BACKISM calls for full sick pay for teachers affected by COVID-19
The Incorporated Society of Musicians, the UK’s professional body for musicians, is calling for music education hubs to ensure compensation for those affected by the coronavirus
The Incorporated Society of Musicians, the UK’s professional body for musicians, has called on music education hubs to ensure that all those who are engaged for work are paid sick pay equivalent to their normal wages where there are school or music centre closures, or where work is lost for any reason linked to COVID-19 coronavirus.
In a press release issued on 4 March, Deborah Annetts, ISM chief executive, said: ‘Many peripatetic teachers are employed or engaged by music education hubs on basic terms and conditions or zero-hour contracts which do not provide workers with adequate sick pay. When such teachers are instructed to self-isolate, they are considered ‘off sick’. However, their entitlement to sick pay may be very limited. Indeed statutory sick pay is only £94.25 per week – and for teachers who are engaged by music education hubs on zero-hour contracts there is a risk that they may not be eligible for statutory sick pay. So music teachers could very easily find themselves without pay through no fault of their own.’
‘Therefore we are calling on music education hubs to ensure that all those who are engaged for work are paid sick pay equivalent to their normal wages where there are school or music centre closures, or where they are off for any reason linked to COVID-19.’
The ISM is also calling for teachers to, where possible, work in a different, appropriate setting, such as providing online tuition, in cases where self-isolation might be instructed so that the progress of their students is not hampered and they can continue to learn as normal.
Israelisches Gesundheitsministerium schickt Bariton Thomas Hampson nach Hause
Tel Aviv, 06.03.2020. Bariton Thomas Hampson kann diese Woche nicht wie geplant bei drei Konzerten mit dem Israel Philharmonic Orchestra auftreten. Grund dafür sind die aufgrund des Coronavirus verschärften Einreisebestimmungen des israelischen Gesundheitsministeriums: Hampson, obgleich kerngesund, wurde bei der Einreise am Flughafen abgewiesen. Medienberichten zufolge nahm er daraufhin einen Flug in die Schweiz, wo er sich auch vor dem Einreiseversuch nach Israel aufgehalten hatte. Das Orchester ersetzte derweil die ursprünglich mit Hampson vorgesehenen Schubert-Lieder durch Mozarts Symphonie Nr. 35 (“Haffner”).
Hampson ist nicht der erste ausländische Künstler, dessen Auftritt in Israel durch das ursprünglich aus China stammende Virus vereitelt wurde: Auch Perkussionist Martin Grubinger, der in der kommenden Woche ebenfalls Auftritte mit dem Orchester gehabt hätte, wurde aus dem Programm gestrichen. Der Finne Osmo Vänskä hingegen steht jedoch weiterhin für die geplanten Konzerte am Dirigentenpult.
Israeli Ministry of Health sends Baritone Thomas Hampson home
Tel Aviv, 06.03.2020. Baritone Thomas Hampson will not be able to perform at three concerts with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra this week as planned. The reason for this is the Israeli Ministry of Health’s stricter entry regulations due to the coronavirus: Hampson, although in perfect health, was refused entry at the airport. According to media reports, he subsequently took a flight to Switzerland, where he had also been before attempting to enter Israel. Meanwhile, the orchestra replaced the Schubert Lieder originally planned with Hampson with Mozart’s Symphony No. 35 (“Haffner”).
Hampson is not the first foreign artist whose performance in Israel was thwarted by the virus originally from China: Percussionist Martin Grubinger, who would also have had appearances with the orchestra next week, was also removed from the programme. The Finn Osmo Vänskä, on the other hand, continues to stand at the conductor’s podium for the planned concerts.
2020-2021 à l’Opéra de Paris : la symphonie des adieux de Stéphane Lissner
« Pour des raisons économiques, l’Opéra national de Paris a été amené à modifier sa programmation 2020/2021», indique un erratum joint à la brochure de saison. Stéphane Lissner avait prévenu le 5 février que les annulations dues aux grèves contre la réforme des retraites (plus de quatre-vingts représentations supprimées en trois mois) auraient des conséquences sur la saison. Les voici : exit le ballet Le Rouge et le Noir ; surtout, adieu à la Jenufa prévue dans une régie de Krzysztof Warlikowski, avec Oksana Lyniv à la baguette.
Pas question évidemment, malgré la cure d’austérité, de renoncer au Ring régi par Calixto Bieito et dirigé par le directeur musical maison Philippe Jordan, qui fait lui aussi ses adieux à Paris, pour s’installer à Vienne : après L’Or du Rhin et La Walkyrie dévoilés lors du printemps qui vient, place à Siegfried et au Crépuscule des dieux (Andreas Schager en Siegfried les deux « journées », Michaela Schuster à la place de Sarah Connolly en Waltraute de Götterdämmerung), et à la présentation de la Tétralogie en deux cycles complets — Jonas Kaufmann rempilera dans la peau de Siegmund.
Contre vents et marées, avant de mettre les voiles pour le San Carlo de Naples et de céder la barre du paquebot Garnier-Bastille à Alexander Neef, Stéphane Lissner aura réussi à mettre un certain souffle dans son ultime programmation parisienne.
2020-2021 at the Paris Opera: Stéphane Lissner’s symphony of farewells
“For economic reasons, the Opéra national de Paris has had to modify its 2020/2021 programming,” says an erratum attached to the season brochure. Stéphane Lissner had warned on 5 February that cancellations due to strikes against pension reform (more than eighty performances cancelled in three months) would have consequences for the season. Here they are: exit the ballet Le Rouge et le Noir; above all, farewell to the Jenufa planned in a production by Krzysztof Warlikowski, with Oksana Lyniv at the baton.
Of course, despite the austerity cure, there is no question of giving up the Ring under the direction of Calixto Bieito and conducted by the in-house music director Philippe Jordan, who is also bidding farewell to Paris, to move to Vienna: After The Gold of the Rhine and Walkyrie in the coming spring, Siegfried and Twilight of the Gods (Andreas Schager as Siegfried on both “days”, Michaela Schuster as Sarah Connolly in Götterdämmerung’s Waltraute), and the presentation of the Tetralogy in two complete cycles – Jonas Kaufmann will return as Siegmund.
Against all odds, before setting sail for the San Carlo in Naples and handing over the helm of the liner Garnier-Bastille to Alexander Neef, Stéphane Lissner will have managed to breathe some life into his final Parisian programme.