Music in the Castle - Charity number: 1187306
Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts for the year ending
31 December 2025
Objectives and Activities
To advance the education of the general public and, in particular but not exclusively, schoolchildren in the arts by providing and assisting in the provision of classical music concerts, recitals and workshops in Devon and the surrounding areas.
Six evening concerts and three workshops for schoolchildren had been planned and advertised on the website for 2025. The events had been carefully considered to create a wide variety, thereby appealing to as many schoolchildren and the wider general public as possible. They included a Piano Recital; a String Ensemble; Vocal Ensemble; Flute & Piano; Violin and Piano and Messiah.
The concerts began in Mid-March with Pianist – Thomas Kelly. He also presented an afternoon concert for our local school children. Our next dual event for schoolchildren and the paying public was in May. However, this event had to be cancelled due to a double booking by the Castle. Artists were very understanding and were assured that they would be re-booked for a future date. Any tickets already sold were fully refunded to the paying public. The third planned concert was an evening event only, and for the general public, and featured the UK’s flagship female vocal ensemble - Papagena.
The second half of the year began in September with David Davies and Lucille Burns, Organ, Piano and Flute. This was to be an evening only concert. This was then to be followed by Joel Munday and Julian Trevelyan – Violin and Piano, in November who completed the third of our afternoon concerts for schoolchildren, as well as a full-length evening recital.
To conclude the year, the now traditional biennial Messiah with Powderham Consort and the Haldon Ensemble were asked to present two consecutive performances, further bringing local talent to Music in the Castle and creating an attractive and varied yearly programme for our audiences.
All events were agreed by the Trustees and given due and careful regard for the policies outlined in the governing document.
Due to a reasonable uptake the previous year, it was decided to continue with the ticket offer – purchase tickets for 3 events in one transaction and receive an automatic 10% discount.
Achievements and Performance
The March concert with Thomas Kelly - Piano brought around 90 local schoolchildren to the Music room eager as ever to hear live music. The hour long concert from such a talented pianist kept the youngsters engaged and surprised that one person could create such a full and strong sound from a piano. They were all ready with questions for the relatively shy young man at the end, who said he enjoyed playing to the young audience, which had a been a new experience for him too. The evening concert brought an intense and incredible amount of strength and power from Thomas which left the audience in awe and thrilled to hear the Music Room come alive with such pianistic virtuosity. This concert had been sponsored by two members of the public who had heard Thomas on a previous occasion. We were extremely grateful for their financial contribution.
The May concert was intended to be presented by Queen Gwendolen’s Spell – a String Quartet, but due to unforeseen circumstances they were unable to perform and the Isla String Quartet were invited instead. However due to a double booking at the castle, this event had to be cancelled and it was agrred that Isla String Quartet should be booked for the following season.
The intimacy of the Music Room was the perfect setting for Papagena Vocal Ensemble for the June concert. Presenting a programme entitled Love, Legends and Lullabies, these five young ladies ably demonstrated why they are the most well known of this type of acapella ensemble in the country. The near capacity audience was welcomed and everybody noted and commented on the high quality and fine balance of the well suited voices; the variety of repertoire and professionalism of organisation and smoothness of presentation. We were extremely fortunate to secure these young ladies for a concert within their busy schedule and we would be thrilled for them to return in the future.
After the summer break in September, our local and now regular contributor to our concert series once again presented an evening for us. David Davies on Organ and piano was joined by colleague and flautist Lucille Burns. As versatile as ever, David presented solo items on the organ as well as accompanying Lucille in a fine mixture of genres and styles. Lucille also created a sense of calm and stillness with her solo flute playing, alongside duo items that brought strength, excitement and vitality to the audience.
The penultimate concert of the year brought Joel Munday and Julian Trevelyan to Music in the Castle, for the final concert for schoolchildren of 2022. Joel was known to many already having been brought up locally, and many were following his progress through music college, so his appearance was eagerly anticipated. On this occasion he brought Julian as accompanist and the duo suited each other admirably. They fully engaged with the children in the afternoon, responded instantly to the big age range and enthused about the music with their own youthful banter.
The evening concert was no less engaging and Joel’s animated presence and involvement was clear for all to see. There was some very fine playing from both of these performers and their rapport with the audience made for a very informal yet professional evening.
The final concerts of the year were two performances of Handel’s Messiah. Such is the popularity of this event, it has been necessary to repeat the performance on two consecutive nights. The eight voices of Powderham Consort came together with the Haldon Ensemble to present this iconic work on a small scale in the apt setting of the Music Room. Both evenings were sold out and the room came alive with wonderful music and excitement from the audiences, which brought everybody beautifully into the festive season.
From our Schools Co-ordinator.
During the year, a total of 191 young people (ranging from 7 to 16 years old) have attended - and in many cases actively taken part in - two afternoon concerts in Powderham Castle’s wonderful Music Room. This was the usual mixture of state schools and independents from many areas of Devon. Once again, we have also welcomed a number of Ukrainian children being educated in local schools. Unfortunately one concert in May had to be cancelled due to the venue becoming unavailable.
The pianist Thomas Kelly performed at the first school concert and cleverly included a considerable range of music written for this instrument. Without a score in sight, the young people were eager to learn how so much complex music could ‘just be remembered’. Thomas commented afterwards how interesting he found the questions.
The second concert consisted of the duo of Joel Munday, violin and Julian Trevelyan, piano. All the performers are carefully chosen to be very sound and inventive communicators - to explain their instruments, their chosen pieces/composers and their journeys to be musicians. Joel’s upbringing in mid Devon was of particular interest - and his subsequent progression to performing internationally. The musicians chose an inspiring mixture of complex and simpler pieces to tell the story of musical development over the centuries.
Ros Mason Schools Liaison Music in the Castle
Evening audience attendance has been a little inconsistent in 2025, with our regular audience members choosing to be a little more selective about which concerts they attend. In view of this it was decided that ticket prices for the year would remain the same, with the continuation of the special offer in the hope of encouraging ‘booking in advance’, which has worked to a degree and is worth maintaining. Capacity audiences for the Christmas events are always encouraging and as such our mailing list continues to expand. Those that do attend are always thankful and very appreciative for what we provide and always leave feeling content and satisfied that they have had an enjoyable evening of music. Live Classical Music is becoming more of a luxury, but an aspect of life that remains vitally important.
Future plans for 2026 include six more concerts throughout the year, three afternoon concerts for schoolchildren and two nights of the Christmas concert event have been scheduled to cope with demand. Concerts will include a String Quartet, Piano Recital, Organ and Piano Duo, Oboe Recital, an early Music Ensemble and our ever popular two performance of Messiah to conclude the year. We remain dedicated to including young musicians embarking on their professional careers.
Financial Review.
Thanks to sponsorships and donations, finances remain healthy. However, costs have risen significantly, particularly performers fees and their travel/accommodation costs. Funds at the beginning of the year stood at £14,520.41. Income generated, amounted to £10,442.35 (including donations/sponsorship) with costs arising to £15,236.27
A balance of £9,726.49 at end of December 2025, is now held in reserve.
Policy on Reserves
Reserves are held to further promote and develop concerts and workshops for young people and the wider public, and to cover any future unforeseen fluctuations in income and expenditure.
Structure, Governance and Management
Music in the Castle – Constitution was adopted in January 2020 and is registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation.
Future Trustees are appointed following recommendations presented to the Board of Trustees.
Reference and Administrative details
Charity Name – Music in the Castle Registered Charity Number – 1187306 Principal Address – 3. Gulliford Cottages, Lympstone, Devon. EX8 5AQ
Trustees: Alison Burnett – Artistic Director Rosalind Mason – Schools Co-ordinator Bernard Hadley
Declarations Signature(s) Full name(s) Alison Burnett Position (eg Secretary, Artistic Director Chair, etc) Date 3rd August 2026
Statement of Financial Activities as at 31[st] December 2024
| 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Opening balance: | £15,858.42 | £14,520.41 |
| Income | ||
| Donations | £85.50 | £54.15 |
| Sponsorship | £2,100 | £1,500 |
| Charitable Activities | £6,242.5 | £8,888.2 |
| HMRC Gift aid | ||
| Total Income | £8,428 | £10,442.35 |
| Expenditure | ||
| Charitable Activities | £7,153.60 | £9,095 |
| Instrument tuning, Website, Admin, Printin g | £2,612.41 | £6,141.27 |
| Total Expenditure | £9,766.01 | £15,236.27 |
| Total Unrestricted Funds carried forward | £14,520.41 | £9,726.49 |
The trustees report that Music in the Castle has no outstanding debts against the Charity in this financial period.
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3 [rd] August 2026
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