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ROUND TEN GRANT APPLICATIONS
Oxford Bach Soloists
ENSEMBLE INFO
Ensemble Contact:
Katie Ambrose
Email:
Ensemble Connect URL
UK Registered Charity No:
1172192
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Following the appointment of Oxford Bach Soloist’s (OBS) new Artistic Director, Steven Grahl, this series of concerts offers the perfect introduction to our new director, new season, and new era for OBS.
We are seeking funding for five concerts within a six-part concert series featuring Bach’s Cello Suites (BWV 1007–1012) performed by principal cellist Henrik Persson, directed by OBS Artistic Director Steven Grahl and Principal Organist Dónal McCann. Alongside these glorious feature works will be several choral and keyboard works. performed by the current 2025 OBS Choral Scholars, the newly appointed 2025–2026 Choral Scholars, two Continuo Scholars, and co-principal keyboard players.
Our ensemble of principal players, on period instruments, brings technical mastery to the project. This concert series showcases the virtuosity of the individual performers and emphasises their ability to collaborate within the framework of Bach's chamber music. The performances will demonstrate the depth of skill in the group, aligning with the current phase of OBS’s evolution, which focuses on smaller, more intimate projects.
Whilst the Cello Suites centre our concert series, they will be accompanied by works that highlight and support our newly appointed scholars. We will be engaging with flexible programming to cater to our scholars as they progress with us, this not only applies to our choral scholars but also our continuo scholars.
Our scholars are given professional experiences alongside professional performers and are supported by our audience. This concert series offers exposure and development for these emerging artists. The final concert of the series will also include a presentation of our scholars. The audience will be able to recognise and applaud the talent and progress of all our scholars.
The concerts will take place between October–June in OBS’ home location of Oxford, this year in Pusey House Chapel, a place that will well serve our supportive and every-growing, local audience. This funding allows us to film all the concerts and make them available online, ensuring access to a broader audience. This has the added benefit of allowing our scholars to rewatch their performances, which encourages self-reflection and is a tool for them to track their improvement. We are anticipating an uptake in our audience for this event as this concert series is setting forth a strong engaging launch with our new Artistic Director. Our most recent reception for Friends and Supporters of OBS, resulted in increased support with upgraded subscriptions and Friends offering their skillsets and expertise to advertise and increase our audience-base.
Most importantly, we have undertaken a re-pricing of our concert tickets to ensure affordability and equity to new and existing audience members. Our lowest band has been reduced, and we now have a flat student rate of £6 and are continuing our free tickets to under 18’s.
SUPPORTING INFORMATION
OBS presents a programme of exploratory Bach concerts to a growing annual audience both in-person in Oxford and online. As well as a passion to present Bach’s works, the heart of OBS is in its drive to support the next generation of young musicians, the local community, and extensive network of regular professional players.
We boast a unique combination of well-established professional instrumentalists and singers, choral and continuo scholars at the beginning of their career in music, and, for our larger projects, enthusiastic singers from the community. Our alumni singers return for most concerts to strengthen our vocal ensembles and feature as soloists, at the beginning of their career. OBS’s core is formed of a regular group of professional baroque musicians based in Oxford, London, and the south of England. One of the aims of our season is to provide performance opportunities for local musicians and enables them to live, work, and teach in Oxford, enhancing the musical life of the community.
We are dedicated to supporting early-career musicians: our long-standing choral scholar programme has had many successes, which has driven us to start a new programme for continuo scholars. These two keyboardists will be trained by our professional continuo players, who will be on an additional stipend for this support, and our choral trainers, many of whom have worked with the group before. Their inclusion will add depth to the performance, enhancing the impact of the project and contributing to OBS’s educational mission. By providing performance opportunities now for both continuo and choral scholars, this project offers exposure and development for these emerging artists, which also includes supporting the career of talented organist Dónal McCann, whose success with concert Fürchte dich nicht last season has driven us to offer him the opportunity to direct two concerts in this upcoming series. OBS is always expanding. Despite the challenges of losing our Artistic Director at short notice last year, we have achieved our first international performance, the launch of our debut album, and managed a full series of collaboratively programmed concerts in the last season. As you will see from the most recent performances, we are motivated to keep this momentum and showcase the world the continued relevance of baroque music.
19th July 2025: Bach at School, Toccatas 3, curated by Anhad Arora
14th June 2025: Bach at the Salon, Toccatas 2, curated by Anhad Arora
24th May 2025: Bach at Home, Toccatas 1, curated by Anhad Arora
4th May 2025: Lutheran Vespers with New College Choir
3rd May 2025: Singet dem Herrn, conducted by Quintin Beer
18th April 2025: St John Passion in London, directed by Eamonn Dougan
17th April 2025: St John Passion in Oxford, directed by Eamonn Dougan
12th April 2025: Fürchte dich nicht, directed by Dónal McCann
26th January 2025: Lutheran Vespers with New College Choir
4th January 2025: Christmas Oratorio, conducted by Steven Grahl
PROJECT COSTS
Number of performers:
Instrumentalists:
Vocalists:
Other:
6
12
1
Project Income (£):
Ticketing/Fees:
Public Funding:
Other trusts/foundations - confirmed
Other trusts/foundations - pending
Other
Income - Total sources
14770
0
0
0
8150
22919.98
Project Expenses (£):
Artists' fees
Artists' travel/accommodation
Venue - Rehearsal/Concert:
Recording/Filming:
Marketing/Publicity:
Management/Contingency:
12300
1500
4700
6250
1800
3330
Total Project Costs:
29880
Amount (£) of Grant Requested:
6960
Detailed Budget (Download):
IMPACT OF GRANT
Funding from the Continuo Foundation would ensure we can launch this project in full, including fully recording each project as part of our Digital Concerts series. We want to present and advertise to as large an audience as possible and ensure that we fully support our scholars, and our early career musicians. Furthermore, having the named support from the Foundation further elevates our standing as a period instrument ensemble and provides us with an even greater audience reach.
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