Opinion

h 100 Young Influencers of the Year: James Bingham on community choirs

Wednesday, 22 August 2018

Forty thousand choirs in the UK! Choral directors of the UK rejoice. Voices Now have finally published the Big Choral Census. They’ve put hard data to something we knew was true: there are loads of choirs and loads of people who love singing in them...

Are video games an art form? Unquestionably

Friday, 30 June 2017

It is 2017 and we are still having this conversation: are video games art? We have been using computers to play games for at least 55 years. Arguably the first true computer game, Spacewar!, was developed in 1962 at MIT, although simple games had...

'I am dismayed by the tone of the debate'

Sunday, 30 October 2016

There is nothing more depressing than seeing people you like and admire lining up on opposing sides. Emma Rice’s parting from the Globe has resulted in some unedifying comment, often based more on prejudice than fact. I see value in the arguments of...

Ed Vaizey: 'We must invest more in the arts'

Monday, 26 September 2016

A couple of weeks ago, I held a debate in Parliament in which I called for the government to increase funding for the arts, museums and heritage. The Chancellor’s autumn statement, less than two months away, will be when I will know if my campaign...

First Person: 'I am one of only three percent'

Thursday, 12 May 2016

Last week a report was published by Directors UK laying out the cold facts of a trend that a lot of us knew had been going on for a long time - if you are a man you are six times more likely to make a feature film than a woman. The needle hasn’t...

Opinion: The new London hall - 10 Questions we need to ask

Wednesday, 06 January 2016

So the feasibility study for the new concert hall – The Centre for Music – has finally surfaced, a little later than planned. It’s being greeted, generally speaking, as if it’s to be the next London Olympics. “A global beacon,” declares the Evening...

'We have a duty to all children to share our rich artistic history'

Wednesday, 16 September 2015

Two hundred and 74 years ago today, on 14 September 1741, Georg Friedrich Handel completed the first edition of his legendary oratorio, Messiah. It is a work associated with children’s charity, and thanks to a royal charter granted to philanthropist...

If Katie Hopkins Ruled the World, TLC

Friday, 07 August 2015

The premise is a simple one. Get some fairly well-known celebs – preferably at least one comedian – stick them in a room, get them to say some contentious things in front of a studio audience for some un-PC LOLs and then edit it down to a hilarious...

Arise, Sir Van, Sir Lenny and Sir Kevin. Dame who?

Saturday, 13 June 2015

If the honours system is used to award deserving individuals, its other job is to provide an aspirational marker for the country as a whole. This, it tells us twice a year, is who we want to be: inclusive, non-sexist, colour-blind. From the look of...

Opinion: Where's the crisis at ENO?

Tuesday, 10 March 2015

Having been bowled over by the total work of art English National Opera made of Wagner’s The Mastersingers of Nuremberg on its first night, I bought tickets immediately afterwards for the final performance. So I’m off tonight to catch the farewell...

Opinion: What's the point of short film?

Tuesday, 16 September 2014

The emergence of digital both as a technology and a culture has fundamentally changed the world in which short film now exists. Now short film has public, industry and social value and its role and routes have fundamentally changed.Short film is one...

Opinion: What does opera have to say to the under-30s?

Saturday, 02 August 2014

If, like me, your first reaction to the question “What does opera have to say to under-30s” is “What doesn’t opera have to say to them, or anyone, for that matter?” then you can stop reading now. Job done. Go out and spread the word. For everyone...

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