JULY 2026 UPDATE
- Continuo Foundation
- 11 hours ago
- 5 min read
IN THIS UPDATE:
1. OUR IMPACT
OUR IMPACT
In July, 7 grantee ensembles presented a total of 12 concerts in 7 different locations across the UK, sharing a vast array of repertoire with their audiences. We also collaborated with the Buxton International Festival to create opportunities for grantee ensembles, especially emerging groups.
We were delighted to receive the following feedback from Parnassus, following the completion of their 3 in 1: 'Christ lag in Todes Banden' project with visual artist Jérémie Queyras:
Continuo Foundation’s support has enabled us to: make our UK Festival debut; to develop different concert formats; create a space where musicians and artists from across the UK and Europe could meet and collaborate, as well as create a wide variety of promotional materials that is helping building our online presence. Without Continuo Foundation’s support, none of this would have been possible and we are incredibly grateful.
Continuo Foundation's cumulative impact:
£1,176,000 awarded to 123 ensembles
of which 41 emerging ensembles supported
1,460 freelance musician beneficiaries
438,000 audience beneficiaries
58 recording projects supported
39 new albums released
GRANTS & FUNDRAISING
A message from Tina Vadaneaux, Founder and CEO:
Project proposals have been flowing in at an ever increasing rate as we approach the submission deadline for Grant Round 12 of 11pm tonight. We are very grateful to all of you whose generosity makes it possible to offer the £100,000, and can't wait to discover the creative ideas it will unleash!
Over the coming month, our expert Advisory Panel and Trustees will be focused on evaluating the applications, and an exciting new wave of concerts, tours and recordings will be coming to life across the UK from December. Grant awards will be announced by 24 September 2026.
In the meantime, we are planning ahead for our 2027 grant rounds, in January and July. We are working toward securing the £200,000, and our stretch goal is to raise sufficient funds and pledges to increase our grant rounds to £125k each to reflect increased costs being faced by ensembles, and to offer support to more groups given the many excellent proposals each round that we cannot fund.
If you would like to help us achieve this ambition, or if you know of an individual or trust who may be willing to do so, I would be delighted to speak with you.
Please contact Tina Vadaneaux or visit our Support Us page.
BUXTON FESTIVAL PARTNERSHIP
Continuo Foundation was thrilled to work with the Buxton International Festival this year to create new opportunities for grantee ensembles, especially emerging groups. There were chamber concerts by Vache Baroque, Newe Vialles and Música d'Outrora. In addition, following on the success of their 2025 Buxton debut with a production of Charpentier's La Descente d'Orphée, Vache Baroque returned with a new production of Francesca Caccini's La liberazione di Ruggiero. Continuo grants supported both of these productions, and we are proud of the glowing reviews:
The Guardian: 'Casts a potent musical spell'
Plays to See: 'Mesmerising... an outstanding young company'
Planet Hugill: 'Dazzling instrumental playing...vivid yet sophisticated sound-world conjured by Jonathan Darbourne and his ensemble'
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT
with Jane Gordon
Jane Gordon has enjoyed nearly two decades performing with orchestras and ensembles at the forefront of the Early Music profession, collaborating with many of the first-generation pioneers of historical performance practice. She is a founding member of the Rautio Piano Trio and leader of La Nuova Musica. Described as playing with ‘glowing conviction’ (Financial Times) and a ‘ravishing tone and depth of timbre’ (The Independent), she performs repertoire spanning the Baroque, Classical and Romantic eras, appearing in contexts ranging from intimate chamber ensembles to orchestral and full-scale opera productions. Jane is also artistic director of the Hastings Chamber Music Festival.
How has Continuo Foundation impacted your day-to-day life?
In all honesty, I am feeling such a great sense of purpose and fulfilment as a musician right now. Having the opportunity to realise one of the most ambitious projects conceivable - recording all the Beethoven Piano Trios with fortepiano - is a dream come true.
What new doors have opened for you since becoming a grantee?
My trio’s Beethoven project simply would not have been possible without Continuo Foundation's support. It’s monumental and has taken us 5 years to record all the trios and to explore a lot of other associated repertoire. As a result of this, we now have many new performance opportunities, including our first concert at the Wigmore Hall on fortepiano, a concert in Mannheim next year and we are to be part of a Beethoven Symposium in association with Oxford University.
What do you love about being a musician?
I love connecting with other musicians and creating rapport in how we play and interact. There is such an amazing musical community in the UK and it’s great to be a part of it. I spend quite a bit of time planning concerts, designing programmes and inviting players to join me. There’s a real joy in that.
Where did you encounter the most receptive audience?
At festivals away from major cities, both in the UK and Europe, there is often a feeling of real personal value to live concerts. I often enjoy the concerts in the most rural places off the beaten track, where you have time and space to chat to audience members.
No.1 listening recommendation?
Brahms Piano Concertos on historical piano by Andras Schiff with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment or the Rautio Trio’s latest Beethoven album. I have a passion for the sound of historical piano, despite being a violinist!
For more about Jane Gordon check out her Continuo Connect Interview.
JULY PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
In Echo - The Salt Road
In Echo performed 'The Salt Road' programme in North Yorkshire's Ryedale Festival in July. This collaboration between In Echo and the writer Horatio Clare takes as its inspiration Bach's iconic walk, in the autumn of 1705, from Arnstadt to Lübeck to visit Buxtehude. The programme includes music by Isaac, Brade, Walter and new transcriptions of Buxtehude and Bach, all on the theme of journeys both physical and spiritual. These are interspersed with readings from 'Something of his Art', written by Clare after he retraced Bach's journey. The ensemble will continue touring the programme to Little Missenden (11 Oct), Brecon (18 Oct) and Birmingham (21 Oct). You can explore The Salt Road and Bach's journey further in Lindsay Kemp's recent feature for Continuo Connect, reflecting on his journey with Clare in 2017 for a BBC R3 programme he produced.
Saraband - Music for the 18th Century Music Room
Saraband was joined by organist Timothy Roberts for a programme of music known and enjoyed by King George III and his music-loving family, played on an organ identical to the one installed by George III at Kew Palace. The music included pieces that were popular at the time, including an overture by John Worgan, the organist at Vauxhall Gardens; a concerto by JC Bach, Queen Charlotte’s music teacher; and works by JJ Rousseau, G Bononcini, Handel and the 8-year-old Mozart, who played for the royals and accompanied the queen in an aria. The project also included free concerts in the Music Room at Kenwood House in June, where Saraband will return 27 September with a new programme featuring the chamber organ in the Music Room: ‘Gainsborough and his Musical Pals’. This beautiful instrument has recently been brought back to life by English Heritage especially for the series of Saraband concerts this summer.
Sounds Historical - What a Wonderful World
Sounds Historical performed in Dersingham in July in the Music in Country Churches series, as part of their 'What a Wonderful World' tour. This latest programme from Sounds Historical explores aspects of early modern life which people found wonderful and awe-inspiring: from mythology to maths, astrology, astronomy, love, magic and inexplicable weather! It includes works by Charpentier, Galilei, Monteverdi, Uccellini, Bach, Purcell, Van Eyck and Telemann - performed on lutes, viols, recorders, flutes and more. The tour will continue to Marsden (3 Sep), Lancaster (4 Sep), Skipton (5 Sep), Barnard Castle (6 Sep), Coventry (15 Oct) and Sibford (18 Oct).