The Early Booking Deadline is now approaching very fast indeed - in fact it is this Friday, 9th January! To make sure you benefit from the best prices and the best discounts for multiple delegates follow the links and book online now!

And why should you book? Quite simply we have got a fabulous line-up of speakers who will be debating the very hottest of subjects, all focusing on the theme of Sustainability.  And you can bet that the current financial situation will put a spin on many sessions. Recently confirmed speakers include Lord Smith of Finsbury, Chairman of the Environment Agency; Julian Lloyd Webber of In Harmony; Paul Collard, who will head up the new agency Creativity Culture & Education; John Holden of Demos; Martin Brookes of New Philanthropy Capital; Jeremy Dixon of Dixon Jones Architects; and of course there is, along with a wealth of speakers,  Lord Kinnock, David Shukman from the BBC, John Vidal of the Guardian and Jeremy Hunt MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

There is a sumptious Conference dinner, a reception held in the Senedd building and hosted by the Presiding Officer, Lord Elis Thomas, and the prospect of a superb performance of Strauss's Salome by WNO. And toolbox sessions for ALL levels and areas of orchestral management. So the question is not why should I book? It is "Why haven't I booked already!!!??"

For those who cannot make the whole three days, the day packages will be open for booking from Monday 12th January. Check out the Conference pages of the website for all the details.

And don't forget - once you have booked for Conference, remember to book your accommodation as this is being dealt with separately this year.

See you in Cardiff!

Friday 30th January - Finance for non-Finance Managers, Course leader Maureen McCulloch, a chartered accountant with extensive experience in charities and the arts who has been freelance trainer for twenty-one years. Royal Over-Seas League, London.

Limited spaces are available to attend this excellent course. To find out more information or to book a place please visit the Brass Tacks page of the ABO website.  

In between eating mince pies, wrapping presents and of course monitoring the bookings for Conference, the ABO team met with the following people during December on behalf of members: ACE; Public Affairs Network; Heritage Link; Festival Republic; ERA21; Trevor Ford; Chamber Orchestra Strategy Group; UKBA; City University; Julie's Bicycle; The Guardian; DHA Communications; and our old friend Russell Jones. Mark attended a 'Social Dialogue' meeting in Brussels, the launch of the Philharmonia's City of Dreams season and the MPA Christmas lunch, and Keith attended the Tipping Point Conference. The team attended performances by London Sinfonietta, The Sixteen and English National Ballet, and the OAE/London Sinfonietta housewarming party.

BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales move into their new home, BBC Hoddinott Hall at Wales Millennium Centre this month. BBC Hoddinott Hall will not only be the Orchestra & Chorus’ base where all their rehearsals and studio recordings will be made, but also a new state-of-the-art concert hall seating around 350 people. In addition, a second space called the Grace Williams Studio will become the new home of the Education and Community Outreach activity.

To celebrate, a special Opening Festival of concerts, recitals and broadcasts has been planned, from 22 January – 1 February 2009.

For more information visit bbc.co.uk/now or call the BBC National Orchestra of Wales Audience Line on 0800 052 1812.
 

LCACE and Knowledge Connect present:

Cash for Questions – Funding to develop your organisation

January 27th 2009 from 3.30pm - 6.00pm, including networking drinks.

at The Cass Business School, City University London, 106 Bunhill Row, EC1Y 8TZ

If you are in the Cultural or Creative sectors in London, and have between 4 and 50 employees, with some great ideas you’d like to put into operation but can’t because you don’t have the expertise or the money, then Knowledge Connect can help.

Knowledge Connect can support you with vouchers either for £3,000 or £10,000 to develop your idea, and put you in touch with the unlimited expertise of London’s universities to bring it to fruition. This could be for example: using new technology, marketing, branding or audience development.

This event, for organisations in the Creative and Cultural sectors, will outline the scheme and provide some case studies to start you thinking.

Numbers are limited, please register at: http://www.lcace.org.uk/events/?event=84 

Cultural Leadership Programme short course

Six 1-day workshops on leadership in the cultural sector, on developing entrepreneurship, and exploring the opportunities presented by the rise of the creative industries.

Monthly workshops, Wednesdays 10.00-17.00, February to July 2009
City University London, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB

Cultural sector leaders are operating in a complex and rapidly changing environment, required to understand not only their own art form and professional practice but also their relationship to the wider creative economy.

This short course is designed to enable existing and emerging leaders to operate more effectively in the context, with workshops specifically tailored to the sector and covering the following topics:

Leadership models for the cultural sector and cultural value
Mapping the cultural sector: key players, power structures and policy issues
Mapping the creative industries: key players, power structures and policy issues
Entrepreneurship in the cultural sector
Governance in the cultural sector
The UK cultural sector in relationship to Europe and global policy issues

Workshops will feature high profile speakers

See www.city.ac.uk/clp for further details. Closing date: 30 January 2009

A report calling for a new approach to culture and learning in England has been published by the Culture and Learning Consortium, representing Arts Council England, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Clore Duffield Foundation, Esmée Fairbarn Foundation, Foyle Foundation, Heritage Lottery Fund, Museums, Libraries & Archives Council, Northern Rock Foundation and Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

The report, Culture and Learning: A new agenda for advocacy and action, makes ten recommendations, calling on central government, local authorities, regional agencies, schools and cultural organisations to work together to shape a new agenda for cultural learning to meet the needs, aspirations and talents of all learners. Specifically, the report recommends that the learning and cultural sectors should come together to form a Cultural Learning Alliance, for an initial period of three years, to develop and advocate for a coherent national strategy for cultural learning drawing on this report’s recommendations. The Alliance would work alongside the main cultural and learning bodies, the relevant government departments and their national agencies, and regional and local government agencies.

Read the report here.

A new Continuous Professional Development course is being offered at the Institute of Education, University of London, entitled ‘Health Well-Being for Musicians’, aimed to all those with an interest in music and health, including:

•  musicians with an interest or involvement in education
•  music teachers and lecturers
•  musicians interested in lifelong healthy performance
•  instrumental teachers
•  singers and performers of a variety of music genres

This is an interdisciplinary course which explores:

• physical, physiological, and psychological aspects of performance
• the self as musician and the role of motivation and supportive agents
• clinical and psychological problems of music performance artists
• possible causes of problems and therapeutic approaches
• strategies for optimising musical performance and practice
• strategies to maintain vocal health and hygiene
• the care and development of the educator’s and singer’s voice

The course is divided into 4 one-day sessions in June and July 2009. Participants can book to attend the whole course or book to attend individual day sessions.

For further details contact:

Dr Ioulia Papageorgi
Department of Arts and Humanities
Faculty of Culture and Pedagogy

Institute of Education
University of London
20 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AL

Tel: +44 (0)20 7911 5376

Fax: +44 (0)20 7612 6741

Email: i.papageorgi@ioe.ac.uk

The Hollis Sponsorship Awards are now open for entry.

The deadline is January 19th.

To receive entry forms and for further information please email hollisawards@wilmington.co.uk

Ten years on from its foundation, the German Music Information (MIZ) can look back on a record of success. Launched in 1998 under the auspices of the German Music Council, the MIZ has since established itself as an invaluable information facility for all aspects of the German music world.

After undergoing a constant expansion of its theme spectrum over the past decade, the Centre is now an elaborate, well-ordered network of routes through the jungle of information on the music scene in Germany. It groups data, facts and background information into central fields and documents the structures and cultural developments that constitute an ever evolving and always unique German musical landscape. Its scale reaches from musical education and training, amateur music, professional musical training and musical performances right through to the media and music business. Most of the information is available from the MIZ online facility – but also in its own publications, an individual advisory service and a specialised library.

On the newly designed website at www.miz.org, for instance, you will find information databases on the infrastructures in the music world with over 10,000 institutions and organisations. The range is augmented by a database for advanced and further training facilities in the music sector that records over 2,000 courses, seminars and congresses annually and a data base information on contemporary composers.

The centre-piece of MIZ documentation is the Music Almanac. The current, seventh edition 2007/2008 has 1,500 pages divided into 70 chapters and continues to be regarded as the best researched reference work on the German music world.

The diversity of material at the disposal of MIZ is based on a unique pool of information on which the Centre can draw. Its foundation is the network of the German Music Council. MIZ cooperates with many other organisations and can also draw on relatively inaccessible sources such as the data material of many research institutes and music associations. MIZ has been a member of the IAMIC since 1998 and is thus anchored in the worldwide networking system that is so essential in an age of global information.

The application form to be part of one of the teams on Clash is now online - so if know any kids (or parents/or organisations involving children) that would be interested in applying then please do pass this on.

The applicants need to be musically talented in some way, aged between 9-13 and have parental consent to take part.

The application form and all the information is at www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc - then click on 'Be on a Show' and choose 'Clash'.

UK Giving 2008, the most comprehensive research into UK charitable giving habits, was published on Wednesday 10 December by the Charities Aid Foundation and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations. Details can be found here.

The "YouTube Symphony Orchestra", an exciting new project that YouTube, in partnership with the London Symphony Orchestra and other major players in the classical music world, launched on December 1st, 2008.

The purpose of the project is to connect musicians from around the world – whether professional or amateur – through a unique opportunity to come together to create the world's first and largest online symphony orchestra.

To participate, musicians will upload a video of themselves playing their selected part of a composition that has been specially composed for the project by celebrated composer Tan Dun, as well as an audition video demonstrating their musical talents. These will be assessed by a professional international judging committee and the YouTube community. You can see players from the London Symphony Orchestra giving short masterclasses on the piece and on how to audition on the YouTube Symphony website. Participants will also be able to download the particular part for their instrument.

This exciting project culminates in selected musicians participating in a live performance at Carnegie Hall in New York in April 2009.

In order to make the YouTube Symphony Orchestra a truly global effort, it is open to musicians in 23 countries. Across the U.K., we would like to ensure that we reach individuals who enjoy performing music and encourage them to participate. As such, we would appreciate your efforts to help us spread the word by letting your staff and students know about this unique opportunity and encourage them to submit their videos by the deadline on January 28, 2009.

Please email ytso@google.com with any questions.

The Archives of Italian Contemporary Music would like to invite you to send biographies, repertoires, photos and evtl recordings of Italian composers' premieres in order to enlarge the artists section of Italian Composers Data Bank.

Please use word format for biographies (of not more than 25 lines) and repertoires, .jpg format for photographs, and send them to a.pappalardo@cidim.it

Send audio recordings by mail to CIDIM Redazione Banca Dati Compositori Italiani - Largo di Torre Argentina 11 - 00186 Roma.

Thank you in advance for your kind collaboration and best wishes for a very happy New 2009!
 

Dame Liz Forgan has been appointed as the new chair of Arts Council England. For further information click here.

The London Mozart Players has announced the appointment of Simon Funnell as its new Managing Director. He will succeed Antony Lewis-Crosby who retires on 31 March 2009 after five years in the post.

Sinfonia ViVA welcomes Andrea Carver as their new Head of Development.

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra welcomes back Malcolm Warne Holland to be their Acting Orchestral Manager until Easter!  Welcome back Malcolm!