Artist managers: Katie Avey bids farewell to The Tillett Trust

It isn’t often this column makes reference to the sadly diminished UK music club/choral society circuit, which in the distant past provided so much work for musicians both native and foreign, to the benefit of artist managers. The retirement of Katie Avey from her role as administrator of The Tillett Trust after three decades spurs a trip down this particular memory lane.

Avey began her career in the music industry running HHH, an office specialising in the club/society/festival market, which gained its acronym via the surnames of the individuals from different managements who launched the joint initiative: Terry Harrison (of HarrisonParrott), Howard Hartog (Ingpen & Williams) and Christopher Hunt. ‘It wasn’t really intended to make large profits,’ Avey recalls. ‘A principal objective was providing young artists with bread-and-butter work at the early stages of a career when challenges had to be carefully calibrated. But we could book anyone on the rosters of the three participating managements, including major names. Added to which were freelance artists without exclusive management and people like John Amis and Annetta Hoffnung who gave talks.’

So it was that the young Avey, fresh out of university in the late 70s, found herself servicing an engagement in which Dame Joan Sutherland was to appear with a Welsh Male Voice Choir. ‘The phone rang and a soft voice said, “Hello, it’s Joan here”.  I thought, “Who the hell is Joan?”. Then it flashed across my mind that the voice had an Australian accent. Could it be? Treading carefully I asked if I could help… and she said, “Yes, dear. I was just phoning to tell you when I’m arriving for the concert.” It was her! I nearly died.’

Avey moved on in the 1980s to a position with the still fledgling Young Classical Artists Trust, retaining her close connections to this area of the marketplace. Then as now, the YCAT aim was to plug the gap between young musicians’ training and the world of professional artist management. ‘They needed to get repertoire under their belt, so performing it out of the spotlight was ideal. I remember going with Joanna MacGregor on a tour of the south west, following a Steinway piano being transported down narrow, winding country lanes to venues, some of which were pubs! The Regional Arts Associations were then very active in the classical music area, and could put excellent tours together.’

Then came the move to The Tillett Trust, set up with funds released via the restructuring of the (now defunct) Ibbs & Tillett artist management office. ‘There have been two dimensions to the job,’ Avey explains. ‘Firstly, running the Young Artists’ Platform, created by Callum Ross, which helps those successful at audition to promote themselves and take up concert work of the kind I was used to finding. And then there’s the administering of grants for young musicians with particular needs — a special period of study before taking on an operatic role, or attendance at a summer school… that sort of thing.

‘The demand for help from the Trust is as great as ever, but it’s much more problematical finding concert dates, with far fewer clubs and societies, and the inability of many of those who remain to pay realistic fees. The effect is that the Trust assists fewer artists to ensure they receive a reasonable number of dates.’

Tillett Trust Chairman Fiona Grant pays fulsome tribute to her departing administrator. ’Five decades of experience in the music business enabled Katie to build up an enviable personal network of promoters keen to engage the Trust’s artists. Her constant support and wise advice have been greatly appreciated by generations of young musicians, many of whom find the “business” side of a music career a rather tiresome distraction. My fellow trustees and I owe Katie an immense debt of gratitude and wish her a long, happy and richly deserved retirement.’

‘It just seemed the right time to hand over to someone else,’ adds Avey. ‘My successor, Rhian Hancox, will do a terrific job. I’m now hoping to take up more opportunities to attend live music. Listening for pure enjoyment has in some ways been a casualty of working in the music business. I can change that now.’

Second call for artist managers thinking of hopping across to Copenhagen for the landmark 30th International Artists Managers’ Association conference, running from 22nd-24th September. Not exactly the international climate, given the Covid cloud, which a significant anniversary deserves. However, by late September Denmark will have relaxed all mask and social distancing requirements, thanks to the high proportion of the population fully vaccinated. Booking numbers — drawing on a broad classical music industry spectrum — have pleased Copenhagen-based conference chair Jacob Soelberg, even if those attending are mainly European. He expects a good last-minute take-up, not least from the UK. ‘I think that after all the lockdowns there’s now a high demand for face-to-face meetings. Yes, we’ve all learned the benefits of Zoom and other platforms, but creative ideas develop so much more easily when you’re in the presence of the person you’re talking to.’

Conference topics range across such areas as the particular problems Covid has thrown up for the opera world and the future for public broadcasting orchestras to discussion of a new business model for artist managers following the range of impacts of the virus on the profession. Given the conference location, however, it will be fascinating to see what is thrown up by a session on the Nordic market for classical music. ‘Historically,’ Soelberg observes, ‘this geographical area has tended to be seen by major artist managers in other parts of Europe as a good territory for emerging young soloists and conductors. Which is fine, but the quality of music-making across this part of the world deserves significantly more attention than that. I hope that in the post-Covid world and with climate change issues coming to the fore, the idea of fully exploring a market closer to home will gain ground.’

IAMA Conference Schedule: https://www.iamaworld.com/conference-schedule.aspx

Booking possible up to the start of the event.