## The London Festival of Contemporary Church Music 

**12 – 21 May 2023** 


Report of Trustees Financial Review 2023 

_Promoting, developing, and showcasing contemporary liturgical music in service and concert_ 



_The London Festival of Contemporary Church Music was founded in 2002 with the aim of showcasing contemporary liturgical music in both service and concert. Now in its 21st year, the LFCCM has grown to include more than 50 events, dozens of composers, hundreds of performers and thousands of audience members, both live and online._ 

## **Contents** 

|_1_|Supporters in 2023..............................................................................................................._3_|
|---|---|
|_2_|Trustees and Administrative Details..................................................................................._4_|
|_3_|Letter from the Chair............................................................................................................_5_|
|_4_|Tributes to Christopher Batchelor_..........................................................................................7_|
|_5_|Our Purpose, Aims, and Objectives.................................................................................._10_|
|_6_|Festival Debrief Report: Our Activities in 2023..............................................................._11_|
|_7_|Historical Summary Report_...................................................................................................22_|
|_8_|Structure, Governance, and Management......................................................................_24_|
|_9_|Financial Review for 1 January – 31 December 2023......................................................_28_|





## **Our Supporters** 

We are deeply grateful to the many funding partners who have so generously supported the Festival over its lifetime. Funding partners for 2023’s Festival included: 


The Stephen Dodgson Trust 

The Thanet Street Trust 


_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_3_ 



## **Trustees and Administrative Details** 

**Registered charity name** LONDON FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY CHURCH MUSIC **Registered charity number** 1199196 **Registered address** 12 FESTUCA HOUSE 38 MIRABELLE GARDENS E20 1BR **The Trustees** Mr Alastair Carey _(chair)_ Mrs Philippa Ouvry-Johns Rev Ronald Corp Mr Graham Ross Mr Jonathan Wikeley _(acting Treasurer)_ **The Administrators** Mr Alastair Carey _**for Festival 2023**_ Ms Felicity Hayward **Artistic Director** Dr Christopher Batchelor 

_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_4_ 



## **Letter from the Chair** 

2023 was a year of mixed emotions for the Trustees of the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music. In this first full calendar year of the Festival’s incorporation as a CIO, the Trustees continued the governance work begun in the second half of 2022. Independence from St Pancras has created new opportunities for the Festival: establishing new partnerships with other venues and artistic groups, expanding our potential audience base, and considering new approaches to overall artistic strategy and leadership in the years ahead. The need to develop a future artistic strategy approach was largely due to the decision of the Festival’s founder and Artistic Director, Dr Christopher Batchelor, to retire from his role no later than 2026. The reaction of the Trustees to this news was no doubt shared by many of the composers and performers that Christopher’s work has touched over the past twenty years: both sadness at the loss of such a great champion of contemporary music for choir and organ, as well as immense gratitude for Christopher’s tireless and inspirational leadership over more than two decades. 


_Alastair Carey_ 

The focus of the Trustees, then, for much of 2023 has been in developing a leadership strategy for the Festival’s future, to be finalised in 2024. Meanwhile the administrators developed a programme that featured two major concert projects – one of which served as a particular tribute to Christopher’s vision and leadership – together with a number of smaller choral and organ recitals, and liturgical services across London. A particular highlight for me was watching student dancers from London Contemporary Dance School present their self-choreographed works, accompanied by new organ music brilliantly played by Martyn Noble at St Pancras Parish Church on the Tuesday of Festival week. Seeing events like this come to life are a special thrill for me, as they perfectly encapsulate all the very best aspects of the Festival’s work: composers creating new music, performers delivering fantastic performances, and 

_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_5_ 



outreach engagement with young people that brings them into a new artistic context that, for many, they have never previously encountered. 

Overall, 2023’s Festival programme included two ticketed concerts, two free choral recitals and one free organ recital at St Pancras Parish Church, six liturgical services at St Pancras Parish Church, and 52 events at 27 other participating venues across London including two free organ recitals and 48 liturgical services. A major composition and performance project, “Blesséd Cecilia”, saw composers from across the United Kingdom come together in a remarkable collaboration to celebrate 20 years of Christopher Batchelor’s founding and leadership of the LFCCM. The Festival scheduled 269 live performances of 228 distinct works by 153 composers. 

I am deeply grateful to all who contribute to the work of the Festival: the Trustees, the Administrators, and all our many partners – composers, performers, other venues and artistic groups, and of course our many supporters and funding partners, both private and public. Without your support and contributions, the Festival could not continue its work. On behalf of the Trustees, I thank you all. 

Alastair Carey _Chair, Board of Trustees_ 

_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_6_ 



## **Tributes to Christopher Batchelor** 

_The London Festival of Contemporary Church Music (LFCCM) was founded in 2002 by Christopher Batchelor to promote the living tradition of liturgical music for choir and organ. After more than 20 years of leadership, Dr Batchelor has indicated to the Trustees his intention to retire by 2026. In 2023, the Festival coordinated a special collaboration project amongst composers close to Christopher and the LFCCM. Here are some of their tributes to Christopher and the Festival._ 


_Christopher Batchelor_ 

The LFCCM provides the world of contemporary church music with a quite unique and utterly invaluable platform. It is vital that the composers of today continue to follow the example of past generations in writing beautiful music for divine worship and the LFCCM provides a forum, a celebration and an incentive to further the cause of new sacred music. 

_Michael Berkeley CBE_ 

I will always be so grateful for the LFCCM and Christopher Batchelor in particular. “Call for Scores” is a really simple and inviting opportunity for anyone to get their music directly into the hands of choral directors and can open a lot of doors to further opportunities – but, crucially, in a way that’s very accessible to anyone who’s written any liturgical music... for me personally it’s really kick-started my career; Chris programmed my first set of _Preces and Responses_ in the Festival in 2017 and then commissioned me to write another set for the Festival’s BBC broadcast in 2019. The commission felt like a huge vote of confidence in me... 

_Sarah Cattley_ 

_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_7_ 



I first became aware of the Festival when I learned that Robert Sholl was to play my _Washington Toccata_ at the very first Festival, on 7 May 2002. Through that I met Christopher and his encouragement led to further performances of my music... especially I was grateful for the singing of my _De Profundis_ which had special significance for St Pancras. On 7 July 2005, bombs were set off in London, one outside the church, where much-shaken victims and witnesses were received for comfort. A few years later one of the congregation, Lillian Ruff, remarked to me that it would be nice if “one of our composers” wrote something in memory of those who died, so I offered. She chose the text and the result was my setting sung at the Festival on 11 May 2011. One of the congregation on that occasion was Esther Hyman, who had lost a much-loved sister Miriam when the bomb went off on the bus. She founded a charity in Miriam’s memory and the “7/7 Community” was born, with Tavistock Square as the centre. 

_Alan Gibbs_ 

In 2013 I submitted two Introits in response to “Call for Scores”: _Prayer to St Pancras_ for upper voices, and _Invocation of St Pancras_ for lower voices. I was delighted when the latter was premiered in Choral Evensong on the first Sunday of that Festival. Especially so, as this was the first time, as a “late career” composer, that I had submitted a piece. The _Invocation_ has since been performed both within the Festival, and in regular church life. 

Then in 2017 I was commissioned to write the _Preces, Responses, and Lord’s Prayer_ for the 2018 Choral Evensong broadcast on BBC Radio 3. It has been a great joy to produce work for church use that has been performed by The LFCCM Festival Singers. The Festival makes a huge contribution to sacred music in this country, and I am very happy to have had the opportunities to be a part of it. 

_Miriam Mackie_ 

Writing _The Dream of the Rood_ was a great opportunity for me to delve into the world of Anglo-Saxon poetry and indeed write my own translation/adaptation of this 10th-century text. I got to write something that had a mystical, dream-vision feel including a passage inspired by the Celtic lamentation style of ‘keening’. This is definitely not something I would be able to do with a more conventional sacred commission! I am grateful to Chris and the LFCCM for allowing me to push the boundary of sacred music a little bit, in a way that felt creatively authentic. It was also 

_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_8_ 



awesome to have it performed so well – again, a luxury to get to write fairly challenging choral music! Congratulations, Chris, on 20 years of hard work and dedication, and thanks for supporting countless composers, including myself. 

_Kerry Andrew_ 

Some of the most interesting new music these days is being composed for the Church. But it’s in the nature of Church services that the music is not intended to take centre stage, and as a result, as listeners and music lovers, we might be in danger of missing out on a particularly healthy branch of contemporary composition. So, LFCCM is a particularly significant yearly festival, and a most helpful digest of what is happening in this extensive field of music. All credit and admiration is therefore due to Chris Batchelor for inventing LFCCM, and sustaining it so effectively for two very busy decades. 

_Judith Weir DBE Master of the Queen’s Music, 2014 – 2022 Master of the King’s Music, 2022 – 2024_ 

Chris has performed several of my liturgical works over the years and I have been grateful for his inspiring performances. His generous gift of a 70th birthday concert for me and Gregory Rose a few years ago remains a highlight of my musical career and his beautiful performance of my _Missa Brevis_ will be forever etched on my memory. A fine musician and a lovely man! 

_Diana Burrell_ 

_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_9_ 



## **Our Purpose, Aims, and Objectives** 

The London Festival of Contemporary Church Music was founded by Christopher Batchelor in 2002 with the aim of showcasing contemporary liturgical music in both service and concert. Today, the LFCCM’s goals and activities fall into three broad categories: 

_Composition-based activities,_ including commissions, management of the “Call for Scores” open submission project, and encouraging performance of premieres at participating churches across London. 

_Performance-based activities,_ typically involving a mixture of ticketed concerts, free recitals, and liturgical services featuring contemporary music at a wide variety of participating churches across London. 

_Outreach-based activities,_ including workshops, educational projects, and seminars. 

Our goal each year is to find a blended mix of these activities that, together, promote and encourage the development of new sacred music and the fostering of choral and organ composition and performance at all ages and levels of ability. Nearly all events promoted by the Festival are free of charge, so as to maximise the accessibility and benefit to the general public. 

_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_10_ 



## **Festival Debrief Report 2023** _Our Activities in 2023_ 

The Administrators of the 2023 Festival have prepared a Debrief Report detailing the Festival’s activities and outcomes for the year. The next pages of this Annual Report include excerpts from the 2023 Debrief Report, highlighting some of the activities that took place during the Festival’s ten-day programme. 

Following the Debrief Report is a Historical Summary Report that shows key outcomes for the Festival’s entire history across a variety of compositional and performance-based metrics. 

A complete listing of the 60 events that comprised 2023’s Festival programme are available at . https://www.lfccm.com/whatson/festivals/2023/ 

_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_11_ 



## _Summary of Activities and Outcomes_ 

- The 2023 Festival ran from 12 May 2023 to 21 May 2023 

- 2023’s Festival was the second full-scale programme since the global coronavirus pandemic 

- The Festival programme included two ticketed concerts, two free choral recitals and one free organ recital at St Pancras Parish Church, six liturgical services at St Pancras Parish Church, and 52 events at 27 other participating venues across London including two free organ recitals and 48 liturgical services 

- A major composition and performance project, “Blesséd Cecilia”, saw composers from across the United Kingdom come together in a remarkable collaboration to celebrate 20 years of Christopher Batchelor’s founding and leadership of the LFCCM 

- Hampstead Parish Church and St Pancras Parish Church joint-commissioned a new _Missa Brevis_ by Toby Young, with Hampstead Parish Church hosting the premiere performance on the first Sunday of the Festival period and St Pancras Parish Church hosting the second performance on the second Sunday of the Festival period 

- External venue participation in the Festival remains relatively subdued, down 33% compared to 2019’s Festival, the last before the global coronavirus pandemic 

- Generous donations towards the Festival’s costs in 2023 were received from The Hampstead Church Music Trust, The Thanet Street Trust, The Vaughan Williams Foundation, and The Stephen Dodgson Trust 

- After considerable disruption in 2020, 2021, and 2022, the Festival’s “Call for Scores” project returned to its normal operating schedule in 2023, with 52 performances of 48 works selected from a total of 149 submissions 

- “Call for Scores” engagement with participating churches improved over 2022 but is remains lower than prepandemic, with 52 performances in 2023 compared to 59 in 2019 

- In total, the Festival promoted five concerts and choral recitals, 54 liturgical services across in London, three organ recitals, and one pre-concert talk: a total of 63 events compared to 2022’s 58 events and 2019’s 80 events 

- Despite being smaller in scale than 2019’s pre-pandemic Festival, 2023’s Festival managed to schedule 269 live 

_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_12_ 



performances of 228 distinct works by 153 composers, compared to 2019’s 248 live performances of 216 distinct works by 152 composers, representing a measurable, if modest, improvement in performance deliverables despite the overall smaller scale of 2023’s Festival compared to pre-pandemic 

## _Performance-based activities: Concerts and Recitals_ 

## **Ticketed events** 

The Festival promoted two ticketed concerts in 2023’s programme. “Blesséd Cecilia”, a combined compositional and performance project, was hosted at St Pancras Parish Church, while “A Berkeley Celebration”, featuring music of Michael and Lennox Berkeley, was hosted at Hampstead Parish Church, with Michael Berkeley in attendance and taking part in a question-and-answer session as part of the performance. 

## _Blesséd Cecilia_ 

In developing this project, the committee was inspired by the collaborative creation of the _Missa Cantantibus organis Cæcilia_ in the 1580’s by students of Italian Renaissance composer G P da Palestrina in honour of their renowned teacher. Could a compositional collaboration of this type be recreated in 2023? The committee felt it could, albeit with considerable goodwill required on the part of composers. Committee members reached out to composers who had previously been commissioned by the LFCCM and who had a personal relationship with Christopher Batchelor to see if any would be interested in taking part in a collaboration. More than a dozen composers enthusiastically took part, creating both a new mass setting in a collaborative style modelled on the Renaissance mass setting of 450 years earlier as well as a clutch of new motets and anthems. All were performed and recorded at St Pancras Parish Church on 12 May 2023. 

_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_13_ 



The committee is indebted to Cecilia McDowall, Roxanna Panufnik, Phillip Cooke, and Gregory Rose for their support and advice in the design and planning of this project. 

## _A Berkeley Celebration_ 

The committee developed this project, a celebration of the 75[th] birthday of Michael Berkeley CBE and the 120[th] anniversary of the birth of his father Lennox Berkeley, at the suggestion of Christopher Batchelor. The project also recognised the 400[th] anniversary of the death of William Byrd and featured the premiere performance of a new work by Michael Berkeley, _Released by Love_ . The project was endorsed by Michael Berkeley, who took part in a questionand-answer session led by Petroc Trelawny during the performance. The inclusion of William Byrd’s music in this concert was based on his significance as a Roman Catholic composer and the connections that both Lennox and Michael Berkeley have held with Westminster Cathedral: a memorial service was held there for Lennox, and Michael sang at the Cathedral as a chorister. That 2023 was also Byrd’s anniversary year was a happy coincidence. 

The performance was designed and directed by Geoffrey Webber, Director of Music at Hampstead Parish Church, with featured performers including the Festival’s own professional choral ensemble The LFCCM Festival Singers, organist Joshua Ryan, and violinist Madeleine Mitchell, who played a particularly poignant solo piece, _Notes on the loss of a friend: in memoriam, Nicholas Snowman_ , composed by Michael after the death of a colleague. 

The performance and overall project was made possible by generous financial support from The Hampstead Church Music Trust and The Vaughan Williams Foundation. 

## **Free events** 

The Festival also promoted a number of smaller, non-ticketed concerts and recitals in 2023’s programme: 

- “Music for Four, Five, and Six Voices”: the Choir of St Pancras Parish Church directed by Christopher Batchelor presented this performance of William Byrd’s _Mass for Five Voices_ in the composer’s anniversary year, 

_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_14_ 



interweaving motets by contemporary composers amongst Byrd’s Renaissance polyphony. This performance was supported in part by a grant from The Thanet Street Trust. 

- “Lo, God is here”: the Choir of St Pancras Parish Church directed by Christopher Batchelor presented a mix programme of contemporary choral music by British composers Philip Moore and Stephen Dodgson. This performance was supported in part by grants from The Stephen Dodgson Trust and The Thanet Street Trust. 

- “Cymbals and Dances”: a journey into the world of music and movement that adds a fascinating new dimension to the traditional organ recital. Dance groups from London Contemporary Dance School were joined by organist Martyn Noble in this performance of new dance works accompanied by organ music submitted to the Festival’s “Call for Scores” project. Funded by private donations. 

- Two organ recitals featuring contemporary organ music, performed by David Goode at St Michael Cornhill and James Gough at Southwark Cathedral. 

## _Performance-based activities: Liturgical Services_ 

## **At St Pancras Parish Church** 

Prior to the founding of the LFCCM as a CIO, the Festival was administered as an artistic project of St Pancras Parish Church, with liturgical services performed at St Pancras during the Festival period managed and financed under the umbrella of the Festival. With the LFCCM becoming separate legal identity in June 2022, the committee felt it no longer made sense to directly fund the Choir of St Pancras Parish Church; after all, the LFCCM funds no other liturgical service choirs directly. Instead, the committee suggested a different approach for 2023’s Festival. In the past, principle funding for liturgical services often came from funding grants from The Thanet Street Trust. In 2023, the committee assisted Christopher Batchelor, the Director of Music at St Pancras Parish Church, in drafting a funding application to The Trust to cover the costs associated with an expanded liturgical service music programme at St Pancras during the Festival period. The application was submitted by the LFCCM, the application was approved by 

_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_15_ 



The Thanet Street Trust, and funds were disbursed to St Pancras Parish Church to be managed as part of their music programme instead of directly by the LFCCM. 

St Pancras Parish Church remains a stalwart supporter of the Festival. For 2023’s Festival, the church hosted the gala concert, two smaller choral recitals, the “Cymbals and Dances” organ recital with dancers, and six other liturgical services, including the premiere of a new Philip Moore mass setting ( _Missa Brevis “Sempre Vigilans”_ ) and the second performance of a joint-commission of a new Toby Young mass setting in conjunction with Hampstead Parish Church ( _Missa Brevis_ ). 

## **At other Participating Churches** 

27 participating churches took part in 2023’s Festival, a drop of 18% from 2022 and down 33% compared to 2019’s high-water benchmark before Covid. These 27 participating churches contributed 48 liturgical services to the Festival programme, a modest increase of 14% over 2022 despite the smaller number of venues taking part but still down 16% compared to 2019. Hampstead Parish Church made a strong contribution in 2023, hosting the other main LFCCM concert as well as five liturgical services, including a Sung Holy Communion service featuring the premiere of a jointcommission of a new Toby Young mass setting in conjunction with St Pancras Parish Church ( _Missa Brevis_ ). Three churches returned to participating in the Festival after an extended period away: 

- St George’s Chapel, Windsor (last participation was in 2015) 

- Southwark Cathedral (last participation was in 2017) 

- St Mary-le-bone Parish Church (last participation was in 2019) 

Diversity of liturgical approach across participating venues remains reduced compared to pre-pandemic; 2019’s Festival included participation from venues with liberal / evangelical services that included jazz and improvisation; participation in 2023 tended to be from venues focussed on the more traditional choir-accompanied-by-organ approach. Diversity in ensemble skill level remains diverse, with participating ensembles based at these various 

_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_16_ 



churches range from amateur parish choirs through to fully professional vocal ensembles, suggesting that there continues to be scope for a wide variety of interests and skill levels to participate in the Festival. 

## _Composition-based activities: “Call for Scores”_ 

The Festival’s “Call for Scores” project is an open competition for music to be performed at the Festival. Starting in 2010, “Call for Scores” has now collected hundreds of submitted choral and organ works from around the world. A total of 149 submissions were made in the second half of 2022 for 2023’s Festival, with 145 of these being Personal Submissions directly made by composers aged 21 and over, three being Youth Submissions directly made by composers under the age of 21, and one being a Commercial Submission directly made by a commercial publisher. Only Personal Submissions are subject to a review process. Of the 145 personal submissions, 96 were approved for distribution to 2023’s participating churches. There were 52 performances of 48 works in 2023, a pleasing improvement of 17% in participation compared to 2022 but still 18% lower than 2019’s pre-Covid Festival. The improvement in participation over 2022 is particularly pleasing given that fewer participating churches took part in 2023’s Festival. The improvement was largely due to several churches increasing the number of performance slots available for “Call for Scores” submissions in their services, including St Pancras Parish Church, Hampstead Parish Church, and St Mary of the Angels, Bayswater. 

After 2021’s Festival, the committee requested the ability to be able to break down “Call for Scores” submissions by composer country of birth and residence; previously we did not collect composer metadata on nationality. The new demographics have been added in time for the opening of 2023’s “Call for Scores” in September 2022. For 2023’s Festival, 30 personal submissions came from England, one from Scotland, three each from the United States and Italy, and a handful from other European countries including Switzerland, Poland, and Germany. By far the largest representation remains British composers. 

_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_17_ 



## _Outreach Activities_ 

## **Young Composers’ Workshop** 

In addition to hosting liturgical services and a concert, Hampstead Parish Church also proposed an outreach project in 2023: a Young Composers’ Workshop, aimed at school pupils Year 10 and upwards from both Jewish and Christian traditions, to be led by Roxanna Panufnik and Toby Young. Because the Festival’s normal Festival period in mid-May falls across school examinations, the workshop was proposed for the second half of the year on 15 October 2023. Composers would have their works mentored by Roxanna and Toby and hear a rehearsal and performance of their composition by the professional choir of Hampstead Parish Church directed by Christopher Dawe, director of music at University College School Hampstead. The Hampstead Church Music Trust generously donated £1,040 to cover the costs of the choir, administration, and modest fees for Roxanna and Toby. 

Despite engagement with several schools in the Hampstead area, including direct liaison with music directors at those schools, no compositions were received and the workshop ultimately did not take place. The unused grant from the Hampstead Church Music Trust was returned. It may be worth trying again in the future, with more lead time made available for schools to prepare and more direct liaison with schools from the LFCCM committee. 

_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_18_ 



## _Fundraising_ 

## **Charitable Fundraising** 

## 2023’s Festival received funds from the following funding partners: 

- Hampstead Church Music Trust: £5,040: funding for Festival-related projects related to concert, workshop, and liturgical service performance at Hampstead Parish Church and the surrounding Hampstead area, including one of the ticketed concerts (“A Berkeley Celebration”), liturgical services at Hampstead Parish Church, part of the commission fee for a new Toby Young mass setting in conjunction with Hampstead Parish Church ( _Missa Brevis_ ), and costs related to a proposed educational outreach project. With the exception of the outreach project, all activities were successfully executed. The funding associated with the outreach project was returned to the Hampstead Church Music Trust. 

- The Thanet Street Trust: £3,000: funding for expanded music at liturgical services and choral recitals during the Festival period taking place at St Pancras Parish Church. All funded activities were successfully executed. 

- Vaughan Williams Foundation: £1,000: targeted funding towards performance and administration costs for one of the ticketed concerts (“A Berkeley Celebration”). 

- The Stephen Dodgson Trust: £760: funding towards one of the choral recitals that featured the music of British composer Stephen Dodgson (“Lo, God is here”). Deliverables from the Festival to the Trust included typesetting of Dodgson scores previously only available as handwritten manuscripts, and recordings of the live performance materials. 

Total funding from these funding partners came to £9,800. 

_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_19_ 



The Trustees have identified creating a fundraising pipeline, for more efficient targetting, development, application, and overall management of fundraising, as a key strategic objective. 

## **Private Donors** 

Private donations totalling £6,000 were directed primarily towards performance projects. 

## _Online Engagement and Analysis_ 

## **Facebook** 

The LFCCM’s Facebook page has seen a pleasing increase in overall engagement since the end of 2022. It now has 880 followers, an increase of 14% over the last year and an improvement of 36% over 2019’s benchmark pre-Covid Festival. 

One Facebook advertisement was used to promote the 2023 Festival period and the opening concert specifically, with 3,793 impressions. Direct engagement with the content remained small with an overall clickthrough rate of 2.69%. 

## **Twitter** 

The @lfccm Twitter account now has 857 followers, a modest increase of just under 3% since 2022. 

Twitter remains, in the committee’s opinion, the most effective medium for the Festival to interact with composers and music groups. Changes in Twitter’s leadership, management style, and overall approach to content management in 2022 – including some potentially concerning changes to the handling of hate speech and extremist 

_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_20_ 



content –  have created some concern, however, as to whether the platform remains an appropriate engagement venue for artists and charities in the long term. 

## **Direct Mail** 

The committee has made progress on delivering a strategic opportunity identified in 2022. Historically, the Festival has maintained a number of disparate contact lists: patrons, commissioned composers, participating venues, submitters to “Call for Scores”, and so forth. The committee’s objective is to merge these various contact lists for the purposes of direct email. The goal is to engage more directly and more regularly with all the LFCCM’s various stakeholders, making sure they are informed of our progress on our projects and how they can contribute, either materially or financially. 

In the second part of 2022 and the first part of 2023, the committee completed the merging of “Call for Scores” submitters into the direct email contact list. When making personal submissions, composers are now invited to subscribe to the Festival’s contact list; roughly half of all submitting composers chose to do so in 2023, boosting the direct email contact list to 408 subscribers. 

Subscribers receive engagement before, during, and after each Festival, keeping them informed of the LFCCM’s progress, reminding them of upcoming engagement opportunities – particularly around compositional opportunities, such as “Call for Scores” – and informing subscribers of how they can take part in, and donate to, the work of the Festival. 

_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_21_ 



## **Historical Summary Report** _Measuring the Festival’s Activities from 2002 to today_ 

This Historical Summary Report shows key outcomes for the Festival’s entire history across a variety of compositional and performance-based metrics. 

The summary data shown here is based on information captured from every event in the Festival’s history, all of which is available to view online: 

- Past Festivals, including listings of events: https://www.lfccm.com/whatson/festivals/ 

- A complete history of all Composers who have taken part in the Festival: https://www.lfccm.com/whatson/composers/ 

- • A complete history of all Performers who have taken part in the Festival: https://www.lfccm.com/whatson/performers/ 

- A complete history of all Works (or sections of works) performed at the Festival: https://www.lfccm.com/whatson/works/ 

- • A complete history of all Venues and Participating Churches who have hosted events during the Festival: https://www.lfccm.com/whatson/venues/ 

- • A complete inventory of the Festival’s sound archives and recorded performances: https://www.lfccm.com/media/recordings/ 

_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_22_ 



|||Events|Performed<br>Works|Performed|Composers|Commissions|Performed|Call for Scores|Submissions|Performers|(Ensembles|and soloists)|Live|Performances<br>of Works|Premiere|Performances|Recorded|Performances|of Works|Total|Published|Tracks|Participating|Venues|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**LFCCM**|**2023**|63|228|153||9|||48|||71||269||57|||22|||24||28|
|**LFCCM**|**2022**|58|226|142||3|||33|||99||247||48|||12|||16||34|
|**LFCCM**|**2021**|26|92||69|3|||21|||35||96||19|||25|||30||13|
|**LFCCM**|**@ Home (2020)**|6|36||33||||1|||3||39|||||||||||
|**LFCCM**|**2019**|80|216|152||5|||58|||91||248||61|||24|||33||43|
|**LFCCM**|**2018**|72|189|134||6|||35|||83||229||46|||17|||33||42|
|**LFCCM**|**2017**|59|175|110||4|||30|||67||193||38||||||||36|
|**LFCCM**|**2016**|34|104||77|3|||15|||42||109||17||||||||20|
|**LFCCM**|**2015**|40|120||89|7|||20|||46||131||24|||54|||92||21|
|**LFCCM**|**2014**|46|143|102||8|||8|||61||153||36||||||||29|
|**LFCCM**|**2013**|41|126||85|8|||8|||51||134||28||||||||23|
|**LFCCM**|**2012**|37|73||51|4|||12|||25||75||19||||||||18|
|**LFCCM**|**2011**|33|86||56|4|||8|||40||95||20||||||||15|
|**LFCCM**|**2010**|32|94||67|6||||||27||104||19||||||||11|
|**LFCCM**|**2009**|32|95||64|3||||||28||103||13||||||||8|
|**LFCCM**|**2008**|28|99||58|7||||||20||99||8||||||||5|
|**LFCCM**|**2007**|23|85||69|6||||||22||86||15||||||||4|
|**LFCCM**|**2006**|20|37||36|3||||||21||39||3||||||||4|
|**LFCCM**|**2005**|21|74||52|4||||||14||75||5||||||||1|
|**LFCCM**|**2004**|16|24||23|1||||||3||24||2||||||||1|
|**LFCCM**|**2003**|13|25||22|1||||||4||25||3||||||||1|
|**LFCCM**|**2002**|9|39||31|||||||8||39||1||||||||1|
|||**831**|**2137**|**761**||**95**||**340**|||**665**|||**2799**|**520**|||**200**|||**285**||**113**||



_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_23_ 



## **Structure, Governance, and Management** 

The London Festival of Contemporary Church Music (LFCCM) is a registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) (charity number 1199196). It is governed by its Constitution, last amended on 17 May 2022 and adopted at the date of the CIO’s incorporation on 7 June 2022. The formal membership of the CIO is limited by the Constitution to the Trustees; there are no other voting members. The members of the CIO have no liability to contribute to its assets and no personal responsibility for settling its debts and liabilities in the event the CIO is wound up. 

## _The Trustees_ 

On 7 June 2022 the CIO was incorporated with three Trustees, the minimum quorum required by the Constitution. Two additional Trustees were appointed on 21 September 2022. When appointed as Trustees, individuals automatically become members of the charity until they are no longer Trustees. All Trustees are appointed for three year terms with the sole exception of the inaugural Trustees who were appointed for an initial term of four years. No Trustee may serve more than three terms consecutively without a break of at least one year. 

New Trustees receive copies of the Constitution, the most recent Annual Report and Financial Statement, such other internal information as may be needed in order to familiarise themselves with the governance of the charity (for example, minutes of recent meetings and policy documents), and induction information provided to all charitable organisations by the Charity Commission. 

The Trustees meet three times per year to review, oversee, and guide the work of the Festival’s Administrators. They develop such governance policies and strategies as may be required to effectively manage the CIO in the long term. 

_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_24_ 



The Trustees have sole responsibility for financial oversight and management of the Festival and the Festival’s Administrators. The Administrators may attend meetings in order to advise the Trustees as required. One of the Administrators or one of the Trustees serves as the acting Treasurer. 

## _Related Parties_ 

The CIO enjoys a long, warm association with St Pancras Parish Church, its staff, musicians, and governing body (the PCC of St Pancras Parish Church). This reflects the fact that the Festival was founded at St Pancras, was hosted as an artistic project of the church for its first 20 years, and – while now separated from the church both financially and in terms of governance – continues to benefit from the church’s generosity as a host venue and a valued artistic partner. 

## _Public Benefit_ 

In planning the Festival’s activities each year, both the Trustees and the Administrators take into consideration the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. In particular, the Trustees are guided by the objects of the CIO, namely: 

- encouraging and enthusing the public to experience contemporary sacred music in live performance whilst encouraging future generations of composers, singers, and musicians; 

- providing a platform for composers of contemporary sacred music to present and discuss their work; and 

- making such music accessible to all. 

_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_25_ 



## _Responsibilities of the Trustees_ 

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and the Financial Statements in accordance with applicable law. 

The Financial Year for the CIO is the same as the calendar year, i.e. 1 January – 31 December. 

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the CIO. The Trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the CIO and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. 

The CIO has opted to prepare Receipts and Payments Accounts which summarises all money received and paid out by the charity in the period, and a statement giving details of its assets and liabilities at the end of the year. 

Receipts in the period totalled £16,963. Expenses totalled £14,385. This left £4,720 in the CIO account at the end of the year, a healthy increase from 2022 but still below the desired level of reserves as determined by the reserves policy. The Trustees aim to rebuild the reserves within the next three years through accumulation of surplus funds in each financial year. We expect to meet the reserves target in the next two to three years. Additionally, the Trustees aim to increase and diversify fundraising to reduce financial risk as a whole. 

_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_26_ 



## **Reserves Policy** 

The Trustees have determined that the desired level of reserves should be such that it is possible for the Festival to proceed with a minimum viable amount of activity in all key areas: 

- Commissions already awarded should be able to be funded to completion; 

- Concert-based projects already in production (i.e. once artists have been booked) should be able to be completed; 

- Liturgical-based performance activities, administered through the Festival’s “Participating Churches” programme, have no cost to the Festival other than administration; 

- Outreach-based activities already in production (i.e. once artists have been booked) should be able to be completed. 

To fulfil these objectives this policy sets a desired free reserve balance of £9,500. This level is reviewed annually. 

_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_27_ 



## **London Festival of Contemporary Church Music** 

Registered Charity No.: 1199196 

## **Receipts and Payments Accounts** 

For the period from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023 

## **Receipts and Payments** 

||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total funds**|
|---|---|---|---|
||**funds**|**funds**||
|**Receipts**||||
|Box Office from Ticketed Events|1,163|**-**|1,163|
|Grants – Hampstead Church Music Trust|-|**5,040**|5,040|
|Grants – The Stephen Dodgson Trust|-|**760**|760|
|Grants – The Thanet Street Trust|-|**3,000**|3,000|
|Grants – Vaughan Williams Foundation|-|**1,000**|1,000|
|Individuals and Patrons|6,000|**-**|6,000|
|**_Sub total_**|**7,163**|**9,800**|**16,963**|
|**Asset and investment sales**||||
||-|-|-|
|**_Sub total_**|**-**|**-**|**-**|
|**_Total receipts_**|**7,163**|**9,800**|**16,963**|
|**Payments**||||
|Administrative costs|283|**-**|283|
|Commissions|-|**1,960**|1,960|
|Performance fees|4,302|**6,800**|11,102|
|Unused Grants – Hampstead Church Music Trust|-|**1,040**|1,040|
|**_Sub total_**|**4,585**|**9,800**|**14,385**|
|**Asset and investment purchases**||||
||-|-|-|
|**_Sub total_**|**-**|**-**|**-**|
|**_Total payments_**|**4,585**|**9,800**|**14,385**|
|**Net of receipts/payments**||||
|Net of receipts/payments|2,578|**-**|2,578|
|Transfers between funds|-|**-**|-|
|Cash funds last year end|2,142|**-**|2,142|
|**_Cash funds this year end_**|**4,720**|**-**|**4,720**|



_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 

_28_ 



## **Statement of Assets and Liabilities at the end of the period** 

|**Unrestricted**<br>**Restricted**<br>**funds**<br>**funds**<br>**Cash funds**<br>4,720<br>**-**<br>Cash at bank<br>**_Total cash funds_**<br>**4,720**<br>**-**<br>**Unrestricted**<br>**Restricted**<br>**funds**<br>**funds**<br>**Amounts owing to the charity and other monetary assets**<br>-<br>**-**<br>-<br>**-**<br>-<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**Fund to which**<br>**Cost**<br>**Current value**<br>**asset belongs**<br>**Investment assets**<br>-<br>**-**<br>-<br>-<br>**-**<br>-<br>-<br>**-**<br>-<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**Fund to which**<br>**Cost**<br>**Current value**<br>**asset belongs**<br>**Assets retained for the charity's own use**<br>-<br>**-**<br>-<br>-<br>**-**<br>-<br>-<br>**-**<br>-<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**Fund to which**<br>**Amount due**<br>**When due**<br>**asset belongs**<br>**Liabilities**<br>-<br>**-**<br>-<br>**-**<br>-<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>Signed by one or two trustees<br>Date of<br>on behalf of all the trustees<br>Signature<br>Print Name<br>approval<br>Alastair Carey<br>23/10/2024|**Unrestricted**<br>**Restricted**<br>**funds**<br>**funds**<br>**Cash funds**<br>4,720<br>**-**<br>Cash at bank<br>**_Total cash funds_**<br>**4,720**<br>**-**<br>**Unrestricted**<br>**Restricted**<br>**funds**<br>**funds**<br>**Amounts owing to the charity and other monetary assets**<br>-<br>**-**<br>-<br>**-**<br>-<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**Fund to which**<br>**Cost**<br>**Current value**<br>**asset belongs**<br>**Investment assets**<br>-<br>**-**<br>-<br>-<br>**-**<br>-<br>-<br>**-**<br>-<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**Fund to which**<br>**Cost**<br>**Current value**<br>**asset belongs**<br>**Assets retained for the charity's own use**<br>-<br>**-**<br>-<br>-<br>**-**<br>-<br>-<br>**-**<br>-<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**Fund to which**<br>**Amount due**<br>**When due**<br>**asset belongs**<br>**Liabilities**<br>-<br>**-**<br>-<br>**-**<br>-<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>Signed by one or two trustees<br>Date of<br>on behalf of all the trustees<br>Signature<br>Print Name<br>approval<br>Alastair Carey<br>23/10/2024|
|---|---|
|_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief_|_29_<br>_Report 2023_|



_LFCCM Annual Report of Trustees / Financial Review / Festival Debrief Report 2023_ 




## The London Festival of Contemporary Church Music 

Report of Trustees Financial Review 2023 

_The London Festival of Contemporary Church Music is a Registered Charity, No. 1199196_ 

_www.lfccm.com_