As the Canary recently reported, the University of Nottingham (UoN) has announced that it intends to suspend 48 of its courses. This would effectively mean the end of the Music, Modern Languages, and American and Canadian Studies departments as a whole.
Now, staff, students and members of the wider community in Nottingham have spoken out in defence of beleaguered Music Department.
Nottingham University — ‘Diminishing musical life’
On 5 November, PM Keir Starmer publicly affirmed the importance of music education. On that same day, the UoN told staff in its music department that it would immediately suspend all recruitment to undergraduate courses. This action is a prelude to the permanent closure of all music degrees at the institution.
UoN has offered music tuition continuously since it first opened its doors back in 1881. In fact, the music department itself celebrated its 100th birthday just last year. Now, management’s decision to axe the department threatens the end of over a century’s worth of music education in the heart of the city.
A statement from the music department said:
The end of the Department’s Music programmes threatens not only to dismantle a thriving academic and cultural institution, but also to severely diminish musical life and future opportunities across Nottingham and the wider East Midlands. In support of the region’s wider strategic aims to unlock growth and tackle inequality, Music staff currently provide leadership in a regional music stakeholders’ group, connecting over 30 local arts organisations and charities.
Department head Lonán Ó Briain also echoed that community-minded sentiment, stating:
The music department is connected with all sorts of arts institutions, this is really going to impact the region.
We’re embedded in the local community, working with schools, music hubs, community groups and venues.
The community speaks out
The music department’s ties to the community around it – both in Nottingham and the wider world – are certainly borne out by the number of stakeholders who’ve spoken up in its defence. The Bishop of Chelmsford Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, who attended UoN as an undergrad, said:
I was dismayed to hear news about the closure of the music department at Nottingham, not only because of my own personal connections following a very happy time there as an undergraduate, for which I will always be grateful, but for all the other reasons the department has outlined. The gradual undermining of the arts in this country is tragic and short sighted. It is not good for the soul of this country or for the health of our society.
Composer Sam Watts, whose work may be familiar from ‘The Traitors’, ‘Planet Earth’ and ‘The Sarah Jane Adventures’, stated:
The UoN Music department set me up in my career. The arts and art education are vital, and the UoN music department excel at not only imparting knowledge, but creating community. So, the idea of removing arts programmes and closing the department seems to be incredibly short-sighted
Likewise, concert pianist Clare Hammond commented on the value of the department as a Nottingham local:
As a teenager growing up in Nottingham, contacts I made through the Music Department were vital in connecting me to the wider musical world. In my work as an international concert pianist, I collaborate closely with industry leaders who are themselves graduates of the Department. The suspension of music courses would not just harm current and potential students, but would impoverish the musical culture of Nottingham and the UK as a whole.
‘Symptomatic of a wider malaise’
The Musicians’ Union has also spoken out strongly against the threats to UoN’s music department. More than that, though, it identified the announcement as part of a broader pattern threatening music in higher education. The union’s Midlands regional organiser, Stephen Brown, said:
This development is sadly symptomatic of a wider malaise in music education, which has seen university after university axe music courses as state school music education – the talent pipeline for such university courses – experiences an existential crisis.
On a wider note, the arts sector in the East Midlands has witnessed cuts of over 30% since 2010. It is up to the Government to step up and provide the funding for music education and the arts to stem this depressing tide of news and support the arts in the regions.
I’d also urge MU members to offer support to our colleagues in the University and College Union (UCU) who are fighting to stop these cuts at the University of Nottingham.
And finally, Arjun Chandrasekar – a second-year undergraduate music student – told the Canary:
The news of the course closures was devastating to me. Humanities and the Arts empower us with the cognitive tools to think critically and empathetically. These skills are all the more important in a political climate that is becoming increasingly defined by anti-intellectualism, bigotry, and austerity.
When asked to speak about the value of the music department, Arjun (quite rightly) rejected the question:
Attempting to quantify the value of Humanities and Arts degrees is reflective of this ideological landscape. Beyond the inherent value of these fields to every student’s intellectual development, these departments facilitate the social lives and wellbeing of the entire student body to an enormous extent. I can personally attest to the magnitude of non-music students who comprise the Music department’s ensembles.Despite whatever economic justifications for doing so, removing these courses and making entire departments redundant would impoverish the academic, social, and psychological experiences of everyone on campus. It’s an embarrassing stain on the reputation of a Russell Group university, which threatens to repel prospective students, and undermine the credibility of any degree from this institution.I speak on behalf of all Music students when I say that our support for all the staff who face potential redundancy is unconditional and unwavering. We uncritically and wholeheartedly support organisations like the UCU, in their fight against the University’s appalling decision.
It’s easy, when writing this kind of article, to get sucked into trying to argue with university bosses at their own game. How much money does the department make? What are its outputs? What value does it offer to shareholders and stakeholders?
The department’s deep links to the community around it are obvious, and it’s produced some truly world-leading artists. But beyond that, it’s doing something beautiful in a way that isn’t centered purely on profit — which is why the likes of UoN management come for it first.
Featured image via the University website
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