Chronology of cuts
Chronology of current CBC management assault on culture
Since coming to power, the current team of Programming Executives have been responsible for:
- the failure to transform the innovative Radio 3 into a national broadcast network, thereby necessitating, in their eyes, the gutting of Radio Two’s classical programming in order to satisfy their self-perceived mandate to be all things to all people.
- suspension of The CBC Young Composers’ Competition and the CBC Young Performers’ Competition for the past four years. These two important domestic competitions had been instrumental in the development of some of Canada’s best musical talent including: Angela Hewitt, Ben Heppner, Jon Kimura Parker. The Canada Council provided half of the funding for the $10,000.00 grand prizes.
- as of February 2008, elimination of the classical music budget for CBC Records, precisely on the eve of their first Grammy win by Canadian violinist James Ehnes and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra under Bramwell Tovey on the CBC Records label. Many artists, such as Measha Brueggergosman, launched their careers on a CBC Records label recording.
- claiming to increase the commissioning budget to include jazz, pop musicians, and some unspecified amount of contemporary music while promising to spend the same amount on classical commissions – but their track record is not looking good.
- reduction by at least 60% the presence of classical music content, limiting classical music to 10am to 3pm time slot, thus reducing by over half the overall classical weekday programming from 12 hours to 5 hours, and shifting all weekday classical programming to inconvenient, off-peak times of the day when no one who works or goes to school can tune in. Kids will no longer be exposed to classical music.
- the axing of the 70 year old CBC Radio Orchestra: North America’s last remaining radio orchestra and platform for countless premieres of new Canadian compositions. And then, one day after citing lack of resources as the reason for cutting the orchestra, buying an expensive full-page ad in a national newspaper to convince Canadians about how wonderful the evisceration of their national radio music network is - signed and supported by wealthy pop music recording industry executives and artists, the people who stand to gain monetarily from the demise of CBC’s classical programming.
- Regional performance programs were eliminated in the spring of 2007. Each region had a weekly program (in B.C. it was Westcoast Performance), which recorded musicians in the region either in concert or by inviting them into studio to record a session to be broadcast on the program. These programs were stepping stones for musicians and often a first CBC broadcast exposure which could lead to national exposure. These concerts were predominantly classical, solo and chamber music and also included new Canadians in world music groups performing the “classical” music of their original countries or a new music creation that has resulted from mixing with the musicians in Canada and various music traditions.
All existing and long-standing weekday classical shows on Radio Two are to be cut, including:
- Music & Company - Tom Allen’s morning wake up show
- Here’s to You - Catherine Belyea’s all-request show
- Studio Sparks - due to the venerable Eric Friesen’s “retirement”
- Disc Drive - Jurgen Gothe’s popular, 30 year old drive-home show
- Sound Advice – Rick Philips’ extraordinarily informative and unique classical recording showcase and review.
These changes come on the heels of last years round of cuts to vital programs such as:
- Danielle Charbonneau’s much-loved Music for a While;
- Larry Lake’s new composer showcase Two New Hours;
- Symphony Hall - Canada’s live orchestra recording showcase;
- The Singer and the Song - Catherine Belyea’s excellent Classical vocal program;
- Northern Lights - the overnight Classical program beloved by Night Owls everywhere;
- The reformatting of In Performance- a primarily classical live performance show into the unfocused Canada Live - a uniformly non-classical and confusing mix of various genres.
The CBC claims financial constraints drive these cuts, yet spending in other areas, and support from the commercial recording industry suggest otherwise.
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