A surprisingly full schedule for July has seen the final two Brass Tacks courses of the season, an ABO Board meeting and, of course, the start of the Proms season. The ABO team have been busy meeting with the following people and organisations on your behalf: MU; Susanna Eastburn, ACE; Sarah Gee, Indigo Ltd; Birmingham Conservatoire; Scott Walker, PRS for Music; Tony Grybowski, Australia Council for the Arts; NCA; Roger Wright, BBC Radio 3; Atholl Swainston-Harrison, IAMA; Rhinegold Publishing; Laura Willoughby MBE; Dr Tiffany Jenkins; James Holden, ACE; Oliver Kendall; Music Nation Steering Group; ERA 21; National Music Council.

We also attended the PRSF launch of the Organ of Corti, as part of the City of London Festival; the DCMS Philanthropy Launch at the Whitechapel Gallery; National Festival of Music for Youth; the Gagarin Statue unveiling at the British Council; Arts Toolkit Meeting at the Rayne Foundation; IAMA summer party and the YPIA summer drinks. Concerts included Aurora Orchestra at the City of London Festival; the memorial concert for Geoffrey Burgon with the City of London Sinfonia; the CBSO Prom; Two Boys at the ENO; Romeo & Juliet with the ENB Orchestra; the inaugural Yellow Lounge London; and Lang Lang's concert for the iTunes Festival at the Roundhouse. 

The following meetings are now confirmed for this autumn and we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at these Specialist Manager Meetings:

05 September: Scottish Members' Meeting, City Halls, Albion Street, Glasgow

13 September: Archivists Meeting, CBSO Centre, Berkley Street, Birmingham

28 September: Education Managers' Meeting, Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore St, London
07 October: Opera & Ballet Managers' Meeting, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Birmingham 

11 October: Development & Sponsorship Managers' Meeting, Wigmore Hall, London

14 October: Digital Managers' Meeting, Barbican Centre, London

18 October: Chamber Orchestras Meeting, Cadogan Hall, London

20 October: Concert & Orchestra Managers' Meeting, Wigmore Hall, London
03 November: Finance Managers' Meeting, SOLT/TMA, Rose Street, London

11 November: Marketing Networking Meeting, Barbican Centre, London

If you or a colleague would like to attend one of these meetings please log into the Members Area of the ABO website and then click on Events and book the relevant Specialist Manager Meeting.

One additional date for your diaries is the ABO's AGM / CEOs Forum which will be held from 4.30pm-6pm and followed by drinks in London on Tuesday 15th November. The venue will be announced in due course.

Dates for the autumn series of Brass Tacks one day introductory training courses are currently being set with one course already booked in.

All that you ever wanted to know about fundraising but were afraid to ask! - Tuesday 22 November
Course leader Sarah Gee is co-founder and Managing Partner of Indigo Ltd, a marketing and fundraising consultancy working with arts and heritage organisations to help them unlock the value of their audiences and visitors. She has previously worked as a marketeer and fundraiser for the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the ABO itself.
Course time & venue: 10 am - 5 pm at the Royal Over-Seas League, London.

Futher details about all courses will be available on the Brass Tacks section of our website.

The latest annual survey of ABO members activity has been published this month. A very good sample response was achieved with 48 orchestras out of 65 completing the full survey. Many thanks to all who responded. 

The results are very positive with ABO orchestras playing 4,160 concerts to 4.6 million people during 2009/10. The full press release is here and the full key facts summary is here.

The ABO will for the second year running be holding fringe events at the three main political party conferences, and our thanks go to the Liverpool Philharmonic, LARC, Hallé Orchestra, CBSO and BCMG for agreeing to co-host. The fringe events will take place as follows:

LIB DEM PARTY CONFERENCE

Britain’s Got Talent? Higher Education and the music industry
Monday 19 September, 1pm
CBSO Centre, Berkley Street, Birmingham B1 2LF

LABOUR PARTY CONFERENCE

Creative Futures: cultural education, employment and growth
Sunday 25 September 2011, 6.15pm
Tate Liverpool

CONSERVATIVE PARTY CONFERENCE

Musical Future: Music education and its role in the personal development of children and young people
Monday 3 October, 6.45pm
Barbirolli Room, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

To find out more about the fringe events email Mark.

After a period of reflection and discussion we have re-launched the Healthy Orchestra Charter, in association with the Musicians Benevolent Fund. Further updates will be made to the site and to the Charter in the coming months but the award scheme is now back in circulation and accepting applications. The Bronze award process has been extensively re-worked and there are more resources on the micro-site. Click the button above to go to the new charter web pages.

The ABO has recently entered into a partnership with FTM Arts Law in New York to provide US Tax and Legal advice to ABO members. FTM have advised us that the IRS has changed its withholding tax arrangements yet again. This has taken place since Keith briefed the Concert and Orchestra Managers meeting earlier in the Spring and sees some important changes. A full briefing can be found here . Any queries or follow up should be sent to Keith in the first instance who will facilitate further advice from FTM.

There have been a few changes recently with the new visa system. We are expecting the latest report from the Migration Advisory Committee any day now which we anticipate will finally remove Tutti string positions from the Shortage Occupation List. In addition to this Tier 1 is now restricted to a new "Exceptional Talent" stream with 1000 places a year allocated to the Arts, Science and Humanities. The proportion of visas available to the arts sector will be overseen by Arts Council England. 

The Migration Advisory Committee is also now consulting on the proposal to see Tier 2 visas changed to Temporary Migrants. Under initial proposals this would see the maximum period of leave to remain set at 5 years. Obviously this would create enormous problems for appointments of musicians, particularly given the long recruitment period. The ABO will be responding to this consultation and will be approaching members for case studies and further evidence. Any queries or offers of help should be emailed to Keith who will collate the responses.

Monday 15th August will be this year's final deadline for applications to funding opportunities for Festivals, New Works, Organisations, Performance Groups and Promoters. As always all applications must be submitted online. To apply for your chosen funding opportunity, please visit the Funding section of their website.

Have you already signed the We are more campaign Manifesto ? If not, now is the time to do so! The presentation of the European Commission's budget proposal formally launched the negotiation process. The fight continues for a decent share of the budget, a strong presence of culture in the Structural Funds, and for the many dimensions of culture, and not only the economic ones, to be recognised in the next budget cycle. Join the 17,000 people who have already signed the manifesto. Sign now!

Classical Music magazine  is now available to view and download on your computer, your iPhone, iPad or iPad Touch – perfect for keeping in touch with your industry while you’re out and about.

The Classical Music e-magazine is flexible: choose from a 12- or 24-issue subscription, single copies or back issues.

Available now from www.pocketmags.com or the iTunes app store. Just £1.99 for the app. Includes your first issue FREE!

Are you looking for facts and figures to help support the case of culture and its role in society, the economy and cohesion of Europe? Then this is something for you! Eurostat has published the second edition of the Cultural statistics pocketbook introducing including facts and figures on cultural participation, employment in the cultural sector, the economic situation in cultural sectors, external trade in cultural goods and household expenditure on culture from the 27 EU member states, EFTA and candidate countries. The presentation of cultural statistics is particularly important now, as following the adoption of the Europe 2020 strategy which aims to find innovative solutions to current challenges, we must highlight the role culture can play in meeting the EU’s objective of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. View publication in electronic format or order a printed copy here.

This is to draw your attention to two linked Treasury consultations on :

- plans to reform the taxation of non-doms; and
- a statutory definition of tax residence

Details at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/press_60_11.htm.  Both consultations close on 9 September.

5 to 8 February 2012, Cambridge
www.a-m-a.co.uk/AMAretreats

Take part in the next AMA retreats marketing leadership programme to gain new skills and progress as a marketer and a leader in the arts and cultural sector. During this three-day intensive training course in Cambridge participants will work with highly experienced trainers and peers from across the sector on topics like business planning, marketing / audience development / public engagement, digital strategies and leadership. Participants will learn to develop effective strategies for the future and gain the confidence to take the next step in their career.

For more information including the programme, feedback from previous delegates and to book your place, go to www.a-m-a.co.uk/AMAretreats. The booking deadline is 30 November 2011. The cost is £950 +VAT for AMA members including course fee, accommodation, all meals and training materials. Non-members must join the AMA to take part in these courses; AMA membership starts from just £30 +VAT.

Supporting Growth in the Arts Economy; a report by Tom Fleming Creative Consultancy released by ACE, explores the opportunities and possibilities to encourage growth within and across the sector. The report brings together findings from three papers: The arts economy; Place, infrastructure and digital and Towards an arts and creative economy development programme . The report, welcomed by ACE’s CEO, Alan Davey, sets out five goals for 'a balanced arts economy', outlined as: Excellence, Reach, Engagement, Diversity and Innovation.

The report also focuses on three cross cutting themes, which connect the creative economy to the arts ecology; these are described as
(1) The role of place and infrastructure to enable growth,
(2) The positive shift towards digitalisation and convergence
(3) Investing in innovation and growth.

To read more about the report visit ACE’s website by clicking here

The English Baccalaureate should not have been introduced before the National Curriculum Review was completed, according to a cross-party group of MPs.

The report argues that a “focus on a fairly narrow range of subjects, demanding considerable curriculum time, is likely to have negative consequences on the uptake of other subjects.” The Committee does not make recommendations on which subjects should or should not be included – “that is not up to a group of politicians” – but rather encourages the Government to reconsider the EBac’s composition when the National Curriculum Review is concluded. The report specifically notes Darren Henley’s Government-commissioned Review of Music Education in England which recommended that ‘music should be included as one of the subjects that go to make up the new English Baccalaureate’. It also noted the volume of submissions it had received in support of the inclusion of music in the EBac (which included a submission from the ABO). For further information and to read the report, click here.

Representatives from a number of sectors, including ACE, the Law Society, the General Medical Council and the Royal Academy of Engineering, have jointly produced a Common Best Practice Code for High Quality Internships . The Gateways to the Professions Collaborative Forum is an advisory group set up to work with BIS on encouraging access to various professions.  The guidance defines what an internship would involve and lays out six principles of best practice. The guidance can be found here.

Special Offer!

If you're an RFO and you sign up to the RFO Benchmark and submit your data and get five other RFOs to do the same we'll give you a subscription to the Culture Benchmark for 12 months for free (the full price for this is £300 inc. VAT) The Culture Benchmark RFO tool is automatically added to your account if you are an existing CB subscriber.

If you haven't already signed up to the RFO benchmark you can sign up here and read the launch article here.

The Theatres Trust is calling for those who care about culture and who are responsible for the provision of cultural services and facilities to respond to the draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and ensure that culture is afforded the same status as sports, heritage and leisure. The full consultation document can be found here.

Germany continues to be a 'land of music'. It can boast of 133 publicly-funded symphony orchestras and 83 music theatres, a tight-knit network of concert halls and presenters as well as educational and training facilities, more than 500 music festivals and a huge range of amateur ensembles involving some seven million people.

With its new publication "Musical Life in Germany" the German Music Information Centre has presented the first English-language compendium of facts and figures on music in Germany in a handy overview for foreign readers. We thought that might be of interest for you. Therefore please follow the link at http://www.miz.org/musical-life-in-germany/ .

Plans were announced last week, by Culture and External Affairs Secretary Fiona Hyslop, as to how Scotland will take advantage of the opportunities offered by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Beginning in 2012, the Year of Creative Scotland, and continuing into 2014, the cultural showcase will provide opportunities for the whole nation to take part in the celebrations. Creative Scotland, the development agency for the arts, screen and creative industries, will invest £6.5 million National Lottery funds into a programme to support the Year of Creative Scotland. The programme will include a series of 'Creative Places Awards' which will celebrate communities with a strong track record of creativity and cultural tourism.

For more information please click here.

The Directory of Social Change has opened the nominations process for the 2011 Social Change Awards. The Social Change Awards are for all those working to achieve a positive change in society - individuals, charities, community groups, funders, companies, public bodies.

You can nominate yourself/your own organisation or recommend others for nomination. Please note, all organisations and individuals must be based in the UK to be eligible, their work however, can be international. 

The nomination process is simple:
* Visit Social Change Awards Online or see the links below
* Select the award you would like to enter
* Complete the online application and submit
* If you have nominated someone else, the awards committee will chase down the nomination for a full application form. 

For more information please go to: http://www.socialchangeawards.org.uk/?dm_i=6S7,GY87,N8LZG,1DSRQ,1

The life of Robert Tear will be celebrated at memorial services in London and Cambridge. A memorial service will be held in London at 11.00am on Thursday 15 September 2011 at St Martin-in-the Fields church. All are welcome to attend and no invitation is required.
 

King's College, Cambridge will be holding a memorial service for Robert Tear at 2.30pm on Saturday 5 November 2011 in the Chapel.

The Sage Gateshead has announced three new appointments to its team of directors. Dominic Parker takes up the role of Director of Marketing and Communications, Fundraising and Customer Services, Phillip Baitch takes on the newly created post of Director of Music North Trading and Ros Rigby OBE has been made Director for the whole of the Performance Programme following Simon Clugston's retirement earlier this year.

Following the retirement of Frances Cook, Rachel Fryer as been appointed Publications Manager at the London Philharmonic Orchestra