Success Beyond The Score

Help Musicians UK and Musicians Union have helped funding the PiPA (Parents in Performing Arts) Classical Music Survey, which aims to identify patterns in job and working environments in relation to work-life balance, and develop practical strategies and resources for Classical Music organisations to better support parents and carers, and the wider workforce.

You can take the survey clicking here.

The survey was developed in partnership with Association of British Orchestras, Liverpool Philharmonic, SWAP’ra, Black Lives in Music and UK Music. It will investigate the impact of caring responsibilities on career progression as well as wider worklife balance and wellbeing challenges in Classical Music.

The survey will provide data driven insights to enable PiPA to develop a range of strategies and resources for the Classical Music sector to empower organisations to better support parents, carers and the wider workforce.

PiPA wants to hear from people from all backgrounds and circumstan...

The online evening performance by Time For My Music had the aim to raise funds for the homeless. The women chose two charities to achieve this: “The House of St. Barnabas” and “CEO Sleepout”.

Both of these were brought to the attention of the group my Anouck, who was also in charge of talking about them during the concert. You can listen to her following this link, and read more about each charity in the links below:

Working to break the cycle of homelessness by giving people affected by homelessness the skills and confidence to get into employment and find accommodation.

Visit the official website of The House of St. Barnabas.
Donate to the The House of St. Barnabas.

Around the UK business leaders are invited to sleep rough for one night to raise funds to fight poverty and homelessness in the UK.  Monies collected are donated to charities at the front line of homelessness and poverty.

Visit the official website of CEO Sleepout.
Donate to the CEO Sleepout.

None...

Did you know that, without being clear on your motivation, you won’t achieve your music targets or complete your plans?

During lockdown I, like many, had my live music work restricted, postponed or cancelled. I was depressed for the first two weeks of our first lockdown.  Although I was worrying about my income, I was mostly sad not to be able to meet people and do my thing. Why? Because I enjoy the fact that my music makes people feel better and it takes them to another place. It’s one of the reasons why I go on stage. Realising this helped me to adapt the way I work during lockdown so I could continue doing what I do. 

 The other thing about motivation is that it can change. In the early days, I just wanted to play because I felt this is my talent and I must deliver. Later on, it was about earning through my music and making it my full-time career, which I did. Nowadays, it’s about making a difference by imparting my experience to help others to grow. Irrespective, there is always ...

From the Musicians' Union, there's an invitation to take part in the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) Women’s Committee’s anonymous survey, which seeks to gather comprehensive data in regards of sexual harassment directed towards women. The goal is to help building a safer and more equal world of work for all.

Take the survey following this link.

Remember to check the Musicians' Union website for relevant information regarding the music industry in the UK.

Following an approach by the Campaign to Protect Afghanistan’s Musicians the EC has agreed to provide a year’s free membership to Afghan musicians seeking asylum in the UK.

This gives the musicians access to legal support including a non-work related legal help line, a community of musicians to connect with, access to professional networks and advice and guidance on building a career in the UK.

Please help spread the word to reach any and all Afghan musicians elegible for this scheme.

Success Beyond The Score is not an official media outlet for the Musicians Union. For more information, please check their official website directly.

As we are close to the end of the year, this episode of the podcast "Success Beyond The Score" is dedicated to reflection, in particular about the critical event that marked 2020 and 2021: the coronavirus pandemic.

How did it affect the music industry? Specifically, how did it impact musicians? Today you will hear true stories from Anna Brooks, Tony Bean, Louise Dengate, Dan Whitehouse, Abigail Kelly and Ruby Turner MBE, in which they will tell us about their hardships, opportunities, the good and the bad.

Find the video of the episode on YouTube and choose your favourite podcast platform to listen to the audio version on this list.

Recently, I’ve been binge watching ‘Race To The Center of the Earth’.  It has adventure, dizzy heights even from my sofa, a little drama, great scenery and of course teams competing for the prize of one million dollars. I love shows like these because  I find them inspiring, a little scary (when someone gets hurt or they have to climb up a super high cliff face) but also interesting.

How does this relate to music? Last time, I mentioned I would share with you one of the things I still do now to keep me moving and growing as a musician.  On reflection, there are 3 things, but today I’ll illustrate the first one through the Race.

Each of the racers in the Team have a goal.  A goal to win the million-dollar prize.  They are focused on that goal and all roads lead to that goal.  They train for that goal; they strategize towards that goal and at the end they will know if they achieve the goal.

This is something I do.  No, not extreme sports although I wish  – lol! But at 42, when I gave ...