BRECON BEACONS MUSIC TRUST
Registered Charity Number – 1172155
Annual Report
and accounts for the year ended
31 March 2025
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| 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 |
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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
Sir Martin Donnelly
Bank
Lloyds Bank
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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 constitution and on 20 March 2017 was registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), number 1172155. The Brecon Beacons Music Trust delivers the annual Brecon Baroque Festival 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 Artistic Director of Brecon Baroque Festival is Rachel Podger and she is supported by Festival Producer James Brookmyre, PR & Communications Kate Gedge, Development Manager Alison Giles and Community Co-ordinators Kate Gedge and Cornelia Rahdes. The Trustees are also actively involved as volunteers in the running of the Festival. 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 organisation, for discussion by the Trustees as possible candidates for election. New Trustees – if they have not done so in any event – are encouraged to attend the Brecon Baroque Festival each year and to familiarise themselves with the duties of a Trustee with guidance from the Charity Commission and Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations (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.
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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.
Chair’s Report for Brecon Baroque Festival 2024
The theme of this year’s Brecon Baroque Festival, entitled French Connexions , was music from France and the significant influence it had on contemporary composers in neighbouring countries. Among these were Henry Purcell in England and Telemann in Germany. The festival opened to a packed Brecon Cathedral with Purcell’s Welcome to all the Pleasures, music by Francois Couperin and a mass by Charpentier, interspersed by two Telemann cantatas, all of which added a most interesting slant on a period of music we thought we already knew well. On the Saturday night the French focus continued with a completely sold-out chamber music concert which, among music by Rameau, Purcell, Marin Marais and Teleman’s “Paris Quartet” No 6, the audience was introduced to two compositions by Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre. These astonishingly sophisticated pieces truly enchanted the listeners, most of whom had not encountered her music before, and all of whom very much hope to do so again!
The enchantment was continued on the Sunday evening in a recital given by Melisande Corriveau (pardessus de viole) and Eric Milnes (harpsichord), both over from Québec for the festival. The concert, entitled Pardessus in Paradise , introduced us to the pardessus de viole, the highest and smallest instrument in the viola de gamba family, which particularly flourished in France during the Baroque period. It’s mellow tone and beautiful music by lesser-known French composers, left the audience spellbound and unwilling for the concert to end.
In between these three concerts we heard a lunch time event of three Bach suites for baroque cello, lute and 5-string cello, the latter two giving an interesting dimension to otherwise reasonably well-known music. We also had a talk entitled “For the love of the Viol) by the expert Dr Lucy Robinson, an organ recital by Andrew Wilson-Dickson combining music by Nicolas de Grigny, Olivier Messian and J S Bach, and a festival Evensong in Brecon Cathedral with the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama’s student viol consort playing music of Jenkins, Gibbons and William Byrd.
Three other talks which were immensely popular were an exhibition tour of his works by the artist Tim Rossitor in Y Gaer Museum, a history of bows and bow making by the
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acclaimed Tim Richards who has recently moved to the area, and a further tour and talk by Jackie Morgan, assistant curator, on Y Gaer’s art and artefact collection.
On the Monday we had a lunch time concert by “Pont Baroque”, a group founded by locally born and brought up Osian Jones (cello), a former South Powys Youth Music member, who has since studied at the Royal Academy of Music and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and now has flourishing career.
And our Monday night concert “Pot Pourri” provided its usual fun and flamboyant finale, during which South Powys Youth Music appeared on stage to play with impressive style and panache. It had just emerged that the family of two of the young players are descended from Lully, whose instrumental suite from Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme was in the second half of the programme.
Our other project to run concurrently with the festival was an exhibition of art work by users of The Rhyd, a centre for adult learning disability. One of our committee, Cornelia Rahdes is an experienced therapist and held a hugely successful six-week session of music therapy in the summer months, followed by six weeks of art therapy when French baroque music was played in the background. The resulting pictures were put up in The Muse (the old museum) together with photographs of the individual artists, and a very splendid opening night took place on the Wednesday evening before the festival started. We are truly delighted to have established this connection with Accessibility Powys and very much look forward to further collaboration.
The committee is relieved that we have managed to make ends meet financially, despite withdrawal of our Arts Council Wales funding. Rachel Podger did a very successful fundraising concert in April, and we have set up an Artistic Director’s Circle with four levels of support. This complements the existing patrons and friends scheme and gives extra benefits including super priority booking and time with musicians and management, bringing them closer to the festival’s work. We are particularly grateful to these donors, and indeed to all our existing patrons and friends, without whom we would really struggle to maintain our very high standards of music making.
Looking to the future, we already have ideas for 2025 and 2026, but may be limited in what we can achieve, due to our slim financial parameters.
Financial Overview
The Trustees are extremely grateful to the public funders, trusts and foundations, individuals and sponsors whose generous support has made our artistic programme possible during this year. Public and trust funders for this period included The Gibbs Trust, Mid Wales Music Trust, Fidelio Charitable Trust, Arts Council Wales, Colwinston Charitable Trust, Brecon Town Council and Ty Cerdd.
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Brecon Beacons Music Trust and Brecon Baroque Festival is supported by a variety of different income streams and this minimises financial risk by ensuring there is never too much dependency on a single funding source.
The total income for 2024-25 was £90,848 (£71,863 in 2023-24) The Festival Patrons, Friends and Artistic Directors scheme raised £18,305 (£8,755 in 202324).
Funding from Trusts and Foundations contributed £18,461 (£15,200 in 2023-24). Public Funding of £985 was received from Brecon Town Council. Ticket income through Theatr Brycheiniog totalled £39,180 (£34,202 in 2023-24) after deductions for venue hire, ticketing, box office commission, technical staff charges, printing and car parking from gross sales.
At the year end the Trust carried forward funds of £52,855 for future festival planning.
Income & Expenditure
| BRECON BEACONS MUST TRUST Profit and Loss Report for Year ending 31st March 2025 |
|
|---|---|
| INCOME | £ |
| Friends | 2340 |
| Patrons | 4285 |
| Artistic Director’s Circle and one-off donations | 11,590 |
| Gift Aid | 9805 |
| BBFO Fees | 360 |
| MISC inc. testingof card machines | 45 |
| Tickets net of commission/venue hire | 39,180 |
| Public funding | 985 |
| Grants | 18,461 |
| Refund | 586 |
| Just Giving | 1495 |
| Programme sales | 1516 |
| Programme adverts | 200 |
| TOTAL | 90,848 |
| EXPENDITURE | £ |
| Catering | 1875 |
| Musician/Artist fees | 31,533 |
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| Bank charges | 60 |
|---|---|
| Travel,accommodation & subsistence | 5838 |
| Materials | 216 |
| Sundry | 562 |
| Management | 21,376 |
| Venue hire | 1945 |
| Digital services | 589 |
| Comms:printing/design/adverts | 2695 |
| Sheet music | 1162 |
| Postage/stationery | 40 |
| Instrument hire/tuning | 2800 |
| Insurance | 917 |
| Mozart Fund and South Powys Youth Music | 120 |
| Trainingand other specialist services | 50 |
| TOTAL | 71,778 |
Signed on behalf of the Board:
Anne de Riemer Morgan, Chair
Date: 28[th] January 2026
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Annedd Wen Uangybi iampeter Ceredipjon SA488NB Dorcas Slanry Brecon Beacons m4¢ Trust Date: 26th October 202S Dear Dor BrecoD Beacons m1¢ Trust A(rounts for the year to 31x1 Martb 2025 I have reviewed the accounts and documents for BBMT for the finaneial period endin8 31S1 March 2024. The accounts appear in good order. and rellect an accurate representation olthe financial position of the Ihariry. sIfiCallY. The accounts Spreadsheet reconciles with the bank account statrmenl entrle& Expendiiure is Supported by invoices/receipts for wrchases/expenses incUrd. Income items match those slated on the bank s&temeDt I confirm that l am independent from Brecon Beacons Music Trust and its trustre Yours sincerely. Mrs. Amanda