‘Classical music is under fire’: in the bunker with the embattled Britten Sinfonia

• The day before news broke of Arts Council England’s devastating cut to Britten Sinfonia’s funding, Meurig Bowen, the orchestra’s chief executive, was enjoying a family outing in Pembrokeshire. “That day,” he tells me by phone, “I received an email from the regional office of the Arts Council asking me what number they could call me on at 8.30 the next morning… They only phone to tell you about bad news. I hardly slept that night.”