Nicola Benedetti: "I'm unbelievably frustrated. Not even for myself. I’m frustrated for everybody else."
Violinist Nicola Benedetti on her frustrations at the impact COVID19 is having on the classical music world
Last updated 14th Mar 2021
Musician Nicola Benedetti joined Simon Mayo on his Scala Radio show today to chat about her new Elgar CD with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. One of the most sought-after violinists in her generation, Benedetti recently won her first-ever GRAMMY® for Best Classical Instrumental Solo on her recording of the Wynton Marsalis Violin Concerto.
Like all musicians during lockdown, Nicola Benedetti's concert performing schedule has been curtailed dramatically due to the pandemic. On Simon Mayo's show she spoke candidly about her frustrations pointing to “a lack of leadership, disorganisation” and “bad management” that’s “costing people their livelihoods”.
“The difficulty about speaking openly about your beliefs – or even putting forth creative, active solutions – is that everything has been moralised and politicised so fiercely that to try to be active is instantly seen as a very irresponsible thing to do.
“You know, I just don’t believe that the route we’ve taken is the best we could have done. I think incompetency, I think vested interests in the wrong areas, I think just a lack of care, a lack of leadership, disorganisation, just bad management I think has gone on left right and centre and it’s costing people their livelihoods.
“Musicians are right up there with those that are being restricted the most and our prospects do not look good anytime soon. We can’t see a clear end in sight that provides any sort of working business model... It’s not just musicians, it’s everybody involved in that ecosystem. We’re all out of work and you know, just being given money to stop things from closing, that’s temporary, it’s not going to sustain an entire industry that’s that large.”