A further £500,000 contribution to support the profession during the COVID-19 crisis

In response to the continuing challenges posed by COVID-19, RSM has released a second £500,000 to help those suffering financial hardship as a direct result of the pandemic. Aimed primarily at those who have slipped through the net of Government support schemes, these funds are being distributed by Help Musicians UK (HMUK) as part of their Coronavirus Financial Hardship Fund. The fund is now open and all applications must be submitted directly to HMUK.

Our partnership with HMUK enables RSM to focus on our one core aim of providing vital support to those whose lives have been affected by accident or illness.

RSM provides help in many ways. We fund physical and emotional therapies, referrals to specialised practitioners and associated treatments. We also help those needing support on a more long-term basis or during retirement years. This may include provision of home adaptations or living expenses. To read our Applications for Assistance Guidelines, please click here.

If you, or someone you know needs our help, please get in touch – [email protected] / 020 7629 6137

For more information about the Coronavirus Fund, please contact HMUK. This funding is in addition to the initial £500,000 RSM contributed in March.

BAPAM Healthy Practice Session: Fit to Play, Mental Health & Return to Work – NEW DATE ANNOUNCED

Due to popular demand, we have decided to repeat our introductory Healthy Practice Session: Fit to Play, Mental Health & Return to Work at 10.00 a.m. – 1.00 p.m. on Tuesday 13 October 2020.

Presented by the Society in partnership with BAPAM, this session will outline risk factors and key strategies to sustain good physical health, mental health and wellbeing throughout a long and healthy career and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Please note that this event has limited spaces.

To attend this virtual event, please register in advance below.

This event is currently sold out; however, we are hoping to re-run it as soon as possible. If you would like to be contacted when a new date has been released, please contact The Royal Society of Musicians on [email protected]

BAPAM Healthy Practice Series:

Fit to Play, Staying Mentally Well & Returning to Work
(COVID-19 Risk Assessment)

We are delighted to present an introductory Healthy Practice Session in partnership with The British Association for Performing Arts Medicine (BAPAM). The event will take place virtually between 10.30-13.30 on Wednesday 30 September 2020.

We all share a sense of relief that musical life is beginning to restart (albeit very gradually). However, many musicians are feeling daunted by both the physical and psychological challenges of getting back to performing after a 6-month break.

This session will outline risk factors and key strategies to sustain good physical health, mental health and wellbeing throughout a long and healthy career and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. It will introduce the BAPAM COVID-19 Risk Assessment tools and guidance and how musicians can use these to confidently negotiate their return to work and play.

The session focuses on evidence-based practical skills and draws from research findings, performance psychology, and proven clinical pathways.

Part 1: Fit to Play

Will explore how to avoid injury, identify the signs and symptoms of musculoskeletal problems, what to do to promote good health and where to go for help.

Part 2: Keeping Mentally Well

Will explore mental health challenges for musicians including performance anxiety. Attendees will learn skills for optimal practice and performance, how to keep mentally well, how to set goals and build resilience and where to find help.

Part 3: Returning to Work (COVID-19 Risk Assessment)

Will explore how COVID-19 has impacted performing artists, how to calculate and manage your personal COVID risk and how to navigate your return to work based on the current guidance.

The event is free to attend and open to everyone in the profession. Anyone interested in attending should register in advance of the event.

This event is currently sold out; however, we are hoping to re-run it as soon as possible. If you would like to be contacted when a new date has been released, please contact The Royal Society of Musicians on [email protected]

Invitation to join the Royal Society of Musicians Social Network

Musicians keeping in touch

Join the RSM Social Network and catch up with other musicians at informal monthly Zoom get-togethers and/or with regular phone calls.

Members of The Royal Society of Musicians have set up a social network, open to all professional musicians, whether working or retired, enabling them to keep in touch by telephone and Zoom throughout the current situation and beyond.

“We’re all missing the world of work and our colleagues at the moment and there’s nothing like a catch-up with fellow musicians. Join us at our monthly Zoom get-togethers where we gather and then move to smaller breakout groups for a chat. Alternatively – or in addition – if you’d like to speak on the phone, one of our Members would be glad to get in touch. Just let us know by joining the RSM Social Network.

The Network is connecting professional musicians from right across the musical community and all ages and stages. Some of us just miss chatting to colleagues in the tea queue; some retired musicians would normally be having regular visits from family and friends but are currently self-isolating; some are keen to discuss new ways of working; some like to reminisce about erstwhile colleagues.”

RSM Member Alistair Scahill

The Royal Society of Musicians has been doing all it can to support the profession during this crisis. In addition to setting up the Support Network, we have contributed £500,000 to the Help Musicians Coronavirus Fund. We also continue to distribute grants to those affected by illness or accident, as well as welcoming new Members every month. For more information please contact us.

Further help and advice from across the profession is available at: www.coronamusicians.info/

RSM Coronavirus Support Network

Many of those within the profession are not only suffering financially but are also feeling cut off from colleagues and friends. Consequently RSM Members have volunteered to set up a telephone support network to help their fellow professional musicians through these very difficult times.
 
So, if you are feeling a bit isolated or anxious or you would just appreciate a chat with another musician, perhaps once a week or so, we warmly invite you to join the RSM Support Network. We will then be able to ‘match’ you with an RSM Member (or Members) who will call you. (You can, of course, opt out at any point.)
 
The Royal Society of Musicians has been doing all it can to support the profession during this crisis. In addition to setting up the Support Network, we have contributed £500,000 to the Help Musicians Coronavirus Fund.
 
We also continue to distribute grants to those affected by illness or accident, as well as welcoming new Members every month. For more information please contact us.

Major contribution provides emergency aid via the Help Musicians Coronavirus Financial Hardship Fund

Friday March 27 – The Royal Society of Musicians (RSM), Britain’s oldest music charity, has today announced a £500,000 contribution to musicians suffering financial hardship, to be distributed through the Help Musicians Coronavirus Financial Hardship Fund, the vital emergency relief fund from UK charity Help Musicians.

Recognising the strength in collaboration and the unprecedented immediate need in the music community, RSM has taken this proactive step to mobilise funds in order to support even more musicians facing immediate financial crisis in the current climate.

The £5m Help Musicians Coronavirus Financial Hardship Fund was launched on Wednesday March 25 as a direct response to the challenging and uncertain landscape for musicians. The Fund offers a one-off payment of £500 per applicant and is to be used to alleviate some of the immediate pressure on musicians to meet their household expenses.

As a direct result of RSM’s action, an additional 1,000 will receive financial hardship support.

The Fund is available to UK professional working musicians and is applied for via an online form. Read the full eligibility criteria and application process on the Help Musicians website here.

Charlotte Penton-Smith, Chief Executive, The Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain, commented: “We are delighted to be working with Help Musicians to support those whose lives have been affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. Being Britain’s oldest music charity it is of utmost importance that we do all we can to help the profession at what is, such a challenging and uncertain time.”
 
James Ainscough, Help Musicians CEO, said: “It is only through collaboration that we can begin to make progress in meeting the needs of our music community right now. We are incredibly grateful to our longstanding friends at The Royal Society of Musicians for recognising the value of the Help Musicians Coronavirus Financial Hardship Fund and further bolstering its ability to reach more musicians. The impact of Coronavirus on musicians lives and careers is unprecedented, and now more than ever we need as much support as possible to provide meaningful help for those in need.”

About the Help Musicians Coronavirus Financial Hardship Fund:

Applications for this fund are submitted through an online form and offers a one-off payment of £500 per applicant. We regret that, because of the demand we anticipate, we cannot at this stage commit to making more than one payment to any individual from this temporary financial hardship fund as a result of the coronavirus. We encourage musicians only to apply if they are indeed suffering significant financial hardship to enable us to provide help quickly to those who need it the most. As the Help Musicians team continue to deal with an increased number of enquiries for support and advice please can we ask you not to ring the team in relation to your application to this fund.

Further help and advice is from across the profession is available at: http://www.coronamusicians.info/

The 25th Annual Jacqueline du Pré Charity Concert

The 25th Annual Jacqueline du Pre Charity Concert took place at 7.30 p.m. on Monday 24 February 2020 at Wigmore Hall.

For this concert, Joanna MacGregor curated a programme with Aldeburgh connections; music by Bridge, Britten and Shostakovich was included together with a new commission from former Britten–Pears Young Artist, Freya Waley-Cohen.