Updated April 2024
Where do we want to be?
As an organisation that exists to shape, reflect and respond to the society in which we live, we want to draw on a wide range of different backgrounds and experience. Our aim is to increase opportunities for a broader demographic across the organisation’s governance, staff and playing ensemble. We will also continue to develop our workplace culture, with progressive, supportive policies and training and development for the organisation.
We want particularly to open up work opportunities for more disabled people and those from a Global Majority* background to work with us, as the organisation is currently under-represented in these areas. We also want to ensure opportunities to work in the music sector are not just the preserve of those who can afford to engage or already have the opportunity to experience it.
While we have already begun to make changes across the organisation to make London Sinfonietta a more diverse and inclusive organisation, we acknowledge we still have a way to go. In terms of gender across the overall workforce LS representation is currently 48% women and 42% male, though within our player freelancers this stands at 45% men, 41% women and 6% identifying as non-binary or other genders. In terms of ethnicity, LS’s overall workforce is currently under-representative of Global Majority groups at 11% (18% UK), though this proportion is lower within the administrative management team. In disability LS is currently under-representative of the UK population at 6% overall (21% UK).
*Note: we refer to people as of The Global Majority since black, indigenous and people of colour represent over 80% of the world's population. Global majority refers to people who are Black, Asian, Brown, dual-heritage, indigenous to the global south and/or have been referred to as 'ethnic minorities'.
How will we get there?
Through our recruitment processes we aim to develop a broad, balanced and diverse workforce who represent a wide variety of skills, genders, age, ethnicity, disabilities and socio-economic backgrounds. We will recruit additional Trustees to the London Sinfonietta Council (Board) over 2024 and in our ongoing staff recruitment, LS will continue to improve and invest in our recruitment processes to remove traditional barriers for applicants. Players, management and Board regularly receive EDI training and development, most recently with Culture Shift on disability awareness and how our working practice can be made more inclusive for those with disabilities.
With our freelance players and workers, through our programmes of early-career artist development opportunities, LS is actively evolving a robust pipeline of talented artists - we offer paid work to conducting and playing alumni of our artist development schemes, Playing the Future and Writing the Future, and we are including more people from currently under-represented backgrounds through expanding our pool of extras. In April 2024, London Sinfonietta also signed up to Black Live’s in Music ongoing 10-point campaign, in conjunction with the Musicians Union and Association of British Orchestras, to improve inclusivity of recruitment practice within orchestra settings.
