Hugh Fraser leads musicians to protest at BC gov't Finance Commitee

Click on the title to read the article from The Tyee.

Colleague Sandra Bruneau reported this to me first; then I got the Tyee article. Sandra reported:

Hugh Fraser, trombonist, led a delegation of BC musicians who  protested today the BC government's massive cuts to arts and arts  organization in the province. The musicians appeared before a meeting of the provincial government's Finance Committee, the members of which, it is  reported, were "speechless."

EXCERPT FROM TYEE ARTICLE:

Outside the committee room, [Nanaimo musician Andrew ]Homzy said, "Musicians are probably the least organized among all the artists." They are vulnerable to these cuts and need support, he said. "We have intellectual resources, cultural resources that cannot be measured in dollars and cents."

Fraser said arts grants make a big difference to musicians getting established. "If I didn't have this kind of funding as a student, I wouldn't be able to do this," he said.

Fraser said he'd had the good fortune to once teach jazz singer Diana Krall. "I know everyone talks about her as an overnight success, but it was 20 years of hard work and a lot of B.C. Arts Council funding that got her out into the world and made her who she is," he said. "When people see models like that, they all of a sudden believe they can do it."