BRECON BEACONS MUSIC TRUST
CIO No. 1172155
Annual Report
and Accounts for the Year ended
31 March 2024
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| Index | Page |
|---|---|
| Information about the Charity | 3 |
| Charity Structure, Governance, and Management | 3 |
| Objectives, Activities and Public Benefit | 3 |
| Chair’s Report | 4 |
| Financial Overview | 5 |
| Income and Expenditure | 6 |
| Independent Examiner’s Report | 7 |
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
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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 consLtuLon and on 20 March 2017 was registered as a Charitable Incorporated OrganisaLon (CIO), number 1172155. The Brecon Beacons Music Trust delivers the annual Brecon Baroque FesLval 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 ArLsLc Director of Brecon Baroque FesLval is Rachel Podger and she is supported by FesLval Producer James Brookmyre, MarkeLng & PR Manager Kate Gedge, and Development Manager Alison Giles. The Trustees are also acLvely involved as volunteers in the running of the FesLval. 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 organisaLon, for discussion by the Trustees as possible candidates for elecLon. New Trustees – if they have not done so in any event – are encouraged to a\end the Brecon Baroque FesLval each year and to familiarise themselves with the duLes of a Trustee with guidance from the Charity Commission and Powys AssociaLon of Voluntary OrganisaLons (PAVO).
Trustees’ activities
The Trustees meet at least four times per year and oversee the running and financial and artistic management of the Brecon Baroque Festival, which takes place annually in October, as well as 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 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.
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Brecon Baroque Fes=val 2023 - Report from the Chair
This year’s fesLval, Walk with Bach Part 3, was a happy occasion in many respects. Ticket sales exceeded expectaLons with all four evening concerts being sold out and with higher than ever a\endances at lunch Lme concerts. The fesLval’s growing reputaLon as a major internaLonal event was underlined not only by involvement of musicians from all corners of the UK and Europe, but by ever increasing audiences from Brecon itself, other parts of Wales, the UK, Europe, the USA, and Australia. However the fesLval remains deeply rooted in Brecon and its surrounding areas, involving local school children and forging enduring links between local hosts who, year afer year, accommodate visiLng musicians, quite apart from contribuLng significantly to the local economy
The music itself was outstanding. The opening concert, Bach Actually, included two “audiLon” cantatas which Bach wrote when applying for the post of cantor at St Thomas’s Church in Leipzig, sung by a stellar cast of soloists. Also a recently discovered aria for solo soprano, thrillingly sung by Joanna Lunn, a violin concerto beauLfully re-arranged from a harpsichord concerto, and an electrifying performance of Bach’s Cantata BWV51, again with Joanne Lunn and trumpeter Robert Farley.
Johnstone (harpsichord) was followed by what felt like the heart of the fesLval – Brecon Baroque’s world premier live performance of Bach’s Goldberg VariaLons Re-imagined, arranged by Chad Kelly. Having first filmed this for the 2020 fesLval for broadcast during Covid lockdown, it was fascinaLng to hear it in real life and to observe all the intricate pa\erns between the solo instruments. The audience felt drawn into a completely different world.
On Sunday James Johnstone gave an interesLng and thoughkul programme of Bach’s organ music, while Brecon Cathedral Choir, together with a consort of viols from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, treated the congregaLon to an Evensong dedicated to music by William Byrd and Thomas Weelkes, both of whom died 400 years ago, and both of whose music sLll moves us today.
The Sunday night concert was equally mesmerising. Fretwork and Ruby Hughes dedicated this concert to the music of William Byrd, mingling In Nomine’s for viol consort with delighkul songs, li\le known to most of us, but sung with exquisite simplicity by Ruby Hughes, who charmed everyone with her friendly informality.
Another lunch Lme concert on Monday “From Rome to Leipzig” was immensely interesLng. It was given by two very talented former students of Rachel’s, also Osian Jones, whose musical life started with South Powys Youth Music and, afer studies in Amsterdam, now has a busy career as a baroque cellist. They were accompanied by Marcin Swiatkiewicz, harpsichord, whose excepLonal and musically sensiLve playing underpins the whole fesLval.
usual mix of local amateur players, music students and young professionals, took the evening by storm. Locally born singer Aine Smith sang arias by Handel and Bach, our own Cardiff born fesLval producer, James Brookmyre, performed a li\le known but delighkul Telemann concerto for recorder and viola da gamba with Reiko Ichise, followed by a very beauLful Vivaldi concerto for two oboes. The evening was rounded off with a very vital performance of Bach’s double violin concerto played by Rachel and her former student, Sabine
and panache. Remarkably some of these have not been playing for long, and their hard work, and that of their conductor Berri Munn, produced some spectacular results. During the year, staff from SPYM have been
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doing six week taster sessions in local primary schools around the area, with the result that a number of children have shown interest in taking up an instrument, and more teaching staff have had to be recruited as a result. Also students from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama visited local schools, introducing their instruments to children who might not have had the opportunity to encounter them before, and fostering new interests.
Besides the musical acLviLes, we had fascinaLng and very well informed talks given by Professor Robert Erlich, professor of recorder at the Hochschule in Leipzig and visiLng professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and an immensely successful guided walk led by William Gibbs, Chair of the Brecknock Art Trust, around Brecon’s Y Gaer Museum, a link we plan to maintain.
centre, in constant use for a wide variety of local events and gatherings. We take this over for the fesLval, and it provides a warm and friendly environment for people to eat (delicious food and drink available) and to get to know one another. The Adult Learning Disability Team has strong links with The Muse, and plans are in the making for future involvement with them for next year’s fesLval. These include a post-Covid resumpLon of the art workshops in which a six week project takes place, making themaLc artwork to decorate for the Muse for the fesLval, and also a music workshop. We haven’t done the la\er for a few years, but the last one was a much enjoyed and very entertaining occasion, and we are looking forward to reviving it.
Financial Overview
The Trustees are extremely grateful to the public funders, trusts and foundaLons, individuals and sponsors whose generous support has made our arLsLc programme possible during this year. Public and trust funders for this period included The Gibbs Trust, Mid Wales Music Trust, D'Oyly Carte Charitable Trust, SCOPS Arts Trust, Ty Cerdd and Brecon Town Council.
streams and this minimises financial risk by ensuring there is never too much dependency on a single funding source.
The total income for 2023-24 was £71,863 (£59,109 in 2022-23) The FesLval Patrons and Friends scheme raised £8,755 (£6,265 in 2022-23). Funding from Trusts and FoundaLons contributed £15,200 (£18,570 in 2022-23). Public Funding of £900 was received from Brecon Town Council. Individual donaLons contributed £7,070 (£3,473 in 2022-23).
Ticket income through Theatr Brycheiniog totalled £34,202 (£28,443 in 2022-23) afer deducLons of £9,269 for venue hire, box office commission, technical staff charges, prinLng and car parking from gross sales.
At the year end the Trust carried forward funds of £35,640 for future fesLval planning.
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| BRECON BEACONS MUSIC TRUST for Year ended 31/03/24 |
|
|---|---|
| INCOME | £ |
| Friends | 3,515 |
| Patrons | 5,240 |
| Programmes and tickets | 1,708 |
| Gift Aid | 3,711 |
| Donations(individuals) | 7,070 |
| Misc. includingtestingcard machines | 41 |
| Tickets net of commission/venue hire | 34,202 |
| Public funding | 900 |
| Grants | 15,200 |
| Compensation fund | |
| Donations FF Fund | |
| Recording | |
| Just Giving | 176 |
| Programme adverts | 100 |
| TOTAL | 71,863 |
| EXPENDITURE | |
| Catering | 1,908 |
| Musician/Artist fees | 29,295 |
| BBFOproject,includingexpenses | |
| Bank charges | 250 |
| Travel and Accommodation | 4,958 |
| Materials | |
| Sundry | 481 |
| Management | 20,063 |
| Venue hire | 1,320 |
| Digital services | 877 |
| Communications, printing,design,adverts | 6,290 |
| Sheet music | 135 |
| Postage and stationery | |
| Instrument hire and tuning | 2,790 |
| Recordings | |
| Insurance | 896 |
| SPYM and Mozart Fund | 620 |
| TOTAL | 69,883 |
| BALANCE | |
| Balance at start ofyear | 33,658 |
| Surplus/deficit | 1,981 |
| Closing balance | 35,640 |
Signed on behalf of the Board: ______
Anne de Riemer Morgan, Chair 30th January 2025
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Annedd Wen Llangybi Lampeter Ceredigion SA48 8NB Dorcas Slaney Brecon Beacons Music Trust Date.. 10th January 2025 Dear Dorcas. Brecon Beacons Music Trust Accounts for the year to 31st March 2024 I have reviewed the accounts and supporting documentation for BBMT for the financial period ending 315t March 2024. The accounts appear in good order. and reflect an accurate representation of the financial posltion of the charity. Specifically: The Bank Analysis spreadsheet reconciles with the bank account statement entries. Expenditure is supported by invoices/receipts for purehases/expenses incurred. Income items match those stated on the charitys bank ststements. I confirm that l am independent from Brecon Beacons Music Trust and its trustees. Yours slneerely, Mrs. Amanda King