TubeNet

It is a hidden, taboo subject, widely known about within the music world but barely discussed. Little research into the area has been done and the full extent of the problem is incompletely understood. But inappropriate use of alcohol in Britain's great orchestras is, according to musicians, endemic - ranging from drinking a pint before a concert to steady the nerves, to full-blown inebriation on stage.

Speaking at this year's Association of British Orchestras annual conference, Bill Kerr, the orchestral organiser of the Musicians' Union, recalled some "regrettable incidents" involving alcohol and musicians. One involved one of the UK's most celebrated opera and ballet orchestras "and its heavy brass section. They should have been sacked really but they would have been very hard to replace," he said.

The players were involved in only one of the three works being staged that night - and performed drunk. Kerr said: "For musicians there can be so much captive time - a lot of time and not many distractions. Frequently the only place to go is the pub, everywhere is closed because it's a Sunday, there are no facilities backstage.

"For these musicians, there wasn't anything for them to do - and it was red rag to a bull. You might say that they were grownups but there was no where for them to go. They rebelled. It got out of hand. It's indefensible and reprehensible - but it is human nature."

One delegate at the conference recalled an incident in which a percussionist had actually fallen off the back of a high stage when drunk. Chi-chi Nwanoku, a bass player with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, remembered performing at Glyndebourne, at a time when a colleague, a recovering alcoholic, started drinking at a period of great emotional strain. "He was drinking and eating extra strong mints, but it didn't hide the smell. His playing got worse and worse and worse. I was trying to cover up for him."

Because there has been so little research, it is hard to untangle whether drinking has increased in orchestras, in line with alcohol use generally in the UK, or in fact decreased as drink driving, for instance, has become socially unacceptable.

Some musicians point to a gradual culture change. Older musicians recall a time when bars in venues were open before, during and after performances. That is no longer true, as employers have become more aware of health and safety issues. But, says Nwanoku, the fear is that the problem has just become more hidden. Others pointed to the rise of the use of beta blockers instead of alcohol as a stress inhibitor.

Performance anxiety is adduced as one of the main reasons musicians use alcohol. Group culture is part of another. Anecdotally, it is often said that brass players - often overwhelmingly male orchestral sections - drink the most.

Jennifer Lisle, a public health physician, said: "For musicians drinking can be about handling underlying anxiety. In terms of their careers there's a huge amount of underlying stress. Their level of performance has to be good all the time and at a higher level than a person doing an ordinary job. You have to address that at an early stage - by suggesting that drinking is not the best way to handle that. Education is really important."

Mike Finn wrote:this article would be a good set-up for the joke that ends with "it was the bottom of the 9th, the score was tied, and the basses were loaded..."

rocksanddirt wrote: Brass Players in Orchestras have time to kill, and sometimes drink to much.

Nick Pierce wrote:

rocksanddirt wrote: Brass Players in Orchestras have time to kill, and sometimes drink to much.

That what you do when you have some free time? There couldn't possibly be other diversions for them to pursue, could there?

Nick Pierce wrote:

rocksanddirt wrote: Brass Players in Orchestras have time to kill, and sometimes drink to much.

That what you do when you have some free time? There couldn't possibly be other diversions for them to pursue, could there?

this article would be a good set-up for the joke that ends with "it was the bottom of the 9th, the score was tied, and the basses were loaded..."

Geotuba wrote:I remember as a student playing in the pit at the Oxford Playhouse. The pub is right beside the stage door. It was some G&S thing (Gondoliers I think) and the low brass had something like 378 bars rest. This was just enough time to head out of the pit into the pub, down a pint which the barman had already poured for us as he knew the timing precisely, and head back to the pit in time for the next part of the show.

rocksanddirt wrote:Brass Players in Orchestras have time to kill, and sometimes drink to much.