The Contemporary Music Centre will shortly be meeting the Arts Council of Northern Ireland to discuss its recent proposed changes in funding for new music.

At its meeting on 2 September, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) deferred a final decision on the proposals, which envisage setting up separate, localized supports for new music within Northern Ireland, rather than funding the Contemporary Music Centre to continue the existing all-Ireland service.

As a consequence, the Chief Executive of ACNI has invited CMC’s Chair and Director to Belfast for further discussions. The Contemporary Music Centre will engage positively in this dialogue and is open to all proposals for co-operation in the future.

Pending the outcome of this meeting, which takes place in mid-October, existing services to Northern Ireland composers will be maintained by CMC in the interim period.

The Contemporary Music Centre has enjoyed a fruitful relationship with ACNI over the past twelve years. We appreciate this cooperation and it is our wish that it should continue since we believe that it is not only the most effective, but also the best value approach for both Arts Councils in supporting new music in Ireland.

CMC appreciates the right of ACNI to provide for creative development as it sees fit. However, our concern is that the new proposals will not replace the totality of service currently provided by CMC, particularly in respect of the international promotion networks through which the Centre operates and its widespread recognition abroad. The comprehensiveness and ease of access of our large music library and sound archive, both in physical terms and through its web site, is another important consideration.

As a professional organisation with a duty of care to the musicians we currently represent, we have qualms about the likely effect on their careers of these proposed changes. Not only will composers resident in Northern Ireland be isolated from their peers in the rest of the island, but those living outside Northern Ireland or the Republic will be left without any support at all.

The constituency for new music is not large, and a proposal to further divide energies in documenting and promoting it seems to us to duplicate effort in an area where resources are already stretched. We also feel that the move is inconsistent with the current spirit of cross-border cooperation on the island of Ireland.