If I were a rich man…
In the spirit of Christmas, we take ten leading classical musicians, give them a massive financial windfall and ask them how they’d spend it!
What would you do with £10 million? We ask ten leading musicians how they’d spend it
EARLIER THIS YEAR, we reported on Saffron Hall, the new concert hall set in the grounds of a comprehensive school in Essex (see August 2016 issue). Funded to the tune of £10m by an anonymous donor, it has proved an enormous success, attracting world-class musicians who play in front of sell-out audiences – whoever said donor is, he is surely now smiling as he reflects on a £10m very well spent.
All of which got us thinking, if we had £10m to spend on something classical music-related, what we would do with it? A BBC Music Magazine Symphony Orchestra, perhaps, to help us through deadline week? Now that would be nice…
However, much more interestingly, how would leading musicians – the very people you might see performing in Saffron Hall – use this substantial pile of cash? We asked 10 of them just that, and here’s what they had to say…
Tasmin Little violinist
I would like to go around the world to do 80 concerts in 80 days! We’d have a travelling group of fantastic musicians and the idea would be, first of all, to go to lots of different countries – and to far-flung places in particular – to play music to people who haven’t had an opportunity to experience live music before. We take the power of music for granted in our profession because it’s how we’ve spent our lives, but it’s easy to forget that hearing beautiful music live, particularly for the first time, can be an overwhelming experience. It would, though, also be a massive cultural exchange, whereby local musicians or people who play indigenous music would take part, so there would be a real feeling that music connects us all.
Sir James Galway flautist
Musicians in bands like U2, the Beatles or Pink Floyd all learnt theory at school. They can all write and compose, so I’d use some of the money to teach classical music at a school, and I’d run a flute class. I’d also like to support my class in Switzerland, which we always need money for. It is open to players of every standard, from all over the world, all of whom need a bit of help. We had four players from South Africa last year, and one of them had a flute that defied description: it was falling to bits. So I gave him a flute. These kids are gifted – you can’t turn away from that. You’ve got to do your best to help the gift mature.
Ailish Tynan soprano
I would set up an opera company in Ireland that would nurture young Irish talent, be at a very high level and which would involve the community. £10m sounds like a lot of money but it probably wouldn’t go that far, so my most important thing
would be to get the right people in place to run it and keep the money coming. Most places that are really successful have fabulous people at the helm. The initial bulk of the money would go on a venue, which I would love to be a proper place open all year round. It would be a platform for Irish people to come and hear our Irish singers, and bring a regular flow of opera singers through Ireland.
Christophe Rousset harpsichordist and conductor
My dream is to present and conduct French opera in Covent Garden every year, just to show that French opera is not only Berlioz’s Les Troyens, Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande or Bizet’s Carmen. We have a lot more, especially from the
17th and 18th centuries. It’s an enormous heritage. It would be the opportunity to let English audiences hear masterpieces from the French repertoire, starting with Lully, and then moving to Rameau – though not Les Indes galantes or Castor et Pollux, but more unknown titles – and then forwards. France was very rich and spent a lot of money on opera, with lots of decorations, a big choir and orchestra, and dance. People might know about these operas but they rarely get to see or hear them.
James Rhodes pianist
I’d begin by getting myself a Steinway B piano, so that would be me taken care of. After that, I’d spend it on a series of full-page advertisements in the national press shaming the government over music education and barraging them with statistics. This would be in the hope that millions would see, day after day after day, that, despite the promise years ago that every child would given the opportunity to learn an instrument and then progress to the next level of excellence if they want to, it simply hasn’t happened. Ours is the land of Elgar, Britten and, for that matter, Elton John, so if we’re cutting off music education at grass roots, it really is something to be ashamed of.
Tine Thing Helseth trumpeter
I would build my own culture house where musicians and artists from different genres could be given the artistic freedom to create whatever they like. It would be a melting pot with no boundaries, a place where the audience never knows what to expect! I would love it to be in my hometown of Oslo, in the area where I live, with a view of the sea. The entire building could be used for performance, with different-sized venues, rehearsal rooms, art studios and a roof terrace for outdoor craziness! The interior would be an ongoing exhibition for artists – using walls, floors, ceilings, you name it. Like life, the venue would always be changing and evolving.
Roxanna Panufnik composer
I would spend the £10m on childcare grants for struggling self-employed musicians. Childcare in the UK is cripplingly expensive, and it’s particularly hard if you don’t earn a regular salary. People think that, because you’re a creative musician, it’s fine – you’re at home and you can look after the children. But you simply cannot entertain small children or babies while you’re trying to create something. I remember sitting at the piano with one of mine in a little bouncy chair next to me, smiling, making little noises and trying to interact with me. You can’t just turn round, smile back and say something, or shake their rattle – it just doesn’t work. To give somebody the opportunity of having, say, a year of full-time childcare would help their career – and their financial security.
Nicholas Daniel oboist
I’d use the money to help organisations that do a great job already, but that need more. So, £3.75m to the Chineke! Foundation to help them encourage black and minority ethnic children to take up instruments and come to classical music. Then I’d give £250,000 to Yr Obo Teithio, who do wonderful work identifying interested young musicians and buying them oboes, plus I’d buy a recorder and a music reading book for every UK primary schoolchild. I’d give £1m to the Dartington International Summer School, and another £1m to Opera North to give refugees the chance to tell their stories through opera. I’d use £500,000 to fund new oboe commissions and, more selfishly, fund recordings of the hundreds of pieces that have been written for me over the last 35 years. The last £2.75m would establish a new fund solely to promote British composers – we’re currently sleeping through a renaissance where we have so many great composers, yet little public awareness of it.
Chi-chi Nwanoku double-bassist
I would instigate a national programme, so that every child in UK state schools received exactly the same access to music as they do in private schools. I’d help get the ball rolling by having a Chineke! Foundation tour bus/ pop-up concert hall that would take Chineke! senior and junior orchestras to every corner of the UK, playing wonderful, lifeaffirming music. Chineke! is not just for black and minority ethnic musicians: it’s in all our interests, and I believe we will all benefit from a more diverse inclusion in the arts.
Julian Lloyd Webber cellist
If you’ve got so much money, it has to be put into music education in schools, which is in a terrible state. I don’t think we are using technology enough, and would use the huge resource we have now in Youtube – which has wonderful performances by people like Horowitz, Rostropovich, Oistrakh, and great conductors like Svetlanov and Barbirolli – and send passionate musicians into schools to talk about the performances. No compromise, no dumbing down – simply play the most sensational, passionate performances by the greatest artists. I think children respect that approach. Get really top artists involved, to show their own enthusiasm. That’s the way to introduce music to children.
How would you spend £10m on classical music? Tell us, by emailing us at music@classical-music.com