‘We got our money – I was so relieved I could barely speak’
In her final diary column, Suzanne Rolt, CEO of St George’s Bristol, reflects on the past seven months
We are not out of the woods … but we live to fight another day and vow to keep the music playing
When the pandemic struck back in March and we were forced to close the doors of St George’s, we had no inkling whatsoever that they would remain that way for months on end. Staff worked quickly but calmly that week, cancelling upcoming concerts and reassuring musicians and audiences that we would be back in touch with new dates before too long. We had dealt with difficult situations in the past – snow, floods, ceiling collapses – and we assumed this would be no different: just a temporary lull in proceedings.
We held a “last supper” of sorts: a communal meal for the whole team, using up the food that would otherwise have gone to waste when we had to lock down our café at short notice. It was novel to have the building to ourselves, and while we were bewildered, spirits were high and there was an end-of-school-term atmosphere. Everyone expected to be back to normal in a matter of weeks.
Fast forward seven months, and it’s fair to say that I look back on that day with incredulity: how did we not foresee the scale and force of what was about to hit? As it was, we were knocked sideways by Covid. It laid waste to our artistic and commercial programmes, driving us to the edge of insolvency. In the six months from March to September, we lost virtually all our business. We cancelled 123 concerts and 43 commercial events, abandoned carefully constructed future plans, and recycled thousands of unread leaflets that promoted an artistic season that was never to be.
We fought back, rescheduling events and trying to stay on top of an increasingly out-of-control situation. But every time we moved a concert into what seemed to be a safe time period, Covid would extend its reach that little bit further and throw everything up into the air again.
Despite mothballing the building and doing everything possible to reduce overheads, our reserves were soon in freefall, and we were facing the real prospect of running out of money. In May, in the nick of time, payments from the furlough scheme started to flow through and we stepped back from the first of many cliff edges. Our team dropped to just three members, each one working around the clock to cover the work of nearer 30. We turned our hands to anything and everything, learning new skills and resurrecting some we hadn’t used for 20 years.
Like cultural organisations the country over, we found new ways to share our work, streaming concerts online. When the rules finally allowed, we transitioned to socially distanced, outdoor performances with local artists. We turned our lawn into a concert platform, swapped formal seating for deckchairs and slathered everything in disinfectant and hand sanitiser. We gathered in groups of 50 people at a time, ignoring rain and traffic noise, gulping down every precious note. We gasped in unison during one magical moment when a blackbird duetted with a string quartet playing Mozart.
It’s October now, and while there’s no end in sight to this pandemic, we are learning how to adapt swiftly to its unpredictable patterns of behaviour. We have, though, gone from being an entrepreneurial organisation to one that depends heavily for its survival on government assistance and the generosity of its funders and loyal supporters.
On this front, there is cause for celebration. On Monday, we finally received the outcome of our application to the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund. St George’s secured £564,916. It’s a huge sum. I was so stunned, so relieved, that I could barely speak. It will put us back on our feet while we do our best to navigate through to the other side of this pandemic.
Every last pound of this fund has already been accounted for. A large part will pay staff salaries from the time that the furlough scheme ends up until April 2021. Everyone, from the top to the bottom, is going to be working reduced hours, but with unemployment set to soar and freelance artists still falling through the cracks, we don’t underestimate how privileged we are.
We will invest in up-to-date equipment to record, edit and stream concerts and all kinds of commercial events, from meetings and conferences to graduations and awards ceremonies.
Everything will link through to an enhanced website where we can communicate with audiences and share content as never before. This ability to create blended events that combine the live and virtual experience is the best insurance we can muster to protect us in the event of further Covid waves.
We are certainly not out of the woods yet. We’re conscious that this funding won’t last forever, but it will keep us afloat until late spring. Beyond this point, we need to shape a new business model that can generate income amid further uncertainty and, most likely, a continuation of reduced-capacity events. We still struggle to make the economics work. Our development team is already preparing to launch a major fundraising campaign in the run-up to Christmas.
Most importantly, this funding will enable us to restart the thing we do best: putting on live music. On Wednesday, we returned to live performance in triumphant form, with two recitals by world acclaimed pianist Paul Lewis. He has played to empty halls during lockdown, but in those conditions a musician cannot experience that same adrenalin rush or create those revelatory moments of music-making that arise through communion with an audience.
The hall is reawakening, slowly stirring back to life as we gain in confidence, planning new concerts and events. If this pandemic has taught us anything, it is that we should treasure the people around us and the things that bring a sense of joy and fulfilment to our lives. With the support and love of all around it, St George’s lives to fight another day and vows to keep the music playing. Onwards and upwards!
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