Help Britten Sinfonia Play On

Help Britten Sinfonia PLAY ON

“We definitely need more live classical music outside of our biggest urban centres – in smaller cities, towns and rural spaces. Fortunately we have a successful model for this, widely considered to be the UK’s finest chamber orchestra – inventive in its public approach, accessible and creative. This is, of course, Britten Sinfonia. Hearing less of – or even losing – this vital ensemble is not an option, especially in its East of England centres. Please support Britten Sinfonia’s Play On appeal.”

– JUDITH WEIR (Master of the King’s Music)

BRITTEN SINFONIA WITH JOSEPH TAWADROS

A DIFFERENT KIND OF ORCHESTRA

BRITTEN SINFONIA PERFORMING MAX RICHTER’S RECOMPOSED

Britten different orchestra

Britten Sinfonia is a different kind of orchestra

For 30 years Britten Sinfonia has been pushing the boundaries of what a chamber orchestra can do.

We’re rooted in the East of England, yet we also have a national and international reputation as one of the best ensembles playing today.

We’re known for our adventurous programming and stunningly highquality performances, but also for our acclaimed nurturing of new talent and work with schools, hospital patients and communities across our home region.

Britten Sinfonia is defined not by the traditional figurehead of a principal conductor, but by the dynamic meeting of outstanding individual players and the broad range of their collaborators..

WITH A PROBLEM TO SOLVE

In 2023 Britten Sinfonia is being cut from Arts Council England’s National Portolio. This is a 100% cut of our regular funding. amounting to £1 million over three years.

That means everything we have created and planned is at risk.

The loss of Britten Sinfonia would mean the loss of our exhilarating performances in world-renowned concert halls, our dedication to nurturing and commissioning exciting composers, and our deeply rooted and widely acclaimed provision of excellent music making across East of England schools, communities and hospitals.

We have already taken many measures to reduce costs across all aspects of our operation.

But even with these measures in place, we will need support from generous individuals and institutions.

That’s why Britten Sinfonia has launched Play On.

PLAY ON APPEAL

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Play On is the most urgent fundraising appeal in our history.

We are asking everyone who cares about excellence in music and the arts to consider supporting the orchestra.

The crowdfunding part of the appeal has successfully harnessed a groundswell of support for the orchestra. In the first week of the appeal we received hundreds of donations, ranging from £10 to several thousand. See playon.brittensinfonia.com

been coming to see Britten Sinfonia in Norwich for about 15 years, and they’re just so lovely. Whatever mood you’re in when you come in, you just sit there and listen to the music, and you go out as a better person.

Audience member, Norwich

MAJOR GIFTS

Our crowdfunding campaign is going well, but to meet our goal of £1 million over three years, we also need to work with a smaller group of major donors who are passionate about our work. Our major gifts programme is bespoke and can be moulded to meet your particular interests, whether it’s our concerts, our Learning and Participation programmes, composer commissions, recordings, tours, or the valuable support of our core operational costs - the support that we are losing from the withdrawal of Arts Council England’s regular funding.

PLEASE GET IN TOUCH

If you are interested in discussing major giving, please contact Nick Brealey, Development Director, on nick.brealey@brittensinfonia.com

BRITTEN SINONIA WITH VIVI VASSILEVA & GREGOR MAYRHOFER Aldeburgh Festival, Snape Maltings © Britten Pears Arts

YOUR CHANCE TO MAKE THE DIFFERENCE

COLLABORATIONS

BRITTEN SINFONIA WITH ANOUSHKA SHANKAR, MANU DELAGO & JULES BUCKLEY

Photo: Mark Allan

Britten Sinfonia is known for its collaborations across multiple art forms and genres of music, bringing vibrancy and freshness to performances and delivering exciting, thought-provoking experiences to audiences across the East of England and beyond.

We work with the most dynamic composers, conductors and soloists, and collaborate across genres including dance, opera, jazz and film.

Our recent collaborators include trumpeter Alison Balsom, sitarist Anoushka Shankar, South African cellist-vocalist Abel Selaocoe, Oud player Joseph Tawadros, Pagrav Dance Company, Opera Rara, and Amazon rainforest photographer and campaigner Sebastião Salgado.

Performing new music is in our DNA, and over 30 years Britten Sinfonia has commissioned almost 250 new works. Numerous composers with whom we worked early in their careers are now celebrated international names, including several of those who feature in our Play On launch film and supporting our appeal.

To name just a few of these composers: James MacMillan, Nitin Sawney, Sally Beamish, Helen Grime, Ryan Wigglesworth, Anna Meredith, Nico Muhly, Judith Weir, Dobrinka Tabakova, Peter Maxwell-Davies, Thomas Adès, Steve Reich, Caroline Shaw, Mark-Anthony Turnage, and Anna Meredith

Britten Sinfonia is committed to continuing this tradition by working with both established composers and exciting emerging names, through programmes such as our two annual Opus schemes to identify and develop new composing talent.

COMPOSERS

COMMUNITIES

PUSHCHAIR PLAYLIST

Music on Your Doorstep in Stowmarket

© Dibs Photography

Britten Sinfonia works with communities across the East of England, focusing on areas with low levels of arts provision.

Over the last decade we have worked with nearly 100 schools across the East of England. In March 2023 alone, Britten Sinfonia has worked with more than 2,500 children in 15 Peterborough schools.

Our Music On Your Doorstep project sees groups of Britten Sinfonia players working in rural and culturally under-served communities, offering Pushchair Playlists mini-concerts for parents and toddlers, Musical Memories sessions for people living with long-term health conditions, and short evening concerts for the whole community.

Throughout the year our players work on hospital wards and in waiting rooms at CUH Addenbrooke’s, bringing welcome relief and unexpected joy to patients and nurses alike.

We also work with prison residents at HMP Whitemoor, enabling them to use music making as a focus for self-improvement and rehabilitation.

THE LOST LETTERS

Come Together, Saffron Hall

Live

PARTICIPANT

Photo: Orchestras

“The project has taught me that living with my illness doesn’t mean my life is over.”

ABEL SELAOCOE

Surround Sound, Norwich Cathedral

© Dibs Photography

LAURA VAN DER HEIJDEN AND BRITTEN SINFONIA

AT THE HALLS, NORWICH

“Britten Sinfonia was one of the first organisations to give me a chance as a young composer and they took an enormous risk and commissioned a lot of work in a short period of time. I owe so much of my current life to their generosity, and I know I speak for generations of young, and youngish composers and performers and presenters when I say that Britten Sinfonia’s work is so key and so crucial. I cannot encourage you enough to support them in every way that you possibly can.”

NICO MUHLY composer

“BRITTEN SINFONIA’S RECORD IN BRINGING ORCHESTRAL MUSIC TO THE EAST OF ENGLAND HAS BEEN STELLAR”

- The Telegraph (March 2023)

HELP BRITTEN SINFONIA PLAY ON

Britten Sinfonia has built up a unique brand of music making and community involvement over 30 years. These deep roots and this level of excellence cannot be replaced or replicated.

We hope you will share our enthusiasm for what we do and will want to become involved as a major donor.

We look forward to talking to you and inviting you to see Britten Sinfonia for yourself.

To discuss our Play On major giving programme further, please contact Nick Brealey, Development Director: nick.brealey@brittensinfonia.com

FOLLOW THE APPEAL

playon.brittensinfonia.com

#PlayOn #BrittenSinfonia

Instagram: @brittensinfonia1

Twitter: @brittensinfonia

Facebook: brittensinf

OLIVER PASHLEY

Sub-Principal Clarinet

© Benjamin Ealovega

“BRITTEN SINFONIA OUGHT TO ENJOY NATIONAL TREASURE STATUS”

- The Telegraph (March 2023)

“ONE OF OUR MOST INNOVATIVE AND VITAL ENSEMBLES”

- The Guardian (February 2023)