewhere down the line, funding (I’ve mentioned the F-word!). The actions suggested do not need much imagination yet some of the world’s greatest orchestras and support staff, based here in the United Kingdom and capable of so much, cannot yet be moved to think along these lines.

I would like to see funding bodies build in, as part of their funding criteria, restricted funds in annual operating budgets for funded organisations to be dedicated to EDI training and initiatives. This is funding that cannot be spent in any other way and needs to be accounted for as part of the reporting process. The world was watching on 25th May last year; has its gaze strayed elsewhere? Will orchestras start to come under the lens of scrutiny once the pandemic is over?

BLiM recently partnered with Trinity Laban conservatoire. What do you hope will come from partnerships like this one?

Black Lives in Music are very proud to have partnered with Trinity Laban Conservatoire. Conservatoires are a significant part of the model for change. Around 2% of UK conservatoire professorial staff are Black or of ethnically diverse heritage. We wish for all UK conservatoires to grab the nettle of honesty and make the changes that are necessary. There are some amazing musicians who are Black or from ethnically diverse backgrounds who still do not get a sniff at the chance to teach tomorrow’s professionals in the conservatoire system, this has to change.

Recruitment processes need to be more transparent and more representative of the community. Not just for professorial staff either. We need to see more diverse work forces, period in conservatoires - and not just the odd member of the cleaning team or security staff but at all levels of the conservatoire communities including governance and leadership. Black Lives in Music wish to see widespread decolonisation of the conservatoire curriculum. This doesn’t mean destroying the canon but adding and enriching it with works by composers and creators both old and new who are currently not well known, unknown or forgotten in preference to others – very possible because of their gender, colour of their skin, or both!

Black Lives in Music wish to promote a more coherent working model in UK conservatoires to develop models of working to stimulate more involvement from underrepresented groups at grassroots level to support the need for a more diverse talent pipeline. We need this in order that junior conservatoires can then play their role on the next rung, and then the senior conservatoires, and so on. Conservatoires need to strengthen professional relationships so that there is a level playing field for all conservatoire students to bridge the gap and not just the connected and more wealthy few. Mentoring and championing of Black students at this level is crucial. We must listen to them. Brave conservatoires like Trinity Laban and Leeds Conservatoire, with whom we are also partnered, are beginning to do this – and they are learning much! This is the Black Lives in Music model for success and we are pleased that Trinity Laban and Leeds Conservatoire are taking their first steps in supporting this vision which is one that embraces meaningful change.

In an ideal world, what would the classical music industry look like to you in five years’ time?

• A significant increase in rank-and-file musicians in orchestras that are from Black and ethnically diverse backgrounds.

• An accepted infrastructure of diversity training embedded as a normal in annual professional development for orchestra musicians and administration staff

• A revamped audition process such as EAAS that is sympathetic to the plight of talented Black and ethnically diverse classical musicians

• Decolonisation of the ABRSM and Trinity music grade syllabuses to embrace the excellence of all composers regardless of gender and the colour of their skin.

• A decolonisation of UK music conservatoires and their curricula

• Music hubs recruiting from a diverse talent pool and being representative of the national demographic, both in their delivery staff and their administrative staff

• National Youth ensembles (NYO, NCO) taking clear and positive becoming truly diverse in their musicians and staff. We are proud to be partners with National Youth Choirs of Great Britain who are committed to meaningful change

• Stronger tie ups between music hubs, junior conservatoires, senior conservatoires and UK orchestras to unite and champion diversity in classical music

• Braver programming of young and emerging talent, particularly those of colour by classical music promoters and festival organisers

• Real diversity amongst classical music promoters and festival organisers themselves

• Orchestras being brave enough not to work with conductors, soloists and most importantly their agents who may not have appropriate views on diversity in classical music

• Better support for people of colour who are involved in the administrative aspect of classical music through support organisations like Diversity in Classical Music Network

• Ceasing of the use of the cover-all term ‘BAME’ in order to produce more accurate data on diversity

This sounds like a lot but let me ask you this, if an orchestra was invited to play in a prestigious event next month in a location halfway across the world and it was given permission to travel, do you have any idea what sort of work that entails? Orchestras need to find it in their hearts to make this work really meaningful to them, if they do then all this and a lot more is very possible and in this time frame.

https://blim.org.uk/