UK composers must act ‘more collaboratively and less competitively’, a seminar panel has agreed.
A panel of experts, speaking at the Composer’s Seminar, organised by PRS for Music and Trinity Laban at London’s Southbank Centre, compared the conditions for composers in the UK with those faced by Scandinavia.
Composer Rolf Wallin said: ‘One word for Scandinavia - I would say collaboration. One word for the UK - competition. Why is it like this?’
He suggested that this is because the Norwegian government is more willing to invest in culture than the UK. Rolf also stated that the population size may also have an impact - Norway’s population is approximately 5m compared with the UK’s 65m.
Another member of the panel, Alwynne Pritchard is a British composer who relocated to Bergen in Norway.
She said it was ‘astonishingly’ easier to make a living as a composer in Norway than it is in the UK and that the latter should take some pointers from the way the Norwegian culture works.
‘On moving there, this culture of collaboration is very important. The Bergen Centre of Electronic Arts has a day where everyone who works there goes along and helps maintain the place,’ Alwynne explained.
‘My theory is geographically it’s such a difficult country to live in - 5m people spread across this vast and inhabitable landscape. You have to collaborate with your neighbours otherwise you might not get fed.’
The same panel called on the UK to offer more funding and support to composers to develop their works. Read our news item.
A panel of experts, speaking at the Composer’s Seminar, organised by PRS for Music and Trinity Laban at London’s Southbank Centre, compared the conditions for composers in the UK with those faced by Scandinavia.
Composer Rolf Wallin said: ‘One word for Scandinavia - I would say collaboration. One word for the UK - competition. Why is it like this?’
He suggested that this is because the Norwegian government is more willing to invest in culture than the UK. Rolf also stated that the population size may also have an impact - Norway’s population is approximately 5m compared with the UK’s 65m.
Another member of the panel, Alwynne Pritchard is a British composer who relocated to Bergen in Norway.
She said it was ‘astonishingly’ easier to make a living as a composer in Norway than it is in the UK and that the latter should take some pointers from the way the Norwegian culture works.
‘On moving there, this culture of collaboration is very important. The Bergen Centre of Electronic Arts has a day where everyone who works there goes along and helps maintain the place,’ Alwynne explained.
‘My theory is geographically it’s such a difficult country to live in - 5m people spread across this vast and inhabitable landscape. You have to collaborate with your neighbours otherwise you might not get fed.’
The same panel called on the UK to offer more funding and support to composers to develop their works. Read our news item.
