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Birmingham Contemporary Music Group Interview
Posted on Friday, November 17, 2006. © Copyright 2004-2008 David Bruce
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C:T talks to leading UK new music ensemble the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group
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BCMG. Photographer: Chris Nash
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The BCMG is widely regarded as one of the foremost contemporary music ensembles in the UK. What cultural responsibilities come with that and how do you address them?
We see our responsibility as being broadly to support composers and to engage the largest number of people we can with the most exciting and important classical music of our own time, extending back to forward-looking classics from the 20th century. In doing this we aim for the highest artistic standards across the company.
Does the audience for a BCMG concert extend beyond the 'New Music clique'. What do you do to try to ensure that it does?
The ‘new music clique’ are very welcome at our concerts. However, composers and artists working with BCMG frequently comment on the breadth and diversity (and size!) of our audiences in Birmingham. Over the years we have pioneered many initiatives to take our performances to a wide audience, in particular to those who may not normally consider coming to the centre of Birmingham for a concert of new classical music. These have included free Urban and Rural Tours and free Meet-the-Composer Days, as well as an extensive learning and participation programme which is fully integrated into our commissioning and performing work. Underpinning our work is a firm belief that an excellent new work, expertly performed and imaginatively presented can be a stimulating and enjoyable experience for anybody.
Tell us about your commissioning policy. How do you decide who to commission? Is it better to have a clear cultural stance/position with respect to new music; or to be more comprehensive and inclusive?
The policy is very broad - a desire to commission the right piece from the right composer at the right time, and for this to embrace both established composers and younger emerging voices, and to commission for both the BCMG ensemble and for young performers via our learning and participation programme. We commission composers from abroad as well as from the UK. Within that broad framework, the choice of whom to commission has to come down to the judgment and taste of the Artistic Director, with greatly valued input and advice from colleagues and a number of artists who work regularly with the Group, including our Artists-in-Association. There is no particular stance or position taken up as policy, only that in commissioning a composer we should believe strongly that they have something important to say which deserves to be heard by a wide audience.
To what extent does your funding (eg Arts Council) determine your artistic position?
Not at all. This does not mean we do not value a close working relationship with our many stakeholders, including the Arts Council and Birmingham City Council, but there is never an occasion when our artistic programme is driven by our funding. We sometimes respond to the availability of particular funding streams to develop new ideas, and sometimes this is done in direct partnership with funders, but this is always for projects which are natural extensions of our work and which we really want to do, it’s never a case of creating a project simply for a funding opportunity.
Interview by David Bruce © Copyright 2004-2008
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