Electric Voice Theatre Charftable Incorpornted Organisation Charity Number: 1194881 Trustee Report and Receipts and Payments Accounts for period from 1 September 2023 to 31 August 2024 Trustee Report Prepared by Frances M Lynch - Trustee Approved ty: Ni olas Tlll. Chalr of Trustees Date: I ,' r iy Electric Voice Theatre Trustee Report for period from 1 September 2023 to 31 August 2024 ObJectlve5 and Actl¥ltles The objectfves of the CIO are: to advance the arts and education for the public benefit through the promotion, support and encouragement of music and in particular by creating high qualitv performances of vocal music wrthin a theatrical framework, championing and commissioninB the work of women composers, participating in creatNe multidisciplinary collaborations. delivering hi8h quality workshops for education and community groups. makin8 music accesslble to all and reaching people who are not usualty attracted to music theatre. During this period ELECTRIC VOICE THEATRE IEvri has, in collaboratlon with a wonderful team of mlbsicians, ￿IentiSts. artists and historians. delivered:_ 5 PUBLIC PERFORMANCES of Flowers of theSeosons- Polttlc4 Power& Poverty, showcasln8 the 1Sfe and work of composer Ellia Flry*er11803- 18461 with a team of 8 EVT performers and production Staff workin8 Wlth local choirs. schools. community 8roups and colle8es. 0 2W October 2023- Premlere perforniance ot Conway Hall, London o le November2023 - Holborn Communlty Centre, London 25th Februory 2024 . Stjohn's ARC, Old Harlow, Essex o April 3rd 2024- Leoh Monnlnq Centre, Horlow, Essex 0 5th Moy 2024- Newcostle Unlvetslty OTHER PUBLIC EVENTS 6th July 2024- ChoirFe5t Harlow. A perfom?once of voriou5 50nqs os port of o very Iqrge locolfestivol with Livewire singers ond mony others perfom7in9 4th Auqust 2024 - Cqre Weekender, Harlow run by RHIANhlON FAITH COMPAAIY- outdoor fvstivol including performonces of "Elizo's Song" ond"Echoesfrom Essex- by FM lynch 31st August 2024 - Freethouoht History Festival. Conwoy Holl. EVTpresented "Rt7dical Music, Remorkoble Women". o di5CU55ion between Fronces M lynch & Dr Katherine Fry of wornen s networks Wlth Mory5omerville (1780- 1872) ond Eliza Flower ot their centre. Followed by o performonce of repertolrefrom the EVTperformonce 7he Somerville Connexions- Superb quolify of solo singing. An extrnordK￿ry & *vnderfUlperfom￿nCe, atsolutefy LOVED ITI Hu9e effort hod gone into research. Wellput together. t>Jolityofsinging t7ndp10￿M9 excellent. Awlbenc* Comm•nts FIOWER PROJEcf WORKSHOPS- delivered wtth assistance from the Flower Composers From ML7rch 14, 2024 Istill ongoingJ- Composition ond performonce workshops wlth UVEWIRE 5inqing groupsfvr 5- 18yr5 Ot Hcrlow Ployhouse February 2024 - Horlow Colleqe Workshop with Performing Arts students Feb 2024- A se$5ion with 20 Year 8 music studentsfrom St Marys West Essex Cctholl School who creoted ond recorded musicfvr use in the Horlow performance. IY April 2024- Elizo Flower s (2J21" birthdoy celebrotion doy ot Conwoy Ht711 with Yr 6 studentsfrom Chrfstopher Hotton Prfmoryschool singing obout Eliza ond creating their own protest song& Apri13rt Chllllnqham Road Prlmary Yeor 6 Girls workshop morning cre¢7ting & recording musicfor the performonce ot Newc05tle University Moy I" GosAorth Centrol Middle School Yeor 7&8 Singers creoted & recorded their own Protest Songfor Elizo Flower in the music deportment at Newc05tle University 4th Auqu5t 2024- Care Weekender, Horlow- SING FOR EUZAI- workshops on ofrstwol doy - groups of children leorning o song obout Flower ondperforming it on the moin stO9e YOUNG SINGER5 PROGRAMME o Jonuory 2024- Online & In-person Workshop series- training in voice ond musicionship focused on music by women composers. online weekly with ofinol in- person doy ot Conwuy Holl. London on Jonuary 2* infront of on invited oudience. MAIN RECORDINGS Aug to Dec 2023 began our monthly releose on Soundcloud of virtuol recordings oA-Songs ol the Months- by Ellzo Flower (1803-1846J performed by EVTsingers ond mony on our Young Sin9ers Pro9romme. They were then re-releosed on Youtube with oll the words oppeoring on the screen- some were re-recorded thi5 time in personl Other actlvltles and achlevements Included: CHOIRS o Evf VIRTUAL CHOIR took part in a short Christmas celebration, recordln8 Gaudete for Youtube and creatin8 their own Christmas song with Lynch "Sing. Sing. Sing" o DE MERC CHAMBER CHOIR tondurted by Janette Ruocco. a l¢xal Harlow Choir took Flowels music into their repertoire and performed with us at St. John's ARC o Newcastle Flower Sln8ers- a choir formed specifically to perform with us. Flower Slbwrs .1 enjoyed the MUS￿ ond slillfind mysellhumming the melodies. We wpre hugely well supported by Elertrlc Voice fheotre, - empowered by 0 9oc¥I bqlonce of help ond independence. It wos on omozlng experlencefor me and mode me reclise that l I￿Uld like to oo into thot line of work in thefuturel. Commlssl¢fi$ "Seasons (rf chang￿ A radical new song cycle, inspired by"Free Trode Sort9s of the Seosons" by Eliza Flower Composed by The Flower Composers: Frances M Lynch, Anna Appleby. Lilty Vadaneaux, Amanda Johnson o Garden of lIe￿enlYUnd Eorthly No¢ure- an oil paintin8 by Elspeth Manders created for the Eliza Flower Project Time" & -Elizo s Sonq" by Frances M Lynth Exhlbltlons o An exhibition from the archives of Conway Hall was shown at their performance. which was photO8raphed and added to a paper exhibition shown at each performance. Research The Flower Project has benefrtted from research by Dr Oskar Jensen and Frances M Lynch. deepenin8 their knowled8e and understanding which in turn is passed on through the website and INe in performances & workshops. Trustees The following Trustees served during the pefiOd- Professor Nichola5 fill Ichair of Trustees) (appointed Trustee 2021 for four years) Frances M Lynch Ireappointed from June 20241 Segun Lee-French Ireappointed from Dec 2024 for one yearl Cheryl Frances-Hoad lappointetl 20 October 20221 Emma Bernard (appointed 20 October 20221 Dr Ber8it Arends (resigned as from June 20241 The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charities Commission's 8eneral guidance on public benefit. The work of the charity is supported by volunteers on many of the indivldual projects and on a regular basis by two volunteers Herbert Clarke- Sound and video design, IT, marketing and admin sUPPOrt Catherine Lynch FCA- Finance and 8overnance Achlevements and Perfomiance The charity's work continues to benefrt from our increasin8 skills at workin8 online both live and in recorded media. This has benefrtted the 8eo8raphical reach of our initiatives, such as the virtual choir and enablin8 workshop pro8rammes in more remote locations and vlrtualty. Our work this period has been focused on promoting the work of women composers past and present, very particularly Ellza Flower11803- 18461 and ¢omrnlssSonln8 ¢onternpor•ry ¢¢Mnposers, reachin8 an audlence of 544 at public perlmances. We have provided opportunltles for sthool and community groups. youns artists and muslcl•ns in the UK to develop and share their talents throu8h our FLOWER PROJECT WORKSHOPS and YOUNG SINGER PROGRAMMES. Including the Choirs involved we reached 305 participants throu8h these initiatives. Slngers, musldans and BSL Interpreters from ELECTRIC VOICE THEATRE alongside the Choirs and Youn8 Sin8ers Programme participants.. - performed 30 Son￿ by W¢Jmen Composers gave 6 world premleres gave the first live perforrnances in years of 16 sony by Ellza Flower fe¢orded 14 works tjoth new and old. The projert leqacy Includes CROSS-SECTOR PAR TNERSHIP5- ELECTRIC VOICE THEA TRE mointoined ondstrengthened our on%70ing partnerships with Conwoy Holl Ethicolsociety. 88C new generotion thinker and music historian- Oskorjensen und community centres including Stjohn s Arts (7nd Recreation Centre in Horl(xv. Holl)om Community Centre London, ond5everol schools. 4eroll* given the totol obscurity of Flowerf5 music prior to these events. itfeEls hord to overstote how enriching, novel, ond rewording the experience wos. formyself ¢7nd the various performers os well os the udiences. There seemed o genuine oppetitefrom ollportiesforthis blendof unknown music, Storytellir￿. history. ondfeminist reclqmotion Or Oskar Jensen. Musk Hlstoyian & B8C Generation Thlnker Updated and adapted scores of E112a Flowerfs music for contemporary use- and passed much of this on to choirs and developed the website through which they will become available to the public. Harlow Museum were supported by us to put up a new, permanent display about Eliza Flower and her sister Sarah which included being able to hear her music performed by EW. Conway Hall treated the Fl¢iwer Room PARTICIPANTSfrom oll our workshop stronds 51ry they will continue to Use some of the vocal/musicionship/composition skills ond hove goined oworeness of music by women ond enjoy new music. o YOUNG SINGERS PROGRAMME participants ollsaid they ore continuing to use the techniques ond ideos they leornt on the course.. _ Usinq a metronome. worming up efficiently I h¢Tre porticvlorlyfound the rhythm exercises useful,. l am Seeing results in the music l am leornin9for uni. The worm-ups in geneml been qreatfor100seninq any tension Troining to read sheet music. Ifeel I learned how to be more ottentive to the ensemble ond working os one The intervol troininq wos very useful, We ore thrilled that 3 of them ore now port olour teom, while others have continued to investigote related musical heritoge with us. ond we ore providino references to help others ocquire engogements. o SCHOOL PUPILS AND TEACHERS sold.. Whor ofobulous morning ond whot o Wt%non Elizo Flower is. We'll be singing the songfvr months ilnot yeorsl I hove now been inspired to 9et some more structured singing lessons embedded into our curriculum. it is such o joyou5 thing to do ond we currently don't do it very well. Comden has a qreat music service ond I'm enquiring Wlth them.. The girls hod o wonderful time ond I'm sure their visit hos certoinly sporked their creotivityfor writing music ond lyrits. It W05 such on interesting and enqagin9 day with expert direction from you ond your excellent teom I liked the protest song. I loved leorning sign longuoge I reolfy enjoyed moking ondperfom7inq our own songs FOOTPRINTS - o substontiol body of online resources hos been mode ovoiloble both to the generolpublic ondfor teochers ond sch¢xJls- rtochinq un gudience in this period of opprox. 10.OLkl- with poges visited 42.LXXI times. ELECTRIC VOICE THEATRE- Project poqes Youtube- vide05 of live/zoom perforrnonces, music & artistsfilms- views rosefrom 3.9K the previous yeor to 4.6k. Soundcloud- music recordings & podca5ts- we n7ised our oudience on this plotform ty 50% from 2,2LXI. 3,163 promoted on vorious partner websites ond adding to the 8rit15h Music Collection Our model of cross-disciplinory colloborotions sow us build on our pmjert development ondfund roi5ing which ollowed us to carry out many more events thon the previous yeor. FINANCIAL REVIEW The charity's principal source of funding is grants. t￿X office and fees. with some small donations on top. As a charity with no capital backin8. Electric Voice Theatre operates on a small tightly controlled budget. The tharity onty contrarts to pay artists on the basis of successful 8rant applications which generally specify what expenses the grant is intended to cover. Payments Out are then only due when fvnds are receTved from the grant making body. On occasion. shortfalls in fundin8 are covered by holding bèck or reducing fees to the Artistic Dirertor. From time to time the artistic dirertor will temporarity fund expenses personally and reclaim from the charity when the relevant funds are received. is grateful for the support of the following 6rant makin8 bodies. donors and promoters, Without which the charlty could not have progressed the volume and quallty of work In thls period: Ambache Charitable Trust SCOPS Arts Trust Hinrich5en Foundation National Lottery Herita8e Fund Conway Hall Newcastle University St John's ARC Harlow Individual donations made throu8h our online PayPal donations scheme The charity ha5 Sufficient resources at the end of the period to meet its contractual obll8ations. Due to the nature of the funding received. it is rtot considered viable in the immediate future to build up reserves and given its fundin8 model reserves are not essential. Currently the Artistic Director undertakes, without char8e for her time, all funding applications and coordination with collaborators which limitsthe amount of tlme that can be devoted to initiating more projects. The charity continues to fall below the threshold for an independent examination. As we paid for an independent examination for 2022-23 accounts the Trustees considered this provided the necessary assurance for their purposes and considered that it unnecessary to repeat the exercise this year given the level of funding. This will be reviewed next year. Funds held as at 31" August 2024 amount to £3.335 and these represent amounts payable to the Artistic Director for fee5 not claimed pendin8 final projert outcomes. The Charity is primarily dependent on the efforts of the Artistic D1￿Ctor and volunteer 5UPPOrt for continuin8 Wlth activities. However, due to the limited financial exposure taken on there are no immediate concerns about financial problems. The Artistic Dirertor will continue to apply for funding to facilitate continuation of E￿S work with the support of our partners at Conway Hall, Humanists UK, Sussex University's Serpell Lab and Natural History Museum. Given the limited size of the income and expenses in the period. the accounts have been prepared on a receipts and payment basis as provided for in the Chari Commi55ion uidance. Future Plans We are currently working with Conway Hall to continue to promote the work of composer Eliza Flower11803- 18461 whose lrfe and work were important to the development of their Ethical Society, and to research other women composers in their archive and to treate and develop various events at the venue as part of their programming this year. In addition we have developed an Eliza Fktwer website to glve access to our research, films, ￿(ording5. and downloadable Kores. We are developin8 a project with Miranda Lowe CBE Iprincipal Curator. Crustacean) at Natural History MuseLbm, London based aroLbnd her predecessorlsabella Gordon which connects communities in London, Japan and Scotland. NHM are currentty scoping Out fundin8 Opportunities and we are developing partnerships with local schools and tolle8es. An additional partnership with Humanists UK will brin8 new projects about women in science and music in fut¥Jre years. Serpell lab at Sussex University have raised the funds for us to undertake a schools project in Sussex as part of our Misfoldin8 Project studying the biochemistry of Alzheimers and creatin8 music about It with children. Assessment of major rfsks A risk register has been complled. The principal risk facing the ChaTlty is dependence on Frances Lynch and Herbert Clarke to fulfil reative and administrative obli8ations- this is kept under review but limited risk mana8ement. Policies and procedures are in place to mana8e other risks. including Health & Safety, Safeguarding and Financial risk, includin8 the risk of inappropriate payments to the Artistic Dirertor who is also a trustee. Such payments are limrted to fees for specific projects in line with other artists and payment5 a￿ reviewed by the Trustees without the Artistic Director taking part in the discussion. No other Trustees received any payments from the Charlty. SlnKture, Governance and Management The Charity is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation ICIOI with a constitution based on the standard model provided by the Charities Commiss*)n. Trustees are appointed by the Board of Trustees on recommendation of Trustees and collaborators on EVT projects. The Charty aims to recruit as far a5 Possible a diverse ran8e of Trustees with understandin8 of the work of Evf and the ability to contribute to its development. An induction process is in place for Trustees. Contact details Address: 39 BIRNAM ROAD LONDON 39 Birnam Road N4 3LI Phone- 02072810672 Email.. electrlcvolcetheatre email.com Websrte.. htt www.electricvoicethèatre.¢o.u CblARITY COMMISSION Rècelpts and payments accounts CC16a Farth• P•Md from To S•ctlon A R•c•l ts and rn•nts £Trdo*irrtnl L••iy••f l•th• r*41￿1 L 141 s￿+￿1(L￿Ss mcom• brARJ lot•1 AJ lot•1 A4A•Ht InY••iffl• lot•1 rot•ipaym•rt• 45• i.•oJ At•tolr•¢•Wp•ym•mi ASTrnn•l•r• b4t*••n fund• A•¢•bh l*Jnd• •nd C•Jh IN# y••r •nd I,J2• 2.7 i.•*s CHARITY COMMISSION Él•cknc VrA<• Tr*4lr• t194IBI Roceipt5 and pa ments accounts CC16a Fatt￿ p•rl•d To JI..OD34 S•¢tlon B Slat•n*nt ol •u•ts •nd Il•bllttkn• al th• •nd olth• p•rlod lund• lun4• 81 C**hfw Ilnff••trt¢i•d li••trIC￿ ft&nd• Endo*mMi lund• lund• 83 ***•ts 84 AsB•ts r•tskwd lor U v•ffl BS U•bllltknB 1.J•• 5¥n•O by typ kn*•l•v•4 Pwrdp4w* Recepts & Paym￿1 Accounls p￿Pared by.. Cafherine M Lynch FCA Volunteer Treasurer