Brexit fear reason for the step?
European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) has today announced plans of moving its headquarters from the UK and establishing new artistic relations with the European Union.
EUYO announced that it has accepted an offer from Dario Franceschini, Italian Minister of Culture, and the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, to establish a legal seat in Rome and an administrative department in Ferrara.
Confirming this development and their new partnership in Brussels, the chief executive Marshall Marcus said: “It makes absolutely no sense for the office not to be in the EU. You can’t ask for EU funding and then not be in the EU.” The orchestra had reportedly faced fears of closure in 2016 when the EU had reportedly announced its intention to end funding.
The orchestra’s co-chairs, Sir John Tusa and Ian Stoutzker, also expressed their happiness and said: “This is a good day for musical and cultural cooperation in Europe. We are grateful to all parties for their vote of confidence in the European Union Youth Orchestra.”
The orchestra has about 120 players every year and this year 13 of them are from Britain. Talking about the future arrangements, the orchestra stated that UK musicians are currently eligible but future arrangements can only be determined once the negotiations between the EU and the UK are final.
“There is a whole gamut of things for UK organisations, which means going out of the UK into the EU is going to become more complicated and more expensive,” Marcus said, adding: “The classical music industry operates with very slim margins. These things can be a bit of a killer.”
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