A policy is typically described as a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. The term is not normally used to denote what is actually done, this is normally referred to as either procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by the Board of or senior governance body within an organization whereas procedures or protocols would be developed and adopted by senior executive officers. Policies can assist in both subjective and objective decision making. Policies to assist in subjective decision making would usually assist senior management with decisions that must consider the relative merits of a number of factors before making decisions and as a result are often hard to objectively test e.g. work-life balance policy. In contrast policies to assist in objective decision making are usually operational in nature and can be objectively tested e.g. password policy.

A Policy can be considered as a "Statement of Intent" or a "Commitment". For that reason at least, the decision-makers can be held accountable for their "Policy".

The term may apply to government, private sector organizations and groups, and individuals. Presidential executive orders, corporate privacy policies, and parliamentary rules of order are all examples of policy. Policy differs from rules or law. While law can compel or prohibit behaviors (e.g. a law requiring the payment of taxes on income), policy merely guides actions toward those that are most likely to achieve a desired outcome.

Policy or policy study may also refer to the process of making important organizational decisions, including the identification of different alternatives such as programs or spending priorities, and choosing among them on the basis of the impact they will have. Policies can be understood as political, management, financial, and administrative mechanisms arranged to reach explicit goals.'''

Impact

Intended effects

The intended effects of a policy vary widely according to the organization and the context in which they are made. Broadly, policies are typically instituted to avoid some negative effect that has been noticed in the organization, or to seek some positive benefit.

Corporate purchasing policies provide an example of how organizations attempt to avoid negative effects. Many large companies have policies that all purchases above a certain value must be performed through a purchasing process. By requiring this standard purchasing process through policy, the organization can limit waste and standardize the way purchasing is done.

The State of California provides an example of benefit-seeking policy. In recent years, the numbers of hybrid cars in California has increased dramatically, in part because of policy changes in Federal law that provided USD $1,500 in tax credits (since phased out) as well as the use of high-occupancy vehicle lanes to hybrid owners (no longer available for new hybrid vehicles). In this case, the organization (state and/or federal government) created an effect (increased ownership and use of hybrid vehicles) through policy (tax breaks, highway lanes).

Unintended effects

Policies frequently have side effects or unintended consequences. Because the environments that policies seek to influence or manipulate are typically complex adaptive systems (e.g. governments, societies, large companies), making a policy change can have counterintuitive results. For example, a government may make a policy decision to raise taxes, in hopes of increasing overall tax revenue. Depending on the size of the tax increase, this may have the overall effect of reducing tax revenue by causing capital flight or by creating a rate so high that citizens are deterred from earning the money that is taxed. (See the Laffer curve.)

The policy formulation process typically includes an attempt to assess as many areas of potential policy impact as possible, to lessen the chances that a given policy will have unexpected or unintended consequences. Because of the nature of some complex adaptive systems such as societies and governments, it may not be possible to assess all possible impacts of a given policy.

Policy cycle

In political science the policy cycle is a tool used for the analyzing of the development of a policy item. It can also be referred to as a "stagist approach". One standardized version includes the following stages: # Agenda setting (Problem identification) # Policy Formulation # Adoption # Implementation # Evaluation

An eight step policy cycle is developed in detail in ''The Australian Policy Handbook'' by Peter Bridgman and Glyn Davis: (now with Catherine Althaus in its 4th edition)

# Issue identification # Policy analysis # Policy instrument development # Consultation (which permeates the entire process) # Coordination # Decision # Implementation # Evaluation

The Althaus, Bridgman & Davis model is heuristic and iterative. It is intentionally normative and not meant to be diagnostic or predictive. Policy cycles are typically characterized as adopting a classical approach. Accordingly some postmodern academics challenge cyclical models as unresponsive and unrealistic, preferring systemic and more complex models. They consider a broader range of actors involved in the policy space that includes civil society organisations, the media, intellectuals, think tanks or policy research institutes, corporations, lobbyists, etc.

Content

Policies are typically promulgated through official written documents. Policy documents often come with the endorsement or signature of the executive powers within an organization to legitimize the policy and demonstrate that it is considered in force. Such documents often have standard formats that are particular to the organization issuing the policy. While such formats differ in form, policy documents usually contain certain standard components including :

A purpose statement, outlining why the organization is issuing the policy, and what its desired effect or outcome of the policy should be.

An applicability and scope statement, describing who the policy affects and which actions are impacted by the policy. The applicability and scope may expressly exclude certain people, organizations, or actions from the policy requirements. Applicability and scope is used to focus the policy on only the desired targets, and avoid unintended consequences where possible.

An effective date which indicates when the policy comes into force. Retroactive policies are rare, but can be found.

A responsibilities section, indicating which parties and organizations are responsible for carrying out individual policy statements. Many policies may require the establishment of some ongoing function or action. For example, a purchasing policy might specify that a purchasing office be created to process purchase requests, and that this office would be responsible for ongoing actions. Responsibilities often include identification of any relevant oversight and/or governance structures.

Policy statements indicating the specific regulations, requirements, or modifications to organizational behavior that the policy is creating. Policy statements are extremely diverse depending on the organization and intent, and may take almost any form.

Some policies may contain additional sections, including:

Background, indicating any reasons, history, and intent that led to the creation of the policy, which may be listed as motivating factors. This information is often quite valuable when policies must be evaluated or used in ambiguous situations, just as the intent of a law can be useful to a court when deciding a case that involves that law.

Definitions, providing clear and unambiguous definitions for terms and concepts found in the policy document.

Typologies

Policy addresses the intent of the organization, whether government, business, professional, or voluntary. Policy is intended to affect the 'real' world, by guiding the decisions that are made. Whether they are formally written or not, most organizations have identified policies.

Policies may be classified in many different ways. The following is a sample of several different types of policies broken down by their effect on members of the organization.

Distributive policies

Distributive policies extend goods and services to members of an organization, as well as distributing the costs of the goods/services amongst the members of the organization. Examples include government policies that impact spending for welfare, public education, highways, and public safety, or a professional organization's benefits plan.

Regulatory policies

Regulatory policies, or mandates, limit the discretion of individuals and agencies, or otherwise compel certain types of behavior. These policies are generally thought to be best applied when good behavior can be easily defined and bad behavior can be easily regulated and punished through fines or sanctions. An example of a fairly successful public regulatory policy is that of a speed limit.

Constituent policies

Constituent policies create executive power entities, or deal with laws. Constituent policies also deal with Fiscal Policy in some circumstances.

Miscellaneous policies

Policies are dynamic; they are not just static lists of goals or laws. Policy blueprints have to be implemented, often with unexpected results. Social policies are what happens 'on the ground' when they are implemented, as well as what happens at the decision making or legislative stage.

When the term policy is used, it may also refer to:

Official government policy (legislation or guidelines that govern how laws should be put into operation)

Broad ideas and goals in political manifestos and pamphlets

A company or organization's policy on a particular topic. For example, the equal opportunity policy of a company shows that the company aims to treat all its staff equally.

The actions the organization actually takes may often vary significantly from stated policy. This difference is sometimes caused by political compromise over policy, while in other situations it is caused by lack of policy implementation and enforcement. Implementing policy may have unexpected results, stemming from a policy whose reach extends further than the problem it was originally crafted to address. Additionally, unpredictable results may arise from selective or idiosyncratic enforcement of policy.

Types of policy analysis include:

Causal (resp. non-causal)

Deterministic (resp. stochastic, randomized and sometimes non-deterministic)

Index

Memoryless (e.g. non-stationary)

Opportunistic (resp. non-opportunistic)

Stationary (resp. non-stationary)

These qualifiers can be combined, so for example you could have a stationary-memoryless-index policy.

Types

Company Policy

Communications and Information Policy

Human resource policies

Privacy policy

Public policy

* Defense policy

* Domestic policy

* Economic policy

* Education policy

* Energy policy

* Environmental Policy

* Foreign policy

* Health policy

* Housing policy

* Information policy

* Macroeconomic policy

* Monetary policy

* Population policy

* Public policy in law

* Science policy

* Security policy

* Social policy

* Transportation policy

* Urban policy

* Water policy

Other uses of the term

In enterprise architecture for systems design, policy appliances are technical control and logging mechanisms to enforce or reconcile policy (systems use) rules and to ensure accountability in information systems.

In insurance, policies are contracts between insurer and insured used to indemnify (protect) against potential loss from specified perils. While these documents are referred to as policies, they are in actuality a form of contract - see insurance contract.

In gambling, policy is a form of an unsanctioned lottery, where players purport to purchase ''insurance'' against a chosen number being picked by a legitimate lottery. Or can refer to an ordinary Numbers game

In artificial intelligence planning and ''reinforcement learning'', a policy prescribes a non-empty deliberation (sequence of actions) given a non-empty sequence of states.

In debate, the term "policy" is slang for policy or cross-examination debate.

See also

Mandate (politics)

Overton window

Policy alienation

Policy analysis

Policy studies

Political science

Program evaluation

Public administration

Public health

Public policy (law)

Public policy schools

Public services

Social contract

Social welfare

Social work

Think tank

References

Howard, Cosmo. "The Policy Cycle: a Model of Post-Machiavellian Policy Making?" The Australian Journal of Public Administration, September 2005.

Stone, Diane."Global Public Policy, Transnational Policy Communities and their Networks", ''Journal of Policy Sciences'', 2008

External links

Category:Government * Category:Politics by issue Category:Decision theory

da:Policy de:Policy ko:정책 hi:नीति id:Kebijakan it:Policy (politica) he:מדיניות nl:Beleid ja:政策 sv:Policy yi:פאליסי zh:政策

name	Sarah Brightman
background	solo_singer
birth date	August 14, 1960
origin	Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England
genre	Classical crossover, operatic pop, symphonic rock, symphonic metal, pop, new age, rock, dance, electronica, techno, folk, traditional
instrument	Vocals, piano, keyboards
occupation	Singer, actress, songwriter, dancer
years active	1976–present
label	A&M (1993)East West (1995–2001)Angel/EMI (1997–2007)Manhattan/EMI (2008–present)
website	www.sarah-brightman.com }}

Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano, actress, songwriter and dancer. She is famous for possessing a vocal range of over 3 octaves. She sings in many languages which are English, Spanish, French, Latin, German, Italian, Russian, Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Japanese.

Brightman began her career as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 1981, she made her West End musical theatre debut in ''Cats'' and met composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, whom she married. She went on to star in several Broadway musicals, including ''The Phantom of the Opera'', where she originated the role of Christine Daaé. The Original London Cast Album of the musical was released in CD format in 1987 and sold over 40 million copies worldwide, making it the biggest-selling cast album of all time.

After retiring from the stage and divorcing Lloyd Webber, Brightman resumed her music career with former Enigma producer Frank Peterson, this time as a classical crossover artist. She is often credited as the creator of this genre and remains among the most prominent performers, with worldwide sales of more than 30 million records and 2 million DVDs, establishing herself as the world's best-selling soprano of all time. Her duet with the Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, "Time To Say Goodbye", topped charts all over Europe and became the highest and fastest selling single of all time in Germany, where it stayed at the top of the charts for fourteen consecutive weeks and sold over 3 million copies. It subsequently became an international success selling 12 million copies worldwide. She has now collected over 180 gold and platinum sales awards in 38 different countries. In 2010 she was named by ''Billboard'' the 5th most influential and top-selling classical artist of the 2000s decade in the US.

Brightman is the first artist to have been invited twice to perform at the Olympic Games, first at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games where she sang "Amigos Para Siempre" with the Spanish tenor Jose Carreras with an estimated global audience of a billion people, and sixteen years later in Beijing, this time with Chinese singer Liu Huan, performing the song "You and Me" to an estimated 4 billion people worldwide. Since 2010, Brightman is Panasonic's global brand ambassador. Together they launched the song "Shall Be Done" at the 2010 Winter Games held in Vancouver, Canada. Brightman is the element of union in Panasonic's signing of Strategic Partnership Agreement with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, as she stars the campaign "The World Heritage Special" that is being aired on the National Geographic Channel in 183 countries and areas.

In early 2012 Brightman was appointed as the UNESCO artist for peace for the period 2012-2014 for her “commitment to humanitarian and charitable causes, her contribution, throughout her artistic career, to the promotion of cultural dialogue and the exchanges among cultures, and her dedication to the ideals and aims of the Organization”.

In 2012 In conjunction with Virgin Galactic, the The Brightman STEM Scholarship progtam ( science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) was launched, which will help young women in the US pursue STEM education across their four year college careers.

Apart from music, Brightman has begun a film career, making her debut in ''Repo! The Genetic Opera'' (2008), a rock opera-musical film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, and in autumn 2011 and early 2012 Stephen Evans' "First Night", starring opposite Richard E. Grant. In addition, she formed her own production company, Instinct Films, where her first film is in pre-production. Brightman is world's richest female classical performer with a fortune of £30m (about US$49m).

Family and early life

Brightman is the oldest of six children of businessman Grenville Geoffrey Brightman (1934–1992) and Paula Brightman. She was raised Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. At age three, she began taking dance and piano classes and went on to perform in local festivals and competitions. At age 11, she successfully auditioned for The Arts Educational School, a school specializing in performing arts. At 13, in 1973 Brightman made her theatrical debut in the musical I and Albert at the Piccadilly Theatre, London, playing one of Queen Victoria's daughters (Vickoria). In 1976 she was in the leading TV dance group Pans People and was later recruited to lead Arlene Phillips' troupe Hot Gossip in 1977 The group had a disco hit in 1978 with "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper", which sold half a million and reached number six on the UK charts. Brightman, now solo, released more disco singles under her own label, Whisper Records, such as "Not Having That!" and a cover of the song "My Boyfriend's Back". In 1979, Brightman appeared on the soundtrack of the movie "The World Is Full of Married Men" and sang the song "Madam Hyde".

1981–1989: Stage career

right|thumb|Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman performing the title song of The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre. In 1981, Brightman auditioned for the new musical ''Cats'' and was cast as Jemima. In rehearsals she met Andrew Lloyd Webber. After a year in Cats, Brightman took over from Bonnie Langford as Kate in ''The Pirates of Penzance'' at the Drury Lane Theatre, London, and appeared as Tara Treetops in ''Masquerade'', a musical based on Kit Williams's book of the same title. On that year she left to play the title role in Charles Strouse's children's opera, ''Nightingale''.

Enticed by a rave review, Webber went to watch her in the show one evening and was flabbergasted. It seemed inconceivable that he could have missed such vocal talent when she'd been in his show for a year. It would be an awakening that would alter more than just his perception of her. It would alter the course of their careers and lives. The two married in 1984, and Brightman appeared in many of Lloyd Webber's subsequent musicals including ''Song and Dance'' and the mass ''Requiem'', the latter written for her.

Scarcely a year later, Brightman's crystalline recording of Pie Jesu rocketed up the charts, selling 25,000 copies on the first day of release and peaking at number 3, no mean feat for a song in Latin. With classical music permeating the Lloyd Webber household (Brightman was in heavy operatic training at the time), Webber was moved to write the Requiem Mass as a tribute to young victims of war. Its Manhattan premiere, starring Placido Domingo and Sarah Brightman, was filmed by both PBS and the BBC for later broadcast. The LP eventually became UK's top selling classical album of the year and earned Brightman a Grammy nomination as Best New Classical Artist."

Brightman starred as Christine Daaé in Lloyd Webber's adaptation of ''The Phantom of the Opera''. The role of Christine was written specifically for her. Lloyd Webber refused to open ''The Phantom of the Opera'' on Broadway unless Brightman played Christine. Initially, the American Actors' Equity Association balked, because of their policy that any non-American performer must be an international star. Lloyd Webber had to cast an American in a leading role in his next West End musical before the Equity would allow Brightman to appear (a promise he kept in casting ''Aspects of Love''). In the end, it was a compromise that more than paid off. "Phantom" chalked up a staggering $17 million in advance sales prior to opening night on Jan 28, 1988, and generated a public and media frenzy that is unmatched since. The original cast album was the first in British musical history to enter the music charts at number one. Album sales now exceed forty million worldwide and it is the biggest selling cast album of all time, and has gone six times platinum in the US, twice platinum in the UK, nine times platinum in Germany, four times platinum in the Netherlands, 21 times platinum in Korea and 17 times platinum in Taiwan.

After leaving ''Phantom'', she performed in a tour of Lloyd Webber's music throughout England, Canada, and the United States, and performed ''Requiem'' in the Soviet Union. Studio recordings from this time include the single "Anything But Lonely" from ''Aspects of Love'' and two solo albums: the 1988 album ''The Trees They Grow So High'', a compilation of folk songs accompanied by piano, and the 1989 album ''The Songs That Got Away'', a musical theatre compilation of songs cut from shows by composers such as Irving Berlin and Stephen Sondheim, also Brightman sang the song "Make Believe" at the end during the credits of the children's film "Grandpa"; Howard Blake wrote the music and lyrics.

By 1990, Brightman and Lloyd Webber separated. After their divorce, Brightman played the lead in Lloyd Webber's ''Aspects'' in London opposite Michael Praed, before transferring to Broadway. Her work in ''Aspects'' notwithstanding, Brightman steeled herself and set forth to find her own footing. Perhaps the most poignant declaration of independence came in the form of her second solo album from this period, an eclectic but personal collection of folk-rock songs that she had hand-picked. It was a departure from musical theatre and indeed, a departure for Webber himself. More tellingly, the album bore a most prescient title: ''As I Came of Age''.

1990s: Solo career

After her very successful stage career, Brightman decided to make a fresh start and embark on a solo career. In 1992, Brightman made an appearance with José Carreras at the Barcelona Olympic Games singing the theme song "Amigos Para Siempre" ("Friends forever") to a worldwide audience of 3 billion people. Following her appearance, Brightman traveled to Germany to work with co-producer Frank Peterson of “Enigma” fame The two collaborated on the album “Dive,” released in 1993 a water-themed pop album that featured "Captain Nemo", a cover of a song by the Swedish electronica band Dive. The album is considered Brightman's first success as a recording solo artist, receiving her first Gold award for exceptional sales in Canada.

Brightman and Peterson’s second collaboration yielded the pop rock album, ''Fly'' (1995), the album catapulted Sarah to fame across Europe, and she unveiled its hit track “A Question of Honor” – a mélange of electronic, rock, classical strings and excerpts from the Alfredo Catalani opera “La Wally”. The song and the video were introduced at the World Boxing Championship match between Germany's Henry Maske and Graciano Rocchigiani.

"Time to Say Goodbye", taken from the album ''Timeless'', released in 1997, was the second song Brightman debuted for Maske, this time at his retirement match. This duet with tenor Andrea Bocelli became an international hit and sold more than 3 million copies in Germany alone, became Germany's best-selling single, and was successful in numerous other countries; the album eventually sold over 12 million copies worldwide. It is regarded as one of Brightman's and Bocelli's, signature songs.

In March 1998, her own PBS special, Sarah Brightman: In Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, marked the point when she crossed from Billboard's Top Heat seekers chart to the Billboard 200 chart, with ''Time to Say Goodbye''. The same year, Brightman starred A Gala Christmas in Vienna along side Placido Domingo, Helmut Lottie and Riccardo Cocciante singing traditional Christmas carols. On April 7, 1998 she was one of the guest stars in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 50th Birthday Celebration singing ''Hossanaa'' with Dennis O'Neill, Pie Jesu, Phantom of the Opera with Antonio Banderas, All I Ask of You with Michael Ball and Music of the Night.

With the success of ''Timeless'', Sarah felt freer to put herself into her next endeavor. Brightman released her next album, ''Eden'' in 1998. She hand-selected each song and convinced the Academy Award-winning Italian composer Ennio Morricone to let her set lyrics to one of his film compositions, “''Gabriel’s Oboe''” from the film “''The Mission''” resulting in the now legendary “Nella Fantasia”.

The release of ''Eden'' also led to a concert tour of the same name, Sarah’s first world tour and a huge success. ''Eden'' reached #1 on the US Billboard Classical Crossover chart and #65 on the Billboard 200 charts and was certified Gold.

2000–2004: Further international success

Next came the dreamy and supremely feminine album La Luna, laced with folklore and fantasy. For this album, Brightman chose songs drawing on influences as diverse as pop, vintage jazz, and high opera, in homage’s to Dvorak, Beethoven and Billie Holliday. The imagery evoked by the music would translate beautifully to the concert stage and to another of Sarah’s visually groundbreaking world tours. ''La Luna'' also reached #1 on the US Billboard Top Internet Albums and peaked at #17, with 900.000 US sales reaching Gold. In 2000 Brightman’s PBS La Luna concert, she sang There for Me in a duet with an up and coming star, Josh Groban. At the end of 2001, ''Billboard'' magazine noted Brightman as the most important classical crossover artist from the UK.

In 2000, Brightman sold more records than Elton John and the Rolling Stones, becoming America's highest-selling and top touring British artist.

Brightman ventured for the first time into film acting in 2000 when she was part of the cast of the German film "Zeit der Erkenntnis", based on Rosamunde Pilcher book.

In 2001, Brightman released ''Classics'', an anthology including highlights from three of Brightman's chart-topping releases along with seven new tracks; this was released worldwide except Europe. In the US the album peaked at #66 on the Billboard's 200 charts and promptly went Gold. It reached #2 on Billboard's Classical Crossover charts, ''Entertainment Weekly'' although calling Brightman a "stronger song stylist than a singer", gave the album a grade of B-. -. Classics was re-released in the Europe as "Classics: The Best of Sarah Brightman" in 2006. The European edition has the same cover art, but a different track listing.

In 2002, Brightman released "The secret" on SASH!'s fourth studio album S4!Sash!. This song was re-released in 2007 as "The secret 2007 (Unreleased)" on SASH!'s sixth album 10th Anniversary.

Her 2003 album ''Harem'' represented another departure: a Middle Eastern-themed album influenced by dance music. On ''Harem'', Brightman collaborated with artists such as Ofra Haza and Iraqi singer Kazem al-Saher. Nigel Kennedy contributed violin tracks to the songs "Free" and "The War is Over", and Jaz Coleman contributed arrangements.

The album peaked at #29 on the Billboard 200 charts (with sales tracked by Nielsen SoundScan figuring at approximately 333,000, or about one-third the total sales of ''La Luna''), #1 on the Billboard Classical Crossover chart and #1 on the Swedish Album Chart and yielded a #1 dance/club single with the remix of the title track. Some time later, another single from the album (the ballad "Free", cowritten with Sophie B. Hawkins) became a second Top-10 hit on this chart. A year later of the album's release, ''Harem'' was referred as a multi-million seller in EMI's annual music sales report.

The albums ''Eden'', ''La Luna'' and ''Harem'' were accompanied by live world tours which incorporated the theatricality of her stage origins. Brightman acknowledged this in an interview, saying, "They're incredibly complicated...[but also] natural. I know what works, what doesn't work, all the old tricks." In both 2000 and 2001, Brightman was among the top 10 most popular British performers in the US, with concert sales grossing $7.2 million from 34 shows in 2000 and over $5 million from 21 shows in 2001.

In 2004 the Harem tour grossed $60 million and sold 800,000 tickets, $15 million and 225,000 sales of which came from the North American leg, although with ticket prices raised 30% from previous tours, average sales per venue were up 65%. In North America, Harem tour promoters Clear Channel Entertainment (now Live Nation) took the unusual step of advertising to theatre subscribers, in an effort to reach fans of Brightman's Broadway performances, and also sold VIP tickets, at $750 each, that included in-stage seating during the concert and a backstage pass. Tour reviews were mixed: one critic from the ''New York Times'' called the La Luna tour "not so much divine but post-human" and "unintentionally disturbing: a beautiful argument of emptiness." In contrast, a reviewer from the ''Boston Globe'' deemed the Harem tour "unique, compelling" and "charmingly effective."

Television specials on PBS were produced for nearly every Brightman album in the U.S.; a director of marketing has credited these as her number-one source of exposure in the country. Indeed, her concert for ''Eden'' was among PBS's highest-grossing pledge events.

2006–2008: Diva and Symphony

Brightman released a DVD collection of her music videos on 3 October 2006 under the title of ''Diva: The Video Collection''. ''The Singles Collection'' is the accompanying CD, released on the same date. The album marked the first time Brightman has released a greatest hits album in the United States; it reached #1 on the Billboard Classical Crossover chart. Her other reflective offerings for Europe were The Very Best of 1990-2000 and Classics: The Best of Sarah Brightman. These four compilation albums were intended as a marketing strategy to bridge the gap between Brightman's previous 2003 album ''Harem'' and her next album that would be released on early 2008.

Brightman was one of the artists featured on the January 2007 series of the prime time BBC One show ''Just the Two of Us'', partnered with English cricketer Mark Butcher. The pair finished the competition in third place.

Subsequent appearances include the Concert for Diana in July 2007, where she sang "All I Ask of You" from ''The Phantom of the Opera'' with Josh Groban. Around 15 million people from across the UK watched ''Concert for Diana'' at home, and it was broadcast to over 500 million homes in 140 countries; 7 July 2007 Chinese leg of Live Earth in Shanghai, where she performed four songs ("Nessun Dorma", "La Luna", "Nella Fantasia" and "Time to Say Goodbye") and debuted her single "Running" at the 2007 IAAF Championships in Osaka, Japan on 25 August. She also participated at the 2007 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, where she performed "The Journey Home" on the Jolly Polly Pirate Ship. She recorded a duet with Anne Murray singing "Snowbird" on Murray's 2007 album ''Anne Murray Duets: Friends and Legends''.

On May 2007, Brightman was invited along with Lesley Garrett to sing at the Wembley Stadium in London the anthem " Abide With Me'' before the FA Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester United.

At a dinner held at The Mansion House, on 10 September 2008, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales highlighted the urgent need for action to halt tropical deforestation. The Prince invited Brightman to sing at the event they hosted to engage the financial community in the task of finding a solution to the problem of making rainforests worth more alive than dead. The music performed was Nella Fantasia (used in the soundtrack of the movie The Mission) and further declared a Hymn to the rainforests.

On 29 January 2008, Brightman released her first album in five years: ''Symphony'', influenced by gothic music. The Title track of the album "Symphony" is a cover of "Symphonie" by the German band Silbermond. In the United States, it became Brightman's most successful chart entry and also her highest ranked album on Billboard's "Top 200 Albums". It was also a #1 album on two other Billboard's charts: "Top Internet Albums" and "Top Classical Crossover Albums". The album moved there 32,033 copies in first week, according to Nielsen Soundscan. However, the album's success was short-lived in the United States, with sales declining rapidly in the country and disappointing final results. In contrast, the album was a Multi-Platinum and a top 5 release in China, Taiwan, Canada, Mexico, Japan, and Poland, and a top 20 across Europe.

Featured on the album were artists Andrea Bocelli, Fernando Lima, and KISS vocalist Paul Stanley, who duets with Brightman on "I Will Be with You", the album version of the theme song to the 10th Pocket Monsters motion picture, ''Dialga VS Palkia VS Darkrai'' (''Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai''). On 16 January 2008, she also appeared in concert at Vienna’s Stephansdom Cathedral, performing songs from her new album. Special guests who sang duets with Brightman include Italian tenor Alessandro Safina, Argentinean countertenor Fernando Lima, and British singer Chris Thompson. Brightman made several appearances on television in the United States to promote ''Symphony'', including ''Fashion on Ice'' on NBC on 12 January, The View on 30 January, Martha on 31 January and Fox and Friends on the Fox News Channel.

She performed two songs, "Pie Jesu" and "There You'll Be", at the United States Memorial Day concert on 25 May 2008 held on the west lawn of the United States Capitol in Washington D.C.. The top-rated show was broadcast live on PBS before a concert audience of 300,000 and millions more at home, as well as to American troops serving around the world on the American Forces Radio and Television Network. Brightman made her feature film debut as Blind Mag in the rock musical film ''Repo! The Genetic Opera'' which was released on 7 November 2008. Brightman was cast in the film at the last minute after the original actress who was cast for the role was dropped. On 8 August 2008, Brightman was honored to sing the Olympic theme song, "You and Me", with Chinese star Liu Huan in both Mandarin and English at the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. The event appeased the already established supreme popularity and recognition of Brightman in the Asian country. The performance was broadcast to over five billion viewers. In the 26 hours after the performance, "You and Me" was downloaded 5.7 million times.

On 4 November 2008, Brightman released her first holiday album, entitled ''A Winter Symphony'', the album debuted at number #38 on the Billboard Top 200 and scored a number six in the Top Holiday Albums, being the first entry for Brightman on this chart. To accompany ''Symphony'' and ''A Winter Symphony'', Brightman embarked on a tour in Autumn 2008; "The Symphony World Tour" featured new and groundbreaking technology, with virtual and holographic stage sets that had never been seen before in any touring concert production.

In addition to the tour, there were other appearances to promote the Christmas album such as the Walt Disney World Very Merry Christmas parade where Brightman sang "Silent Night" airing on ABC in the Christmas Morning. Brightman also performed in the Japanese TV show ''Happy Xmas Show'' (Nippon Television Network) which was aired on NTV(Japan) on 23 December. Filmed at St. Brendan Catholic Church in Los Angeles, the songs performed included Lennon's "Happy Christmas (War is Over)" and "Symphony". Finally, the "I Believe in Father Christmas" music video was premiered on Amazon as part of their Twelve Days of Christmas program. The video was featured on the Music Homepage.

2009–present: Rise in Latin American and Asian markets

Following her performance at the Beijing Olympics, Brightman was appointed as the Shanghai 2010 World Expo Promotion Ambassador in Britain. In anticipation of the Expo, she launched "Shanghai Week in London", which showcases the city's heritage and culture.

In response to persistent calls for a global release of the Symphony: Live in Vienna concert, EMI Music launched worldwide the PBS special which features Brightman's landmark performance at Vienna’s St. Stephen's Cathedral on January 16th, 2008, in both audio and visual formats. The Symphony — Live in Vienna television special debuted on PBS in March 2008 during the network’s spring pledge drive and aired throughout the month. The album broke all-time records of sales in Taiwan and experienced success in certain Latin American markets.

The music of Brightman was featured in the movie ''Amarufi: Megami no hôshû'' (international title: ''Amalfi: Rewards of the Goddess''), which was a special production to mark Fuji Television's 50th anniversary. The first Japanese movie to be shot entirely on location in Italy. In conjunction with the release of the movie ''Amalfi'', Brightman released only in Japan an album titled Amalfi - Sarah Brightman Love Songs which reached Gold status in the aforementioned country.

Autumn 2009 saw Brightman starting a new concert tour called ''Sarah Brightman In Concert'' covering Latin America with 13 sold-out performances in Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. The last venue of the tour, "The Concert of the Pyramid" featured Brightman performing a concert at the archaeological site of Chichen Itza, an UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

Japanese network NHK premiered in November 2009 the historical drama series ''Saka no Ue no Kumo''; to give a boost to the rating of the series they put Brightman in charge of the main theme song for the first season. The song's lyrics are entirely in Japanese. Titled "Stand Alone," the song was composed by Joe Hisaishi and written by Kundo Koyama. It was included on the drama's soundtrack album, released on 18 November 2009.

The year closed as Symphony: Live in Vienna was listed as the thirteenth best-selling album of the year in Mexico. (In 2008 she also had 2 top-selling albums in the country: Symphony and A Winter Symphony in the 29 and 83 spots respectively)

Since January 2010, Brightman is Panasonic's global brand ambassador. Together they launched the song "Shall Be Done" at Panasonic's Olympic Pavilion at LiveCity Yaletown, the official celebration site of the 2010 Winter Games held in Vancouver, Canada. The lyrics of the song express Panasonic's vision for the next generation as well as Brightman's vision, infusing the spirit of 'ideas for life' of contribution for a sustainable society. The song has been used in a wide range of global promotional activities including stores, advertising, exhibitions and other events.

Back in the United States she appeared on 15 September 2010 on America's Got Talent's finale episode before that season's winner was revealed. The soprano was the celebrity guest duetting with ten year old contestant Jackie Evancho.

Given the increasing popularity of Brightman in Asia, the artist toured there in late 2010 with 5 gigs in Tokyo alone, followed by presentations on Kanazawa, Nagoya, Osaka in Japan, Macau in China and Seoul in South Korea. The singer headed to perform in private events in Canada and Ukraine as well as part of the tour.

On 3 November 2010, Brightman was invited to sing at the Tōdai-ji Buddhist temple complex located in the city of Nara, Japan. The temple is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site as "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara". The concert was recorded and later broadcasted nationwide by TBS network.

On 27 January 2011 Hunan Broadcasting System, China's second biggest television network after China Central Television (CCTV) invited Brightman to participate in their Spring Festival, analogous celebration to the New Year's celebrations in the Western countries. She sang Scarborough Fair -Brightman's evergreen song in China- and Nessun Dorma. For the first time it was revealed that Brightman charges an average of US$ 150,000 for interpretation in such events as Chinese media remarked. When announcing the arrival of Brightman in their country, local press took the opportunity to mention China's appreciation and gratitude for the singer by her donations for the development of that area of China after the Wenchuan earthquake.

Her popularity continues to rise remarkably in Asia, with high profile appearances and sales. Brightman was South Korea's best-selling international artist of 2010 with her album ''Diva: The Singles Collection'' charting the almost the whole year in the #1 spot ahead Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, Eminem, among others. The album was released in 2006, but charted again in both 2009 and 2010 when Brightman toured there with the Symphony World Tour and Sarah Brightman In Concert With Orchestra. ''Diva'' was certified Double Platinum in South Korea. Also, her digital single "Nella Fantasia" has sold 2 million copies in the country.

Brightman's multifaceted profile grants the importance in the scene that she has today. As her solo version of the single ''Time to Say Goodbye'' is a best-seller in Japan and goes Gold in the same country, SC Films International release their new production under the direction of BAFTA winning producer Stephen Evans bringing Sarah Brightman and Richard E. Grant as stars. The film was first screened at 2011' Glasgow Film Festival, and is to be released on late October, November and early December worldwide. ''First Night'' is a story of love's fluctuating fortunes set against a backdrop of visual and vocal beauty.

In parallel, on 1 and 2 October 2011, she made a special appearance during the finale of ''The Phantom of the Opera'' at The Albert Hall; a fully staged production performed at the famous London venue - marking 25 years since the musical received its world premiere. Introduced as his ''Angel of Music'' by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Brightman performed the title song backed by five past, present and future Phantoms. The production front of an audience of 5,500 was broadcast live into cinemas around the globe including in the U.S, around Europe, Canada, Japan and Australia.

As 2011 ends, Brightman is continuously embraced by global audiences. In Argentina she dominates the charts and holds with her albums the #1,#2,#3,#4,#7,#8 and #11 positions on the country's top 20's list of the best-selling classical records of the year.

Legal action against YouTube

Brightman succeeded in giving rise to the lawsuit filed against YouTube: a court in Hamburg, Germany banned the web page to display the videos of the soprano protected by copyright.

Moreover, the court ruled that the singer should be compensated. The amount she will receive depends on the number of views her videos have received.

Frank Peterson, Brightman's lifetime producer, filed the law suit in Germany. "The court proceeded on the basis that YouTube appropriated the content uploaded to its platform by its users," said a spokeswoman of the tribunal. "This creates a greater obligation in relation to the content of the videos. The court finds that YouTube did not comply with these obligations."

Music and voice

Brightman underwent vocal training first with Elizabeth Hawes, head of the Trinity Music College in London, and later with Ellen Faull of Juilliard. She currently studies with internationally known voice teacher David Romano. She is a light lyric soprano and has a three-octave vocal range. According to Brightman, her voice sometimes reaches an F6. However, her highest note sung in public and in studio is the E6 final of "The Phantom of the Opera".

David Caddick, a conductor of ''Phantom'', has stated:

"What is amazing about Sarah is that she has two voices, really. She can produce a pop, contemporary sound, but she can also blossom out into a light soprano. The soprano part of her voice can go up to an E natural above high C. She doesn’t sing it full out, but it is there. Of course, she has to dance while she is singing some of the time, so it’s all the more extraordinary."

She sometimes uses her pop and classical voices in the same song. One example is "Anytime, Anywhere" from ''Eden'', a song based on Albinoni's ''Adagio in G minor''. In the song, she starts out in classical voice, switches to pop voice temporarily, and finishes with her classical voice. Another example is heard in the Lions Gate film ''Repo! The Genetic Opera'', during the songs "Chase The Morning" and "Chromaggia" by her character, Blind Mag.

Brightman's music is generally classified as classical crossover. According to Manhattan Records GM Ian Ralfini, she is largely responsible for the popularity of the genre. In a 2000 interview with ''People'', Brightman dismissed the classical crossover label as "horrible" but stated she understood people's need to categorise music. Her personal influences include 1960s and 1970s musicians and artists such as David Bowie and Pink Floyd, and she incorporates aspects of genres from pop/rock to classical. Her work has also been compared to that of Madonna, Cher and Celine Dion. The material on her albums ranges from versions of opera arias from composers such as Puccini (on ''Harem'', ''Eden'', and ''Timeless''), to pop songs by artists such as Kansas ("Dust in the Wind" on ''Eden''), Dido ("Here with Me" on ''La Luna''), and Procol Harum ("A Whiter Shade of Pale" on ''La Luna''). She sings in many languages which are English, Spanish, French, Latin, German, Italian, Russian, Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Japanese.

Personal life

At age 18, in 1979, Brightman married Andrew Graham-Stewart, who then managed the German band Tangerine Dream. In 1983, she divorced Graham-Stewart. She met Andrew Lloyd Webber when she performed in ''Cats'', and Lloyd Webber later divorced his first wife, Sarah Hugill, to marry Brightman on 22 March 1984 in Hampshire. Their marriage saw intense media and tabloid scrutiny. Brightman and Lloyd Webber divorced in June 1990. Brightman acknowledged the marriage in a 1999 interview as a "difficult time" but also one of much creative output. They are currently on friendly terms; at the 20th London anniversary of ''The Phantom of the Opera'', Lloyd Webber called Brightman a "wonderful woman" and "absolutely beloved mentor". He appeared as a special guest in her 1997 concert at the Royal Albert Hall (London). At the 25th Anniversary concert of ''The Phantom of the Opera'', Lloyd Webber introduced her as his "angel of music".

In February 1992, her 57-year-old father committed suicide by asphyxiation in his car in Hertfordshire after divorce and financial issues.

In an interview with British magazine ''Hello!'', she said motherhood would have been "lovely" but accepted that she would never have a child.

Sarah Brightman has a younger sister, Amelia Brightman, who has collaborated with both Sarah and Gregorian.

Awards

1986 Grammy Nomination, Best Classical Artist, US 1996 Echo Award nomination: Best Female Artist, Germany

1996 RSH Gold: Best Female Artist, Germany

1997 Echo Award nomination: Best Female Artist

1998 Echo Award: Best Song Time To Say Goodbye

1998 Golden Lion Award: Best Live Performance, Germany

1998 Goldene Europa Award: Best Female Artist, Germany

1998 Guinness Book Entry: Germany’s Best-Selling Single of All Time Time to Say Goodbye

1998 Grammy Taiwan: Best Selling Record Timeless

1998 Unesco Hand-in-Hand Award

1999 Czechoslovakian Grammy: Singer of the Year

1999 Echo Award nomination: Best Female Artist, Germany

1999 The Point Trophy, Dublin-Ireland: Highest-Grossing Ticket Sales One Night in Eden

2000 IFPI Award, Europe: Album sales exceeding one million copies in Europe Timeless

2001 New Age Voice Music Award, US: Best Vocal Album

2003 Media Control Award, GAS: Biggest Hit of All Time Time To Say Goodbye

2004 Arabian Music Award: Best Collaboration (“The War Is Over” with Kazim Al Saher)

2004 Arabian Music Award: Best Female Artist

2005 New York Film Festival: First Prize, Music Documentary (A Desert Fantasy)

2005 New York Film Festival: Third Prize, Music Video Time to Say Goodbye

2007 The 21st Japan Gold Disc Award 2007: Classic Album of the Year Diva: The Singles Collection

2009 The 23rd Japan Gold Disc Award 2009: Classic Album of the Year A Winter Symphony

2009 The 24th Japan Gold Disc Award 2010: Classic Album of the Year Amalfi - Sarah Brightman Love Songs

2009 Mexico's Lunas del Auditorio nomination: Best Pop-album in foreign language Symphony: Live in Vienna

2010 Mexico's Lunas del Auditorio nomination: Best Pop-artist in foreign language

Golden Key to the city of Chicago

Golden Key to the city of Istanbul

Stage credits

Musicals

''I and Albert'' (as Vicky and street waif), 1973 Picadilly Theatre, London

''Cats'' (as Jemima), 1981 New London Theatre

''The Pirates of Penzance'' (as Kate), 1982

''Masquerade'' (as Tara Treetops), 1982

''Nightingale'' (as Nightingale), 1982 Buxton Festival and the Lyric, Hammersmith

''Song and Dance'' (as the girl), Palace Theatre in London on 28 April 1984

''The Merry Widow'' (as Valencienne), 1985

''The Phantom of the Opera'' (as Christine Daaé), 1986 Her Majesty's Theatre London, 1988 Broadway

''Aspects of Love'' (as Rose Vibert), 1990

Plays

''Trelawny of the Wells'' (as Rose Trelawney), 1992

''Relative Values'' (as Miranda Frayle), 1993 Chichester Festival and Savoy Theatre

''Dangerous Obsession'' (as Sally Driscoll), 1994 Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke

''The Innocents'' (as Miss Giddens), 1995 Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke

Filmography

''Granpa'', 1989 animated children's film, singing "Make Believe" over the end credits

''Brokedown Palace'', 1999 singing "Deliver me".

''Zeit der Erkenntnis'', 2000 feature film (Germany), as herself

''Repo! The Genetic Opera'', 2008 feature film, as Blind Mag

''Amarufi: Megami no hôshû'' (''Amalfi: Rewards of the Goddess''), 2009 feature film (Japan), as herself

''First Night (aka Cosi)'', 2010 feature film, as Celia

Selected discography

Studio albums

1988: ''The Trees They Grow So High''

1990: ''As I Came Of Age''

1993: ''Dive''

1995: ''Fly''

1997: ''Time to Say Goodbye''

1998: ''Eden''

2000: ''La Luna''

2003: ''Harem''

2008: ''Symphony''

2008: ''A Winter Symphony''

2012: TBA

Albums with Lloyd Webber

1989: ''The Songs That Got Away''

1992: ''Sarah Brightman Sings the Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber''

1995: ''Surrender''

1997: ''The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection''

2002: ''Encore''

2005: ''Love Changes Everything''

Compilation albums

2001: ''The Very Best of 1990-2000'' & ''Classics''

2006: ''Classics: The Best of Sarah Brightman'' & ''Diva: The Singles Collection''

2009: ''Amalfi - Sarah Brightman Love Songs'' & ''Bella Voce''

|-

Duets

Andrea Bocelli – "Time to Say Goodbye", "Canto Della Terra"

Plácido Domingo – Requiem (Lloyd Webber), "The Closing of the year", "La ci darem la mano", "Love Unspoken", "Time to say goodbye", "La Traviata: Libiamo ne' lieti calici... Brindisi", "Die Lustige Witwe – Lippen Schweigen","The Phantom Of The Opera: All I Ask Of You", "West Side Story: Maria & Tonight"

Sir John Gielgud – "Gus: the Theatre Cat"

José Carreras – "Amigos para Siempre ", "Love Unspoken", "La Traviata: Libiamo ne' lieti calici... Brindisi"", "Subaru"

Michael Crawford – The Phantom of the Opera (Andrew Lloyd Webber)

José Cura – "Just Show Me How to Love You", "There for Me"

Josh Groban – "There for Me", "All I Ask of You"

Andrew Lloyd Webber – "Whistle Down the Wind"

Tom Jones – "Something in the Air"

Antonio Banderas – "The Phantom of the Opera"

Cliff Richard – "All I Ask of You", "Only You"

Gregorian – "Moment of Peace", "Join Me", "Héroes", "When A Child is Born", "Send Me An Angel", "Voyage Voyage", "Don’t Give Up"

Riccardo Cocciante – "Fröhliche Weihnacht", "Cantemos Rapaces", "Child in a Manger", "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", "Silent Night"

Kadim Al Sahir – "The War is Over"

Nigel Kennedy – "Free"

Ofra Haza – "Mysterious Days"

Chris Thompson – "How Can Heaven Love Me", "I Will Be With You (Where The Lost Ones Go)", "The Phantom of the Opera"

Fernando Lima – "Pasión", "Ave Maria"

Alessandro Safina – "Sarai Qui", "Canto Della Terra", "The Phantom of the Opera" (Symphony World Tour – México, Asia)

Mario Frangoulis – "Carpe Diem", "Sarai Qui", "Canto Della Terra", "The Phantom of the Opera" (Symphony World Tour – EE.UU., Canadá)

Paul Stanley – "I Will Be With You (Where The Lost Ones Go)"

Liu Huan – "You And Me"

Dj Schiller – "The Smile", "I've Seen it All"

Sash! – "The Secret Still Remains" or "The Secret" & "The Secret (2007)"

Prince Ital Joe Feat. Marky Mark – "Happy People", "Life in the Streets" (Background vocals Sarah Brightman)

Michael Ball – "All I Ask of You", "Seeing is Believing"

Andrzej Lampert – "I Will Be With You (Where The Lost Ones Go)"

Sergey Penkin – "I Will Be With You (Where The Lost Ones Go)"

I Muvrini – "Tu Quieres Volver"

Eric Adams – "Where The Eagles Fly"

Jacky Cheung – "There For Me"

Steve Harley – "The Phantom of the Opera"

Erkan Aki – "Just Show Me How To Love You","The Phantom of the Opera", "Canto della Terra" and "Sarai Qui" in "Sarah Brightman In Concert 2009" a Tour in South America "Latin American Tour".

Paul Miles-Kingston – "Pie Jesu"

Connar Burrowes: "Pie Jesu" (This Is Your Life: Andrew Lloyd Webber, 1994)

Adam Clack: "Pie Jesu" (In Concert "At The Royal Albert Hall" – 1997)

Ben De'Ath: "Pie Jesu" (The Andrew Lloyd Webber Celebration, 1998)

Andrew Swait: "Pie Jesu" (The Classical Brit Awards – 8 May 2008)

Eric Scott Kincaid – "The Phantom of the Opera"

David Malek – "The Phantom of the Opera: All I Ask Of You"

Mark Butcher – "Take The Weather With You", "Heroes", "Leaving On A Jet Plane", "Let's Face The Music And Dance", "Music Of The Night", " Ain't No Sunshine", "The Rose", "Moon River"

Princessa – "Calling You" (1996) (Background vocals Sarah Brightman)

Anne Murray – "Snowbird"

Betty Buckley – "Memory" (Kennedy Center Honor – 3 December 2006)

Lesley Garrett – "Abide with me" (FA Cup Final 19 May 2007)

Jackie Evancho – "Time To Say Goodbye" - (America's Got Talent - 15 September 2010)

These Duets were announced but were never made:

Florent Pagny – "Just Show Me How To Love You"

Biondo – "I Will Be With You (Where The Lost Ones Go)"

Tours

"A Timeless Evening With Sarah Brightman" (UK and Germany) 1997

"One Night In Eden Tour" 1999 (Worldwide)

"La Luna World Tour" 2000–2001 (Worldwide)

"Harem World Tour" 2004–2005 (2004: Worldwide, 2005: Mini-Tour in Japan)

"The Symphony World Tour" 2008–2009 (America & Asia)

"Sarah Brightman In Concert" October 2009 (Latin America)

"Sarah Brightman In Concert With Orchestra" October 2010 (Japan, Korea and Macau)

See also

List of artists who reached number one on the US dance chart

List of number-one dance hits (United States)

List of Operatic Pop artists

References

External links

classical-crossover soprano

Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:People educated at the Arts Educational Schools Category:English dancers Category:English female singers Category:English musical theatre actors Category:English rock singers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English sopranos Category:English stage actors Category:Female rock singers Category:French-language singers Category:German-language singers Category:Italian-language singers Category:Opera crossover singers Category:People from Berkhamsted Category:Spanish-language singers Category:People educated at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts

ar:سارة برايتمان bg:Сара Брайтман ca:Sarah Brightman cs:Sarah Brightman da:Sarah Brightman de:Sarah Brightman et:Sarah Brightman es:Sarah Brightman eo:Sarah Brightman fa:سارا برایتمن fr:Sarah Brightman ko:사라 브라이트만 id:Sarah Brightman it:Sarah Brightman he:שרה ברייטמן ka:სარა ბრაიტმანი lt:Sarah Brightman hu:Sarah Brightman nl:Sarah Brightman ja:サラ・ブライトマン no:Sarah Brightman pl:Sarah Brightman pt:Sarah Brightman ro:Sarah Brightman ru:Брайтман, Сара sc:Sarah Brightman simple:Sarah Brightman sk:Sarah Brightman fi:Sarah Brightman sv:Sarah Brightman th:ซาราห์ ไบรท์แมน tr:Sarah Brightman uk:Сара Брайтман vi:Sarah Brightman zh:莎拉·布萊曼

A farmworker is a person hired to work in the agricultural industry. This includes work on farms of all sizes, from small, family-run businesses to large industrial agriculture operations. The farmworker may or may not be related to the individuals who own or run the farm, but his or her job entails a more formal relationship than a family member or neighbor who might do occasional chores on the farm. Depending on the location and type of farm, the work may be seasonal or permanent. Seasonal, or migrant workers, are often low-wage workers, who may or may not be working in their country of origin. Permanent workers may have a particular set of skills or educational background that allow them to earn higher wages, and are often found on farms where there is year-round production, such as on dairy or beef cattle farms. Farmworkers usually earn a wage, however, the work can be done on a volunteer basis or for educational reasons. Many programs exist, such as World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) that facilitates the placement of volunteer farmworkers on specific types of farms. Additionally, farms may offer apprenticeship or internship opportunities where labor is traded for the knowledge and experience gained from a particular type of production. Farm workers may be from the country where they are employed, or may be immigrants, as is often the case in the United States.

History

Farmwork has been around for thousands of years. In Medieval times, 90 percent of Europeans worked on the farms of wealthy knights or nobles. A form of farmwork is peasantry, a term usually used before the Industrial Revolution. Peasants were considered the lowest class of people and had few rights.

After the Industrial Revolution, many farm workers left the countryside to large cities to work in the factories. This meant farm labourers became more sought after, so the farmers and landowners offered better pay and conditions so their workers wouldn't find factory work more appealing. Some farmers employed one or two farmworkers, while Lords could employ thousands on their land.

Usually referred to as agricultural labourers (abbreviated to ag labs), they appeared often on census returns and documents from the 19th century. However, as more and more labourers moved to cities the term became less common by the early 20th century.

Farm Workers in the United States

United States Farm Structure

The development of a particular kind of agriculture is dependent on the characteristics of the farming region. The soil type, climate, slope, and distance to markets all help in shaping the type of agriculture that thrives in any particular region. For instance, the Midwestern United States has rich, fertile soil, and so it produces corn, soybeans, cattle, hogs, and dairy products and has become known as the Corn Belt of America. In contrast, agriculture in California’s Mediterranean and moderate climate produces more than half of the nation’s fruits, vegetables, and nuts, which require hand-harvesting and a large labor force.

Over the last century the amount of farmland in production has remained relatively steady, but the number of operating farms has continually dropped, signifying a consolidation of farm enterprises. Around the 1930s hard economic times hit the country with the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl era, forcing some farmers off the land. From 1950 to 2001 the amount of U.S. farm land used for major commodity crop production has remained about the same while over half of the farms are gone. As farm production has largely moved away from the family farms and towards an industrial agriculture model, there is an increased need for wage labor. A farm’s reliance on farmworkers greatly depends on the quantity and type of crop in production. Some crops require more labor than others, and in California many labor-intensive crops are produced such as dairy products, fruits, tree nuts and vegetables. Although the domestic farm labor force has decreased in the last century, the proportion of hired workers has grown. Increased competition among agricultural producers and consolidation have created a need for a large, inexpensive, temporary workforce that increasingly comes from abroad.

Demographics of Farm Workers in the United States

The agricultural labor force is largely foreign-born Hispanics of which 81% are foreign born, 77% are from Mexico, and it is estimated that 98% of all farm workers immigrated to the country illegally. They are usually young, married males. Every year many of these farmworkers leave their homes and families to cultivate, harvest, and package fruit, nut and vegetables in the U.S., while others work in the fishing, meat packing and dairy industries. In the past, the rise in immigration to the U.S., usually of unauthorized workers, has increased the population of migrant farmworkers. However, in the 1990s, a new trend began with the development of more year-round production methods resulting in a larger population of settled farmworkers.

Issues Facing Farm workers

Farm workers face many challenges globally and in the United States, and are among the most marginalized labor group in the world. The increasing prevalence of multinational corporations and a consolidated agricultural supply chain puts downward pressure on producers and thus wages and working conditions for labor. The International Labor Organization argues that the large scale restructuring of agriculture contributes to violations of the four fundamental worker rights: the right to join unions and bargain collectively, the elimination of forced labor, the ending of child labor, and the reduction of discriminatory hiring. Farm workers are more vulnerable to these abuses because of the precarious nature of their employment.

Not all farms and agricultural systems exhibit the following abuses and may respect the dignity of farm labor. The Swanton Berry farm for example "was the first strawberry farm in the United States to sign a contract with the United Farm Workers of America/AFL-CIO. The farm workers' contract includes the highest pay scales in the industry, health care, vacation and holiday pay." Nonetheless, there are many prevalent abuses within the agricultural labor industry.

Agricultural manual labor is often seasonal employment, which increases job insecurity among farm workers and can inhibit them from effectively organizing for better working conditions. For some, pursuing farm labor as a migrant worker, or following the crops, is an attempt to secure more regular employment but this incurs traveling costs that may not be made up upon arriving at the destination. Dairy farms and other animal operations require year-round, daily and around-the-clock labor which farm workers may feel unable to challenge. Farm workers in any context are additionally vulnerable to abuse when they are undocumented immigrants and isolated physically, socially, or linguistically.

The many problems with farm working around the world compel immigration, both from rural to urban areas and internationally. Global trade and the depression of crop prices across the developing world contribute to agricultural workers seeking employment outside of their home country. Undocumented workers are subject to the worst abuses since they have no recourse and may be more dependent on their current employment. Workers documented under the H-2A Visa program may also be unwilling to make demands since producers are only required to pay for their return home if the worker completes the growing season.

There are many working conditions that can be of concern to farm workers and their advocates including adequate wages, housing, food, working conditions, access to health care, and the quality of life for their families. Farm wages fell by 10% between 1989 and 1998. Additionally, in the agricultural sector overtime pay and minimum wage, depending on the man-hours employed by the farm, is not required in the United States. Many farm workers live below the poverty line, making an average of $10,000 per year. Access to adequate food and housing compound the problem of low wages. Housing may be rented by the farmworker or provided for free; however, much of the housing provided is inadequate and overcrowded. Extremely low wages can prohibit farmworkers from buying enough food to feed their families.

Information about health hazards and access to health care is extremely important and limited for farm workers. Agricultural workers perform a dangerous job- working with animals, pesticides, heavy machinery, and doing physically demanding tasks. Safety training is required in the United States but is not always performed or may be inadequate due to the seasonal time frame and language barriers. Chronic back injuries, serious respiratory problems in Confined animal feeding operations, and pesticide poisoning are common. The problem of pesticide exposure is increasingly recognized as one which occurs not only during the employees workday, but also due to pesticide drift which exposes workers, their families and whole neighborhoods when the wind carries pesticides into nearby communities. There have even been reports of farm workers drowning in manure lagoons. In instances where farm workers may be hurt on the job, they may not know their right to health care or they may be reluctant to report injuries for fear of losing their jobs. Meanwhile, in the United States, 95% of farm workers have no health insurance for non-farm related injuries which makes healthcare access for the family of farm workers and for illness very difficult to obtain.

While farm workers are mainly young men, the structure of farm work affects the entire family. When families do not travel together, parents, particularly fathers, are away from their children and families for long periods of time. On the farm site, many other issues confront women and children. Sexual harassment and abuse, inadequate educational opportunities, and the need for child labor for wages or for lack of childcare are serious concerns as well as exposure of pregnant women and children to many of the health hazards listed above. Women also face discriminatory hiring practices and often significantly lower wages, especially for piece-rate harvest work.

The following poem shows some of the difficulties faced by farmworkers:

Farm Worker Organizing in the United States

As compared to other workers, organization attempts on the behalf of farm-workers face a double challenge. First, labor laws that apply generally do not apply to agricultural workers. The National Labor Relations Act of 1935, for example, which protects most workers who organize and form trade unions from employer retaliation (e.g., the firing of workers for trying to join a union) and sets up a framework for unions and employers to negotiate in good faith, does not extend to farm workers. Similarly, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which sets minimum wage and overtime pay requirements does not apply to farm labor. In 1966, the minimum wage requirement, but not the overtime pay, was extended to apply to farm workers who worked on farms where there was over approximately 7 full-time employees in a quarter. Some states, such as California, have pass laws guaranteeing the right to organize, but these apply only to the state level. A second important challenge faced by farm worker organizers is the vulnerability of the workers due to their immigration status. The non-immigrant status of guest workers as well as the lack of documentation of many other workers places them in a politically weak position to address worker injustices. Despite these challenges, there has been an important history of farm worker organizing in the United-States, and farm labor organizing continues to this day both to ensure the enforcement of existing regulation and to create new regulations.

Some of the main organizations associated with the farm workers movement are the United Farm Workers, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. Many of the issues around which farm workers organize relating to occupational health and safety and labor rights are also socially important issues that affect society more broadly. These include issues such as immigration rights or pesticide use in American agriculture. These leads to collaborations between farm workers organizations and other groups. United Farm Workers, Pesticide Action Network, and Earthjustice, for example, have worked together to present a petition, supported by 24 organizations in total, to the US Environmental Protection Agency to push for a ban of the pesticide endosulfan.

Given the reduced right to organize and bargain as workers, two approaches are commonly used. The first is targeting regulation changes by pressuring the government. The UFW, for example, often run campaigns targeting policy by encouraging citizens to communicate with their government representatives on a variety of issues. As a recent example, on the heels of the death of a young farm worker, the UFW has been encouraging supporters to contact California’s governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, to improve the enforcement of existing regulations regarding working in the heat. Despite having the strictest heat laws in the country, heat deaths continue to occur and are largely attributed to a lack of workplace inspectors which results in a low level of compliance. A second strategy involves targeting high profile businesses that are supplied through contractors and subcontractors hiring farm workers. Recently, the Coalition for Immokalee Workers, for example, has applied pressure to several companies through consumer boycotts, including McDonalds and Taco Bell. The result of these campaigns were that these companies agreed to pay an extra penny per pound to the farmworkers who picked for them, regardless of the fact that they were employed through subcontractors.

See also

Agroecology

Farmer

Juliana Mateo Foundation for Disabled Farmworkers

Manual labor

Migrant worker

Grower (disambiguation)

References

External links

U.S. Department of Labor Employment & Training Administration: National Agricultural Workers Survey.

http://www.doleta.gov/agworker/naws.cfm

USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service

http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/viewDocumentInfo.do?documentID=1063

Levine, Linda. 2006. The Effects on U.S. Farm Workers of an Agricultural Guest Worker Program. CRS Report for Congress. Updated March 9, 2006. http://leahy.senate.gov/issues/Immigration/GuestWorker.pdf

Farmworker Justice website

http://www.fwjustice.org/

Hundreds of millions of agricultural workers face poverty, hunger. UN report. 2005. UN News Centre. Oct. 6, 2005.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=16109&Cr=&Cr1

National Institute for Occupational safety and Health: Agriculture http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/agriculture/

Family Farm Defenders: Farm Workers Rights

http://www.familyfarmdefenders.org/pmwiki.php/FarmWorkersRights/FarmWorkersRights

Category:Agricultural occupations Category:Agricultural labor

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