I’m leaving. In a month.
Those of you in musical circles may have noticed a flurry of friends moving out to Europe over the last two or three years. I am calling it the Brexodus. Why are we all leaving? Well, as one friend put it: ‘From 31 December, you can either have the right to work in UK and Ireland, or the right to work in the UK, Ireland and one other country’. There is nothing like a deadline to get me moving.
I’ve opted for Germany as my country of choice. Lots of lovely, subsidised opera houses. Welcoming to foreigners like me. Cheap enough to get back and forth to the UK for gigs. Close enough to even do it by train, should the spirit move me (should there be no quarantine if I travel through France).
If you’ve booked me for work in the UK - don’t worry - I am coming back. There is a plan A, B, C and D for every single concert in my diary. If you’re considering booking me for work in the UK - please do. Needy? Yes, we all are right now.
This move has been on the fringes of my mind ever since I graduated in 2018. It is something I have been putting off for a long time. Then Covid struck in March and all the work disappeared overnight. Once I’d got over the initial shock, the German dream started to tug at my heartstrings once more. Then I started speaking to people over there who couldn’t understand how we were letting all our theatres go bust. I retorted that I couldn’t understand how theirs weren’t - until they reminded me of the 70% state subsidy. It was when the German opera houses and concert halls started re-opening that I had a now or never moment.
I don’t have a job. I’m taking a risk. But I’d rather be a Deliveroo cyclist in a country that appreciated the arts, than in one that is letting them crumble to nothing.*
*100% stolen from another wonderful friend.