TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31ST AUGUST 2024
CHARITY REGISTRATION NO. 1073392 COMPANY REGISTRATION NO. 03685553
Recognition, Reputation and Reach
This year has been one of celebration, collaboration and growth as Bath Philharmonia continued to delight audiences, inspire young people and build capacity across the region’s music education community. Notably, the charity was recognised through scooping two awards – Arts & Creative Award at the Bath Life Awards 2024 and Community Business Award for South West England at the FSB Small Business Awards 2024 – providing brilliant external validation from two well-respected award programmes. We also continued to deepen our relationships with partners in Bath, across the South West and beyond – including schools, young carers organisations and music hubs – and were thrilled to collaborate once again with the His Majesty’s Royal Marines School of Music to offer developmental opportunities for student musicians whilst helping our regular venue in Bath, The Forum, celebrate its 90th Birthday through a powerful programme of cinematic classics.
Our concert season provided uplifting and joyous occasions for concertgoers and performers alike, bringing new music and inclusive repertoire performed by emerging talent to an increasingly diverse audience. Our trademark concert delivery, which breaks down barriers to experiencing live orchestral music, was enjoyed by over 11,000 people this year, many of whom attended their first live orchestral performance thanks to our innovative ‘Bath Phil for Free’ initiative.
We remain hugely grateful to our generous and ever-growing family of Friends, Patrons and Benefactors without whom our impactful work would simply not be possible and equally wish to acknowledge the dedication and expertise of our committed staff team. We’re excited as the Bath Phil Family looks ahead to 2025 when our small-but-mighty charity will celebrate its 25th Anniversary – and everyone is invited!
1
2023/24 Season Highlights
In 2023/24, your support enabled Bath Philharmonia to:
perform 10 orchestral concerts with 11 sensational soloists to a live audience of over 10,000 people .
perform orchestral music by six living female and diverse composers .
- gift 4.5k free tickets to local audiences to encourage them to discover a live orchestra for the first time.
deliver 68 days (or over 476 hours) of creative music-making activities to over 850 young people across the South West performing to over 11,000 people live .
-
welcome pupils from every secondary school in B&NES to our concerts.
-
support over 120 young carers to create and perform their own music.
deliver CPD training to 12 music leaders and school teachers .
2
On The Concert Platform
Bath Phil’s concert season welcomed internationally renowned classical soloists including Arabella Steinbacher (violin), Peter Donohoe (piano) and Nicola Benedetti (violin) to the city. Bath Phil also showcased the talents of emerging British soloists including Lara Melda. World music star, Seckou Keita performed African Rhapsodies with a symphonic sized Bath Phil in the city and a small chamber sized Bath Phil at Budleigh Music Festival.
All concerts highlighted the incredible talent of living female composers including works by Anna Clyne, Dani Howard, Grace-Evangeline Mason and Ayanna Witter-Johnson. Bath Phil gained international profile through performing in Worcester Cathedral and at Bristol Beacon (July 2024) with Rhode Island’s Chorus of Westerley.
“I loved the soloist and the choice of piano pieces (Peter Donohoe/ Shostakovich 2nd piano concerto particularly) and the brilliant rendition of the Chopin waltz encore and the story that Peter Donohoe told which was hilarious. I have been raving about the concert to my friends. It was one of the cultural highlights of my year. A huge thank you.”
“The concert was informal and not elitist. The conductor was enthusiastic and wanted everyone to enjoy the music, which was so varied. I loved seeing the children have fun and being involved in creating what they did.”
Audience member at concert on 28 November 2023
Audience member at concert on 3 October 2023.
“Hearing the kora played with an orchestra was just phenomenal. We love the conductor’s intros to pieces that make them accessible and inclusive.”
“The conductor was brilliant at introducing the orchestra and explaining about the pieces of music, and about the composers. It was wonderful to see a world-class violinist at our local music venue! The young carers’ piece “Penguins” was also a favourite.”
Audience member at concert on 25 June 2024.
Audience member at concert on 16 January 2024.
3
Inspiring Local Communities Through Music
Bath Phil connected with over 11,000 people through the joy of live orchestral music and was delighted to receive The Bath Life Awards’ Arts & Creative award for ‘a record number of people participating and attending concerts and projects indicating vitality and impact of event.’
Welcoming a diverse audience to its professional concerts, Bath Philharmonia gifted over 4,500 free tickets to local residents to enable them to discover their own love of orchestral music. 9% of free ticket holders took up the opportunity of attending a second concert in the season at a discounted rate and we continue to build a more sustainable audience for the future.
Bath Phil co-created new music with over 850 young people with a huge array of life experiences: some live with significant opportunity and some live with significant challenge. The gala concert with King Edward’s School accommodated 275 performers on stage in the most ambitious partnership event to date. Harmony Rising, Bath Phil’s inclusive creative choir for young people in Bath & North East Somerset and its partner choir, Soundstorm Creative Choir in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole enabled over 240 KS3 pupils to co-create and perform their own songs with a chamber orchestra. 120 young people took part in our monthly Creative Orchestra sessions in Bournemouth as our expert Creative Learning team mentored local music leaders to establish a sustainable team of inclusive practitioners that can champion this new form of ‘youth orchestra’.
4
“The quality of the work I have witnessed and the opportunity the students have had to work alongside, composing and performing with professional musicians has been inspiring. They have really enjoyed it!”
Teacher, Twynham School, Bournemouth
“Watching our SEN pupils perform with such confidence in front of a large audience! This was such a huge achievement for them and a proud moment for us and their parents.”
Teacher from Bath School participating in Harmony Rising 2024
“Many of my students are from disadvantaged backgrounds and/or have behaviour issues at school. To give them this life changing opportunity to perform with a professional orchestra at amazing venues with other children from other schools, is something they will never forget. The highlight for me was one of our Looked After students, performing at the Abbey with her birth mum watching. It was a really emotional experience for everyone involved.”
Teacher from Bath School participating in Harmony Rising 2024
Bath Philharmonia was proud to win The Federation of Small Business’ (FSB) Community Award for the South West in Spring 2024 in recognition of the orchestra’s work with young people, local communities and residents in the region.
5
Community Collaborations and Celebrating Musical Creativity
Bath Phil has developed a lasting partnership with the Royal Marines School of Music and performed side by side with their musicians at Sounds of Cinema on 18th May 2024 (The Concert for the People of Bath). But this was more than just a one-date concert. Our partnership approach and commitment to nurturing relationships enabled us through this concert: to form a creative choir of 120 young people from Bath (named Harmony Rising by the young people) to co-create four amazing new songs; we engaged every senior school in Bath (providing in-kind use of workshop and rehearsal space); we guided 20 B&NES Young Carers to create and perform three of their own audio-visual pieces; and helped support Bath Forum to deliver it’s 90th anniversary celebrations in a concert of music from the movies.
“I want to express my gratitude for leading such a wonderful event. The children's performance was particularly touching and deeply emotional. I am a clinical psychologist at A&E in Oxford, working with young people who come to our emergency department after attempting to end their lives. I can confidently say that your project is undoubtedly saving lives, providing young people with purpose, a sense of belonging, community unity, and bonds that foster hope, joy, and love. I want to congratulate you and your team on your
inspiring work. The people of Bath are very fortunate to have dedicated citizens like you and your team. I wish you all the very best and hope that the projects run by Bath Philharmonia continue to touch many lives.”
Audience member at Concert on 22 May 2024
Bath Phil championed the musical creativity of many young people at the very start of their musical journey by co-creating new music with pupils from Wellsway School (Keynsham), Sir Bernard Lovell Academy (Oldland Common), Widcombe Junior School (Bath), Oldfield School
(Bath), Swindon Academy (Swindon) for performance alongside the orchestra at each of Bath Phil’s public professional performances. Our open access approach to co-creating music ensured inclusive participation for many young people at a time when families face the dual pressures of high cost and lack of infrastructure when trying to secure music tuition for their children.
6
Amplifying the Voices of Young Carers
With residencies in Plymouth, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol & South Gloucestershire, Bath Philharmonia continues to be a beacon of joy for Young Carers. Over 120 young carers were supported to co-create and perform their own music in community halls and on the professional concert stage at Bath Forum.
Bath Phil created a new offer for older young carers from across the region to co-create a song expressing their lived experience as young carers. This provided opportunities for these older young carers to act as mentors to other young carers throughout our other projects. This project paves the way for future song-writing and pan-regional initiatives and enabled Bath Phil to explore informal learning opportunities and professional development pathways for young adults that have previously engaged in creative projects as children.
7
Capacity Building - Investing in the Future
Behind the scenes, Bath Phil has recruited a freelance Accounts Assistant (0.1 FTE) and made our Development Manager (0.4 FTE) a permanent appointment. The executive team hosted an MSc student from the University of Bath’s School of Management on a six-week internship that focused on increasing exposure of the Bath Phil brand via social media and exploring corporate sponsorship opportunities. We welcomed a team of students for a consulting project on the business development of our #GoCompose project. The Creative Learning Team have supported two ex-young carers to assist on school and young carer projects and develop their skills in music leading.
Bath Phil has adopted the Association for British Orchestra’s strategy for inclusive recruitment and initiatives to counter sexual harassment in the workplace. Having met with the Head of EDI for the Musician’s Union, Bath Phil is very proud that the MU representative commented that our approach to EDI was exemplary and ahead of the curve within the sector.
One of the charity’s more recently appointed Trustees facilitated an executive team away day and subsequent trustee away day enabling Bath Phil to refine its strategy, articulate its vision and further develop business planning. Staff and Trustees have presented at key industry conferences including Music Mark (the UK association for Music Education) and Association of British Orchestras.
Financial Growth and Stability
The charity’s income has stabliised over the past three years [£399,465 21/22 to £413,335 22/23 £400,126 23/24] as Bath Phil has embedded its innovative approach to concert delivery and excellent provision of creative learning projects.
Bath Phil’s Board of Trustees have formed a Fundraising Sub-Committee that represents the charity within the business sector, ensuring growth within the area of corporate support and widening the reach of the Bath Phil family within the local community. Our unrestricted reserves position has stabilised at £45,000.
Orchestral Tax Relief continues to represent a significant figure within our finances [£77,550 23/24 and £73,683 22/23] and enables us to remain ambitious in our approach to building new audiences and creating positive social impact for our local communities.
8
Our Supporters
Bath Philharmonia continues to benefit from an incredibly generous and ever-growing family of Friends, Patrons and Benefactors. In 2023/24, we received support from 10 new trusts and foundations. We thank The Roper Family Charitable Trust for their continuing significant support of the orchestra.
We are grateful to everyone who enabled, supported, attended and participated in Bath Phil activities in 2023/24. Without you, our continuing impact would not have been possible and we are delighted that you are part of the Bath Phil Family.
9
REGISTERED COIAIPANY NUMBER 036855S3 CHARrrY 14UIABER 10733•3 BATh PHHARMoN FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2W24
FOR THE YEAR EPUD JI AUGUST 2024 P•9• 718
FOR ThE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024 C Avl•¢n A Lyau PMI Dr V H D•vk•• {Ctrth•tr) .w4rthl 1%12r2023 R S 0E¥* . ¥r1 ly1y8 10rn3 SBC 45 Mll•(xn Str••l 8A11DU 8A12NE
FOR M YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024 d tako Pwt In •nd rrwts rThy• rY1Y lo d•al dalty mèrw3•wt cl th• caw. PIk B•n•fft y•w. trw• b••n • dw••w In ChwW• tLtsI £413336 10 £400.12B. T
FOR ThE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024
DEPENDENT EXAMINER'8 REPORT TO THE TRU8TEE8 OF 8ATH pw1 •oction 144(2) ol ts Chwitos A(* 2011 (tho 2011 kl) and that 0Xannl h n••d•d. •xwthi I acLwts 145 oluhi 2011 * s•c4kn 14qSXb) ol Ih 2011 WKI h41d& 8mdl FCA IS APPAL lols
8TATEIAENT OF F1MAPIcACTlYrnES FOR THE YE*JI EIXIED 31 AIM3U8T 2024 2024 lynd• Total Toial 40.612 49.512 134. 103,487 103,487 27295 111914 183.914 191.866 Total X11.790 71. 3n.5M >7.693 Totsl &510 (442901 10,541 42 10.998
REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER 03685 BALANCE WET A8 AT 31 AUGUST 2024 2023 3340 61 4643 19263 Tothi FwMI• 31 Wst 2024. •vJ 387 01 Ihe Comwl•8 Act 2006
FOR The YEAR EWXD 31 AUGUST 2024 kn •vwrt ol th• (•lty 4). In rwp•ca crf Ilw 9thwl••Ij to £1 p )thr¢• w/th RWlr4J St8rnlard applcth UK Rowbk ol (FRS 102) (offfjd l Jarxwy 2019Y, Raprylry s1•r 102 Th FlnwK4d R•pthNJ b) •¢oounlk ExpaThllttK• an fAxnl b•th M • lablmy l• EXP Incl• •ry •) T*Wbl• rd •M•ts . 15% l)al
FOR THE YEAR E0 31 AUQU8T 2024 194161 172.894 21A92 4724 77JSO 67.256 S Cr•dltorn 01.002023 31.M.2024 103.487 71,946 74,326
FOR THE YEAR EIIDED 31 AUOU8T 2024 (K (2023. rq) trnrth al £25.791 kni rn•lfk*od fixKl• dc••d al £111.161. 88,700 5,087 68,817 64,591 11 TM•ii•n