The Arts Council has a difficult job. The allocation of a limited pot of funds amongst a hugely diverse range of visual, dramatic and musical applicants from single individuals to the great arts institutions operating on the world stage.
Not an easy task. As a result they do sometimes make seemingly inexplicable decisions – such as the one last November to cut the Britten Sinfonia from their ‘National Portfolio’ thus depriving the orchestra of around a million pounds worth of funding over the next three years.
It is quite hard to discover on the Arts Council website, any guiding principles which inform their decisions. However it would seem that successful applicants need to show that they take arts to parts of the country that are currently culturally deprived and that they have active outreach programmes, working with schools, hospitals, care homes, prisons or any group that might benefit from and enjoy being involved in some form of artistic activity.
So who are the Britten Sinfonia?
The Britten Sinfonia was established in 1992 as a flexible group of leading soloists and chamber musicians. Not wishing to be tied to the artistic vision of a principal conductor or any musical genre or period, their aim was to collaborate with composers and guests across all the arts. Based in Saffron Walden in Essex but with residencies in Norwich, Cambridge and the Barbican in London, they can focus on the local community but still operate at the highest level on tour around the UK and the world. (For more details of their history and vision see the About Us and Our story pages of their site.)
Apart from performing, the BS also have two learning programmes for budding composers, Opus 1 for aspiring composers of any age and Magnum Opus for early career composers – and an extremely active outreach programme. They work with local schools, hospitals and prisons – in each involving participants in making, listening to and enjoying music. And all of these within Essex, Suffolk and the further reaches of East Anglia – accepted as being an area which is otherwise poorly served musically.
So why have they lost their funding?…..
Why indeed? The orchestra seems to tick all of the relevant boxes. They operate outside any major centre in a culturally deprived part of the country, they encourage innovation and collaboration across the arts and they have an extremely active outreach programme into all parts of the community….
Play On Appeal
As yet there is no answer – nor any reprieve. So the orchestra has taken matters into its own hands aiming to fill this gaping financial hole with public support and donations – their Play On Appeal.
The campaign is supported by many of the best known names * on the musical scene who have come together to launch the appeal – you can watch their film on the appeal page here or on YouTube.
As they say, Britten Sinfonia is a different kind of orchestra:
‘Setting the standard for bold musical experiences.
Inspiring communities across the East of England with internationally acclaimed music making.
Building connections with other art forms and musical genres.
Creating breakthrough opportunities for the next generation of composers and performers.’
If any reader has been to any of their concerts, they will know how great, exciting and imaginative the work of the Britten Sinfonia is. This cannot be allowed to wither through lack of support.
Any support will help – £5 is welcome, £500 more so and of course if you can run to £5,000…..
And if you want to check out whether they are really as good as I am claiming – take a look at their upcoming programme and go listen!
All details about the appeal here on their appeal page and much more about the orchestra on their site.
*The Play On film features (in order of appearance): Steve Reich (composer), Dobrinka Tabakova (composer), Alison Balsom (trumpeter), Dani Howard (composer), Mishka Rushdie Momen (pianist), Benjamin Grosvenor (pianist), Sir James MacMillan (composer), Mahan Esfahani (harpsichordist), Roderick Williams (baritone), Thomas Adès (composer and conductor), James B. Wilson (composer), Judith Weir (composer), Dame Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano, Rachel Moorhouse (primary school teacher, Peterborough), Catherine Pride (nurse, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge), James Mayhew (children’s book author and illustrator), Nico Muhly (composer), Urja Desai Thakore (artistic director, Pagrav Dance Company).
Meanwhile………. Upcoming concerts:
Sunday 7th May – evening – The Hanover Square Quartet
Music by Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn and Emilie Mayer.
Book here – £28 to include buffet supper and wine
Sunday 11th June – Highgate Society Lunchtime concert
As part of the annual Highgate Festival, Highate’s very own jazz group – the Reliables.
£15 to include copious quantities of Bucks Fizz
Thursday 13th July – evening – Thomas Hardy poems set to song
A new song cycle by Arthur Keegan for guitar and voice setting five of Hardy’s poems about his first wife Emma.
£28 to include buffet supper and wine
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