Applications can also be made for funding a commission or to create brand new work in collaboration with an organisation or artist from another UK nation.

Beyond Borders is run by PRS for Music Foundation as a partnership programme with Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Creative Scotland, Arts Council of Wales and Colwinston Trust.

Interested music creators, performers and organisations can go to www.prsformusicfoundation.com/Partnerships/Flagship-Programmes/Beyond-Borders for the guidelines and application form.

Horizons Discount Registration Package: 205 Euros (plus VAT)

The Horizons partnership has secured a discount for delegates to attend this year’s WOMEX in Cardiff for 205 Euros (plus VAT) available until 27 September 2013. There is no registration fee, which makes this offer over 50 Euros less than the Individual Smart Rate and substantially cheaper thereafter.

When: Cardiff, 23 – 27 October

horizonsatwomex.com / www.womex.com

How to register:

horizonsatwomex.com/delegates/delegate-register/

Partners in Horizons at WOMEX are offering packages of support to artists and delegates. Contact the relevant contact below to find out more information:

England:
Katie Weatherall (Project Manager – Horizons England)
katie@britishunderground.net

Ireland:
Sean MacCarthaigh (PR Director – Arts Council Ireland)
Sean.MacCarthaigh@artscouncil.ie

Northern Ireland:
Maria McAlister (Development Officer Traditional Arts – Arts Council Northern Ireland)
mmcalister@artscouncil-ni.org

Scotland:
Wendy Grannan (Communications – Creative Scotland)
wendy.grannan@creativescotland.com

Wales:
Becci Scotcher (Project Manager – Gorwelion : Horizons Wales)
info@cerddcymru.com

www.surveymonkey.com/s/RGQB9FF

As part of this two weeks of action, the TUC is arranging a bus tour of towns and cities. From 17 June, the TUC and Britain’s trades union will be travelling across the country letting people tell their own story about life in Britain today.

The organisers will be making videos, blogging what they find, and highlighting to journalists life on the front line of austerity Britain.  Directly gathering the evidence to convict government policies. These are hurting, but they are not working.  The Tour’s online sites will be updated as it happens, with blogs, photos and video, and including your own messages. The Tour is calling for help in collecting people’s stories about how the cuts are affecting them and their communities – so please take two minutes to add your story online.

Touring Schedule

Monday, June 17
Dudley
9.30am – 17.00pm
Visiting Dudley Hospital, the Market Square, Dudley Students Union and HMRC site.

Tuesday, June 18
Cannock Chase
9.30am – 17.00pm
Event on the Living Wage, meeting with unemployed workers, local businesses and council leader

Wednesday, June 19
Liverpool
9.30am – 17.00pm
Calling in at Unison Conference, Kirby Unemployed Centre, Ellergreen Community Centre, West Everton Community Centre and Hugh Baird College

Thursday, June 20
East Lancashire
9.00am – 12.30pm 
Visiting Salford Living Wage (launching Living Wage Charter) and Piccadilly Gardens.

plus

Carlisle
3.30pm
Market Square (bandstand), poverty and payday loans (Followed by a rally on poverty in the evening)

Friday, June 21
Sunderland and Stockton
9.00am – 12.pm + 2pm – 5.30pm
Newcastle, Monument; Sunderland, Southwick Estate; Stockton town centre. (Followed by a rally in Sunderland on poverty in the evening)

Saturday, June 22
Sheffield
9.30am – 17.00pm
Visiting the Don Valley Stadium

Sunday, June 23
Halifax
9.30am – 17.00pm
Calderdale, issues of hospital closures, community services under threat

Monday, June 24
Nottingham
9.30am – 17.00pm
Ilkeston, including Midlands TUC Young Workers leafleting on Living Wage, Visit to a food bank

Tuesday, June 25
Northampton
9.30am – 17.00pm
Town centre, TUC Women’s Group leafleting, meeting with bedroom tax protest

Wednesday, June 26
Luton
9.30am – 17.00pm
Visiting Luton Rights Centre, meeting benefit recipients and older workers group

Thursday, June 27
Reading
9.30am – 17.00pm
Young workers, protest at EMA withdrawal, FE cuts

Friday June 28
Swindon
9.00am-11.30pm, 1pm -3pm, 4.30-6.30pm
Gate reception at Royal Mail Sorting Office under threat, SW TUC Regional Council, then Swindon Town Centre

Saturday, June 29
Weston-Super-Mare
9.00am – 12.pm, 2pm – 5.30pm
Visiting hospital and council housing estate to meet local residents, possible care home visit where staff are on zero hours contracts

Monday, June 17
Dudley
9.30am – 17.00pm
Visiting Dudley Hospital, the Market Square, Dudley Students Union and HMRC site.

Tuesday, June 18
Cannock Chase
9.30am – 17.00pm
Event on the Living Wage, meeting with unemployed workers, local businesses and council leader

Wednesday, June 19
Liverpool
9.30am – 17.00pm
Calling in at Unison Conference, Kirby Unemployed Centre, Ellergreen Community Centre, West Everton Community Centre and Hugh Baird College

Thursday, June 20
East Lancashire
9.00am – 12.30pm 
Visiting Salford Living Wage (launching Living Wage Charter) and Piccadilly Gardens.

plus

Carlisle
3.30pm
Market Square (bandstand), poverty and payday loans (Followed by a rally on poverty in the evening)

Friday, June 21
Sunderland and Stockton
9.00am – 12.pm + 2pm – 5.30pm
Newcastle, Monument; Sunderland, Southwick Estate; Stockton town centre. (Followed by a rally in Sunderland on poverty in the evening)

Saturday, June 22
Sheffield
9.30am – 17.00pm
Visiting the Don Valley Stadium

Sunday, June 23
Halifax
9.30am – 17.00pm
Calderdale, issues of hospital closures, community services under threat

Monday, June 24
Nottingham
9.30am – 17.00pm
Ilkeston, including Midlands TUC Young Workers leafleting on Living Wage, Visit to a food bank

Tuesday, June 25
Northampton
9.30am – 17.00pm
Town centre, TUC Women’s Group leafleting, meeting with bedroom tax protest

Wednesday, June 26
Luton
9.30am – 17.00pm
Visiting Luton Rights Centre, meeting benefit recipients and older workers group

Thursday, June 27
Reading
9.30am – 17.00pm
Young workers, protest at EMA withdrawal, FE cuts

Friday June 28
Swindon
9.00am-11.30pm, 1pm -3pm, 4.30-6.30pm
Gate reception at Royal Mail Sorting Office under threat, SW TUC Regional Council, then Swindon Town Centre

Saturday, June 29
Weston-Super-Mare
9.00am – 12.pm, 2pm – 5.30pm
Visiting hospital and council housing estate to meet local residents, possible care home visit where staff are on zero hours contracts

Check out the Tour website for all of the latest news and updates: www.austerityuncovered.org

Details of the STUC and Wales TUC tours are also available via the website.

The bus can be followed on Twitter @austeritybus

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/austerityuncovered

For more information about what’s on at this years Festival visit:

www.eif.co.uk

These awards, funded by the Musicians Benevolent Fund, are open to emerging artists working in any genre of music, to fund an important development opportunity or project that will have a lasting impact on their career.

The Award is looking to invest in the UK’s best up-and-coming talent. Applicants must be in the early stages of a professional career and already be achieving significant impact in their field. Innovative and entrepreneurial proposals are particularly encouraged.

Grants of up to £3,000 are available.

To find out more and to apply online please visit:

http://www.helpmusicians.org.uk/help_you/young_artists
/awards/emerging_excellence/

Please help by sharing this with talented emerging musicians.

Whether that need stems from age, poverty, infirmity, disablement or social circumstances, the Trust aims to offer a much-needed respite from the traumas of life.

It is named after Mary Macarthur, the pioneering trade unionist and women’s rights campaigner whose aim “to fight, to struggle, to right the wrong” so that those in need might hope for better things, is continued today in the fulfilment of her dream to provide the respite needed by women.

“With women shouldering family responsibilities at both ends of the spectrum and bearing the brunt of the austerity measures, the work of this Trust starts to feel more relevant than ever,” says TUC National Education Manager Liz Rees. “A holiday won’t solve all the problems but it can help to make them more manageable, and the Trust is keen to help women who are struggling.”

The Trust helps dozens of women every year who desperately need a break that could make a massive difference to their lives.

Union reps can nominate women they think deserve a holiday and help them apply for a bursary from the Trust.

If you feel you or another woman you know would benefit from a Mary Macarthur Holiday, please contact:

Cheryl Andrews
Mary Macarthur Holiday Trust
1 Cathedral Road
Cardiff CF11 9SD

T 02920 359091

E cheryl.andrews@mmht.org.uk

W mmht.org.uk

Musicians’ Union members are once again taking part in the London Pride Parade along with sister Unions Equity, NUJ and BECTU under the Federation of Entertainment Unions (FEU) banner on Saturday 29 June 2013. The parade will start at 1pm from Baker Street, along Oxford Street and Regent Street, ending in Trafalgar Square. Finishing at approximately 4pm.

The FEU will be hosting the annual get-together for the union’s LGBT members and we welcome all members who want to come along and join in.

Meeting place and time is to be confirmed. If you would like to join us then please contact Kristin Mie Hamada – Equalities, Recruitment & Retention Organiser for Equity who will be organising the get-together:

E: khamada@equity.org.uk

M: 07595 201 640

She will take down your details, and will contact you nearer the time with a meeting place and time.

In April 1893 a young clarinettist, Joe Williams, sent an anonymous letter to his fellow musicians in Manchester inviting them to a meeting to discuss forming a union to, ‘Protect us from amateurs, protect us from unscrupulous employers and protect us from ourselves.’

The small gathering that took place as a result of Joe’s letter was the seed of what was to grow into the Amalgamated Musicians’ Union (later to become simply the Musicians’ Union).

Within six months the AMU had 1,000 members with branches in Liverpool, Newcastle, Dundee and Glasgow and it was not long before the Amalgamated Musicians’ Union was taking on employers and demanding an improved standard of employment for its members.

The challenges that have faced musicians since Jo Williams’ inaugural meeting in Manchester have been multifarious. The arrival of ‘talkies’ at the turn of the century, two World Wars, the gramophone player, apartheid, ever-increasing technology and online piracy, have all threatened the livelihoods of musicians. Through every twist and turn, the Musicians’ Union has stood strong, fighting the fight for those who make a living from music.

Even Joe Williams might have been amazed by the long-term resilience of the Musicians’ Union that now boasts over 30,000 members. The Union has faced unforeseen challenges and overcome seemingly insoluble problems for the last 120 years and emerged in 2013 stronger than ever.

The special feature from The Musician includes contributions from, amongst others, Musicians’ Union General Secretary John Smith, longstanding MU member and revered musician Robert Wyatt and folk icon Martin Carthy.

Historically, an education at one of the UK’s conservatoires was entirely dedicated to teaching students the musical skills needed to become a professional musician. But there has been a shift in approach and conservatoire students now graduate with all they need to build portfolio careers and the skills to cope with life as a freelance musician.

Whereas the old conservatoire model was fashioned to train soloists, chamber musicians, orchestral players and classical singers, today’s students are also taught how to be music teachers, mentors and coaches. They can learn what is involved in arts administration, the demands of setting up a new ensemble or small business, plus how to programme and run a festival or venue.

The Musician speaks to practitioners including Hilary Boulding, principal of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (RWCMD) and Trinity Laban’s director of music, Claire Mera-Nelson, as well as freshly-graduated students to find out how the country’s conservatoires are arming their students with the skills to become professional musicians in the long-term, in addition to developing highly skilled players.