BRECON BEACONS MUSIC TRUST
CIO No. 1172155
Annual Report
and accounts for the year ended
31 March 2023
1
| Index | Page |
|---|---|
| Information about the charity | 3 |
| Charity structure, governance, and management | 4 |
| Objectives, Activities and Public Benefit | 4 |
| Chair’s Report | 5 |
| Financial Overview | 6 |
| Income and Expenditure | 7 |
| Independent examiner’s report | 9 |
2
Information about the charity
Charity Name : Brecon Beacons Music Trust Registration Number : 1172155
Registered address : Hendre, Merthyr Cynog, Brecon, LD3 9SG
Trustees :
Anne Morgan (Chair) Dorcas Slaney (Treasurer) Andrew Sutherland Cornelia Rahdes
Bank
Lloyds Bank, 38 High Street, Brecon, LD3 7AR
3
Charity Structure, Governance and Management
Originally established in 2012 as a registered charity (1146283) governed by a trust deed, in 2017 Brecon Beacons Music Trust changed its consKtuKon and on 20 March 2017 was registered as a Charitable Incorporated OrganisaKon (CIO), number 1172155. The Brecon Beacons Music Trust delivers the annual Brecon Baroque FesKval and supports the chamber ensemble, Brecon Baroque, where appropriate.
The Brecon Beacons Music Trust was managed during the period by the four Trustees. No Trustee was paid for their work as board members during the year. The ArKsKc Director of Brecon Baroque FesKval is Rachel Podger and she is supported by FesKval Producer James Brookmyre, PR Consultant Kate Gedge and Development Manager Alison Giles. The Trustees are also acKvely involved as volunteers in the running of the FesKval. Brecon Baroque chamber ensemble is managed by a professional agent, Percius Management, which also manages Rachel Podger.
Methods for Recruitment of Trustees
The Chair and Trustees of Brecon Beacons Music Trust put forward names of suitably qualified people, whom they know to be interested and to have relevant experience to assist the organisaKon, for discussion by the Trustees as possible candidates for elecKon. New Trustees – if they have not done so in any event – are encouraged to aYend the Brecon Baroque FesKval each year and to familiarise themselves with the duKes of a Trustee with guidance from the Charity Commission and Powys AssociaKon of Voluntary OrganisaKons (PAVO).
Trustees’ activities
The Trustees meet at least four times per year and oversee the running, financial and artistic management of The Brecon Baroque Festival, which takes place annually in October, and associated musical events with particular reference to its objectives.
The Objectives and Activities of Brecon Beacons Music Trust
(i) The advancement of public appreciation and knowledge of classical music through the promotion of live performance of the highest standard including the Brecon Baroque Festival and Brecon Baroque ensemble;
(ii) The promotion of musical education, knowledge and performance skills of children and young people in Powys and beyond;
(iii) Such other charitable purposes beneficial to the public consistent with the objects above as the trustees in their absolute discretion determine.
Public Benefit
Brecon Beacons Music Trust increases access to high quality live music by bringing internationally acclaimed musicians to a small mid-Wales town and providing affordable
4
tickets in well-known local venues. In attracting significant cultural tourism it also supports the local economy, while its education programme provides valuable training and performance opportunities for young musicians in Powys and the UK conservatoires. The community programme, including workshops and performances, ensures that the Festival benefits as wide a range of local people as possible, including those with disabilities and those who have limited access to high quality music and arts experiences.
Chair’s Report
Rachel Podger’s 17[th] Brecon Baroque FesKval from 21[st] – 24[th] October 2022 returned with full throYle. Lockdown in 2020 challenged us to stretch our horizons considerably with the filming of the Goldberg VariaKons, arranged for Brecon Baroque by Chad Kelly, while Covid consideraKons sKll in place in 2021 meant shorter concerts performed twice to allow for adequate social distancing for the audience. Thanks to the very hard work of the fesKval producer and PR team, we sKll did very well under these circumstances. However, being able to return to normal booking and to fully programmed concerts, really brought joy to both audiences and musicians. Our audiences were back in force, including our regular visitors from Australia, The Netherlands and USA, who were evidently very happy to be back in Brecon for a full fesKval.
This year’s theme saw Part 2 of our three-part Walk with Bach series. Last year’s programme focussed on Bach’s early years, and the formaKve influences of this Kme. This included music by Heinrich Schütz, Nikolaus Selnecker, and Dietrich Buxtehude (with a talk on Bach’s legendary journey on foot to meet and hear Buxtehude in person), and relaKves of JS Bach, as well as music by Bach himself.
This year we started with two of Bach’s relaKvely unknown but lovely Lutheran masses, performed by I Fagiolini and Brecon Baroque , with the segng of Brecon Cathedral adding significantly to the richness of the music. Aher an immensely entertaining Saturday lunch Kme concert given a cappella by I Fagiolini , Brecon Baroque took centre stage on Saturday evening in Theatr Brycheiniog with a programme enKtled “O holder Tag” (O Lovely Day). This programme including arrangements by Chad Kelly of both the Easter Oratorio BWV 249, and Bach’s Italian Concerto, originally for harpsichord and now arranged imaginaKvely for solo violin and orchestra, and more specifically for Rachel and Brecon Baroque. One can’t help feeling that Bach would have very much approved of both! These were interleaved with music by Johann Ludwig Bach (a third cousin of JS), and ended with Bach’s cantata O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit , inspiringly sung by soprano Rowan Pearce.
Sunday saw an organ recital of Bach, Bohm and Buxtehude in the Cathedral by the young and very talented Josef Laming, then Evensong with Brecon Cathedral Choir and a viol consort from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama playing music by Orlando Gibbons. At the Sunday evening concert we were happy to welcome the return of The English Corne< & Sackbut Ensemble with an amusing and varied programme, described as a miscellany of the strange and beauKfully Ktled Bizarium!
5
Bach (including his lovely concerto for oboe and violin with Rachel and Alex Bellamy), and a Handel Cantata with Rebecca Lea as the soloist. This was another lively programme which resulted in a very happy audience. South Powys Youth Music were unable to take part this year. With the Covid pandemic halKng its rehearsals for the best part of two years and most of its older players having leh school and dispersed, a new and very much younger lot of players joined. Their conductor felt that for this year’s fesKval, they were sKll lacking in sufficient confidence to enjoy performing, so we are very much looking forward to their return in next year’s fesKval.
Other events over the weekend included two very interesKng pre-concert talks given by Mark Seow, both a musicologist and Baroque violinist, who is becoming increasingly well known as a presenter on Radio 3’s The Early Music News and as a criKc for Gramophone. He now writes sleeve notes for all Rachel’s CD’s, and is both very erudite and amusing. Finally, aher the popularity of Rowland Jepson’s historical walk around Brecon last year, he kindly agreed to do this again, covering another area of Brecon. Despite rain on both occasions, these sold-out events have evidently been a great success.
What has been both interesKng and reassuring for the commiYee is the fact that we have been back to full capacity for our most major concerts, and with very respectable aYendance numbers for the others. It is clear that our audiences, a good many of whom have become familiar faces, have been genuinely thrilled to be able to return to Brecon, while an endless stream of new visitors bear tesKmony to the brilliance of the performances in such an informal and friendly segng.
Financial Overview
The Trustees are most grateful to the public funders, trusts and foundaKons, individual and sponsors whose generous support made possible our arKsKc programme during the 2022-23 fesKval programme. Public and trust funders for the period included The Welsh Government Cultural Recovery Fund, Brecon Town Council, the Mid Wales Music Trust, The Gibbs Trust, The Fidelio Charitable Trust, The Darkley Trust and The Colwinston Charitable Trust .
Brecon Beacons Music Trust for Brecon Baroque FesKval is supported by a wide range of income streams, the variety of which minimises financial risk by ensuring that there is never too much dependency on a single funding source.
Total income for 2022-23 was £59,109 (£76,846 in 2021-22). The FesKval Friends and Patrons scheme raised £6,265 (£4,985 in 2021-22). Funding from Trusts and FoundaKons contributed £17,675 (£19,210 in 2021-22) and individual donaKons brought £3573 (£7,965 in 2021-22). Public funding from Brecon Town Council was £900 and Box Office income from Theatr Brycheiniog totalled £28,402 (Box office income 2021-22: £20,978). Venue hire expenditure is listed as £1285 though this does not take into account the deducKons for the hire of Theatr Brycheiniog that totalled an addiKonal £4617. Theatr Brycheiniog manages our box office and makes deducKons for venue hire, box office commission, technical staff charges, prinKng and
6
£28,402.
At the end of the year Brecon Beacons Music Trust carried forward funds of £35,482. This is less than in the previous year 2021-22, when £55,369 was carried forward.
Financial Breakdown
| BRECON BEACONS MUSIC TRUST Profit and Loss Report for Year ending 31/03/23 |
|
|---|---|
| INCOME | £ |
| Friends | 2545 |
| Patrons | 3720 |
| Programmes and tickets | 1939 |
| Gift Aid | 0 |
| Donations(individuals) | 3573 |
| Misc. includingtestingcard machines | 139 |
| Tickets net of commission/venue hire | 28,443 |
| Public funding | 900 |
| Grants | 17,675 |
| Compensation fund | 0 |
| Donations FF Fund | 0 |
| Recording | 0 |
| Programme adverts | 175 |
| TOTAL | 59,109 |
| EXPENDITURE | |
| Catering | 898 |
| Musician/Artist fees | 38,220 |
| BBFOproject,includingexpenses | 0 |
| Bank charges | 0 |
| Travel and Accommodation | 5979 |
| Materials | 0 |
| Sundry | 1049 |
| Management | 19,080 |
| Venue hire | 1285 |
| Digital services | 847 |
| Communications, printing,design,adverts | 5344 |
| Sheet music | 309 |
| Postage and stationery | 32 |
| Instrument hire and tuning | 2800 |
| Recordings | 4000 |
| Insurance | 865 |
| Mozart Fund | 120 |
| TOTAL | 80,830 |
7
| BALANCE | |
| Balance at start ofyear | 55,370 |
| Surplus/deficit | -21,722 |
| Closing balance | 33,648 |
Signed on behalf of the Board of Trustees: ______ Anne de Riemer Morgan, Chair 26[th] January 2024
8
Annedd Wen Llangybi tampeter Ceredigion SA48 8NB Dorcas Slaney Brecon Beacons Music Trust Date: 14th lanuary 2024 Dear Dorcas. Brecon Beacons Music Trnst Accounts for the year to 31rt March 2023 I have reviewed the accounts and supporting Inforniation for BB for the financial period ending 31st March 2022. The accounts appear In good order, and reflect an accurate representation of the charity's financlal posltio Speclflcally., The Bank Analysls spreadsheet provided recondles wlth the bank account statement entrle5. Expendlture Is supported In the maln by Involces/recelpts for purchases/expenses incurre Income items match those stated on the charity's bank statements. I confirm that l am independent from Brecon Beacons Muslc Tntst and Its trustees. Yours sincerely. Mrs. Amanda KIng