The last Brass Tacks of the Spring season “Finance for Non-Finance Managers”, took place in July at LSO St Luke’s. The ABO attended meetings with the Sustainable Touring Steering Group; All Party Parliamentary Classical Music Group; Chamber Orchestra Strategy Group; Cultural Olympiad Education Project; Sounds 2012 Steering group and the A & E UKBA Task Force. We have met on your behalf with Alan Davey, ACE; James Murphy, NYO; Diane Morgan, ACE; Cathy Graham, British Council; Ruth Hansford, BBC; Susan Dolton and David Sulkin, MBF; Deborah Annetts, ISM; Susannah Simons, BBC; DHA Communications; TMA; Tom Campbell, Mayors Cultural Strategy Unit; and Jonathan Gruber, Ulysses Arts Ltd.

In addition, ABO staff have attended the Arts & Business ‘Arts and the Transformation Economy’ discussion; launch of Youth Music Box Ltd; Music for Youth event; Latitude Festival; launch of disc 6 in London Sinfonietta's Jerwood series; AMA Conference in Leicester and concerts by the Britten Sinfonia, London Sinfonietta; Scottish Ensemble; Manchester Camerata; BBC Symphony Orchestra; City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; Glyndebourne and the Tomorrow’s Warriors concert.

The following meetings are confirmed for this autumn:

1 October: Education Managers' Meeting, Wigmore Hall, London
8 October: Digital Managers' Meeting, LSO Bonhill Street, London
14 October: Chamber Orchestra Managers' Meeting, Cadogan Hall, London
20 October: Finance Managers' Meeting, SOLT / TMA, London
11 November: Concert & Orchestra Managers' Meeting, Wigmore Hall, London
24 November: ABO Annual General Meeting & CEOs Forum, London

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

Introduction to Press & PR - Tuesday 15 September, Course leader Kate Whyman, a freelance PR consultant specializing in music and the arts. Her client list includes BBC Radio 3, Cadogan Hall, London Mozart Players, Mayor of London, British Arts Festival Association, Festival and Events International, The Old Market and Brighton Festival of World Sacred Music. She was PR consultant for the ABO from 2004 - 2009. Royal Over-Seas League, London.

There are still some spaces available to attend this excellent course, so if you and / or your colleagues would like to find out more information or to book a place please click here to visit the Brass Tacks page of the ABO website.

Booking is now open for a new Brass Tacks one day course on Health & Safety entitled:

Music And Me - dispelling the jargon behind health and safety on the platform - Tuesday 17 November, Course leader Jayne Sutton, a freelance Health and Safety consultant who spoke at the October 2008 ABO Concert & Orchestra Managers' Meeting. Wigmore Hall, London.

For detailed information on the content of this valuable training opportunity please visit the Brass Tacks section of the ABO website. 

A date has also been set for the ABO's annual 'Where Do I Start?' event. This one day insight into working in orchestral management is aimed at students and recent graduates - so please pass on the word to any young people you might know who are interested in our sector. The event will be held in the Barbican Centre on Friday 13 November and futher details and a booking form are available from the ABO website.

ABO members London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra have been shortlisted for the 31st Arts & Business Awards. The winners will be announced at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London on Tuesday 24 November 2009. For further information, see here.

ABO members Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Opera and National Youth Orchestras of Scotland have been shortlisted for the Arts & Business Scotland Awards 2009, which will be announced at the Usher Hall on 1 October. For further information, see here.

Congratulations to BBC National Orchestra of Wales for winning the Arts, Business & Long Term Support Award for their partnership with the Royal Mail at this year’s Arts & Business Cymru Awards.

The first phase of Arts Council England's digital research programme has been published. Part of the Arts Council's wider digital opportunities programme, the three-year programme of research aims to understand how digital media technologies are affecting the creation, distribution and consumption of the arts and what this means for the Arts Council and the artists and arts organisations it supports. It includes a snapshot assessing the current online presence of ACE's regularly funded portfolio – which features best practice examples from various ABO members. The ABO was inspired to check its Google Page Rank and delighted to find it scores a 6, which places it in the top 15% of Regularly Funded Organisations.
 

Key findings reveal that people's use of digital technologies is widespread and growing, and many arts organisations are beginning to seize this opportunity, with an active and varied online presence, innovative content and widespread use of social networking tools. People are excited about the future possibilities for arts online, believing that digital technologies deepen the context for the live experience, for instance through educational resources or additional information about art and artists.

For more details of this research or to download the reports visit the digital research page.

The Strad are compiling information to produce a guide to the best and worst airlines for string players to fly with.  If you have flown with your instruments click here to fill out the short survey, whether your experiences have been positive or negative.

Arts Council England has made the first awards from its £40 million Sustain fund for organisations under pressure as a result of the recession. The first set of awards are worth just under £4 million and include ABO members English National Opera, Royal Opera House, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sinfonia Viva and Welsh National Opera.

ACE has published a briefing note setting out its new structure following an organisation review, downloadable here. The new structure aims to achieve administrative saving of £6.5 million annually from 2010/11 to go back into the arts.

10 am – 4.30 pm, Tuesday 22 September 2009

Town Hall, Imperial Square, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL50 1Q

· Are you a disabled or deaf person working in the arts, heritage or creative sectors?

· Does leadership inspire you or raise questions?

· Do you want to meet like-minded creative people from the UK and abroad?

The Cultural Leadership Programme in collaboration with Moya Harris and Sarah Scott invite you to Lead On - a unique event with a leadership theme, international dimension and disability perspective.

For more information about the event, the venue, booking and access, please contact Sarah@culturalleadership.org.uk. Closing date for bookings is Monday 17 August 2009.

19 - 25 October 2009

Inside Out is a major new festival curated by LCACE (the London Centre for Arts and Cultural Exchange) to showcase the fascinating contribution of nine London Universities to the capital's cultural life. It is the UK's first-ever festival of higher education and will see a smorgasbord of cultural events for the general public take place all over the city both on University campuses and at leading venues such as King's Place, Somerset House and the National Portrait Gallery. From film and music to theatre and visual art, from exhibitions and screenings to workshops and debates - for the first time the doors will be thrown open for all to explore the unexpected, enlightening and exciting things these Universities have to offer.

For more information click here. Many events are free but booking is essential.

In the wake of the recent press coverage surrounding senior management’s expenses, the NCVO and the Charity Finance Directors’ Group have set up an Independent Expert Group to report on best-practice on how charities disclose expenses. The group have launched a consultation seeking the sector’s views on expenses, open until 30 October 2009. If you’d like to have your say you can complete the online consultation , email expenses@ncvo-vol.org.uk or call 020 7520 2442.

All Change or Business as Usual?

10am – 3pm (Followed by refreshments) Friday 11 September 2009

Jerwood Hall, LSO St Luke’s

Karen Cardy, Marketing and LSO St Luke’s Centre Director, has invited all ABO members to the following event.

The London Symphony Orchestra, with the support of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, is curating a Digital Symposium to look at the opportunities and challenges for Arts organisations brought about by digital technology. The LSO, like many other organisations, has been piloting new initiatives and experimenting with ways in which it can bring the Orchestra and its work to new and wider audiences.

The symposium will build on current wider discussions and developments around Arts organisations’ approach to digital technology and development across business and the Arts, and aid the dissemination of ideas and best practice. Presenting and chairing the event will be Keith Harris, Director of Performer Affairs at PPL and MusicTank Chairman, and there will also be a special keynote presentation leading into the discussions.

The symposium will take the form of panels, with guest speakers from the Arts and industry, discussing a number of topical questions in the context of three specific aspects: learning; audiences; and organisational change and development. Throughout the day there will also be opportunities for networking and to put questions to the guest speakers.

We would be delighted to welcome you to what will be a stimulating and engaging event. If you are able to join us, please get in touch with Harriet Mesher by Tuesday 1 September, on harriet.mesher@lso.co.uk or 020 7382 2513, who will be very happy to reserve a place for you.

Many thanks to the two orchestras that have applied to the Healthy Orchestra charter this month.  The next deadline will be Friday 23 October 2009.  As always, please get in touch with Keith if you want further information or advice on your applications.

Nicola Loughrey has taken up the post of General Manager at the Gabrieli Consort & Players with immediate effect. Nicola, who has been part of the Gabrieli team for over 4 years as Concerts & Tours Manager, will now be responsible for all general managerial and administrative issues, and oversee the business strategy of Gabrieli, working closely with her colleagues and the board of directors.

Robin Tyson is taking up the newly created position of Head of Artistic Planning. He will oversee all relationships with the network of international agents, concert halls and promoters, and work closely with Paul McCreesh in repertoire and project development.