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'This Is So Much Against What We Stand For': How Brexit Can Impact Musicians

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What might Brexit mean both for British musicians who tour in Europe and non-British musicians who want to perform in the U.K.?

Every month, cellist Robert Cohen joins us to talk about the life of a working, touring, professional musician. Past segments range in topics from concerts and venues, taking an instrument on the road, to teaching a new generation of cellists.

But today Cohen is thinking about politics — specifically Brexit and what it might mean both for British musicians who tour in Europe and non-British musicians who want to perform in the U.K. Cohen, a native Londoner, says the worry there has reached a fever pitch.

"This is so much against what we stand for, what music stands for. Music is about collaboration, about being together, about making a voice together, about a language together, about inclusion, about, you know, love, and about passion and beauty," he says. "... We are just all a community because we make music, and what we see in front of us is incredibly disturbing because it represents a division."

Cohen joins Lake Effect's Bonnie North to talk about the taxing uncertainly of Brexit and how his own experiences playing throughout Europe has shaped him:

Bonnie North
Bonnie joined WUWM in March 2006 as the Arts Producer of the locally produced weekday magazine program Lake Effect.
For 35 years one of the worlds leading cello soloist, Robert Cohen is an award-winning recording artist, conductor, artistic director and pedagogue who has been broadcast on TV and radio throughout the world. His passionate views on the art of learning, performing and communicating music have been widely published.