OpenCharities

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

2023-03-31-accounts

a brigantesorchestra SHEFFIELD'S PROFESSIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT for BRIGANTES MUSIC (1187752)

for the period

ending 31 March 2023

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

Summary of the purposes of the charity

SORP Para. 1.17

“To advance the education of people in the arts for the public benefit, in particular classical music of professional standard, primarily, but not exclusively, through the provision of public orchestral performances and the education of young musicians, young people, and the provision of classical music to those less likely to engage with it.” – Brigantes Music Governing document

The charity is in the form of a symphony orchestra with hired professional musicians, soloists and conductor who will, over the course of each season, present various performances of classical music, film music or contemporary music (including commissioned compositions) for Sheffield audiences. By forging close links with schools and the city’s musical education services, the charity will offer free tickets to young people with a view to encouraging a love of the arts in general and music in particular. The charity will offer opportunities to young up-and-coming soloists to perform with a professional symphony orchestra. The musicians of the orchestra will themselves be in developing careers and local to Sheffield – in this way the charity also benefits the local arts economy.

The Brigantes aims to benefit the UK, Sheffield / Yorkshire’s existing audiences, new audiences including young people, school children, young musicians, students, over 65s and those on reduced incomes. Also, the orchestra aims to promote local musicians with developing careers, young soloists, young / student composers; those in minority groups by cross-cultural bridging, or by raising awareness of contemporary issues.

Music education is an important aim of the charity, both for existing, regular audience members who will be offered jargon-free, instructive programme notes, pre / post-concert talks and musical combinations of pieces which highlight a specific issue, for example mental health awareness or issues of equality, sexuality and gender; and for local school-children or young instrumentalists in the form of easy and affordable access to music, and programmes specifically tailored to their education or the entertainment of their family group.

Summary of main activities

SORP Paragraphs 1.17 & 1.19

This period covers the end of the season 2021 / 2022 and the first part of the season 2022 / 2023 which included an ambitious jazz concert in the city’s large, central concert hall – with the orchestra reaching its fullest capacity yet (74 musicians) – and the first three concerts of a new season.

The new season included three main full symphonic concerts spread reasonably evenly through the year (October, March & June) as well as two smaller sized concerts exploiting the expertise and talent of the available pool of musicians – one of which was a repeat of the previous small Christmas celebration which had been extremely popular. For the first time, the music selected fell broadly into several interesting and broad themes which included a focus on British music (by MacMillan, Elgar, Fenby, Vaughan Williams, Finzi et al) as well as pieces exploiting landscape and nature (by Sibelius, Debussy, Respighi, Mendelssohn, and Suk). A performance in October preceding Remembrance Sunday (and exploring its relevance) included music by Vaughan Williams and James MacMillan (his Larghetto from 2016 which was an audience highlight) and was particularly poignant as it coincided with a powerful art installation of doves in Sheffield Cathedral.

Post-pandemic audiences settled into a consistent trend of attendance, but marketing and publicity were still finding it difficult to reach our target groups of ages 17 to 23. Much effort was put into this, including a restructuring of the pricing policy to give benefit to this age group, liaison and reciprocal publicity arrangements with the city universities, and heightened and targeted use of social media. Concerts conceived to attract younger audiences generally achieved this.

The charity was successful in securing additional funding from the Kurt Weill Foundation for the presentation of its “Jazz Origins” concert in the Sheffield City Hall in June 2022 (our largest overall audience to date) and we used the event to secure new publicity photography to enhance our website and programme booklets. The concert was extremely well received and resulted in new audience who have since attended select concerts in the following season. The charity engaged solo musicians of international reputation including Emma Johnson and Zeb Soanes, designed to enhance our national reputation, as well as giving other opportunities to young musicians with burgeoning careers. A PR officer was retained to develop a media profile which resulted in much new interest through articles in the Yorkshire Post, BBC Music Magazine and other local Sheffield press. A rewards programme encouraged private charitable donation and signed its first

members. A season ticket scheme was instigated and successfully managed, and equipment was purchased to improve and make efficient the front-of-house experience.

Contribution made by volunteers

SORP Para. 1.38

Brigantes Music was well supported by volunteers including:

The orchestra hopes to further develop these links by forming an independent sub-committee The Friends of The Brigantes who could also become involved in fundraising and other promotional activities on behalf of the charity.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Summary of the main achievements of the charity

SORP Para. 1.20

Of note were the increases to our principal target demographics over the concerts in this period. Our governing document commitment to audience development details our aspiration to lower the average age of our audiences (Sheffield’s usual audience for classical music tends to be aged 60+). With this in mind, we had revised our pricing strategy and removed the concessionary rate for those people aged 60+, whilst offering tickets to the age group 17 to 23 for £5 and where anyone 16 and under could attend for free. Our fears that the older demographic would object to this change or choose not to come were unfounded, with these audiences generally consistent. The new season tickets and donations systems attracted our older audiences and the benefit of the season ticket and its inherent overall price reduction, seemed to offset the price adjustment.

We engaged our largest orchestra yet in June 2022, and more of these musicians lived in Sheffield or the surrounding environs and were more often in the early parts of their careers (the average age of the orchestra being around 30). The orchestra was more diverse, and the gender balance has stayed consistent, where 55% of the ensemble is female.

Our female players with young children have commented that the locality of the rehearsals and the compact schedules have freed them to play where they wouldn’t ordinarily manage it with other regional orchestras. The charity is continuing its commitment to educating its audiences and so new programme booklets (free to audience members and later available online for general dissemination) were extremely popular in helping to give musical context, break down the barriers of musical jargon and acquired knowledge, and show how the repertoire applied to contemporary and popular culture. They have since been expanded and now include ‘Brigantes Beginners’, a section for concert-hall novices which has also proven to be of interest to our wider audience.

Plans for the following season include concerts specifically aimed at local school children and families, continued opportunities for young professional soloists to gain exposure, an aim to attract younger audience and first-time attendees, and series themes which include a focus on music for dance, and music for the young.

Performance of fundraising activities against objectives

SORP Para. 1.41

The charity secured funding from a local company to the full value of its requirements for the period. The charity has received funding from the Kurt Weill Foundation for its “Jazz Origins” concert, June 2022. A new donations scheme, in its infancy, has yielded small, but consistent income and audience members have also made small, additional contributions at the box office.

FINANCIAL REVIEW (see receipts and payments accounts)

Current financial position

SORP Para. 1.21

Brigantes Music had donations which entirely met its requirements for the period. These were mostly donations from a local company, though also from an American musical foundation. The charity is seeking other corporate sponsorship for the coming season and planning to increase its donation scheme.

Reserves

SORP Para. 1.22

Brigantes Music has a small reserve as of March 2023 partly due to revised ticketing systems which generate income consistently rather than in lump-sums after each performance.

STRUCTURE & GOVERNANCE

The charity’s trusts

SORP Para. 1.25

Brigantes Music is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) with a constitution governing document and currently has three trustees.

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Principal Information

Brigantes Music (The Brigantes Orchestra), 1187752. Registered at 2 Collins Street, Blackheath Village, London SE3 0UG.

Trustees

Chairman: Mr Quentin Clare (appointed 04 February 2020) Secretary: Dr Anthony R Hart (appointed 04 February 2020) Mr David Watkin-Holmes (appointed 04 February 2020).

DECLARATIONS

The Trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

QUENTIN CLARE, CHAIRMAN | 25 JANUARY 2024

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS PERIOD 01 APRIL 2022 to 31 MARCH 2023

LAST YEAR
19,856
3
9,953		 LAST YEAR
19,856
3
9,953
Receipts UNRESTRICTED
61,286
3
9,921		 RESTRICTED
0
0
0		 ENDOWMENT
0
0
0		 TOTAL LAST YEAR
Donations 61,286 0 0 61,286 19,856
Bank Cash Reward 3 0 0 3 3
Ticket Revenue 9,921 0 0 9,921 9,953
Asset Sales
SUBTOTAL		 71,210 0 0 71,210 29,812
0 0 0
None 0 0 0 0 0
Payments
SUBTOTAL
TOTAL RECEIPTS		 0 0 0 0 0
71,210 0 0 71,210 29,812
54,319
1,500
4,948
1,613
3,584
919
156
1,451
2,416
9
0		 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0		 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Musicians Wages 54,319 0 0 54,319 22,049
Other Wages 1,500 0 0 1,500 0
Venue Hire 4,948 0 0 4,948 860
Printing 1,613 0 0 1,613 1,507
Marketing 3,584 0 0 3,584 3,205
Office 919 0 0 919 522
Website Design 156 0 0 156 156
Concert Expenses 1,451 0 0 1,451 650
Sheetmusic 2,416 0 0 2,416 913
Financial Charges 9 0 0 9 0
Membership Fees 0 0 0 0 35
Asset Purchase
SUBTOTAL		 70,916 0 0 70,916 29,895
0 0 0
None 0 0 0 0 0
SUBTOTAL
TOTAL PAYMENTS
NET
TRANSFERS
CASH LAST YEAR END
CASH THIS YEAR END		 0 0 0 0 0
70,916 0 0 70,916 29,895
294 0 0 294 (84)
0 0 0 0 0
(84) 0 0 0 0
211 0 0 211 (84)
STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES ENDING 31 MARCH 2023 AND LIABILITIES ENDING 31 MARCH 2023 AND LIABILITIES ENDING 31 MARCH 2023 AND LIABILITIES ENDING 31 MARCH 2023 AND LIABILITIES ENDING 31 MARCH 2023
UNRESTRICTED RESTRICTED ENDOWMENT TOTAL LAST YEAR
Cash Funds
Cash at Bank 211 0 0 211 (84)
SUBTOTAL 211 0 0 211 (84)
Other Monetary Assets
None 0 0 0 0 0
Investment Assets
None 0 0 0 0 0
Assets for Own Use
None 0 0 0 0 0
Liabilities
None 0 0 0 0 0
Signed on behalf of the
Trustees:		 QUENTIN CLARE
30/01/2024

RAPINET & co A ccountants Ab&¢us House 21 a Sandyg&te Road Cr05spooI Shetlield S10 5NG Telephone 0114 267 1833 . Fax 0114 267 1844 Mobile 0796809 8990 Email.. andrew@rapinet.co.uk Website.. www.rapinet.co.uk Independeni Examiner's Certificate. Name of organisation . Brigantes Orchestra. I have completed my examination of the financial records ofthe above organisation and I can confirm that no material matlers have come to my attention in conneciion to my examination. I can confimi that the accounting records are prepared in a¢¢ordance with good accounting practices and the financial statements give a true and fair view of the State of affairs of the organisation as at ihe year end 31 March 2023. I have no concerns and have come acro55 no other matters in connection wilh ihe examinaiion to which aitention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be ￿aChed. I have been given access to all the relevant records of the organisation and l am content in signing off this certificate. Signature of the independent examiner Name of independenl examiner ..AFJ.b(w.....Tr..I.FEr................. The independent examiner is Name offirni .... Address . IiapiNE.'&.&Ctr......................... ABACUS HOUSF, 21l8ATr￿YGATE RGAD CRD&SF¢J(JL" . BHEPE￿ SID SNG Date Principal A. Rapinet, B.A.(14ons)