London's Wigmore Hall has chosen to reject further Arts Council funding. Andrew Allison has the full story, with some historical context thrown into the mix.
Hieronymus von Colloredo was the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg from 1772 to 1803. His name would have slipped even more into obscurity were it not for his relationship with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
In those days, composers tended to have patrons. Joseph Haydn’s patron was Prince Nikolaus Esterházy. Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni supported Antonio Vivaldi, and the Medici family supported Palestrina and Monteverdi. Being a freelancer was not easy, but patronage meant that composers were often constrained. Mozart certainly was. Colloredo liked simple, restrained church music, whereas Mozart was more expressive.
It all came to a head in 1781. Mozart was literally given a kick up the arse and booted out, and although Emperor Joseph II commissioned works from him, he preferred the freedom afforded to him by not being beholden to anyone. Artistically, this was the best decision he could have made, and we benefit from that decision to this day. Financially, not so good, but the late 18th Century is a world of way from modern life in 2025.
These days, patronage works in different ways. Foundations, donors, organisations, and crowdfunding have replaced the church and aristocrats, but Arts Council England (ACE), with a large budget of hundreds of millions of pounds, is a major player. But it won’t surprise you to read that ACE, like many quangos and public bodies, has been infected by the plague of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
As Stephen Pollard, writing in the Spectator, puts it, “It is another example of historian Robert Conquest’s second law of politics: ‘Any organisation not explicitly and constitutionally right-wing will sooner or later become left-wing.’”
The Wigmore Hall in London is a world-renowned concert hall and until recently accepted an annual grant of £350,000 from ACE but has now made the decision to reject it. Why? Just like Mozart, it has decided to break free, and although DEI was not a thing in Mozart’s day, the reasons are surprisingly similar.
ACE’s ‘Let’s Create: Opera and Music Theatre Analysis’ report relegates artistry below DEI. As Pollard writes, “Any organisation which receives taxpayer funding must produce quarterly reports (based on a 60-page instruction manual) on their investment principles, finances and ‘activities’ – which mean the likes of community outreach projects, work towards Net Zero and diversity programmes. Putting on a cycle of the Shostakovich string quartets, for example, as is the wont of the Wigmore Hall, probably doesn’t cut it, unless those involved demonstrate their fealty to DEI.”
Mozart wanted more creative freedom. Wigmore Hall doesn’t want its creative freedom restricted. Mozart accepted that generating an income would be difficult without Colloredo, and although Wigmore Hall’s income from ACE is just 3% of its budget, it will have a hole to plug. But artistic freedom trumps everything else – at least it ought to. Thankfully, Wigmore Hall agrees.
Much has changed since ACE’s predecessor, the Committee for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts was founded in 1940. Creative industries have the opportunity to be much more creative in their fundraising methods. And, of course, if concert halls, theatres, orchestras, opera and dance companies offer high quality concerts and productions, audiences will flock to them. They don’t need meddling benefactors and quangos telling them what they can and cannot perform.
ACE ought to be abolished. Whatever useful purpose it once had has ceased to exist. And before anyone thinks that I am some Philistine who wouldn’t know Bach from Stravinsky, I must inform you that I am a classically trained musician and like all musicians want music to flourish.
Taxpayers funding the arts through arm’s length bodies, with meddling woke bureaucrats (who care more about DEI than performances which make the hairs stand up on the back of the neck) dictating performances, is slavery, not freedom. And as Margaret Thatcher once said, “When people are free to choose, they choose freedom.” That’s exactly what Wigmore Hall has done. Bravo!