Stop the decline of Cardiff University and protect Welsh culture

David John Roche

 My name is David John Roche, I’m a composer from Tredegar, and – over the course of my life – I’ve benefitted massively from the cultural vibrancy of the music scene in South Wales.

From getting paid in Hoegaarden to play pubs in Newport, to studying Music at Cardiff University, to hearing orchestras and musicians play my music all over the world – it’s always felt like there was a professional path (or at least a free pint).

Things have changed – we are losing the support, we are losing the culture.

The route I took to get where I am (and I’m not living like Richie Rich) is now almost entirely dismantled.

If you’re from Wales or living in Wales – then you need to care about it.

It Indicates Cultural Decline in Wales

The closures of St. David’s Hall (Wales’s national concert hall), the defunding of Welsh National Opera, the loss of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama’s Junior Department, the loss of a significant number of music venues in Cardiff (over a longer period and just naming a few: Barfly, The Moon, Gwdihŵ, 10 Feet Tall, Undertone, Coal Exchange, The Point), The Vale of Glamorgan Festival shutting down, and the closure and blending of other departments in Cardiff University, University of South Wales, and Bangor University all indicate that Wales is struggling.

When these places are downsized or closed, people lose jobs, the interlinked culture and relationships between these places becomes smaller, and Wales – as a whole  – loses its access to culture, education, and money (all of which improve our nation). The scale of decline is huge and increasing, we are becoming smaller, worse off, and less significant – do something about it while you can (here too).

We’re Losing Our Heritage, We’ll Never Get It Back

Alun Hoddinott is one of Wales’s few candidates for a “great” composer. His work created pathways across the world, he cultivated a lot of the Welsh musical scene of his time, he brought international musical royalty to Wales, and he taught a generation of leading composers and artists.

Anecdotally, I was recently a fellow in a festival in the US, where I met American composer and musical titan Samual Adler (well known to any musicians for his writing on orchestration) – the only link he had to Wales was Hoddinott.

In this meeting, my relationship to Cardiff University gave me some kind of connection to this prominent figure. Someone I’d never met, on the other side of the world. It matters.

If Cardiff University’s Music Department isn’t there anymore, we will lose pre-laid connections of this type, and we will lose deeper, essential, and direct links to an international culture of respect, reputation, and access – something that these great figures create and uphold. It takes generations to build these environments, and moments to destroy them. Without these pathways, it will be infinitely harder for musicians to build international careers – setting us back 75 years or more.

A Strong Heritage and Culture Shapes the Landscape for Future Generations

I worked with the Vale of Glamorgan Festival (VoGF) for many years  – the whole thing was run by John Metcalf, a brilliant composer and student of Hoddinott at Cardiff University.

I began my relationship with the VoGF on their composers’ course, working with them for 7 years before becoming Assistant Artistic Director at the time of their closure. It formed the basis of my whole career.

This festival – in many ways – grew out of a relationship to Hoddinott and Welsh music. But it held incredible links far beyond this with Esa-Pekka Salonen, Steve Reich (a patron of the festival), Michael Torke (the VoGF commissioned his saxophone quartet July, – it was premiered in Penarth Pier Pavilion and was also featured on the opening of Bombay Bicycle Club’s fifth album, Everything Else Has Gone Wrong), and a 50-year history of composers and performers who defined the international contemporary classical music scene.

Outside of Hoddinot, this was Wales’s strongest link to the highest standards of international music making.

The difficult-to-access archives of VoGF programs in the National Library of Wales reveal vast numbers of these incredible international links – multiple paths for future musicians.

However, the chronic underfunding, lack of platforming, and lack of engagement with art in Wales means that nobody is fully expressing the value of this history, nobody is able to advocate for this work.

The VoGF itself was the only thing keeping these links alive and, with its closure, we – more or less – lose its half a century of international networks.

Attempts have been made to cultivate replacements, but most modern networking festivals are not the same – they are often designed for representation rather than artists.

In preventing the closure of Cardiff University’s Music Department, we can avoid further cataclysmic closures, retain our heritage, and ensure Welsh musicians can keep working.

 It Is All Linked – We All Need to Care

It is important to remember that a loss of heritage isn’t the preserve of classical music. The closure of venues associated with rock, metal, and pop has meant that access to a traditional circuit of venues has been lost. If bands don’t have anywhere to cut their teeth, then how do we expect them to develop and create brilliant music like The Manic Street Preachers, The Joy Formidable, Funeral for a Friend, and all of the other incredible musicians who have defined and elevated Welsh culture?

We’re in it together and it is important we speak up for all closures. Venues and institutions are often the only places that keep the histories, legacies, and futures of musicians alive. Careers and culture rely on it – we must protect it.

As institutions and venues close, it can become harder for those left standing too. Suddenly, it’s one less partner on a funding application, or it’s a closed venue a week before the premiere of a piece of music, or it’s the sudden loss of a job meaning other work must be undertaken, damaging access to peripheral opportunities.

This then trickles down to individuals. With the loss of job security, the people who can leave become more inclined to do so – further diminishing the strength of different organisations. For those who have made a life in Wales and want to stay, it’s one less opportunity to earn a secure, reasonable living. Decline and underfunding push away all the exceptional people in Wales, make it harder for jobbing musicians, and place greater stress and difficulty on people from disadvantaged areas. It limits us as a nation.

These funding cuts are preposterous, wasteful, damaging, and poorly thought out. While you still have chance to do so, oppose the closures at Cardiff University as fully as possible. There’s a protest on Saturday 22^nd February – make sure you attend.