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IN THIS UPDATE:
2. FUNDRAISING - GRANT ROUNDS 4, 5, 6
GRANTS - RECENT HIGHLIGHTS AND IMPACT
In May, our grants enabled seven live concerts, each in a different UK location, and one new recording. Five new episodes from Ensemble Augelletti’s ‘Pick a Card’ series began streaming.
Feedback from the Rose Consort of Viols illustrates how our grants have helped ensembles improve artistically, engage new audiences and inspire the next generation of musicians (please see the photos below in May Project Highlights):
"The concert was performed to a full nave in Chichester Cathedral, one of the biggest audiences we have ever played to! The funding from Continuo Foundation meant that we could spend more time rehearsing and preparing the project than would otherwise have been possible, and also meant we could offer the cathedral choristers an extra session in which we introduced them to the viols... They were a lively and inquisitive group of youngsters, and I hope we may have sown some seeds of future interest in our type of music. We are really grateful to the Foundation for its support, which made this possible."
The impact of Continuo Foundation's activity to date:
£261,900 disbursed to 38 ensembles 958 musician engagements since April 2021
529 different individual freelance musicians benefitted
FUNDRAISING - GRANT ROUNDS 4, 5, 6
In May, we were delighted to have secured £12,150 in donations and advance commitments for Grant Rounds 4 - 6 planned for July 2022 and January and July 2023.
We are working hard to raise the remaining £19,250 needed to reach our £100,000 minimum launch target for Round 4 by 12th July 2022. 100% of your donations will help ensembles and musicians, as everyone at Continuo Foundation gives their time and expertise pro bono.
If you'd like to contribute or renew your support for our work, please contact Tina Vadaneaux on tina@continuofoundation.co.uk to discuss how you can make a difference for musicians and audiences across the country.
DIGITAL HUB FOR THE PERIOD PERFORMANCE SECTOR
Working with a pro bono team led by Continuo trustee and partner at McKinsey & Co., Ben Vanderspar, Continuo are making good progress on our project to create a digital hub for the UK’s world-renowned period music sector. The hub will aim to provide the tools and the platform to enable ensembles and musicians to magnify their visibility and marketing effectiveness. Leveraging technology to grow the period music community, and to help musicians and audiences overcome the challenges they face, will form an important part of our future activity alongside grant making.
The digital hub will be designed to reinforce and scale up the impact we have made so far and the geographical reach of period performances. The map below illustrates the 78 locations of performances supported by our Grant Rounds 1-3.
We are currently seeking to identify a small number of donors to join those already committed to supporting this transformational project, and have commenced the search for Continuo’s first paid role - a full-time Product Manager to lead the project and build the community.
If you would like to know more about the digital platform project, or the Product Manager role, please contact Tina Vadaneaux by email on tina@continuofoundation.co.uk.
MAY PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
Linarol Consort – ‘Epitaph for a Green Lover’
The Linarol Consort and soprano Héloïse Bernard toured their programme of music from the Songbooks of Marguerite of Austria, one of the greatest female patrons of the arts. Performances took place in churches in Discoed, Glasgow and North Curry (Somerset) as well as in Kippilaw House in Melrose (Scottish Borders). Please click on the video below to hear an excerpt of music from this programme.
Gabrieli Consort & Players – ‘Venetian Coronation’
The first of a three-location UK tour, this concert opened the London Festival of Baroque Music, dedicated to the music of Venice. This lavish performance reconstructed the 1595 coronation mass of the Doge Marino Grimani, balancing festivity and solemnity in music by Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli. The tour will continue to Manchester (12 July) and York (13 July) - for booking details please see our Events Calendar.
The Prince Regent’s Band – ‘The Best in Europe’
The Prince Regent’s Band brought a fascinating collection of historic brass instruments, many on loan from The Bate Collection of Musical Instruments, to the Holywell Music Room in Oxford for a one-of-a-kind concert. The varied programme featured works which would have been played by the original 19th century elite wind band after whom the ensemble is named. The tour will continue with performances at Crossness Engines (10 August) and in Herefordshire (14 September) - for details please see our Events Calendar.
The Rose Consort of Viols – ‘Thomas Weelkes: music apt for voices and viols’
The Rose Consort of Viols and the Choir of Chichester Cathedral made a recording of music by Thomas Weelkes, the great Elizabethan composer and Organist of Chichester Cathedral, to mark the 400th anniversary of his death in 2023. The musicians held three days of recording sessions, a lunchtime concert performed to an audience of 450, and a viol workshop for the young choristers.
