MARCH UPDATE

IN THIS UPDATE:

3. OXFORD EARLY MUSIC DAY

5. NEW ALBUM ALERT

IMPACT - FEEDBACK AND FIGURES

In March, eight grantee ensembles presented a total of sixteen concerts, in nine different UK locations. Both Ensemble Augelletti and Ensemble Molière completed recording sessions for new albums, and recently-formed ensemble London Obbligato Collective recorded their debut CD.

We loved this comment from an audience member at the London Obbligato Collective's recent concert in Petersfield - it reflects exactly the kind of project Continuo Foundation seeks to support:

Thank you for a splendid concert at Petersfield today! We heard elegant music played expertly, together with interesting spoken introductions from the players, giving background, history and context to the music. Well done for re-discovering works by the undeservedly little-known composer, Valentino Nicolai, and for bringing a lively and varied programme to a provincial town where it was enjoyed by an all-age audience.

Continuo Foundation's impact since inception:

£950,000 awarded to 110 ensembles

1,150 freelance musician beneficiaries

330,000 audience beneficiaries

27 CD recordings released so far

FUNDRAISING - 2025 GRANTS

A message from Tina Vadaneaux, Founder and CEO:

March was an exciting month, with our announcement of the thirty-one new projects selected for grant awards in our ninth funding round. Read more in our press release.

As these projects come to life over the next few months, we will be working hard to secure the third crucial Principal Supporter to complete the funding for our plans in 2025-2027, and also to raise the remaining £27,750 to meet our £100,000 target for the grant round opening in July.

The next grant round, our tenth, will mark an exciting moment for Continuo Foundation, as our total grant funding will surpass £1,000,000. We are enormously grateful to all of our donors for making this possible, and to all of the musicians who have made our work so worthwhile.

If you would like to discuss how you can help us achieve our objectives, I would be delighted to speak with you. Please contact me at tina@continuofoundation.co.uk.

OXFORD EARLY MUSIC DAY

Continuo is thrilled to co-present an Early Music Day with Oxford Festival of the Arts, comprising two daytime concerts, both by Continuo grantees, and a talk by Sir Nicholas Kenyon. The Linarol Consort of Viols and countertenor William Purefoy will present a lunchtime concert of music by Orlando Gibbons, marking the 400th anniversary of his death. This will be followed by an Emerging Ensemble Showcase with Bellot Ensemble, who will perform a programme recorded in 2024 for their debut album, Cupid's Ground Bass, supported by a Continuo Foundation grant. The day concludes with Sir Nicholas Kenyon reflecting on the early music revival over the past century and its lasting influence. All events will take place at the Grove Auditorium, Magdalen College. For more information, please click below - we would love to see you there!

OXFORD EARLY MUSIC DAY

MARCH PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

Chelys Consort of Viols - Gibbons 400 Festival

Chelys Consort of Viols celebrated Orlando Gibbons and his monumental musical legacy on the 400th anniversary of his death with a three-day festival in Oxford. The festival included three concerts of Gibbons' music for viols, voices and keyboard, as well as an organ masterclass with Christian Wilson, talks curated by the Viola da Gamba Society, and a service of Music and Readings for Lent at St John's College, Oxford. Chelys collaborated with David Bannister (Choir Director, St John's College Oxford), his choir Vespri Segreti, and the chapel choir to perform a programme including This Is The Record of John (written for St John's College Oxford). Keep an eye out for more Gibbons later in the year!

Ex Cathedra - Latin American Baroque Ritual 1631

Ex Cathedra performed their Latin American Baroque programme in Birmingham, Hereford and London, directed by Jeffrey Skidmore. A fascinating variety of music for singers, harp, guitar, bajón, strings, winds and percussion featured songs in Latin, Spanish, Nahuatl and Quechuan – the languages of the Aztecs and Incas. As described by BBC Music Magazine, this was 'a heady mix of gloriously rich polyphony and manic, earthy villancicos. Skidmore has mined a rich vein of hitherto undiscovered music … exhilaratingly uninhibited.'

The Brook Street Band - Kitchen Conversations

The Brook Street Band performed their programme, Kitchen Conversations, in London, Norwich and Ugborough, Devon. Placing the kitchen at the heart of the home, the concerts offered an evening of music, with texts read by an excellent narrator, reflecting on food preparation and cooking, eating, drinking and post-prandial conversations. The ensemble performed music by Telemann, Handel, JS Bach, CPE Bach, Rameau, Purcell and Errollyn Wallen. According to one audience member: 'So well-conceived and beautifully played - I can't remember enjoying a concert so much in a long time.'

Liturina - Vom Weinen zum Singen

Liturina performed the second of their two Vom Weinen zum Singen concerts. This pair of cantata concerts presented a compelling journey through discord and terror, ultimately overcome by love and harmony, in the lead up to Easter. Set in the historic St Clement Danes Church, where Liturina is Ensemble-in-Residence, these concerts brought together some of London's best young musicians. Part 1, in February, featured soprano Ana Beard Fernandez, who joined the ensemble in works by Telemann and Buxtehude. The second concert saw Liturina expand its forces under conductor Joel Sandelson to perform Bach's Easter Oratorio. Photo credit - Julian Guidera

Bloomsbury Players - Beauty and the Bass

The Bloomsbury Players presented Beauty and the Bass in the beautiful Music Room at Leighton House in London as part of Vermeer Chamber Concerts and in Colchester as part of the Roman River Spring Concerts. The programme included Dvorak’s double bass quintet in its original 5-movement version (including the extraordinary Intermezzo that was removed), Rossini’s rarely-performed first Sonata a quattro, composed when he was only twelve years old, and Fanny Mendelssohn’s rhapsodic and poignant string quartet, neglected for centuries. The project aimed to present these wonderful works in a fresh light, experimenting with performance practices of the time and playing on gut strings. Photo credit: Tom Mungall

NEW ALBUM ALERT

AAM & Cambridge Handel Opera - John Weldon: The Judgment of Paris

The Academy of Ancient Music and Cambridge Handel Opera released the world premiere recording of Weldon's The Judgment of Paris, directed by Julian Perkins. This masque won the 1701 Musick Prize, yet was never published. The recording features a distinguished cast: Kitty Whately, Helen Charlston and Anna Dennis perform as Venus, Juno, and Pallas, alongside Thomas Walker as Mercury and Jonathan Brown as Paris. The album is available as a beautifully-designed hardback mediabook, complete with essays from historians, musicologists and other experts. Available on AAM Records.