Joint letter from the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies, British Forum for Ethnomusicology, DanceHE, DramaHE, Royal Musical Association, Society for Dance Research and Theatre and Performance Research Association to Rebecca Fairbairn, REF Director

Dear Rebecca Fairbairn,

We write on behalf of the above subject associations for the performing arts, in support of the letter you have received from the English Association (https://englishassociation.ac.uk/ref2029-concerns-about-the-implications-of-decoupling) and to share our concerns about the risks of non-portability of outputs for REF2029.

As you are well aware, the UK HE sector is in an extended - and for some existential - crisis. As of the date of this letter, 90 UK HEIs are reported as being in some form of restructure, voluntary severance or redundancy rounds, with arts and humanities especially impacted (source: https://qmucu.org/qmul-transformation/uk-he-shrinking)

The UK HE community all want to ensure that REF2029 is fair, transparent, trusted and sustainable; and that any negative unintended consequences are mitigated. To that end we reinforce the points made in the open letter from the English Association, namely:

1.     That due consideration is given to output portability so that past and present employers within a census period may each claim a link to a researcher’s published outputs (within an agreed number of years following publication). We believe the removal of output portability represents restraint of trade: individual researchers will find their careers in limbo or potentially ended if their current institution retains their outputs for REF submission at the end of their employment. This situation will hamper sector mobility, as new hires with non-submissible REF outputs represent a suboptimal proposition for any new employing institution. We concur with the English Association that this will have negative impacts on universities’ responsibilities to equity, diversity, and inclusion, as it will have asymmetrical impact on careers dependent on types of contract, and who hold such contracts. The current climate of cost cutting in the sector, including redundancies, voluntary severance and restructuring bears especially on the issue of portability. We would therefore ask that HEIs should declare in their REF2029 submission the number of staff (headcount and FTE) who have left under such schemes.

2.     That the People Culture and Environment indicators and process (following explicit signals that the current pilot does not indicate the final approach) will recognise (i) the current existential challenges to the entirety of UK HE, and (ii) how these challenges manifest in different provider contexts.

We trust that this letter is received in the spirit it is sent – one of collegiality, rigour and commitment to a fair REF process which supports and not injures the UK higher education ecology. REF should nurture the collective advancement of research in every discipline in the sector, and we feel non-portability presents a significant risk to maintaining the quality and impact of outputs. The subject associations have a vital role to play in representing and stewarding the sector, and we urge you to engage with us on future consultations.

Yours sincerely,

Mark Hunter, Dr. Victor Ladron de Guevara, Dr. Rashna Nicholson, co-Chairs of DramaHE

Dr. Natalie Garrett Brown, Chair of DanceHE

Dr. Broderick Chow, Prof. Royona Mitra, co-Chairs of Theatre and Performance Research Association

Dr. Kathryn Stamp, Dr. Sinibaldo de Rosa, co-Chairs of the Society for Dance Research

Prof. Simon Keefe, President of the Royal Musical Association

Dr. Gabor Gergely, Chair of British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies

Dr. Fiorela Montero-Diaz, Chair of the British Forum for Ethnomusicology

Cardiff University has announced the start of a consultation whose proposals, if realised, would entail the closure of the School of Music by the end of 2030. With 234 students, Cardiff is the largest university school of music in Wales and one of the largest in the UK. It is shocking to hear that many staff and students first heard that the School of Music is at risk in the press, the day before formal meetings were held. Further, the School of Music and wider university have yet to receive all of the information needed for counterproposals during the consultation period. This contravenes proper institutional procedures around consultation.

The announcement is particularly problematic given that the University places at the heart of its mission ‘championing excellent educational experience for students of all backgrounds and experiences’. The School of Music delivers on this aspiration: it achieved 95% overall satisfaction for its teaching in the 2024 National Student Survey, and this amongst a highly diverse cohort of students, more than two-thirds of whom come from backgrounds that have traditionally been underrepresented in higher education.

In the field of ethnomusicology specifically, the School of Music at Cardiff has launched the careers of many ethnomusicologists. Numerous graduates of the School of Music now hold ethnomusicology positions in Russell Group universities, and in excellent universities overseas. The School of Music made a strong contribution to the 2014 and 2021 Research Excellence Framework rounds. In 2014, ethnomusicological work at the School was described as outstanding in the REF report, and in 2021, one of the School’s two high-scoring impact case studies was by an ethnomusicologist. The ethnomusicology pathway at the School has ensured a diverse curriculum and ethnomusicology staff have produced a range of public-facing events and outputs that have raised the profile of the university nationally and internationally.

Both staff and alumni of The School have been members of BFE Executive Committee, while one current staff member was formerly Chair of the BFE.  The School has also hosted three BFE conferences (2008, 2013 and 2024), attracting delegates from all over the world. Put simply, the School of Music has played a pivotal role in developing and sustaining ethnomusicology across the UK. The closure of the School would have significant detrimental effects on the vitality of the discipline.

Across musical disciplines, The School of Music has played a vital role in the music profession in both Wales and the wider UK. This is evidenced by the success of the School’s MA Music Education pathway and its Business of Music scheme. The latter has seen through 250 students and worked with over 100 industry organisations, including Music Mark, the PRS, the BBC, the BPI, Classic FM, Welsh National Opera, English National Opera, and over a dozen UK orchestras.

The School of Music is one of Cardiff’s oldest departments, stretching back to the University’s foundation by Royal Charter in 1883. Its alumni include internationally renowned composers such as Morfydd Owen, Grace Williams, Alun Hoddinott and Sarah Lianne Lewis, Wales’s first female resident composer with the BBC National Orchestra. One of the School’s most eminent alumni, composer Sir Karl Jenkins, stated: “Money should be found for this, because it [the School] is not just training students through music, it's an investment in the cultural future of our country … it's always been an integral part of Welsh academic culture” (BBC Wales, 1/2/25). The School of Music has also trained many revered performers such as Giselle Allen, Jeremy Huw Williams, singer and presenter Steffan Rhys Hughes and bassist Ursula Harrison (BBC Young Jazz Musician 2024). Ultimately, the School of Music is one of the most visible schools in its embodiment of the University’s strategic focus on ‘Culture, Cynefin, Community’.

Members of the BFE, and of its international sibling subject organisations, have expressed bewilderment at the proposal to close the School of Music. Whatever the top-line financial woes facing Cardiff University, it is difficult to understand how a closure would make sense in terms of any long-term vision for the institution or its reputation. A decision of this nature would be unwise, unfair and institutionally deleterious.

Cardiff’s presence in the higher education music community is of immense value, and we are deeply concerned that plans to narrow Cardiff’s offer will impact the current and future flourishing of ethnomusicology in the United Kingdom. We call on the University to reconsider its decision and embrace a strong music offer as essential to the equipping of a future cultural workforce. We also ask for immediate reassurance that current students and staff will be supported and courses maintained whilst further consultation is carried out. Finally, we also offer our help and advice if you wish to consult us.

The Executive Committee of the British Forum for Ethnomusicology

Huge congratulations to BFE member and former Committee member Dr Matthew Machin-Autenreith, who has been awarded the prestigious prize by Society for Ethnomusicology for the co-edited book Music and the Making of Portugal and Spain: Nationalism and Identity Politics in the Iberian Peninsula.

Co-edited by Matthew Machin-Autenrieth, Salwa el-Shawan Castelo Branco and Samuel Llano this book explores the relationship between national and regional identities in the Iberian Peninsula through the prism of musical practice across genres from the late 19th century to the present day. 

The Ellen Koskoff Edited Volume Prize Committee stated: ‘While the committee received a number of excellent submissions for this year’s review cycle, we found the scholarly rigor and innovative perspectives on nationalism and heritagization of your collection to be exceptional. All committee members agreed that Music and the Making of Portugal and Spain makes an invaluable contribution to music studies on the Iberian Peninsula, Ethnomusicology, and many other related fields of study’. We also have the following quote from Matthew: 

I would like to say a big thank you to the prize committee, to the wonderful contributors who made the volume possible and to my incredible co-editors, Salwa and Samuel. I feel very honoured to have our work recognised in this way"

‘While the committee received a number of excellent submissions for this year’s review cycle, we found the scholarly rigor and innovative perspectives on nationalism and heritagization of your collection to be exceptional. All committee members agreed that Music and the Making of Portugal and Spain makes an invaluable contribution to music studies on the Iberian Peninsula, Ethnomusicology, and many other related fields of study’.

The book is fully open access via this link: https://muse.jhu.edu/book/114097.

• Ethnographies of AI-based music making and AI-inflected musical scenes 
• Ethnographies of music-related AI software platforms and apps
• AI and ethnomusicological fieldwork
• The use of generative AI for ethnographic writing
• The use of AI for music transcription and music analysis
• AI and translation
• AI and copyright
• AI and ethics
• AI in the ethnomusicological classroom and AI pedagogies 
• AI and institutional politics

Abstracts and bios should be emailed to: efeditorbbfe.org.uk