In May, Ciaran Frame wrote an article for the Limelight website about his 2020 Living Music Report. The Report is an annual analysis of Australian orchestral programming, examining whether the composers, whose works were performed around the country, adequately reflect the Australian identity and our gender, cultural and First Nations diversity. Coining a phrase used by the Australia Council, the article was called Do Our Arts Reflect Us? Frame found that in 2020 the answer was “not yet” although the trajectory is headed in the right direction. Phillip Scott, one of Limelight’s regular music reviewers, replied with a piece in which he argued against classical music being programmed through the prism of 21st-century diversity and gender equality. Felicity Wilcox responded with the following article, in which she argues that orchestras must urgently address the stark deficits addressed in The Living Music Report.
Very well said, Felicity.
If music programmers do not create concerts by living Australian composers, our future history will be wiped out. We have already lost so much music from over the past 50 years that has only ever received one playing.
New music will bring new audiences. When will the major orchestras wake up?