Editorial

Keith Clarke - editor
From the current issue of Classical Music

British arts managers are a pampered, precious load of whingers who are always moaning that they don’t have enough money and would probably only last five minutes if they were trying to run a real company in the grown-up world. You don’t hear that argument so often these days, though there are doubtless some who still believe it. The more enlightened members of the business community have recognised not only that it takes a particular skillset to keep a performing arts show on the road against sometimes overwhelming odds, but that the very nature of ensemble music making has much to teach their own businesses. One of the constant themes on this page over the years has been that arts managers, far from being dilettante luvvies, are some of the most impressive industry leaders in the world, constantly reinventing, adapting, rolling with the punches and putting on a show that contributes very significantly to the economy, quite aside from what it does for people’s souls.

In a celebrity-led age, these backstage figures do not often get to take a bow for their efforts, which is why Rhinegold Publishing decided to join forces with the Association of British Orchestras to do something about it. So it was that Wednesday 18 January saw the presentation of the inaugural ABO/Rhinegold Awards at the ABO conference in Liverpool. We have started in a fairly quiet way – this is not the Oscars, there was not live television coverage and acres of red carpet. But what we have set out to do is simply give a pat on the back and a bit of appreciation and recognition to three figures who are deemed to have gone the extra mile in their bit of the arts – an orchestral manager, a venue manager and an artist manager.

It is customary to say how strong was the field of contenders, and forgive the cliché but never was it truer. There are people in the business who could walk off with these awards this year and every year, but in the end the jury has to make the difficult decisions. One thing is certain: in our winners we have three first-class arts professionals who are a credit to the business. So a hearty round of applause, please, for Orchestra Manager of the Year Sophie Lewis, general manager of Sinfonia Cymru;  Concert Hall Manager of the Year Paul Keene, director of programming at Town Hall & Symphony Hall, Birmingham; and Artist Manager of the Year Stephen Lumsden, managing director of Intermusica. For more on the awards, see CM 28 January.