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2024-02-29-accounts

Company Registration number 3705788 Charity number 1080541

Trustees' Annual Report

&

Financial Statements

for the Year ending 29 February 2024

BAMPTON CLASSICAL OPERA Company Registration No: 3705788 Registered Charity No: 1080541

Contents

Page

Trustees’ Annual Report (including Directors’ Report) 2023-24

The Trustees of the Charity (Directors of the Company) have pleasure in presenting their report and the independently examined financial statements of the charity for the year beginning 1 March 2023 and ending 29 February 2024.

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATION DETAILS

Charity Name: BAMPTON CLASSICAL OPERA

Registered Charity number: 1080541, entered in the Central Register of Charities on 3 May 2000

Registered Company number: 3705788

Principal address (registered office): Holcot House, Market Square, Bampton, Oxfordshire OX18 2JJ

The Trustees of the Charity, who are Directors of the Company, holding office through the year were: Hilary Reid Evans (Chairman) Gillian Mary French Nicholas Garthwaite Jeremy Peter Gray Andrew Hugh Penny Damian Edward Riddle (resigned 15 September 2023) Michael St. John Parker

Of these Trustees, Gillian French and Jeremy Gray act as Artistic Directors.

Our Administrator, Anthony Hall, also acts as Company Secretary; he is not a Trustee of the Charity.

Website: www.bamptonopera.org

Bankers:

HSBC, The Peak, 333 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 1EJ

Independent Examiner: Peter Saltiel, Church & Charity Accounts Service Ltd, 7 Planchadeau, 23460 Saint-Pierre-Bellevue, France

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STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

The Company was incorporated in England and Wales on 2 February 1999, under registered number 3705788. It is limited by Guarantee and does not have a share capital.

There are currently 20 members of the Company.

Trustees, who must be or agree to become members of the Company, are appointed by existing Trustees. Trustees receive no salary or remuneration. The Company has introduced an induction programme for new Trustees.

The Board met four times during the year: all meetings were held online. These were supplemented by the circulation of additional information and discussion as necessary, principally by email.

Our Trustee Nicholas Garthwaite was active throughout the 2023-4 year reported on, but we are very sorry to record his death on 30 June 2024 after a long illness. He joined our Board in 2006 and his sharp analysis, firm guidance, genial wit and warm generosity have helped steer the company and its activity ever since. Our deep sympathy goes to his wife Caroline, herself an enthusiastic supporter of our work. Members of the Board attended Nicholas’ funeral on 22 July.

Our Patrons, whose role is honorary but who support us through their interest and attendance, are Bonaventura Bottone, Brian Kay, Sir Roger Norrington, Andrew Parrott, Sir David Pountney, Sir Curtis Price and Jean Rigby.

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

The Company’s Object set out in its governing document is “to advance education for the public benefit by the promotion of the arts, in particular but not exclusively the art of opera”. To further this Object the Company performs a short summer season of opera with regular venues in Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, and London, as well as occasionally by invitation and promotion at other venues and festivals. An annual concert is also held in Bampton Parish Church on or close to 21 December and other concerts and events are arranged when appropriate.

The Company specialises in rare classical-period repertory, sung in English with the libretti usually translated by the Artistic Directors. The Company has revived or given the UK premières of many significant rare operas from the later eighteenth century.

The Company supports outstanding young professional singers and other practitioners early in their careers. Although we do not exclusively engage young artists, we endeavour to seek out and promote emerging talent. Many of our young singers find that their experience with us is educational as we nurture their talents in a supportive atmosphere. Through working with more established musicians and creative teams and receiving the interest of the public and press, their early careers are promoted. We established a biennial Young Singers’ Competition in 2013 to further our support of young musicians.

We present opera in a relaxed and accessible atmosphere at reasonable prices.

The Company maintains membership of Making Music (which provides support services and guidance on a wide range of issues); we have also recently been a member of Opera UK, but this organisation is currently dormant.

The Company relies heavily on a wide range of services provided by volunteers, especially living in or near Bampton, and is very grateful for their enthusiastic work. Many local residents host musicians during the Bampton week, and others provide a range of Front of House services and their warm welcome to audiences

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is frequently praised. We warmly thank Anthony Hall and John Smith for site management and transportation, Pauline Smith and Anne Baldwin for costumes, Andrew Collier for prop manufacture, and Jacky Allinson and friends for running the bar: their services are much valued and save the company considerable expense. We thank our local volunteers by means of a lunchtime reception in Bampton in September.

A Risk Assessment, prepared by the Trustees, is kept under review. This covers issues, amongst others, relating to key personnel, liabilities for accident or damage to property, contractual problems, cancellation liability, venue unavailability, funding, safeguarding and compliance, notably regarding disability. Production-specific Risk Assessments are also drawn up and relate especially to health and safety on stage and within the production action. The Company maintains insurance through the Making Music Insurance Scheme underwritten by Covéa Insurance which includes £5 million public liability cover, £10 million employer’s liability cover, and abandonment cover of £25,000.

PUBLIC BENEFIT

The Trustees have paid due regard to the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit in deciding what activities the charity should undertake.

We offer identifiable benefits:

We stage opera productions (as well as occasional concerts) in rural locations (Bampton and Westonbirt) as well as in London; we thus enable local rural communities to experience a high standard of professional musicmaking, at reasonable prices. We make our operas accessible and enjoyable to those in the public who may not have knowledge of the genre. The high professional standard of our work is testified in press reviews both locally and nationally. Each performance is attended by several hundred people. We are delighted that our audiences include regular opera-goers along with a significant proportion of ‘non-traditional’ public, i.e. those who do not habitually attend live classical music or opera.

We advance the education of the public through our performances themselves, especially as they are generally of unusual and rarely-performed music. We support the educational aspect of these performances with free pre-performance talks, always well attended, by personnel involved in the productions or visiting academics. We also research and commission extensive educational notes to publish in our programme booklets; these notes are also available on our website. The quality of these notes has been praised by leading critics.

Our performers are professional musicians, often at an early stage of their careers. We deliver identifiable educational benefits to them through the process of rehearsal, discussion and performance, under the guidance of the Artistic Directors. We also provide an educational benefit to our volunteers – some of these are students, and others are adults up to and well beyond retirement age: these volunteers experience (often for the first time) different facets of operatic work under our supervision.

Our work has led to newly commissioned editions of previously unpublished music and new English translations (thus, in both cases, enabling greater understanding by the public). These editions and translations are listed on our website and have been used by other companies.

We are not aware that any detriment or harm arises from carrying out our activities.

We provide benefit to the general public:

We provide benefit to every member of the general public who attends a performance. There is no geographical restriction applied to the opportunity to benefit, although our venues are clearly in defined localities. We advertise very widely and on our website, and attract the public from well beyond local areas in the UK (as well as some from abroad). Our venues are wheelchair-accessible. We believe there are no other

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restrictions to the opportunity to benefit.

The high cost of professional productions means that we must charge admission to the general public to attend most of our performances. Nevertheless, we have always aimed to keep ticket prices at a reasonable level in order to encourage access. Half-price tickets are available at Bampton and Westonbirt for people under 16. In Bampton we also offer a quota of free tickets, in agreement with Bampton Parish Council, to those local residents who may wish to attend a performance but cannot afford to do so. Our ticket prices are considered to be very reasonable in comparison to those of other opera companies of similar quality, and our perceived excellent value-for-money is frequently commented on favourably by the press and by our audiences.

We occasionally offer an entertainment (for example a recital or talk, with refreshments) to those who financially support us through our Friends’ scheme, but this benefit is considered to be incidental. We offer a free programme booklet (otherwise sold at £5) to our Friends, if desired. There are no further material benefits to Friends.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCES

2023 was our 30[th] season, a remarkable achievement for a small company. We marked this with two new productions, a celebratory retrospective exhibition in Bampton with an accompanying book, and our sixth Young Singers’ Competition.

Our main summer production was our fourth opera by Salieri, continuing our acclaimed support of this misunderstood composer. Le fiera di Venezia (1772), which we gave in a new English translation by Gilly French as At the Venice Fair , was, we believe, a UK première, and was undertaken with the musicological support of Dr Rüdiger Thomsen-Fürst, of Forschungszentrum Hof-Musik-Stadt, Schwetzingen, providing the unpublished scores. Once again this proved a favourite with audiences and critics. An advance article by Nicholas Kenyon in the May issue of Opera magazine discussed the work and Bampton’s espousal of Salieri . We performed at our established venues: the Deanery garden, Bampton (21 and 22 July) (although heavy rain necessitated moving the second performance into St Mary’s Church), the Orangery Theatre at Westonbirt School (28 August), and St John’s Smith Square London (13 September). The cast of outstanding young singers was mostly new to Bampton – Guy Beynon, Sarah Chae, Iúnó Connolly, Andrew Henley, Aaron Kendall, Ellen Mawhinney and Philip Sheffield, with a small chorus of singer-dancers from the Royal Academy of Music - Harriet Cameron, Tilly Goodwin, Osian Clarke and Owain Rowlands. Thomas Blunt conducted, Jeremy Gray directed, with Harvey Evans as associate director and Karen Halliday as choreographer. As customary, the Bampton Opera Orchestra played at Bampton and Westonbirt, and CHROMA in London. Reviews were again very complimentary. Amongst many others, Opera Now commented how, in our 30[th] year, our “quirky garden stagings have drawn universal admiration. Funpacked treatments have tickled faithful audiences time and time again, and yearly attract more. No surprise.” Music OMH deemed it “a memorable evening” – “Thomas Blunt’s conducting was superb, while there were a host of outstanding performances from the cast”. Opera Today praised the “brilliant young cast [who] exploited the energetic charm of Salieri’s well-paced score”.

Our second production was of Haydn. The Northern Aldborough Festival in Yorkshire invited us for a second visit, with a double-bill of Haydn’s delightful early comedies: La canterina (The Singer) and Lo speziale (The Apothecary). Mark Austin conducted the Mowbray Ensemble and Jeremy Gray directed the production in St Andrew’s, Aldborough on 15 June. We followed this in the autumn with further performances of The Apothecary alone, at three venues: for the prestigious music series run by Bob Boas at 22 Mansfield St, London W1 (5 September), in the gardens of Penn House, near Amersham (8 September) and a return visit to the Barn at Old Walland, Wadhurst, E Sussex (9 September). The first two of these were piano-accompanied, and at Old Walland with players from the Bampton Classical Opera Orchestra. The singers were Guy Beynon, Iúnó Connolly, Henry Ross, and Madeline Robinson. All performances were well attended and appreciated.

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A retrospective exhibition about the company marked thirty years of performances, held in the Lewington Room in the Old Grammar School, Bampton from June to August (with a Private View on 12 June). It was hosted and arranged by the Bampton Community Archive which also produced an illustrated 50-page booklet for sale, written by Jeremy Gray. The exhibition presented our history and achievements through illustrated display boards and an appealing selection of costumes, props, artefacts, books and press coverage.

The heats for our sixth biennial Young Singers’ Competition ran through November, and we presented the public final for the first time in the Leonard Wolfson Auditorium at Wolfson College, Oxford (25 November). There were 58 entrants across all voices, and their high quality necessitated that eight were selected to perform at the Final, rather than the usual six. Mezzo-soprano Melissa Gregory won first prize and countertenor Kieron-Connor Valentine the second. André Bertoncini was awarded the piano prize. The adjudicating panel comprised Bonaventura Bottone, Jean Rigby and Ingrid Surgenor. Our Competition has become an important feature of our work to support young artists and is widely respected.

Our annual Christmas ‘St Beornwald’s concert’ was in St Mary’s Bampton on 19 December – a festive programme of Spanish and New World baroque Christmas music, entitled ‘Feliz Navidad’, including music by Padilla, Guerrero and Victoria. Andrew Griffiths directed the consort of the Bampton Classical Voices: the event provides a welcome opportunity to hear professional consort singing in rural West Oxfordshire.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Income for the financial year was £154,508 (2022-23: £132,407).

Income earned from tickets was £51,416 (2022-23: £45,923) including programmes, bar and advertising.

Expenditure for the financial year was £153,409 (2022-23: £127,000).

In order to maintain ticket prices at a reasonable level and so increase accessibility for the general public, the company depends on raising significant extra funds from donations and grants. We were supported by grants from Bampton Parish Council, Bampton Village Community Shop, Bishopsdown Trust, Maria Bjornson Memorial Fund, Nicholas Boas Charitable Trust, John S Cohen Foundation, Davis Foundation, Fidelio Trust, Doris Field Charitable Trust, Joyce Grenfell Memorial Trust, Michael Marks Charitable Trust, Matthiesen Foundation, Mila Charitable Organisation, Music Reprieval Trust, Patrick Rowland Foundation. The Reed Foundation provided matching funds through the Big Give Christmas Challenge. We are most grateful for all these vital grants which enable our continuing activity. Our Salieri programme book made particular mention of the Joyce Grenfell Memorial Trust, a small trust which has provided support nearly every year since our inception; unfortunately this trust is now closing.

As always, further funding was provided through the generosity of the Friends of Bampton Classical Opera, many of whom have been loyal to our cause over many years. Total income during the year from the Friends and other personal donors was £35,746. We again held a very successful Big Give Christmas Challenge in December 2023, raising funds towards our 2024 season. We qualified for HMRC Gift Aid on the basis of donations during the previous year, and also for Theatre Tax Relief on the basis of our activity.

A Treasurer Account is held with HSBC. We also hold a Reserve Account with COIF Charities Deposit Fund (CCLA Investment Management Ltd). We maintain a reserve of £20,000 as contingency, especially in case ticket sales are poor as a result of adverse weather at our open-air venue. The Trustees believe they have sufficient reserves.

We do not have any other investments and accordingly we do not have an investment policy.

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RESULTS

The results for the year and the financial position at the end of the year are shown in the following financial statements.

This Annual Report was approved on 22 August 2024 by the Board of Trustees (the Directors of the Company) of Bampton Classical Opera, and is signed on behalf of the Trustees by:

Jeremy Peter Gray , Trustee

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Independent Examiner’s Report to the

Trustees/Directors/Members of the Bampton Classical Opera Ltd Charity no.: 1080541 Company no.: 3705788

I report on the accounts of the Trust for the year ended 29th February 2024 which are set out on pages 8-15.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity’s trustees of the Company (who are also the directors of the company for the purposes of company law), you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (“the 2006 Act”).

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited for this year under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (“the 2011 Act”). In carrying out my examination, I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent examiner's statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention which gives me cause to believe that:

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Peter Saltiel Church & Charity Accounts Service Ltd 7 Planchadeau, 23460 Saint-Pierre-Bellevue France

formerly, 69 Portland Place, Greenhithe, Kent, DA9 9FE

Dated 6[th] September 2024

ay

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BAMPTON CLASSICAL OPERA Company Registration No: 3705788 Registered Charity No: 1080541

Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ended 29th February 2024 (Including income & expenditure account)

Income
Income & endowments from:
Donations and legacies
Charitable Activities
Investments
Miscellaneous
Total income
Expenditure
Expenditure on:
Charitable Expenditure
Total expenditure
Net movement in funds
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward		 Notes
2024
£
3
3.1
96,682
3.2
54,755
3.3
2,790
3.4
281
154,508
4
153,409
153,409
1,099
63,243
64,342
 2023
£
85,784
45,923
700
-		 2023
3
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
4
132,407
127,000
127,000
5,407
57,836
63,243

All activities are regarded as continuing.

The above statement includes all recognised gains and losses during the year.

The Notes to the Accounts on pages 10 to 15 form part of these Financial Statements.

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BAMPTON CLASSICAL OPERA Company Registration No: 3705788 Registered Charity No: 1080541

Balance Sheet as at 29th February 2024

Notes 2024 2023
£ £
FIXED ASSETS
Equipment 7 - -
CURRENT ASSETS
Cash at bank 80,745 78,499
Debtors 5 2,322 3,315
83,067 81,814
CREDITORS
Amounts falling due within one year 6 (18,725) (18,571)
NET CURRENT ASSETS 64,342 63,243
NET ASSETS 64,342 63,243
FUNDS
Unrestricted Fund 64,342
 63,243
TOTAL FUNDS 64,342 63,243

The trustees (who are also the directors of the company for the purposes of company law) confirm that for the year ended 29[th] February 2024:

The accounts have been examined by an independent examiner whose report appears on page 7.

The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.

The Notes on pages 10 to 15 form an integral part of these accounts.

These accounts, which have been prepared in accordance with the provisions in the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies, were approved by the trustees / Directors on 22 August 2024 and signed on their behalf by:

Hilary Reid Evans Chair

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BAMPTON CLASSICAL OPERA Company Registration No: 3705788 Registered Charity No: 1080541

Notes to the Accounts

1 Basis of preparation

These accounts (financial statements) have been prepared under the historic cost convention, with items recognised at cost or transaction value, unless otherwise stated in the relevant notes(s), in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued on 16 July 2014 and subsequent amendments, and with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

At the time of approving the accounts, the Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has sufficient reserves and that the charity is a going concern.

There have been no changes in the basis of accounting during the year.

There have been no changes to the previous accounts during the financial year.

There have been no changes to accounting estimates.

1.6 Judgements and Estimations

The trustees have not made any significant judgements in the process of applying the accounting policies and there are no areas of estimation uncertainty that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities.

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BAMPTON CLASSICAL OPERA Company Registration No: 3705788 Registered Charity No: 1080541

Notes to the Accounts (cont’d)

2 Accounting policies

11

BAMPTON CLASSICAL OPERA Company Registration No: 3705788 Registered Charity No: 1080541

Notes to the Accounts (cont’d)

2 Accounting policies (cont’d)

There no employees and no transactions with related parties.

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BAMPTON CLASSICAL OPERA Company Registration No: 3705788 Registered Charity No: 1080541

Notes to the Accounts (cont’d)

3 Analysis of income

3.1
3.2
3.3
3
<<<<		 Donations & legacies
Friends of Bampton Classical Opera
Sponsorship & grants
Other donations
Tax refund
Charitable Activities
Tickets, programmes, bar & advertising
Young Singers' Competition
Investments
Interest
Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous
Total Income		 2024
2023
£
£
17,386
33,914
30,400
23,525
18,360
10,933
30,536
17,412
96,682
85,784
51,416
45,923
3,339
-
54,755
45,923
2,790
700
2,790
700
281
-
281
-
154,508
132,407

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BAMPTON CLASSICAL OPERA Company Registration No: 3705788 Registered Charity No: 1080541

Notes to the Accounts (cont’d)

4 Analysis of expenditure

5
6		 Debtors
Creditors
Notes
2024
2023
£
£
Expenditure on charitable activities
Performers Fees
73,571
66,185
Technical, Music, Set & Costume Costs
31,283
29,537
Accommodation, Catering & Storage
5,900
4,648
Design, Print & Marketing
11,816
12,519
Young Singers' Competition & Prizes
13,099
-
135,669
112,889
Support Costs
Office Expenses & Administration
11,852
8,298
Administrative Support
5,000
5,000
Accountancy
875
800
Companies House
13
13
17,740
14,111
Total Charitable Expenditure
153,409
127,000
Total Expenditure
153,409
127,000
2024
2023
£
£
Prepaid Expenses
2,322
3,315
2,322
3,315
2024
2023
£
£
Creditors
888
800
Deferred Income (released in full during the following year)
17,837
17,771
18,725
18,571

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BAMPTON CLASSICAL OPERA Company Registration No: 3705788 Registered Charity No: 1080541

Notes to the Accounts (cont’d)

7 Capital purchases

Balance
Less Depreciation		 2023
£
-
-

-		 2022
£
-

-
-

8 Staff costs

There are no employees and therefore no employee was paid more than £60,000 per annum.

9 Remuneration to Trustees:

The Trustees received no remuneration and no expenses were reimbursed.

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