In the increasingly fragmented world of social media feeds, I find there aren't as many events now that can still cause shockwaves to get everyone talking. But as a 2014 Cardiff University music graduate, I couldn't ignore the volume of coursemates’ reactions to the announcement that the music department at Wales's largest university was threatened with closure.
On 28 January Cardiff University announced this, with plans to cut 400 full-time jobs overall. It was not a final decision, but a number of recent music closures elsewhere suggest these aren't empty threats. Oxford Brookes University announced its music department closure in late 2023. In Cardiff itself, the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama confirmed the closure of its junior conservatoire last July.
Vice-chancellor Professor Wendy Larner said that the University would become ‘untenable’ without drastic reform, as the Guardian reported that the University had an operating deficit of £31.2m in 2023–24. It is not the only Cardiff University course under threat from these cuts, with foreign languages, history and even nursing courses also targeted.
Dr Joseph O'Connell, the University's Director of Undergraduate Studies and a former student, says he reacted with ‘shock and despair’ at the news: ‘It doesn't come as a surprise from the point of view of music and the arts frequently finding themselves in the firing line. We're constantly having to fight for the provision of music in education contexts. The arts and humanities are really important disciplines in higher education. We should all be fighting for them to continue to be part of the curriculum, not just at higher education.’
He says this also comes as a shock after the latest Joint Council for Qualifications statistics suggest a corner had been turned for GCSE and A Level music UK-wide, with 2024 seeing a slight uplift in entries for both exams. These are only part of the picture as well – Cardiff music students can be offered a place with three non-Music A Levels plus a Grade 8.
Getting mobilised
O'Connell explains he has seen students mobilised in protest, with an all-day busk demonstration outside the department within a week of the announcement, a petition with 25,000-plus signatures, and the largest demonstration on Saturday 22 February, at which current and former students met in Cardiff to perform together outdoors as an orchestra and choir.
One of those involved in the protest was Dr Mark Eager, conductor of Cardiff University Symphony Orchestra from 2008 to 2022, who says he was ‘utterly shocked’ to hear the news. He was one of the conductors who led this one-off ensemble which had only started rehearsing that day, leading them through a selection of Welsh and international music.
Reflecting the mood
Eager reflects on the demonstration: ‘It showed the power and passion of music. It was a joyous occasion tinged with sadness. While we played an uplifting Beethoven 5 finale, ‘Hallelujah’ Chorus, Palladio by Karl Jenkins – all those joyous, exuberant pieces – I put in a piece called Threnody by Morfydd Owen, which is very soulful and quiet. I thought: we need to reflect the sadness as well as the joy.’
He says there was a healthy turnout of over 100 performers and a lot of interest from the revolving audience of passers-by.
Eager adds: ‘I've seen some negative comments online where people have said: “What does it matter if a few kids playing their violin can't go to have a degree?” It's not about that – what happens to video game music, what happens to television music, your births, marriages, funerals… they don't get that music has to be created.’
Another protester was Wilf Dingle, president of the university's Music Society and a third-year Music student, who describes the day as quite optimistic, even acting as a reunion for some. Echoing the disappointment at the news, he says a Music department can mean so much beyond music students themselves: ‘We have lots of non-Music student members in our Society. Many would not have chosen Cardiff if it weren't for the exceptional offering of ensembles [school- and student-led] for students to play in. A Physics student might know that at the end of the day, they get together and play their cello for two hours, be in a completely different world. For a lot of other students, it's still a very important part of their lives.’
To sign the petition against the closure of the School of Music, visit tinyurl.com/jwczwd7a
