## 2024 Annual Report & Accounts **Including a 3-year summary & accounts 2022-2024** - The Musique Cordiale Trust Charity registered in England, No 1167732 **- www.musique cordiale.org** - The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 _- The Musique Cordiale Trust supports and arranges concerts, educational opportunities for talented young musicians. It is emerging from the pandemic era and is again particularly supporting the Musique-Cordiale Festival which attracts musicians from across Europe but especially from the UK. Among a few indoor performances in 2021 when the festival had to be cancelled, (this in Faversham’s Assembly Rooms) was a Brahms Trio for Cello, piano & Clarinet and MOZART Piano quartet no 1 in G minor, BEETHOVEN: Septet for clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, cello & double bass & HOFMANN: Serenade for flute & strings (in Newnham church) and ALBINONI Oboe Concerto, James Hulme oboe (in Doddington church). The events supported in 2023 and 2024 have taken place in Kent, England and also, once again, in Provence in the south of France. 2024 was the festival’s 20th annual edition._ For grant applications, details of application procedures for bursaries and project - grants and to see the Constitution of the Trust and its statement of grant **-** awarding priorities, please go to: **www.musique cordiale.org.** ( _Please note: The Trust is mainly focused on its own concerts and musical events and on supporting the annual_ _**MusiqueCordiale International Festival and Academy** , now in its 20th year. So grant requests from other organisations or individuals have a low priority at present and are unlikely to be successful)._ **----- Start of picture text -----**
If you are interested in sup- porting the charitable work of
The Musique-CordialeTrust
by one
-off or reg-
ular do-
nations or by
be- coming a
Friend of Musique -
Cor- diale,
please see the
SUP- PORT US
pages on the
web- site.
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- **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** _Graham Ross, director of music at Clare College, Cambridge and Music director of the Musique-Cordiale Interna�onal Fes�val & Acadmy, conduc�ng the choir and a chamber orchestra in Faversham, Kent, performing Handel’s Dixit - Dominus in December 2021. The Musique Cordiale Trust organised this concert and weekend of music._ - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** _- String Academy students (and teacher Levon Chillingirian) in concert in Tourre�es, Pays de Fayence, France. The Musique Cordiale Trust has provided grants to support the students' par�cipa�on and fees for teachers and accompanist_ ## **- The Musique Cordiale Trust** **The Musique-Cordiale Trust, a charity registered in England, was launched in June 2016. It raises funds to promote education and the arts, including the Musique Cordiale Festival & Academy, which was founded in 2005, - - and other forms of high quality musical performance and education, through project funding, small grants & bursaries.** The **objects of the Trust** are to promote education and the arts. To further these objects, the Trust’s goals include the promotion of European understanding of - arts and music, the performance of high quality music, the promotion of musical and artistic talent and the education of musicians from all over Europe. **- - The years 2020 2022, following the emergence of the worldwide Covid 19 pandemic, proved to be a very difficult and different time for music and musicians and for charities which support and encourage them. The past two years since then have featured a slow and partial recovery. The Trust’s income & activities were seriously curtailed in those pandemic years but they were not prevented altogether. Musique Cordiale managed to be resourceful and responsible and did not give in. It staged festivals and concerts throughout that time but with considerable challenges and the need to relocate from its traditional venues—as well as having to scale down its ambitions for a while. But 2023 saw a full revival and 2024 has seen the Trust and its associated French non-ptofit organisation, L’association Musique-Cordiale returning to their previous energetic path. From its inception, The - Musique Cordiale Trust has had a particular focus on:** · helping musicians and singers to participate in opportunities available from conservatoires, academies, schools or tuition, including, in particular, those offered via (or in association with) the **Musique Cordiale International Festival and Academy** or directly organised by the charity itself. Here, assistance has been given to enable musicians and singers to attend, to provide teaching or - to participate in high quality public per- - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** singers, musicians and loyal audiences, as well as genererous and committed donors, we have succeeded in having an unbroken record of annual festivals since 2005 to date. - supporting young musicians or singers who do not have access to funds for tuition, instruments or related costs of musical education - raising and managing funds, so far on a modest scale, to help to support particular activities of music academies and conservatoires, mainly through courses, contributions to music festivals and concerts and by providing grants to enable the contributions of capable music teachers and professional musicians. The organisers of concerts, festivals and learning opportunities provided via public and educational media have attracted the interest of the trustees but their particular emphasis (and that of our donors) has been on supporting and sustaining the organisation and administration of the **Musique-Cordiale Festival & Academy** and its associated musical and educational activities in Britain and Europe. These have mainly focussed on its autumn weekends of choral, orchestral and ensemble music in Kent, GB ( **Musique Cordiale in Kent** ) and the annual international Festival in France each summer. 2019 was the 15th year in which the festival offered the chance for young talented musicians to play, learn, practise and perform together with older professionals in lovely acoustic medieval settings or to receive coaching from well-known players. It also runs a programme, directed by Graham Ross, director of music at Clare College, Cambridge, promoting high quality choral performance, included major oratorios and ‘ _a cappella’_ singing. Unfortunately, the Covid -19 pandemic meant that 2019 was the last year in which the Academy Cordiale could operate fully. In 2020 and even 2021, activities were severely curtailed or, in some cases, cancelled. The 2020 festival and academy was the main victim of this: most musicians, singers, **----- Start of picture text -----**
students and audiences
across Europe lost the
chance of live rehearsal and
performance which became
impossible except alone or
via vitual and zoom sessions.
People have been
resourceful
and imaginative.
Musical education
and careers had
to be put on ice and
sometimes
abandoned.
For a while, 2020
was the year the
music stopped. It is
such a relief that by
2023 and 2024
much had been re-
stored. But, even as
choirs have bounced back and Musique Cordiale events continued and revived, there has been
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- **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** a big worldwide decline in participation in live classical music and schools, especially in the public sector, have often ceased to proved organised musical education. Even as we have also had to reduce our commitment to education of children and young talent, we are glad to have been able to continue to offer challenging and uplifting opportunities for young musicians to enhance their skills and repulations and to bring pleasure to discerning audiences while also attracting new interest and enthusiasm for the genre in a wider public. · _in normal years…._ The Trust and the organisations and individuals that it supports has actively promoted opportunities and vehicles for musical education and promotion and, in particular but not exclusively, the **Musique-Cordiale International Festival and Academy** and rehearsals, concerts under the banner of **Musique Cordiale in Kent** . These has tended to attract highcalibre players (aged 15 + to the Academy, aged 18+ to the Festival and Kent ensembles, with several more experienced professional - players who have life long experience in major international orchestras of the world or as soloists and teachers). The choir attracts singers from renowned university and cathedral choirs as well as a larger number of older members of noted choirs, especially in Britain, Holland, Switzerland, Germany and France. - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** _- Summer festival concerts in Kent in 2020 2022 at a time when travel and the organisation the festivals and the academy in France was severely constrained, particularly indoors._ - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** ## ## **Annual Report 2024** This annual report is a double. It covers the financial years from **1 December 2021 to 30 November 2023. It also provides initial insights into the summer of 2024..** Unlike the 2 previous annual reports, the major items to report therefore largely cease to report on the immediate effect of the **Covid-19 pandemic** , including the much-reduced throughput of funds in Trust accounts in 2020 but also, unfortunately, in the following 2 years too. This time, we can report s slow escape from all those limitations and a slow resurgence both of giving and of activity that the trust supports and helps to organise. – This is reflected in somewhat more promising financial results in 2023 and 2024 though not yet up to the lev- els of more optimistic earlier years. This crimp on so much cultural activity and cross cultural engagement, including ours, obviously derived from the virtual close-down of most forms of live music from March 2020. Initially this included the cancellation, well after it had been carefully programmed and organised, of the 2020 **- Musique Cordiale International Festival & Academy** , whose activities, musicians and students the Trust has supported over previous years. It then emerged that the 2021 and 2021 international Festivals would also have to fall victim to the same curtailment (and loss of optimism and opportunities for shared musicmaking across - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** Europe, for which the Trust and its associated French non-profit **Association Musique-Cordiale** were founded and have always been dedicated). The second UK lockdown in the autumn 2020 also meant that none of the **Autumn concerts** , which the Trust itself previously managed in Kent, could be organised in the usual October-December 2020 time-spot. So it was - rewarding that this report can again highlight both the successful 3 day concert series in and around Faversham which took place in November 2019 – before the pandemic hit - and the memorable one-off **outdoor concert staged in Doddington Place Gardens, which briefly allowed people to meet (entirely out-of-doors) to - make music together (at a suitable enforced pre vaccine distance) after a long gap.** Sadly, this had to happen without box office (and, therefore income) or the substantial ticketed audience that it deserved. But it was achieved in improbably beautiful English warmth and September sunshine. This could feature no role for members of the Festival Orchestra and there could be no Academy. Instead, just four hands on a keyboard (the accomplished Rebecca Taylor and Richard Leach) accompanied our choir, soloists (Frederick Long and Emily Vine) and conductor, Graham Ross, **performing the** _**Brahms Requiem**_ **. This was the major work that had been intended for the final 2 concerts of the international festival** that summer. But at least some of our soloists and - deprived choir members (albeit only those based in the UK) to sing together again. So, with the support of Richard & Amicia Oldfield who generously threw their magnificent **Doddington Place Gardens** in Kent open to us for the event, it was at least gratifying that Musique-Cordiale could, even in 2020, enable choir-members to sing together (in a new idyllic setting) after the first lockdown (and it allowed the choir to meet in more modest gardens to eat and drink and share convivial experiences after such activity had been barred for months. No paid for caterers this year: just repeated home-cooking over 3 days in September! This, with only days to spare, was fortunately legally permissible at the time according to tight social distancing requirements and risk assessments with only 30 performers and preceded by 2 days of similarly controlled outdoor rehearsals and meals. However, it had to exclude both a significant paying audience as well as the young musi- cians that the Trust usually supports and benefits from. Also excluded were ALL of the pan European participants, whose shared involvement is a key theme of Musique-Cordiale gatherings and the raison d'être for the Trust and the association organisations which actually manage events. It was named CORDIALE for a - (pan European) reason. Consequently, our accounts for this period illustrate diminished throughput of funds in the Trust’s coffers during the year in question and this had to continue through 2021 (and indeed 2022). However, in summer 2021, we did manage to help sponsor a _‘mini-festival’_ , still limited to Kent and again without any performers or spectators from outside the UK, but this time _with_ a Box Office. This did attract a new enthusiastic local audience in the beautiful Kentish Downs; they arrived with brollies, tables, chairs and picnics and proved remarkably resilient and enthusiastic, ready to adapt to local conditions, including some wet and windy demands of an English summer. But it was impossible to make it profitable even with all the voluntary contributions offered by musi- - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** - cians, organisers and chef/washers up alike! After the end of restrictions, we have not completely abandoned this new UK audience. We have staged autumn concerts in Faversham in 2022 and 2023; but we have had to - apologise to them because re launching the festival in its original home in France in summer 2023 (with the work and preparations for this starting the previous autumn and winter) has consumed our energies and funds, particularly as public funding for ‘culture’ there has been significantly reduced AND our flow of cash from donors, especially those outside the UK, has significantly shrunk without the 2020-2022 festivals on the European continent to remind them how much they WANT TO SUPPORT OUR EFFORTS! During all this period, it is also notable – and a significant impediment for us and for musicians generally - that BREXIT was implemented in a way that, at least for the initial years, made organising a festival and academy in Europe more difficult for us and added to our costs. Donors are unsurprisingly reticent about supporting music and musicians whose artistry they mostly cannot witness. And this applied particularly to our established supporters whose main enthusiasm was for the Acad- - emies for young musical talent and for the whole idea and experience of pan European music making in the summer ambience of Provence that had been the big pull for audiences and players alike for the previous 15 years. Inevitably, with diminished paying audiences and having to operate with constraints (and no public - - grants) in Kent, our high quality concerts lacked the well deserved acclaim and, by definition, the visibility that remained their due. So, the 2021 summer concert series also incurred a deficit to which the Trust could not contribute to the extent that the trusties would normally have wished.... and which unavoidably but significantly landed on the shoulders of its individual organisers and singers, whose generosity and patience must be recognised here. - However, the outdoor concert experience from 2020 2021 and the special venues for concerts in Kent, including both the outdoor ones in Doddington but also the lovely acoustic (recently restored) **Faversham Assembly** _Summer 2022 Concert en pleine aire in Kent_ - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** **Rooms** did give the organisers the confidence to stage another week-long series of concerts, **MusiqueCordiale in Kent** , in July-August 2022 in the timeslot usually occupied by the International festival - after it - again became clear (and too late after another New Year no travel lockdown) that the 2022 festival could not happen in France that summer. Before that (in the period just covered by the last set of accounts that featured in our 2022 annual report), it did also prove possible to stage a delightful pair of **December 2021 concerts in Faversham** , including a rousing performance of _Handel’s Dixit Dominus_ . This and the associated 2 days of re- hearsal finally achieved a full house (within Covid limits) and our first set of events in 2 years that did not lose money! However, the proceeds were inevitably not enough to offset the accumulated deficits for the organisers (who contributed considerable funds of their own, enabling Musique-Cordiale to survive into 2022 to live - - - another day with support from long standing choir singers and association members and what limited funds - the Trust did scrabble together). These featured some extraordinarily high quality performances, especially by talented young instrumentalists, including several new (to us) young players as well as by established but, still, - - mainly only UK based orchestra members. So, in 2022, we were able to report, once again, on another one week Kent-based summer festival of excellent music-making, **2-13 August 2022** , for choir, small orchestral ensemble and soloists, again directed by Graham Ross and the team led by music director, Pippa Pawlik, ably _The Mozart Requiem, Vivaldi Gloria & Vivaldi Four Seasons (Emma Parslow, solo violin, Graham Ross conductor) were among the outdoor 2021 highlights of_ _**Musique Cordiale in Kent.**_ and enthusiastically supported by a new generation of players who worked very hard and inventively to make it happen. This culminated in a performance of _Le Petit Messe Solenelle by Rossini_ . A larger Musique-Cordiale En- semble also performed what was intended to be a self financing _“Last Night of the Proms”_ **concert for the** **Queen’s Jubilee on 4 June 2022** . It ended up being a great and much-enjoyed outdoor concert. But its initial (pub car park) venue was cancelled less than a month before it could happen and we moved this too to Doddington Place Gardens at the last moment - for which, as we had agreed with them over previous months of planning, we bought a tent, did some (inadequate rushed) publicity and paid the - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** musicians in full. By actually putting the concert on regardless of the cancellation by the venue, we reduced the loss for the day from £14,800 to a ‘mere’ £8,500! Our individual organisers have had to write off this sum personally and it has not accrued to either the association or the Trust. Meanwhile, we can here report on - the popularity of the summer ‘mini festival’ in 2022In the end, it was, force majeure, still in Kent (and again covered its costs only with a big financial input from the organisers and a healthy grant from local Henry Oldfield Trust). It is with relief – but still insufficient funds, though the finances in France are always on a larger scale on both sides of the balance sheet, we can now continue to report here on **2 successful (though very hot) subsequent festivals in France** as we tell our support- ers, many of whom re emerged to buy tickets and season-passes, about the renaissance of the **International Festival in the Pays de Fayence in France, 3-12 August 2023** (though largely without the accompanying Academy, in what we can proudly proclaim was **our 19[th] series of concerts and festivals each year since 2005** . And this time, notwithstanding a bit of a false start, this began to feature a “New Genera- - tion” team of musicians and organisers contributing significantly to the (voluntary) pre season work of planning and organising as well as helping to manage the festival on site! Given the financial situa�on and the need to conserve funds and appe�tes for 2023, the organisers decided not to stage concerts in Autumn 2022 - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** though we did put on a weekend, successfully, in November 2023 to keep local appe�tes whe�ed in Kent! It had, in those intervening years in England, been especially rewarding to have a live audience enjoying the concerts, especially again in **Doddington Place Gardens in Kent,** where the weather did intermittently but eventually allow 3 popular concerts to take place in magnificent surroundings as the evening sun faded dramatically, and more indoors in Newnham, Doddington and Faversham where we have earned new loyal audiences during the **-** pandemic years. In doing so, **Musique** **Cordiale was able, in 2022, to celebrate having put on festivals and concerts for 18 uninterrupted years** , a feat that made us relatively rare in those pandemic times, albeit that the past 2 years had not been the same - and notably lacked too many of our loyal supporters and participants and lacked the pan European appeal. These performances in our 17[th] year, in **Faversham and the Kentish Downs,** included the Mozart Requiem and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, the latter of which we have subsequently performed again, with different artists and in - versions by 2 contrasting composers, in the open air amphitheatre in Fayence in 2023 and in the church in Bagnols-en-Forêt on the penultimate night of the festival in 2024. The big choral work performed, twice each, in 2023 and 2023 were, respectively, _Oratorios of Handel and Mozart_ and Mozart’s _Coronation Mass_ , fitting for the year of 2023, and the glorious _Requiem by Verdi_ in Seillans church, for which we also staged a performance - in the Anglican church in Menton near the Italian French border beside the Mediterranean. During the most recent Festival, our 20[th] , **30 July – 10 August 2024** , **Musique-Cordiale** also semi-staged 2 opera performances of Verdi’s _La Traviata_ beside the bell-tower in Tourrettes and we were able to open up a remarkable new venue for another outdoor performance of the _Requiem_ in a new public park beside the old (disused since 1948) railway station in Seillans, where, on another hot Provencal evening, we also put on a packed-out concert of - French songs featuring a Dutch French vocalist and Dutch musical ensemble (see the concert programme for the 2023 and 2024 festivals for details). The station platform and canopy provided a memorable backdrop to the concerts there. There was no Academy again in 2024 and we have decided not to a�empt an autumn reprise in Kent this year. If events in France prove viable under a changed management team in 2025, we may be able, once again to address, within in limited resources, the full range of the ambi�ous goals of the Trust, suppor�ng the French associa�on and the aspira�ons of young players and singers from all over Europe, to the extent that proves affordable. Our goals remain to help to **access to educa�on and to encourage cultural exchange between talented young musicians and among a wider public in Britain and Europe** . **The text of this report is accompanied by images of these events and our websites include (or provide links to) video recordings of some of the exciting highlights.** _(For videos of 2020 and 2021 performances, please go to the (separate) Musique Cordiale Fes�val website:_ _**www.musique-cordiale.com** )_ ## **Annual Report & Accounts** - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** **The accounts for the years ending 30 November 2022 and 2023 appear on the following 2 pages** . (These — — have been reported separately to the Charity Commision but published together and compara�vely here). They illustrate the degree of the post-pandemic emergency re-emergence of Musique-Cordiale in these recent years. They also show the rela�vely minor but useful contributory role of the Trust and the donors to it in the financing of the Interna�onal Fes�val when it takes place in its fuller form in the Pays de Fayence, France. _[NOTE: There was a failure of the Charity Commission website in late 2023 which resulted in a delay in being able to deposit our accounts there on �me though the accounts were ready and we corresponded and — registered that we were trying to do so with the Commission about this at the �me. Unfortunately, this resulted in a mislabelling of the Trust as a late defaulter in submi�ng account to 30 Nov 2022]._ - A�er the pages devoted to the legally ed a page that shows the **current state of the accounts of the Trust at the end of August 2024** (i.e. a�er the end of the fes�val but before we have full informa�on for the whole of the financial year. We offer this as - background current informa�on only. The final full year accounts will feature in our next annual report in 2025. What these accounts illustrate most of all is that music and arts do not a�ract huge grands or funding from public or private sources in Britain—though choir-singing and amateur playing are is among ac�vi�es that a�ract large numbers of voluntary enthusiasts. The - kind of high quality classical and choral performance by top choirs and by professional musicians does a�ract audiences for some Classic FM-type concerts and Musique-Cordial tend to emulate this approach and to try to tap this enthusiasm while also try to put money and challenging experiences and opportuni�es in the way of young talented players, conductors and singers, for whom many avenues have narrowe in recent years. We invite our supporters and adherents and those who witness our performances or who look at our site and programmes or read our annual reports to SUPPORT US and also specifically to DONATE TIME OR MONEY if you can, **-** to Musique Cordiale in all its forms and, especially if you are UK taxpayer, to contribute to **The Musique Cordiale Trust** —and, if your situa�on matches the requirements, to make a suitable _Gi� Aid_ declara�on to add to the benefits of your generosity to us. A declara�on form follows a�er the accounts. THANK YOU! If you have any ques�ons or issues with this report or with the accounts, please contact us via the website of - the Trust or the separate site of the Fes�val (www.musique cordiale.com) or by email to: **finance@m-c-trust.org.** **— Jonathan Barker, chairman for the Trustees, The Musique-Cordiale Trust** - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** As in previous years, we emphasise, for clarity, that the accounts attached to **this** annual report relate only to the financial activities of the independent English charity, **The Musique-Cordiale Trust.** Although the charity has been a key supporter and facilitator of the Festival and Academy and itself manages musical events in Britain, it is not the organiser or promoter of the festival, which is managed by the non-profit **Mu- sique Cordiale Association,** which has a separate management Committee/trustees. Its annual accounts - - are published separately and usually feature a markedly more significant flow through of funds. The Covid 19 pandemic meant that this was not the case in 2020, 2021 or 2022 although the association did succeed in attracting some limited donations and grant-funding in 2021 and also saw an in-and-out flow of prefestival funds that were largely reimbursed later in the year after the cancellation (in May) of the summer 2020 International Festival and Academy that had been planned for August 2020. **Financial Ac�vi�es : Years ending 30 November 2022 & 2023** - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** **Annual Accounts: Balance Sheets as at 30 November 2022 & 2023** - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** ## WE URGENTLY NEED TO SUPPLEMENT OUR INCOME SO AS TO MAXIMISE OUR CAPACITY TO ADDRESS THE CURRENT COVID-19 HEALTH EMERGENCY STILL AFFLICTING MUSICIANS, MUSICAL EDUCATION AND ORGANISERS OF MUSICAL EVENTS AND VENUES. Grant applications for this essential (charitable) activity have unfortunately far exceeded the capacity of the trustees to provide money, though they remain willing in principle if sufficient dona- tions materialise or if specific fund raising for this is successful in future. For further information, including details of the **Trust's Grant-giving Criteria and procedures and for how to apply for funds OR how to support or donate to the Trust, please visit the Trust’s web-site: - www.musique cordiale.org** _- (Please note that this site is separate from the site of the Musique Cordiale Festival & Academy which is run by a separate French charitable association and which is among the applicants and beneficiaries of grants awarded by the Trust: its website is - www.musique cordiale.co)_ ## **Provisional ACCOUNTS (current year)** **THANKS! Financial Ac�vi�es 9 months (year in progress) & Balance Sheet at 30 August 2024** For their valued recent contribu�ons we would especially like to thank: Friends of Musique Cordiale Eileen Allen Paul Alla� Cris�na Ziener von Bauer Peter Bareau Drs Les Bernhardt & Gill Bernhardt Chris & Barbara Bone Nicholas Brewer Dr Alan Bri�ain & Clare Addenbrook Bri�ain Sarah Bryant Douglas Connell Graham Cooper Alain Deissard Dr Stella Dixon Alison Donaldson Lavinia Ferguson Kers�n Gralher Tim & Heidi Herbert Aart & Carolien Hooymeyer Dr Jill Ladbrooke Evalena Lidman Stewart Jones Danny & Gry Katz Charles Kessler Gavin & Sue King-Smith Nicholas Leader Derek Logan Franz & Teresina Marcus Dr Ambroise Mar�n Irene McGregor the Late Sir Roger Moate Lady Caroline Mus�ll Regula Obrecht Richard & Amicia Oldfield Annie Oakes Andrew Pearson Cecile Panart Marc & Claudine Puel Peter Phillips Sir Michael & Lady Rake - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** Susannah Ross Rosemary Royle George & Marie Rushton Amanda Salmon Jill Saudek & Alva Ramsden Julian Schild Graham Simons Dr Andrew Smith Joy Stodart Basil Strong Michael Struck Schloen Ariane Todes Rick & Joyce Turner Michael & Chris�ne Turner-Samuels Konstan�n Wagner Tim & Barbara Wilson & other much-valued anonymous donors & supporters _A performance of Haydn's Seasons, played - by a pan European orchestra and sung, this �me, in German, conducted by Graham Ross, director of music at Clare College, Cambridge, a�er a week of rehearsal of this and other a Capella works. The engagement of the course director and rehearsal accompanist as well as travel for Bri�sh players and teachers was paid for by a grant from The Musique-Cordiale Trust_ ## **NOTES ON THE ACCOUNTS** The trustees hope to rebuild the sums available to support its goals and ac�vi�es. This will be essen�al as funds are urgently needed (both for the Musique Cordiale Fes�val & Academy/ Musique Cordiale in Kent and for other wider educa�onal goals of the Trust, which the trustees have been barely able to address in the recent Covid-19 dominated years nor s�ll in the current year). We do need to be imagina�ve in seeking to raise such vital support. We hope that those of you who value our ac�vi�es will find ways to give in whatever ways your resources allow! The Coronavirus crisis in 2020-22 hit music-makers of all kinds especially hard. The careers of many talented young musicians remain at risk, their educa�on has been threatened, the organisers of events and the managers of music venues are s�ll threatened with overwhelming costs and a catastrophic decline of adequate income or opportuni�es. Chari�es like the - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** - Musique counts illustrate how much they (we) need support from lovers of music who **want to see classical music and those who perform it survive, recover and thrive.** - The charity operates on very limited admin costs of its own. Publicity, the web site and the grants awarded - represent its main expenditure. Banking with the CAF (Chari�es Aid Founda�on) Bank has resulted in a low - cost, appropriate and good value service. The charity con�nues, both now and at 30 November 2023, to hold more assets than liabili�es though, with a margin, the trustees are likely to spend most of what it receives. All of the **income of The Musique-Cordiale Trust** is nonments of income tax paid by qualifying donors. Most income is either the result of individual generosity or the result of approaches made by the Trust and its trustees to other chari�es. There is a small addi�onal income from the _Give as You Live_ scheme operated by many online shops who donate a propor�on of the value of relevant sales to the Trust. We are enormously grateful to our donors and especially both to a few big contributors as well as the loyal group of regular subscribers and Friends, especially those who reduce our costs and work and pay by direct debit and/or who contribute through the tax-efficient _Gi� Aid_ scheme. Without all of them none of our goals could be met. **Expenditure by the Trust** is listed by category in the accounts. No trustee receives any payment for their ser- vices and, including the independent examiner of the accounts, no other individual has received payment for accoun�ng services. All expenditure including items listed separately - (accountancy, Bank charges, Legal, web site & email) was individually approved by properly cons�tuted and minuted mee�ngs of the trustees. This applies no less precisely in the category of Grants & Bursaries paid. The individuals who have received funds from the charity are all musicians, students, teachers or conductors or those providing essen�al services (including venues, travel, accommoda�on, food, light, recording equipment etc. that enable - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** **----- Start of picture text -----**
Musique Cordiale choir & orchestra
(including Academy students sitting beside
established professional musicians) in re-
hearsal under the baton of Graham Ross
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## **Personnel & a Personal announcement** As announced in the course of the fes�val this summer, **Pippa Pawlik** , a�er 20 years as founder, ar�s�c director and musical - driving force of the Musique Cordiale Interna�onal Fes�val, intends to withdraw from the frontline ahead of the 2025 fes�val - though will doubtless be considerably involved as the new team takes on the mantle (which they had already begun to do this summer). I am also proposing to withdraw, especially as a personal funder of the fes�val and as a year-round hands-on worker. But new arrangements for managing the things I have been responsible for are somewhat less clear at present though they are under development over the autumn and winter to ensure con�nuity. I will in any case retain my roles through the end of - the current relevant financial years and be available to support the new team, including possible/necessary new people, therea�er. We do propose to hand the management of the ASSOCIATION to **Aidan Coburn** , **Rebecca Taylor** and some others TBC with effect from 1 Jan 2025. They are already members of its _Conseil d'Administra�on_ . role in the TRUST and hope that we will retain exis�ng commi�ed talent among the trustees (minus David Chris�e who has resigned) while adding a couple of other more engaged people with capabili�es and suitable poten�al inputs, We will update you on these — developments and report them to the Charity Commision and also to the French authori�es in the Var soon. Jonathan Barker - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** Above is an **orchestral concert i** n Seillans in the Pays de Fayence, France, conducted by James Lowe in 2019. Along with other teachers, conductors and accompanists, his par�cipa�on in this event, which included professional musicians as well as Academy students si�ng beside them, an established feature of the Musique Cordiale programme of educa�on and cultural exchange to which we are pleased to have been able to return a�er the pandemic years, during which events (without Academy but including Academy alumni as players) were only (just) possible in the UK - and largely devoid of its normal and quintessen�al pan European dimension which has been a - core feature of Musique Cordiale since its incep�on in 2005.. The second larger photo is of the **choral concert** in August 2024: a performance of the Verdi Requie conducted by Graham Ross eith the **Musique-Cordiale Fes�val Orchestra & Choir** with soloists, which, including 3 years in Kent, GB and 17 years in the Pays de Fayence in the Var, Provence, France was the closing event of the **20th annual Interna�onal Musique-Cordiale Fes�val, in 2024** . - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** them to perform). These cons�tute the main thrust of the Trust’s approved expenditure, Grants and Bursaries. Other beneficiaries are the French (charitable) associa�on which runs the Fes�val & Academy, various churches, school and providers of venues, enterprises which rent or sell sheet music and airlines or trains which trans- ## **- The Musique Cordiale Trust** ## **TRUSTEES** § **Jonathan Barker** _(chairman) social researcher, educator & music fes�val manager contact: jonathan@musique-cordiale.com_ § **Celia Bangham** _general medical prac��oner & choir singer_ § David Chris�e (to 30 March 2024) _bank director, viola player_ - § **Christopher Hoyle** _cellist & educator_ - § **David Lowe** _IT consultant & choir singer_ § **Peter Phillips** FCA _(treasurer) accountant, company director, arts administrator & choir singer_ § **James Swainson** _viola player_ ported students and musicians. Support for admin ex- - - penses (mainly part �me, short term salaries for the young team which manages some events) has been another vital element – and one that it has proved especially hard to finance from other sources. **Policies:** The Trust has no investment income apart from bank interest and does not hold any custodian funds. - It is developing new fund raising, trustee appointment, risk management and safeguarding policies, which will - be published on its website in late 2024. Its published cons�tu�on and its grant making criteria are unchanged since they were submi�ed to the Charity Commission in the process of applying for registra�on as a charity **Please contact us if you have any ques�ons about the Trust accounts or policies** : - (CIO). A�er the ini�al 18 month report (published in 2018), this and future annual reports and accounts cover the 12 months to 30 November each year. There have been no changes to the Trustees, except for one recent **finance@M-C-Trust.org** resina�on by someone who lives abroad and felt he coul no longer make a useful contribu�on, nor the goals, focus or intended public benefit of The Trust since incorpora�on and none are envisaged. We are currently - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** ## **- Suppor�ng Musique Cordiale** If you are reading this, you have probably been to one of our concerts and may have bought �ckets for one of our concerts in Britain or France or supported **Musique-Cordiale and its Interna�onal Fes�val** in one of many ways. We are hugely grateful to our audiences and loyal supporters, - many of whom have been devoted followers, �cket buyers or donors to one of our two non- profit organisa�ons over 20 years. THANK YOU! ## **Support Us** - To help us to keep offering a high quality programme at affordable prices, please do consider supporting us, for example, by becoming a Member, Friend or Donor of Musique Cordiale or by - offering in kind help as a volunteer or artist host. It is easiest if you do this via our website: **www.musique-cordiale.com** _(English et français)_ Si vous lisez ceci, vous avez probablement assisté à l'un de nos concerts et vous avez peut-être - acheté des billets pour l'un de nos concerts en Grande Bretagne ou en France, ou vous avez soutenu Musique-Cordiale et son Festival international de diverses manières. Nous sommes extrêmement reconnaissants envers notre public et nos fidèles supporters, dont beaucoup sont des adeptes dévoués, des acheteurs de billets ou des donateurs à l'une de nos deux organisations à but non lucratif depuis plus de 20 ans. MERCI ! ## **Nous soutenir** abordables, pensez à nous soutenir, par exemple en devenant membre, ami ou donateur de Musique Cordiale ou en offrant une aide en nature en tant que bénévole ou ar�ste hôte.. Le plus simple est de le faire via notre site Web. - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** ## **THANKS** There are too many individual and organisa�ons to thank. We are especially grateful to the Mayor and Municipal Council of the town of Seillans and to the towns and villages which cons�tute the Pays de Fayence through its Community of Communes and also to the Department of the Var. In addi�on, there are some charitable and other organisa�ons which have supported us over the years. We invite such support both via the French non-profit **Associa�on Musique Cordiale** de Seillans and through **The Musique-Cordiale Trust** , our charity registered in England: **- www.musique cordiale.org** ll y a trop de personnes et d'organisa�ons à remercier. Nous sommes par�culièrement reconnaissants au Maire et au Conseil Municipal de la ville de Seillans et aux villes et villages qui cons�tuent le Pays de Fayence à travers sa Communauté de Communes ainsi qu'au Département du Var. De plus, il y a des organisa�ons carita�ves et autres qui nous ont soutenus au fil des ans. Nous invitons à un tel sou�en à la fois via **l'Associa�on Musique Cordiale** française, un associa�on à but non lucra�f de Seillans et via **The Musique-Cordiale Trust** , notre organisme de bienfaisance enregistré en Angleterre: **- www.musique cordiale.org** **L’associa�on Musique-Cordiale** , 217 Chemin des Moulins, 83440, SEILLANS, France **The Musique-Cordiale Trust** , The Street, Newnham, Si�ngbourne, Kent, ME9 0LL, GB **info@musique-cordiale.com** - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** Our Charitable Sponsors The Morris-Venables Charitable Founda�on The W A Cadbury Charitable Trust The Henry Oldfield Trust Gold Donors, Friends & excep�onal individual supporers Celia Bangham & David Lowe Jonathan Barker Alan & Clare Bri�ain Franc & Cleo auf dem Brinke Dr Owen Hanmer & Maggie Donnelly Jos Gerres Caroline Mus�ll Nigel Cox & Tessa Peske� Drs Wolf & Bäbel von Kalckreuth Eric & Ornella Lecat Julian Latcham Jacques & Valery Lefores�er Serge Leibovitz Gary Morris Mark Newbery Arnelle Noblet Richard Oldfield & Amicia Demoubray Pippa Pawlik Sir Michael & Lady Rake Graham Simons James & Suzanne Swainson Catherine de Tscharner Sebas�an Smith Richard Street & Dame Sue Street Michael Struck-Schloen Robert Venables KC Eugenie White Richard & Annie Wynn-Jones Corporate & Municipal Supporters René Ugo, maire de Seillans et President du Communaute des communes du Pays de Fayence Valerie Alain et le Mairie, le Service Technique et La Ville de Seillans Xavier et Bouniol< stephanmie Laborde & Emanuelle Cetre, l’Ofce de tourisme du Pays de Fayence Niclas Mantel, Le Maire et la ville de Saint-Paul-en-Forêt Le Mas de Romarains, Fayence Rene Bouchard, Le Maire et la ville de Bagnols-en-Forêt Bernard Montagne et Le Maire et la ville de Tourre�es Jacques Beranger et la ville de Callian La Ville et DAPEC de Fayence Le Departement du Var Ode�e Mariet et la ville de Mons The Town Council of Faversham ## **MORE THANKS &** **REMERCIMENTS** **2023-24 images of memorable concerts in Faversham & Bagnols-en-Forêt** : Soloists: James Hall, counter-tenor & Oliver Cave, violin - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org** ## **The Musique Cordiale Trust** **- www.musique cordiale.org** - **-** The Musique Cordiale Trust, Annual Report 2024 **www.musique cordiale.org**