ABO Conference 2022: BBCSSO’s Dominic Parker and RSNO’s Alistair Mackie

‘Edinburgh may have its festival, but Glasgow is Scotland’s foremost arts centre,’ insists Dominic Parker, director of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BBCSSO). ‘And if you include all genres, there’s a good case for saying that nowhere outside London has more live music going on than Glasgow.’

‘It’s a vibrant, forward-thinking city,’ adds Alistair Mackie, Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) chief executive. ‘I look down Killermont Street from my office and see so much going on in front of my eyes. Yet even now it’s still underrated in cultural terms.’

Plenty of pride here, then, that Glasgow hosts this year’s Association of British Orchestra conference, based at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (home to the RSNO) from 9 - 11 February. At the time of writing, it remains uncertain what Covid-related restrictions may apply in Scotland at the time of the conference, but with an online configuration already in place, an event of whatever precise kind is sure to take place.

The experience of last year’s online conference, Parker observes, showed that it could draw a gratifyingly international audience — and one keen to interact digitally with proceedings. ‘What can be said, though, is that as an industry we all feel the need to be physically together again. Conversations and collaborations benefit so much from meeting people in the flesh.’

The conference boasts an impressive, multi-background cast of speakers and panelists and it’s bold, short-form title, Rebound, puts an emphasis on considering how the music industry moves forward as Covid is gradually tamed, embracing lessons the crisis has offered. ‘At no other time in my working life in music has the status quo been so fundamentally challenged,’ reckons Mackie. ‘The sheer rate of change has been remarkable — we’ve learnt in the last two years that things don’t have to happen slowly. I hope the conference demonstrates this clearly — such change demands that we talk to each other at this moment. Ten, twenty years from now it’s likely that people will look back at this as the time when seeds of a very different music industry were sown.’

There will be sessions which directly reflect the Covid crisis — a look at the range of re-opening scenarios in prospect for performing arts organisations in the UK and internationally, plus reflections on take-aways from the dramatic development of online/digital musical presentation as a response to lockdowns. ‘Expertise in the digital area has developed incredibly rapidly within orchestras as elsewhere’ says Parker. ‘You marvel at the creative passion of those who work in the music industry, juggling all the new challenges in the spirit of ‘the show must go on’, and that show has to be visual. It’s now much easier to envisage a future hybrid model of live/online musical performance.’

Elsewhere on the conference programme there will be up-to-date thinking on such areas as ‘collaborative leadership’ within orchestra management structures, green issues as they relate to musical performance, and the promotion of musicians’ resilience and sense of wellbeing in a demanding profession made all the more demanding by the pandemic’s impact on livelihoods. However, one issue — inclusivity and diversity in terms of access to music and musical opportunities — dominates a range of conference sessions, viewed from an impressive range of perspectives, from gender and disability to social deprivation and repertoire issues. ‘The diversity agenda has advanced with such a sense of acceleration during the pandemic,’ is Mackie’s assessment.

Dominic Parker insists one lesson to be emphatically re-iterated at the conference is that ‘every orchestra has a responsibility to ensure that all in society have the same opportunities. It’s all about resources, strategy, and application, and Glasgow offers some great examples of what can be achieved. I’m especially looking forward to the conference session on music in deprived neighbourhoods featuring Paul MacAlinden, whose ‘regeneration orchestra’, Glasgow Barons, does amazing work in the Govan district of Glasgow. My own orchestra has worked very closely with Sistema Scotland for ten years, helping to develop instrumental playing in schools where the opportunities otherwise wouldn’t exist. Some amazing musicians have emerged. We’ve seen how academic attainment has been enhanced as a by-product. Life chances and aspirations are broader.’

The conference can expect some gritty observations on the subject of inclusivity from keynote speaker Darren McGarvey, Glasgow-raised rapper and waspish social commentator. Alistair Mackie will be all ears. ‘I’d like the conference to be honest about where the industry has failed as well as where we’ve succeeded. I want less bullshit… and I hope Darren will set the tone here. He’s not from a careful, closeted world where you have to mind what you say for fear of losing money. How often are we orchestras challenged from outside our lobby? I’d always rather run the risk of being offended by a speaker than be bored.’

The 9 February ABO conference concert (Shostakovich/John Adams/Samy Moussa premiere) broadcast live on Radio 3 features combined forces from the RSNO and BBCSSO. The occasion symbolises a feature of the conference both Parker and Mackie look forward to: a particular atmosphere of enhanced collegiality, not just among the orchestra representatives present but also embracing attendees from other areas of the industry. ‘These past two years have seen the development of a much greater empathy between the different constituent parts of the industry,’ says Parker, ‘for example, I for one have a much greater awareness of the importance of artist managers. The challenges we’ve collectively faced have been so enormous that we’ve all come closer together. We’ve simply had to assist and support each other.’

‘Those who run orchestras have got to know each other so much better,’ adds Mackie. ‘There are people I now talk to every week rather than three or four times a year. Far more trust has been engendered. The benefit is seen in the number of collaborative projects that are in train across UK orchestras…a whole new approach. In the past we’ve been too competitive with one another. It’s so much better this way.’

The ABO conference will be held in Glasgow from 9-11 February. To find out more and book your tickets for the 2022 conference, visit the ABO website.