Annual Review 2014/2015
Bristol Trust Annual 2014/2015 colstonMusic hall annual reviewReview 2012/2013
Bristolcolston Music Trust Annual review Review2012/2013 2014/2015 hall annual
A year of progress 2014/15 was Bristol Music Trust’s fourth year of activity and one in which our work has really begun to achieve national recognition, and will lead to significant further funding to support our work in the years ahead.
The success of our musical inclusion work funded by the charitable foundation Youth Music has brought a further £415,000 to Bristol for a programme of work entitled “A New Ambition for Inclusive Excellence” over the next five years from September 2015. The Trust will collaborate with expert partners in special education needs and disability, looked after children, and young people from traveller communities to produce a long-term strategy to ensure that an excellent standard of music education is available to all.
kirill karabits, www.shotaway.com
I am particularly proud that the event programme at Colston Hall has continued to grow in depth and ambition and will now be supported by Arts Council England (ACE) as part of the National Portfolio with a grant of £975,000 for the next three years (£731,250 to the Trust, £243,750 to our NPO partner St George’s Bristol). Leading on from successful collaborative projects during the year such as Bristol International Jazz and Blues Festival, the Phillip Glass UK tour, and the extraordinary visit of Kinshasa Symphony Orchestra, the Trust will be working with ACE consortium partner St George’s Bristol and other likeminded organisations to deliver an innovative, challenging and entertaining music programme across the city. The education arm of Bristol Music Trust, Bristol Plays Music, has also continued to develop and prosper, and we are well on the way to achieve
our ambition for Bristol to become recognised as a capital of young people’s music by 2020. We now have a talented and hard-working team in place under the leadership of Phil Castang whose recent high-level experience as leader of the Music Hub in the London Borough of Newham is proving invaluable to our own development. Strong links between programme and education are now being forged, building on our unique position in England as a music education hub based in a professional concert hall, which will ensure a coherent range of learning and performance opportunities for all. Perhaps the most far-reaching development during 2014/15 has been the achievement of real progress with the fundraising for our ambitious plans to transform the dilapidated fabric of Colston Hall. The Trust has focused significant effort and financial investment into a PR campaign that we have called ‘Thank You for the Music’. This campaign, under the patronage of Sir Simon Rattle, has been fundamental in raising the case for a new Colston Hall building both locally and at Westminster. Cross-party support in Bristol City Council (BCC) and among local MPs has resulted in £10 million from BCC and an unprecedented pledge of £5 million directly from HM Treasury. This success has given staff and trustees a new confidence in working towards an on site project date of July 2017. Watch this space for details. Louise Mitchell Chief Executive 3
Bristol Music Trust Annual Review 2014/2015
Growing programme, growing audience
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What the Ladybird Heard, www.shotaway.com
The thinking behind this was to further enhance the artistic reputation of the venue by ensuring the programme not only stood out among the music offers within Bristol, but also nationally in comparison to other similar size concert halls. The financial year of 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015 covers the tail end of the 2013/14 classical season and the beginning of the 2014/15 season and many of the concerts in this period have been successful both artistically and financially. Concerts of note included the Philharmonia’s Glagolitic Mass with the Bristol Choral Society, the Bournemouth
Matmos, www.shotaway.com
During 2014/15 the Colston Hall programme team pulled together a unique programme of own promotions and co-promotions comprising a significant number of shows that could not happen anywhere else in the city. Outstanding shows included John Grant and the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Psycho Live (film screening and live orchestra), Atomic Bomb (the music of William Onyeabor played by an all-star cast of musicians), Ben Folds with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Emmylou Harris with Daniel Lanois, Inala (featuring dancers from The Royal Ballet and Rambert Dance Company dancing to a live performance by Ladysmith Black Mambazo), Shreya Ghoshal, The Transatlantic Sessions, Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra, and the Philip Glass Ensemble (for whom we facilitated a national tour which included shows in Manchester, Basingstoke and Cambridge).
Who is William Onyeabor?, www.shotaway.com
We are developing an ever-stronger artistic profile at Colston Hall and making steady progress in our ambition to increase the number of self-promoted events in both halls as well as looking to increase “festival�-style programming.
Bristol Music Trust Annual Review 2014/2015
Other notable concerts were performed by The Hallé conducted by Sir Mark Elder, the Brussels Philharmonic with Miloš Karadaglic, and the National Arts Orchestra of Canada (as part of our World Changed series in partnership with St George’s Bristol marking the centenary of the First World War), and all enjoyed strong audiences.
During the year 2014/15 there were 180 shows in the main auditorium, with artists brought to us by national promoters including Jeff Beck, David Gray, Bryan Adams, Art Garfunkel, First Aid Kit, Seth Lakeman, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Bellowhead, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Jessie Ware, George Ezra, 10cc, The Unthanks, Underworld, Placebo and Stereophonics. Colston Hall also hosted comedy shows including Frank Skinner, Ross Noble, I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, Lee Mack, Noel Fielding, Alan Davies and Dave Gorman, with a number of shows like Caitlin Moran, Michael Palin and John Cleese.
In addition, children’s theatre was presented in the main hall, with a week of performances of What the Ladybird Heard. Our second space, The Lantern, hosts a diverse programme of shows (178) and Bristol audiences have grown to appreciate the eclectic “arts centre” approach to programming the team has taken. The majority of shows are our own promotions or co-promotions and in the year 2014/15 the programme included Benjamin Clementine, Scott Matthews, Angie Stone, Hauschka, Dele Sosimi, Mick Harvey, EMA, Angel Olsen, Talvin Singh, Martin and Eliza Carthy, Richard Dawson, Frank Fairfield, Woods, Cold Specks, The Necks, Sweet Baboo and Pictish Trail, Anthony Braxton, Barr Brothers, A Winged Victory for the Sullen, Yung Lean and the Sad Boys, Hackney Colliery Band, Diagrams and Sun Ra Arkestra. Comedy performers included Rob Newman, Robin Ince, Kathryn Ryan, Sara Pascoe, James Acaster, Alan Cochrane, Tommy Tiernan, Susan Calman, Seann Walsh, Paul Foot, Shappi Khorsandi and Jo Caulfield.
John Grant and the Royal Northern Sinfonia, www.shotaway.com
March 2015 saw the return of the Bristol International Jazz & Blues Festival to Colston Hall for its third year, a building-wide event that made use of the multiple performance spaces, and with an increase in audience compared to the previous year. The headline artist was Dr John and in order to make this possible the Colston Hall team facilitated a UK tour for the artist. In addition, over 60 free foyer performances took place during the year featuring local and upcoming artists, as well as providing performance opportunities for young people. We have also continued to co-ordinate Routes South West touring programme funded by Arts Council England (£170,000 over a threeyear period ending in June 2015), which is a network of venues and promoters in the South West providing performance opportunities for emerging artists, as well as encouraging established artists to support the development of audiences across the region. 6
George Ezra, www.shotaway.com
The 2014/15 season got off to an exceptional start with the Kinshasa Symphony Orchestra (Orchestre Symphonique Kimbanguiste (OSK)) performing with their choir to a near sell-out audience. The OSK was able to tour the UK thanks to a generous grant from Arts Council England but only visited three concerts halls while they were here - London’s Southbank Centre, Manchester Bridgewater Hall and Colston Hall.
Despite classical subscriber numbers falling (which appears to be a national trend) we have still managed to increase audience numbers for our international series with customers buying for individual concerts instead.
pKinshasa Symphony Orchestra, www.shotaway.com
Symphony Orchestra’s Brahms weekend and the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra.
Bristol Music Trust Annual Review 2014/2015
“World-class sound in a stunning building, Colston Hall’s operatic setting gives even larger shows an intimate feel” Gigwise 7
Bristol Music Trust Annual Review 2014/2015
Delivering accessible music making for all
“I was proud at the performances and having my friends and family come to watch”
2014/15 has been the first full year of activity for Bristol Plays Music. We have been working hard to establish a diverse new programme of activity that has reached more children and young people than ever before.
Sound Splash participant
In August 2014, the Trust made a key appointment with Phil Castang joining us as the new Head of Bristol Plays Music, with the remit and experience to navigate an ever-changing musical education landscape.
100 young musicians and teachers were excused from regular lessons for the afternoon to hear Miloš talk about music, demonstrate his skills and explain his approach.
During the year both Bristol Plays Music at Colston Hall and at the Southmead office continued to offer high-quality participatory music programmes reaching over 30,000 children in Bristol and beyond. At Colston Hall 20,000 children from schools across Greater Bristol took part in initiatives that would introduce them to the joys of experiencing live music, often for the first time, or to perform in one of many massed participatory events.
Home by Christmas, specially commissioned by Bristol Plays Music to mark the first months of the First World War, brought young musicians and professional soloists together and featured a massed choir of over 300 children and adults from secondary schools, the University of the West of England, and Gurt Lush Choir, to perform together with the Bristol Schools’ Philharmonia, in a moving semi-staged performance.
Gaining access to the programme at Colston Hall has meant that Bristol Plays Music can offer more unique musical experiences to young people across Bristol. In September 2014 we joined with the Hallé Orchestra and Southbank Centre to organise a tour with the Kinshasa Symphony Orchestra. As part of this landmark event, Bristol Plays Music ran a unique programme of creative learning for some of Bristol’s most talented young musicians. This work culminated in a special foyer stage performance with members of the Kinshasa Orchestra and young musicians.
The MixRadio Remix Academy creative development programme at Colston Hall continues to attract young people from across the city, and has been further supported by the Garfield Weston Foundation.
The value of taking Colston Hall artists out to schools in the community was felt strongly at the end of November when superstar guitarist Miloš Karadaglić joined a unique Bristol Plays Music open masterclass at Bristol Choir Cathedral School. Over 8
Remix Takeover, the young person-led project, promoted a show with Bristol-born Tanya Lacey. This brought a new audience to Colston Hall where 75% described themselves as first-time visitors. In February 2015, the Remix Youth Ensemble had its second composition week, a dedicated group of young musicians visited M Shed for a series of creative workshops exploring past, present and future Bristol communities as an official part of the Bristol 2015 European Green Capital. The Ensemble also worked with local artist Typesun to compose a
Bristol Music Trust Annual Review 2014/2015
Our commitment to delivering accessible music making for all children and young people in the South West has never been stronger and the Sound Splash musical inclusion programme, funded by Youth Music, has continued to have a significant impact. We worked with 216 young people in various challenging circumstances. Projects delivered 180 music sessions across seven cold spot areas where little or no musical activity currently takes place including Bath and North East Somerset, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and Somerset. Bristol Plays Music has continued to support music leaders with continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities. Sound Splash provided the capacity to build a continuing CPD network for those working with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) across Somerset. 120 music leaders participated in specialist training programmes and 262 music leaders participated in conferences, including the South West regional Sounds of Intent special educational needs conference and Meeting Points: Raising Cultural Awareness, which were both hosted at Colston Hall.
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Bristol Plays Music at Southmead delivered music tuition projects and workshops to pupils of all abilities and backgrounds. We delivered individual or small group peripatetic music lessons to over 3,000 pupils in 75 schools across the city each week and developed the quality of tuition through regular lesson observation and feedback sessions for our tutors. In 2014/15 nearly 17,000 hours of music were taught to young people in schools across the city. Many pupils also worked towards graded music exams, which helped motivate them and enhanced their musical progression. We also ran whole class music projects in most primary schools, giving many pupils their first musical experience. The team ran five weekend and evening music centres with almost 500 pupils of varying ages, ability and instruments playing in 19 weekly ensembles and orchestras. They offered the chance to rehearse and perform together with performances taking place at Colston Hall, St George’s Bristol and the Victoria Rooms. Bristol Sings Music has continued to develop its growing partnership with Bristol Plays Music and in January 2015 was brought together under the Bristol Plays Music umbrella. With the new focus on access and quality, singing specific CPD training continued to thrive.
Strategic vision Our strategic vision for the next three years is to ensure that: • Colston Hall continues to develop as a strong, confident, creative, and artistically vibrant musical brand, with a reputation for creative excellence and diversity. • BMT continues to be financially secure and commercially astute, maximising funds available for artistic and educational objectives, and building a responsive, fit for purpose business infrastructure. • Plans for the building redevelopment are further developed to deliver an inspiring and pragmatic vision for the Colston Hall of the future. • Robust plans are developed to maintain artistic profile during the closure period. • BMT continues to support young people’s music making through Bristol Plays Music, and our vision is to make Bristol the ‘UK capital of Young People’s Music’, providing equality of access to performance and educational opportunities in
partnership with our venue, and developing a leadership role in all aspects of music education city wide. • By 2020 our innovative music education programme has pledged to make an impact on every single child in Bristol as we channel the power of music and the arts into future generations across the region. • We continue to build creative partnerships with local, national and international artists and organisations, to inspire and energise our music and educational programmes. • We continue to develop our organisational culture to be creative, flexible, collaborative and professional; and to motivate our people to improve performance with appropriate HR policies and procedures, training and development, and managerial support. • The Colston Hall building develops as a welcoming, lively music-hub for the city. 11
www.shotaway.com.
new piece and performed material they created to Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander on a visit to Colston Hall.
Bristol Music Trust Annual Review 2014/2015
“The transformation of Colston Hall is vital for music making in the UK. I am delighted to give the campaign my support” Sir Simon Rattle, Artistic Director, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Transformation campaign Since Bristol Music Trust took over management of the Hall in 2011, BMT have been working to raise awareness and money to finish what we started and secure £45 million for the next stage in our redevelopment plans – the transformation of our main hall and historic foyer. This investment will help us to become one the best arts and learning facilities in the country.
We launched a campaign called ‘Thank You for the Music’ in 2014, and through the hard work of BMT staff and supporters we have raised over £15 million after commitments from Bristol City Council and central government. We will be working on a public support campaign to raise awareness of our transformation plans in autumn 2015, and and have a detailed plan in place to raise the remaining money before we close in 2017. We are also working on ambitious plans to continue to present a musical programme during our closure period, to ensure BMT continues to be at the heart of musical life in Bristol when Colston Hall is closed. Key facts about the redevelopment The transformation will enable us to remodel and upgrade the existing venue, making it one of the most comprehensive and attractive facilities in the UK. The transformation will include: • R emodelling the existing main auditorium, with major changes to the stage and equipping it with
international standards of acoustics, comfort and flexibility • R edeveloping the second hall, known as The Lantern, into an elegant and versatile performance venue and space for large workshops and rehearsals • Th e introduction of flexible seating technology to enable the venue to be used for a range of purposes, from arts performances to festivals, corporate events and graduations • O pening up the historic cellars for the first time in 100 years • C reating three sound-proofed large studios, a self-contained suite of four spaces for music education and practice rooms, two creative cubicles and a recording studio • C reating a social area and library for less formal presentations or gatherings • R estoring the historic core of the building and the Colston Street frontage to its Victorian magnificence. For more information on our redevelopment campaign visit www.colstonhall.org/ transformation/ 13
Bristol Music Trust Annual Review 2014/2015
Bristol Music Trust Annual Review 2014/2015
Our year in numbers
Total incoming resources for the year ended 31 Mar 2015: £6,552,682
Voluntary income £1,861,033 Bristol Music Trust’s fourth year of activity from 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015 has been a year of growth and increasing financial stability and has resulted in a net increase in funds of £51,607 on total incoming resources of £6,552,682. Due to strong performances across all activities our overall operating surplus has exceeded budgeted expectations at £126,153, which in addition to the £485,024 brought forward from 2013/14, gives £611,177 unrestricted funds to be carried forward into 2015/16.
94.5% of customers are fairly or very satisfied with the customer service at Colston Hall In 2014/15 we:
There has been a net reduction in restricted funds over the year of £74,546, offset against a £150,036 balance brought forward from 2013/14 due to the timing of grant activity, and £75,490 will be carried forward. The total level of free reserves (that is funds not tied up in fixed assets or designated or restricted funds) is £323,934 as at the end of 2015/16, and the Trustees forecast that Bristol Music Trust will operate with relatively low levels of free reserves prior to the completion of the Phase 2 development of Colston Hall.
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These figures are extracted from Bristol Music Trust’s full statutory Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements which were approved by the Trustees on 26 October 2015, and on which the auditors RSM UK Audit LLP gave an unqualified audit report. The full report will be submitted to the Charity Commission and to the Registrar of Companies and is available on the Colston Hall website.
held 60 free foyer performances
Activities for generating funds (BMT Enterprises Ltd)
£3,812,789
Investment income £869,907
Charitable activities income
£8,953 Total resources expended for the year ended 31 Mar 2015: £6,501,075 £688,591 £17,575
£11,831
osted 428 performances for h which 240,371 tickets were sold, an increase of 21,224 on 2013/14
Commercial trading operations Costs of generating voluntary income Governance costs
57,755
Costs of charitable activities
served 57,755 bookers, an increase of 9% on 2013/14
£5,783,078
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182
Total funds carried forward at 31 Mar 2015: £686,667 £51,607
presented 182 Hall 1 shows £150,036
Unrestricted funds b/f 1 April 2014
184
Net incoming resources 2014/15
hosted 184 shows in The Lantern
14,989
Restricted funds b/f 1 April 2014
£485,024
played host to 14,989 artists and musicians
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Thank you to our partners and supporters colston hall annual review 2012/2013
Principal Supporters Arts Council England Bristol City Council Major Corporate Sponsors MixRadio Renishaw Corporate Sponsors Brewin Dolphin Cadman Wealth Planning CAPITA DAC Beachcroft Dunkleys Gregg Latchams Irwin Mitchell IM Quilter Cheviot Corporate Partners Arup Brewin Dolphin In-Kind Support Averys Wine Merchants BBC Music Magazine Bristol IT Company DAC Beachcroft Digital Visitor Ents 24 Evans Audio Hotel du Vin Ivory Flowers
*calls cost 5p per minute plus your phone company’s access charge
Gold Patrons Nisbet Charitable Trust HM Lord-Lieutenant of Bristol Silver Patrons Richard and Joanna Bacon S and Y Chapman Beth and Steve Evans Sonia Mills and Peter Rilett Bronze Patrons Helen Barnfield Rob and Geraldine Davis Michael de Grey Mavis and Eric Evans
Tim and Kamala Grice Mary Henderson Dr Rosalind Kennedy Pascale and Henry Kenyon Steve Pain Nicole Sherwood James Wetz Elizabeth and Paul Whitehouse Patron Scheme Support Brewin Dolphin Trusts Dame Violet Wills Will Trust Garfield Weston Foundation PRS for Music Foundation Quartet Community Foundation The Monument Trust Youth Music Trustees Michele Balfe Marti Burgess Simon Chapman (Honorary Treasurer) Cllr. Simon Cook Paul Fordham Henry Kenyon (Chair) Marie McCluskey Sir Brian McMaster Andrew Nisbet James Wetz NPO Consortium Partner St George’s Bristol Artistic Partners Arnolfini Asian Arts Agency Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Bristol Ensemble Bristol International Jazz & Blues Festival British Paraorchestra English Folk Dance and Song Society IMG Artists Making Tracks Music Beyond Mainstream
Out of the Machine Routes South West Spike Island University of Bristol Education Partners Bristol Plays Music works with all schools in Bristol and all Music Education Hubs in the West of England Access to Music ACE CIC Attitude is Everything Basement Studio BBC Ten Pieces/Music Day Bris Arts Bristol Cultural Education Partnership Bristol Institute of Modern Music Bristol Old Vic Bristol Youth Links City of Bristol College Conductive Music Creative Youth Network DBS Drake Music Gathering Voices Hope Virtual School Knowle West Media Centre MixRadio Music Education Council Music Mark National Foundation for Youth Music National Children’s Orchestra OpenUp Music Real Ideas Organisation (RiO) Remix Academy Sound Connections Soundsense The Ethnic Minority and Travellers Achievement Service (EMTAS) Tomorrows Warriors Trinity College London Trinity Community Arts UWE Watershed Welsh National Opera
The list above represents the partners with whom we were working at the end of the financial year in March 2015. Cover image: Ibibio Sound Machine, www.shotaway.com
Bristol Music Trust Colston Hall, Colston Street, Bristol BS1 5AR box office 0844 887 1500* www.colstonhall.org
Bristol Music Trust is a charity registered in England & Wales (no. 1140898). A non-profit-making company limited by guarantee. Registered in England no. 7531978. VAT no. 108248327.