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IN THIS UPDATE:
6. NEW ALBUM ALERT
IMPACT - FEEDBACK AND FIGURES
In October, four of our grantee ensembles wrapped up their projects, with concerts in Norwich, Chipping Campden, Liverpool, Stroud and Syde (Gloucestershire). Ensemble Augelletti also held the first two workshop/concert days in their outreach project in East London.
Highlighting what is special about early music concerts, with their combination of talent, scholarship and storytelling, we were delighted to read this feedback from a first-time audience member at Norwich Baroque's Enchanting Norwich concert at the Assembly House:
"I had never attended a concert like this before. I thought I might just enjoy some nice music, but not really know what was going on. However, the explanations at different stages of the concert made it extra enjoyable, and made me want to attend this kind of event more often."
Continuo Foundation's impact since inception:
£850,000 awarded to 102 ensembles
1,110 freelance musician beneficiaries
205,000 audience beneficiaries
22 CD recordings released so far
FUNDRAISING - 2025 GRANTS
A message from Tina Vadaneaux, Founder and CEO:
October was a busy month and I have some wonderful news to report.
As I have written previously, our objective in recent months has been to secure the majority of our funding for the next three years. This is to cover the next six grant rounds (£600,000), the running of Continuo Connect, and developing Continuo as an organisation to ensure its sustainability. The significant benefit of securing this funding is that it allows me, and the team, to focus our time and efforts on carrying out the work that supports the early music community.
We are making progress towards that objective.
I am delighted to report that a generous donor has committed £80,000 per annum for three years, as a Principal Supporter, which is both humbling and thrilling. Humbling given the magnitude of the support and thrilling knowing the impact this will have in terms of the ensembles and musicians supported.
Significant effort continues, to see if we can find several further donors who would wish to support Continuo at this Principal Supporter level. We also continue liaising with all of our generous donors (you know who you are) without whom we could not have developed Continuo to where it is today - and without whose vital ongoing support we could not continue to do what we do.
Still lots to do and much support to secure.
Our fundraising costs continue to be zero as I conduct this work on a pro bono basis.
Continuo is on track to launch the two 2025 Grant Rounds of £100,000 each, as planned, and we are working hard to put in place 100% of the January round and 50% of the July round by 2024 year-end. Securing a further £27,500 in the next two months would achieve this target.
If you are interested in supporting Continuo for the first time, or further, please do contact me. I would be delighted to speak with you.
With thanks and warmest wishes, Tina
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CONTINUO CONNECT!
The new Continuo Connect (CC) website marked its first anniversary, a significant milestone in the development of our digital platform for early music. CC is making a fundamental contribution toward our mission to help early music artists flourish, and to open access to this music for people across the UK.
Since inception, 1,700 concerts have been listed on CC, with 250 upcoming as of today. However, we are not just an event listing site; CC is an interactive, multimedia discovery tool featuring 400 Artists, 60 Festivals and over 130 Features (articles and interviews).
The data gathered across tens of thousands of sessions demonstrates that site visitors are exploring multiple pages. Visitors attracted by an event or an article almost always click through to a related Artist or Festival profile, and vice-versa. This cross-pollination results in a richer, more engaging experience for audiences, and enhanced visibility for artists.
Support the artists on Continuo Connect by encouraging friends to visit the site!
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT
with Oliver Doyle
Oliver Doyle is a tenor, musicologist and harpsichordist. He studied music at Durham University and founded Musica Antica Rotherhithe in 2016 as a vehicle for the performance of 17th century opera in a chamber setting. In 2020 he joined a team of researchers who, led by Dr Tim Shephard (University of Sheffield), set out to read every book published in Italy in 1501, looking for references to music. His thesis is on music in lifestyle literature printed in Italy between 1480-1530. This research influenced Musica Antica Rotherhithe's most recent project: Il Gran Capitano della Morte, directed by Oliver, presented a soundscape of Florence during the 15th and 16th centuries. The group will close their 2024 season on 30 November with Abandon'd Ariadne - an exploration of laments from the earliest surviving operas.
How has Continuo impacted your day-to-day life? The support we’ve received from Continuo Foundation has been absolutely incredible. Aside from the funding we received to take our programme I Ritratti on a mini-tour in 2023, Continuo’s enthusiasm for our programming and what we try to achieve in our corner of South-East London is a great encouragement. Like any ensemble, each of our musicians is in several groups, and to see their separate projects flourishing thanks to support from the Continuo Foundation is really exciting, and has done so much to diversify what audiences can go to hear across the country..
What new doors have opened for you since becoming a grantee?
When we first founded Musica Antica Rotherhithe, it was a pretty relaxed vehicle for us to perform music which, at the time, was very rarely performed in the UK. Over time we’ve kept that atmosphere while getting to the point where all of our concerts sell out, but we’re still pretty obscure in the grand scheme of things! Becoming a grantee felt like a real affirmation of what we have achieved to date, and has allowed us to turn our beautiful home venue in Rotherhithe into an incubator for interesting programmes which we can work up and perform more widely in future.
What do you love about being a musician? The thing I love about being a musician is working out creative ways to inflict my musical taste on other people. I’ve never been a fan of being the centre of attention, but I find having a platform to introduce people to new (old) music, and new ways of thinking about the role that music played in its original context, really thrilling, whether that’s in a concert situation or a lecture.
Where did you encounter the most receptive audience? The answer has to be Rotherhithe! Our audience is a mix of people who live nearby and enjoy having a local ensemble, and people who travel from quite a distance because a particular programme catches their eye. I’m a real evangelist for musicians talking to their audience throughout a programme, something I first saw Robert Hollingworth do at one of the first early music concerts I went to as a child. I talk quite a bit between programme items, whether relating a funny anecdote linked with the music, explaining something interesting about a particular instrument or translating a particularly filthy text (which occurs quite often in our programming). Talking to your audience allows them to get to know you as much as it also helps them to understand a little bit more about the music, and I think it has played a huge part in being able to build our audience so successfully.
No.1 listening recommendation? At the moment, anything which features Sollazzo Ensemble. Their recent recordings of the Leuven Chansonnier and collaboration with Capella Pratensis are absolutely wonderful.
More about Oliver Doyle is available in his Continuo Connect Interview.
OCTOBER PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
La Serenissima - Music from the Italian States
In October, La Serenissima embarked on a tour of their programme Music from the Italian States. Concerts were presented in Chipping Campden and in Liverpool, the hometown of director Adrian Chandler. The programme highlights the very high quality of music on offer across what is now Italy, in the 17th-18th centuries. The group performed works by Vivaldi alongside pieces by lesser-known Italian composers including Brescianello, Durante and Valentini. These concerts supported by our grant created a fantastic opportunity to give live performances of many of the works that La Serenissima went on to record in Cedars Hall, Wells at the end of the month. Read more in this feature by Adrian Chandler. Some of the music from this programme will also be performed as part of Giro d'Italia at Wigmore Hall on 18 November. Photo: Sarah Bronnert
Ensemble Augelltti - Augelletti's Aviary
Ensemble Augelletti collaborated with Voces8 Foundation to present their first two concerts with Year 2 children. Each school had a visit to their class, and then joined Ensemble Augelletti in the Voces8 centre for a morning workshop. Students then presented a programme of bird-themed music to an audience of their parents and teachers, performing alongside Ensemble Augelletti and singers from Voces8. Director Olwen Foulkes comments:
For several of the students, this was the first time that they had been into central London (despite living in Tower Hamlets) and the first time singing together. They were so excited by the space, and the feeling of singing with instruments, and each other!
Norwich Baroque - Enchanting Norwich
Norwich Baroque presented their Enchanting Norwich programme at the iconic Assembly House, the first fashionable venue for music, dancing and socialising in the city. The concert aimed to recreate the atmosphere of excitement that must have surrounded the opening of this elegant hall by focusing on the musical life of Norwich in 1754-1755. Pieces from Geminiani's Enchanted Forest framed the concert, alongside works by William Boyce, Charles Avison and Elisabetta de Gambarini. The programme also traced the life of 18th-century English soprano Cecilia Young through arias by Handel and Arne. Read more about the project in this feature and watch an extract from the concert in the video above.
NEW ALBUM ALERT
Dunedin Consort and Nardus Williams - Handel in Rome
Dunedin Consort released their new album, directed by John Butt and featuring soprano Nardus Williams in her recording debut. The album has already garnered fabulous reviews including 5-stars from The Guardian, and 'Album of the Week' in The Times. Exploring Handel's early works from his time in Italy, the cantatas blend myth, magic and human emotion in works rich in invention and virtuosity. Hear more about the making of this album from John and Nardus on their recent Gramophone podcast and in the video below. Handel in Rome is available to purchase or stream here.