Sally Anne Gross, Course Leader on the Music Business Management MA course, took part in a range of events at Tallin Music Week 2020, an international music showcase, conference and festival which celebrates and examines the future of the creative industries.
Tallin Music Week is held each spring in Tallin, Estonia, and is one of the most highly regarded new music and city culture festivals in the creative industry across Europe. The conference, which took place from 27-30 August, investigates the impacts of the arts on the economy and offers expert talks and activities from all areas of the industry to educate and inspire.
Sally Anne Gross ran her own virtual workshop at Tallin Music Week about music and mental health, drawing upon her research into the working conditions of music professionals and the impact these conditions have on mental health. The workshop focused on how the pandemic has brought mental health into greater focus and has increased uncertainties in a number of key areas in the creative industries.
In the workshop, Sally mapped out our changing relationship with music and music’s value to wider society and what this might mean for music professionals. In looking at this relationship, she then discussed some ways that music creatives can create a more sustainable way to achieve work-life balance in the industry.
She also spoke at an expert panel about the future of education, which questioned what higher education and specifically arts and humanities can offer for students during times of uncertainty like the coronavirus pandemic. The panel explored how universities and academia could be at the forefront for leading change in the creative sector, and how it can prepare for the future.
Talking about taking part in Tallin Music Week, Sally Anne Gross said: “I was honoured to be invited to speak at Tallin Music Week and very disappointed I could not be there in person. The pandemic has had such a devastating impact on live events across the music industries as well as impacted education, so it actually felt even more important to be involved and the organisers did a really great job.
“It is imperative that we continue our work to improve mental health awareness and education plays an important part in that process. As an educator, it was also really important to be part of the future of education panel and it was interesting to hear how other countries are reacting to the challenges of the pandemic.
Find out more about Music courses offered at the University of Westminster.
