Recession and Survival

There is a school of thought that suggests when it comes to innovation Brass Bands should do as much as they can – as long as it doesn’t cost anything. For some bands, innovating may be the only way to survive.

Most Brass Bands have survived a few recessions but this time around it’s much more serious. In a very short space of time we’ve seen a housing market meltdown and the collapse of financial systems. In the present financial climate the Arts are being hit particularly hard; isn’t it the case in most recessions? Community arts groups, including Brass Bands have been used to surviving in hard economic times and have often functioned on fairly meagre funds in more prosperous times. However, once again, Brass Bands need to adopt a survival strategy and forget about prosperity for the time-being. Bands need to worry about being survivors, not about being rich survivors.

The key to getting through the recession will be to preserve cash and do everything your band can to ensure it has got a solid banking situation. Through the recession Brass Bands need to cut capital expenditure where they can, avoid taking credit risks and make endeavour to stabilise their inventory of instruments, uniforms, equipment and sheet music, which could be susceptible to deflation.

Every band will require exceptionally tight cash control and excellent forecasting systems. It’s absolutely essential that those forecasting systems are realistic. Managing the balance sheet will bring rewards; as will a zero-based budgeting approach, where every cost is questioned. Brass Bands also need to take what they can from grants and concessions that are available to the Arts from many sources. Many grants are available for artistic or educational innovation and unique ways of engaging in cultural projects. The MAD4BB website (http://mad4bb.ning.com)
is a good resource and has information about various types of funding – sign your band or yourself up and take a look; it will cost you nothing but a little time!

When it comes to financial innovation, Brass Bands should do as much as they can – as long as it doesn’t cost anything! For some bands, innovating may be the only way to survive. Members of the BFBB visiting the website (www.bfbb.co.uk) can download various information packs that will assist them to develop good fiscal practices; useful packs include A Marketing Strategy Pack, A Fundraising Pack and A Financial Information Pack. These packs will soon be joined by another about ensuring your bands satiability.

In this recession, free advice and help is at hand, it won’t cost your band anything but you will need to do a little work to access it. Brass Bands will do as they have always done in recessions; survive – gnarled, but still operational

The 159th British Open Brass Band Championships

At 10:30 am, on the 3rd September, the opening notes of this year’s British Open Brass Band Championships will be played. The British Open Championships, which began in 1853 at Belle Vue Manchester, is reputed to be the oldest surviving music competition in the world. In 1853 the first competition was held in the grounds of the Zoological Gardens and was attended by a crowd of over 16,000; a great success and consequently the event continued annually until 1981 at Belle Vue. Following the sale of Belle Vue, the Open moved to the free Trade Hall, Manchester, where it remained until 1996. Today, the British Open, as the one of the foremost competitions for the best brass bands in the UK, regularly attracts audiences of all age groups to the Symphony Hall, Birmingham where it moved to in 1997 and where the competition has subsequently thrived.

This year’s test piece making its UK contest debut is ‘Red Priest’ by the acclaimed international composer Philip Wilby, who describes it as “A Concerto after Vivaldi with special separations”; it includes four solo percussion parts and groupings of cornets and trombones spaced around the performance area. Listeners will recognise quotations from, amongst others, ‘The Four Seasons’, and Vivaldi’s ‘Gloria’.

In recent years, the British Open Brass Band Championships has been a source of new music for the brass bands, written by established composers, which gone on to lift the profile and appeal of brass band music to wider and more diverse audiences time after time; it has also established a reputation for the commission of new test pieces which continues to this day. There has been a promise that the test piece for the 2012 British Open will be a new work which has already been commissioned. Future plans in the pipeline, for a new work in 2013, prove the Open’s continued commitment to the promotion of musical excellence and exciting brass music for its audiences.

Scores for ‘Red Priest’ are available from Prima Vista Musikk and tickets for the British Open are on sale from Symphony Hall Box Office.