Future of the Royal College of Organists (RCO) – Adapt to survive
For the October Looking Outwards I asked Philip Meaden, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Organists, to summarise the speech he gave at the IAO Bath Organ Festival about his thoughts on the future of the RCO. His text for the day was ‘adapt to survive’.
David Wakefield
Philip says:
I spent the first year of my appointment to the RCO mainly in listening and reflecting mode, a process that culminated in a sector-wide consultation at the end of last year, from which a new strategic plan for the College was developed. So what did I find?
Aside from the Cathedrals, Colleges, Public Schools and some major Churches, where standards in organ playing are at least as high as ever, I found a largely fragmented and demoralised sector, with organists fighting for their own survival and that of their instruments. Of course, there are some honourable exceptions to this generalisation, but it did come as something of a shock.
An increasingly large number of Churches are moving to an evangelical style of worship, with Clergy who do not see the value of a good organ to provide accompaniment for the liturgy and as a resource for the wider communities served by their Churches – even at its most basic level, a way of increasing footfall. Congregations are dramatically smaller, in what is an increasingly secular (although not necessarily less spiritual) society, which translates into reduced revenues, with less money to spend on organs and organists (although in truth the pay was never great) and numerous organs in both religious and secular venues have either fallen into disrepair, or have been scrapped altogether. The only growth area is in digital instruments, particularly for home use; and we would do well not be sniffy about them if we wish to stay in touch with what is actually happening in the world.
There are few functioning organs in schools outside the larger public schools, which when combined with falling Church attendance means that children are less likely to even hear an organ, let alone aspire to learn one. Ours is an overwhelmingly white and male sector – the concepts of equality and diversity have largely passed us by it seems and the demographic profile is also an ageing one. Most of us are what is known as ‘baby boomers’, and our organisations in their current forms by and large do not appeal to later generations. That model may have been fine for a couple of decades, but it is now very worrying for the future. To adapt to the needs and wishes of younger generations, who are after all the future of our sector if it is to have one, we first need to listen to them and to understand them. They think differently from most of us.
So what is the RCO planning to do about all this?
The RCO’s vision is that organ and choral music should be at the heart of the Country’s cultural and spiritual life. There is obviously a way to go before this vision becomes reality, but every journey begins with a single step and we are determined to take not just one, but many steps towards it.
The sector-wide survey at the end of last year, inter alia, asked people what new, or improved, services they would most like to see. In reverse order, here are the top six, with the RCO’s planned actions in response:
| OBJECTIVE | ACTION/MEANS | |
| 6 | Legal, employment and career advice and information | • We are working in partnership with the ISM, which gives RCO Members a substantial discount on the standard ISM membership rates. And access to its full range of specialist facilities.
• We have also developed a VLE – called iRCO – which will be the hub for information and advice in future, coupled with email and web conference facilities. |
| 5 | New, more accessible, qualifications | • We are developing three distinctive pre-diploma awards (beginner, intermediate and advanced)
• We are also developing postgraduate qualifications in partnership with the University of Birmingham (MA is currently in development; DMA may follow). • We are working with the IBO to develop recognised qualifications in organ building. • We are planning a significant expansion in modes of assessment, to include digital submissions, local examining, own-choice repertoire at lower levels, and a wider range of keyboard tests to serve a greater range of musical interests • Reviewing the diploma syllabuses and the composition and remit of the Academic Board with a view to securing recognition for the College’s qualifications and awards on the Regulated Qualifications Framework |
| 4 | Ongoing professional development and accreditation | • Planning a significant expansion of the existing education programme, delivered across the country, and to provide ‘safe-space’ professional development opportunities as part of this.
• A professional licensing programme is in preparation for launch in September or October, involving a review of the current processes for accrediting teachers, which are not universally popular |
| 3 | More online learning and networking opportunities | • iRCO already provides tutorial videos and a wealth of written material; much more is in development
• Planned future developments include webcasting of classes/ events/ seminars, digitized Library and other learning materials, discussion fora; etc. |
| 2 | More physical classes, courses and accredited teachers that are spread more evenly across the country | • The College implemented a regional management structure from 1 July 2016, comprising four Regional Directors supported by honorary Regional Consultants (delighted that David Saint is one of these). More on this will be announced in September.
• RCO will expand its own activities significantly across the country, with more courses, classes, accredited teachers and networking activities being available outside London and the South East • Partnerships with local organisations will be crucial to expanding the offer. A pilot is underway with the Catholic Diocese of Leeds, which will see an Organist Training Programme operating in schools and churches across the diocese, and we hope to create an engagement programme for local schools in partnership with the City Council at Leeds Town Hall. • Links with existing IAO and RSCM networks are being explored and will be important to the success of the scheme, as will partnerships with organ builders – both pipe and digital |
| 1 | Easier access to Library and Archive resources | • Plans to divide the collection between locations in London and Birmingham, both of which will offer walk-in access for RCO members.
• Possibility of a modest RCO office presence in one or both locations. • Online access to digitized library and archive holdings planned. |
Personal thoughts on the future
There are some common themes running through the actions just outlined:
- Within reason, that is without comprise to quality or viability, we will try to deliver what people want, where they want it – these days it is important to go to people, rather than expecting that they will necessarily come to you
- That includes much greater online delivery of services, and engagement through social media
- And thirdly there is partnership working with organisations such as the IAO and its constituent associations
These three things are crucial to future success – not only for the RCO, but for the plethora of small organisations that inhabit the sector.
And here I come directly to my text: ‘adapt to survive’. We could achieve so much more if we were to work more closely together. The resources of each of our organisations are limited and, in the case of income from membership subscriptions, are gradually dying out as our members die off or leave more quickly than we recruit new ones. Some examples of areas that we could explore include:
- Joint advertising to increase reach and opportunities
- Systematic signposting to each other’s offers
- Shared publications to increase readership, cut production costs, and reduce waste
- Shared administrative resources to provide a greater depth of resource at a lower unit cost
- Joint projects and events, linked to joint fundraising, to share risk and to expand what is on offer
- And greater clout when it comes to raising awareness of the glories of our instrument and its repertoire, fighting ignorance and prejudice, and demonstrating the value of what we do.
I would go so far as to urge that we should seriously consider a Federation of British Organ Associations, or some such title so that people interested in organs, their music and their uses could for example pay a single membership fee, receive a bumper publication on behalf of all the constituent associations, and have easier access to a much broader range of services and activities than at present.
Successful partnerships involve give and take, good communication, and maturity and confidence on both sides – are we mature and confident enough as organisations and individuals to take this step now? I do fervently hope so, because if not, it will soon become a necessity as things are going at present, and one has much less control of outcomes if approaching a partnership from a position of weakness than from a position of strength – ask any married couple!
I realise that I am not the first to have proposed this, and I may not be the last, but I do believe that time is running out for us to undertake this in a planned way; in the last year alone, for example, the RCO has agreed to take on the assets of two cognate organisations to ensure the continuity of their work, because they had simply run out steam as standalone organisations.
Wells Cathedral Organ
Even working together, we may not succeed fully in restoring organ and choral music to heart of the Country’s cultural and spiritual life – the external forces are after all considerable – and it almost certainly will not be in the form with which most of us grew up, but we can ensure that it does at least have a future and avert the self-fulfilling prophesy of doom that seems to be playing itself out at the moment in other than a few privileged contexts.
We do to a large extent create our own luck; please let us put self-interests aside and consider what is best for the sector, for the instrument that we love, and above all for its music, for the benefit of future generations.
Philip Meaden
