Work

Bridging the gap: Artistic professionalisation and the evolving role of cultural managers

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: This position paper examines how the gap between higher music education and contemporary labour reshapes cultural management in classical music. We argue that youth orchestras, Young Artist Programmes and opera studios function as liminal institutions between education and employment, artistic development and employability, care and competition. Within these liminal spaces, the role of cultural managers expands beyond administration to include pedagogical brokerage, labour-market mediation and ethical stewardship (building support, wellbeing, future transition pathways). Rather than treating the education–work gap as an individual deficit in artists’ skills, we frame it as a structurally produced mismatch between inherited models of artistic training and realities of contemporary cultural labour. This has significant implications for cultural management and particularly for how managers design early-career programmes, negotiate institutional responsibility and support more sustainable professional pathways for young musicians.

Source: Journal of Cultural Management and Cultural Policy / Zeitschrift für Kulturmanagement und Kulturpolitik

DOI: 10.1177/27018466261473559

Authors: Olga Kolokytha, Chanda VanderHart

Institution: Universität für Weiterbildung Krems

Language: English

Topic: Arts, Culture, and Music Studies

Subfield: Cultural Studies

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, Quality education

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,400