Capella Edina 

## **Capella Edina** 

## **Annual Return 31st December 2024** 

**Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) Charity Registration Number: 1206478** 

Page 1 of 5 

The City of Edinburgh’s Philharmonic Orchestra Patron: His Grace the Duke of Hamilton Honorary President: Sir Thomas Allen CBE 

Socials: @capella.edina Bank of Scotland Email: info@capella-edina.com Sort Code: 80-22-60 Web: www.capella-edina.com Account no: 26308162 

Analysis House Registered Charity no: 1206478 117–119 Sea Rd Board of Trustees: Robert Ames, Christopher Bruerton, Sunderland SR6 9EQ Jill Dykes, Allan Lapsley, and Luis Schmidt (Chairman) 




Capella Edina 

## **Trustees’ Annual Report** 

(Year ended 31st December 2024) 

The Trustees, present their report and the financial statements of the Charity for the year ended 31st December 2024. 

## **Reference and administrative details** 

|Registered charity name:|Capella Edina|
|---|---|
|Charity registration number:|1206478|
|Registered office:|Analysis House|
||117–119 Sea Rd|
||Sunderland|
||SR6 9EQ|
||United Kingdom|
|Trustees:|Mr L SchmidtSMISM(Chairman)|
||Mr R J Ames|
||Mr C H N Bruerton|
||Mrs J Dykes (date appointed 01/03/2025)|
||Col A C C LapsleyQVRM TD DL (date appointed 30/10/2024)|
|Accountants:|1st Cloud Accountants|
||Analysis House|
||117–119 Sea Rd|
||Sunderland|
||SR6 9EQ|
||United Kingdom|



## **Structure, governance, and management** 

Capella Edina (the Orchestra) was registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) by the Charity Commission for England and Wales on the date of 10th January 2024 (no 1206478). 

It is governed by its ‘Foundation’ Model Constitution. 

Artistic direction is undertaken by three of the Trustees (Mr Ames, Mr Bruerton, and Mr Schmidt), while the administration and management are carried out by Mr Schmidt, overseen by the Board of Trustees. 

The Orchestra has had three Trustees upon registration (Mr Ames, Mr Bruerton, and Mr Schmidt) and sought one more Trustee towards the end of 2024 (Col Lapsley) and one at the beginning of 2025 (Mrs Dykes) to represent several professions, including the military. 

Page 2 of 5 

The City of Edinburgh’s Philharmonic Orchestra Patron: His Grace the Duke of Hamilton Honorary President: Sir Thomas Allen CBE 

Socials: @capella.edina Bank of Scotland Email: info@capella-edina.com Sort Code: 80-22-60 Web: www.capella-edina.com Account no: 26308162 

Analysis House Registered Charity no: 1206478 117–119 Sea Rd Board of Trustees: Robert Ames, Christopher Bruerton, Sunderland SR6 9EQ Jill Dykes, Allan Lapsley, and Luis Schmidt (Chairman) 





**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
Capella Edina<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


## **Objectives** 

The Orchestra’s objectives are to promote, maintain, and advance the education of the public in the arts, and in particular the art of music by providing: 

- a) the presentation of a symphony orchestra, featuring contemporary and classical music, to a diverse audience; and 

- b) educational workshops about contemporary and classical music through the medium of a symphony orchestra. 

The Orchestra utilises a flexible pool of the most talented musicians from the Northeast of England and the Central Belt of Scotland to achieve these objectives. Additional commitment to young talent is reflected in the management and the trusteeship of the Orchestra. 

## **Activities and achievements** 

The biggest milestone of 2024 was the launch of the Orchestra’s inaugural 2025 season, which took place in autumn. During the course of the year, the Artistic Directors envisioned the guiding principles for the Orchestra’s performances, establishing that every concert should have a specific theme under which the programme combines a variety of works from canonical classical repertoire, compositions from film and television, neglected and contemporary works, to special commissions. These programmes should highlight the breadth of orchestral music and the Orchestra’s commitment to making music more accessible to people from all different backgrounds, exemplified by the Charity’s motto ‘United by Passion for Music’. 

The Artistic Directors drew up four concert themes – ‘Inspiration’, ‘Hollywood’s Golden Age’, ‘Vienna in Edinburgh’, and ‘Enigma’ – and respective programmes to be performed in 2025. This was complemented by the appointment of the Orchestra’s first Composer in Residence, Mr James Clay, a PhD student at Newcastle University, whose artistic output incorporates philosophy, heritage studies, and ecology to bring about meaningful creative interventions reinforced by personal and shared experiences. The Composer in Residence was asked to write two special commissions for the 2025 season. 

With the artistic plans confirmed, the Trustees decided to prioritise fundraising during 2024 term in order to finance the Orchestra’s inaugural season and cover any operational costs. 

Realising that the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is the largest employer for musicians in the UK, the Trustees were shocked how difficult it is for service leavers to find employment within civilian professional orchestras. To change this, the Orchestra decided to sign the Armed Forces Covenant at the beginning of 2024 – only the second orchestra in the UK to do so – and was proud to be awarded the Bronze Award of the MOD’s Employer Recognition Scheme. 

As part of the Orchestra’s wish to contribute to Edinburgh’s cultural scene, the Chairman had a meeting with the Rt Hon Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh, who was most delighted to hear about the creation and mission of the Orchestra. On the day of the 2025 season launch, the Lord Provost officially announced Capella Edina as the City of Edinburgh’s Philharmonic Orchestra, with its operational area spreading into the Northeast, particularly Newcastle, and the wider UK. 

## **Financial review** 

During the fundraising-heavy period of 2024, the Trustees were pleased to see several respected London- and Edinburgh-based philanthropists join the Orchestra’s supporters’ community, leading to a total (donation) 

Page 3 of 5 

The City of Edinburgh’s Philharmonic Orchestra Patron: His Grace the Duke of Hamilton Honorary President: Sir Thomas Allen CBE 

Socials: @capella.edina Bank of Scotland Email: info@capella-edina.com Sort Code: 80-22-60 Web: www.capella-edina.com Account no: 26308162 

Analysis House Registered Charity no: 1206478 117–119 Sea Rd Board of Trustees: Robert Ames, Christopher Bruerton, Sunderland SR6 9EQ Jill Dykes, Allan Lapsley, and Luis Schmidt (Chairman) 




Capella Edina 

income of £36,526. This allowed the Trustees to engage a freelance admin officer, market the inaugural season, and invest in orchestra equipment – totalling £23,956 in payments. The Orchestra remains a going concern in a healthy financial state. 

## **Plans for future periods** 

As part of our inaugural season, the Orchestra is planning to perform four symphonic concerts in 2025. The Trustees realise that the rising cost of living is preventing people increasingly from experiencing live orchestral music and, thus, is trying to make one concert completely free for the audience to attend to combat this. 

A particular focus for 2025 lies on increasing engagement with young people for which the Orchestra is set to establish a partnership with a school, allowing pupils access to rehearsals, hosting dedicated workshops, and becoming a part of the wider school community so as to ensure a constant presence of music in the local ward. A second strand of youth engagement lies within increasing the employment of young professional players as part of our concert series to share valuable orchestral playing experience and smooth out the transition from conservatoire to a professional career. 

To widen the Orchestra’s operation and finance the charitable activities, the Trustees are keen to develop a recording partnership with Newcastle University, using spaces, equipment, and personnel of the latter to produce high-quality recordings for (film) composers. 

All these projects are part of our mission of making orchestral music more accessible and, given a successful first year of fundraising, the Trustees think the Orchestra is well-equipped to battle a more and more challenging environment for the arts. 

## **Trustees’ responsibilities statement** 

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). 

Charity law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the CIO and the incoming resources and application of resources, including income and expenditure, for that period. 

In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to: 

- § select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; 

- § observe the methods and principles in the applicable Charities SORP; 

- § make judgments and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent; 

- § prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charity will continue in business. 

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Charity’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. 

Page 4 of 5 

The City of Edinburgh’s Philharmonic Orchestra Patron: His Grace the Duke of Hamilton Honorary President: Sir Thomas Allen CBE 

Socials: @capella.edina Bank of Scotland Email: info@capella-edina.com Sort Code: 80-22-60 Web: www.capella-edina.com Account no: 26308162 

Analysis House Registered Charity no: 1206478 117–119 Sea Rd Board of Trustees: Robert Ames, Christopher Bruerton, Sunderland SR6 9EQ Jill Dykes, Allan Lapsley, and Luis Schmidt (Chairman) 




## Capella Edina 

## **Independent examiner** 

Each of the persons who is a Trustee at the date of approval of this Report confirms that: 

- § so far as they are aware, there is no relevant information of which the Charity’s independent examiner is unaware; and 

- § they have taken all steps that they ought to have taken as a Trustee to make themselves aware of any relevant independent examination information and to establish that the Charity’s independent examiner is aware of that information. 

This Report was approved on 29th October 2025 and signed on behalf of the Board of Trustees by: 


Luis Schmidt, Esq SMISM _Director of Music & Chairman_ 

Wednesday, 29th October 2025 

## **Enclosed** 

- § Receipts and payments accounts for the year ended 31st December 2025 

- § Independent examiner’s report 

Page 5 of 5 

The City of Edinburgh’s Philharmonic Orchestra Patron: His Grace the Duke of Hamilton Honorary President: Sir Thomas Allen CBE 

Socials: @capella.edina Bank of Scotland Email: info@capella-edina.com Sort Code: 80-22-60 Web: www.capella-edina.com Account no: 26308162 

Analysis House Registered Charity no: 1206478 117–119 Sea Rd Board of Trustees: Robert Ames, Christopher Bruerton, Sunderland SR6 9EQ Jill Dykes, Allan Lapsley, and Luis Schmidt (Chairman) 



|~<br>CHARITYCOMMISSION<br>~<br>FORENGLANDANDWALES||I<br>Capella Edina|I<br>Capella Edina|||||||11206478|11206478|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||Receipts and payments accounts<br>Fort~~:erlodI<br>114124<br>I<br>To<br>I<br>12131124|||||||||||CC16a||
|SectionA Receipts and||payments||||||||||||||
||||Unrestricted<br>funds|Restricted funds||||Endowment<br>funds|||Total||funds|Last**year**||
||||to**thenearest**<br>£||to**thenearest**£|||to the**nearest**|£||to**the**|**nearest**£||to**thenearest**|£|
|A1Receits||||||||||||||||
|Donations|||**36,526**||||||||||**36,526**-|||
|_Sub total(GrossincomeforAR)_|||**38,528**|l,o|||||||||**36,526**|||
|A2 Asset and investment sales,||||||||||||||||
|{see table).<br>_Sub total_|||-<br>-|||: iI|||: iI||||: iI||: i|
|_Total receipts_||I|<br>36,526I|..<br>1_____||-1|1||-II||||36,52611||-1|
|A3 Pavments||||||||||||||||
|Marketing|||**6 925**||||||||||**6 925**|||
|Bank. fees|||7|||||||||-|7|||
|Office supplies|||64||||||||||64|||
|Adrrin support|||1 659||||||||||**1.659**|||
|Csots re Jan-25 concert|||**3 915**||||||||||**3.915**|||
||||-|||||||'|||-|||
|_Subtotal_|||**12,570**||||||||||**12,570**|||
|A4 Asset and investment||||||||||||||||
|purchases, (see table)<br>_Sub total_|||-<br>._,,-|||: iI|||:1|...........<br>1 _|||<br>-iI||. i|
|_Total payments_|I||<br>12,s10I|..I____.....-I|||..I____.....-I|||..<br>1______<br>12,57011|||||-I|
|_Netofreceiptsl(payments)_||<br>23,956<br>______.....,.||||.|<br>1,<br>11||.||||**23,956**|-|.|
|ASTransfers betweenfunds<br>A6 Cashfundslast year end<br>_Cash funds thisyearend_|<br>23,956<br>.______....|||||.|||-<br>-<br>.||||-<br>-<br>.**23,956**||--.|





## 

||||Unnt1trlcted||Restricted funds|Restricted funds|Endowment|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Categories<br>B 1 Cash funds|Details<br>I<br>Cunentaccount||funds<br>to,.,,.,t£<br>12,197||to**r-.1rnt**£||funds<br>to**,.a,nt£**|
|||_Totalcashfunds_|**12,897**||•|||
||**(~eebalrces**wtthreceipts-1dpaymentsaccnrl(a))||/\tJ1.!!mt~rtf:·ro||_ov_|_(;I'_||
||||Unrestricted||Re1trlcted funds||Endowment|
||||funds||||funds|
|**B2 Other**monetary**assets**|Details<br>to**ntlrHt**£<br>It--<br>VAT_reru_ndd_ue-----.111<br>f,8~|||11|lo**,.a,nt**£<br>|11|to**nearest**£<br>. I|
|83**lnvesbnent.anets**|Details<br>Equipmentpurchasedforlongtermuse||FundtowhichasHt<br>**belongs**<br>**9205.16**|<br>11|Colt(optional)<br> <br>. I||**Cc,rtntvalue**<br>( •onal)<br>|
|**B4 Assets retained**forthe<br>charity's**ownuse**|IDetans|Fll'ldtowhich asset<br>**belongs**<br>11||<br>11|Colt(optional)<br>|11|**Currentvalue**<br>(optional)<br>• I|
||||Fundtowhich||**Amountdue**||**Whenu**|
|**85Uablities**|l°etalls||llablllty relates||(optional)||**(optional)**|
|||11||11|<br>-I I|||
|Signed_by_one_or_twotrusteeson<br>behalfofalthe trustees|||Prill Name<br>I_f__351~|||||





CHARITY COMMISSION
FOR ENGLAND AND WALES
Independent examiner's
report on the accounts
Section A
Independent Examinevs Report
Report to the trusteesl
members of
Capella Edina
On accounts for the year
ended
3111212024
Charity no
{if any)
1206478
Set oul on pages
(reihember lo Include Ihe paqe numbers ol 8ddiiional sheelsj
I report to the trustees on my exarninalion of the accounts of the above
charity {"the Trust") for the periad ended 3111212024.
Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation
basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act
2011 {"the Act").
I repart in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out
under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I
have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission
under section 14515llbl of the Act.
I have completed my examination. I confimi that no material matters have
come to my attention (other than that disclosed below ') in connection with
the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material
respect=
accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of
the Act or
the accounts do not accord with the accounting records
Independent
examiner's statement
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in Gonneclion
with the examination lo which attention should be drawn in order to enable a
proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply.
Signed:
Date:
3111012025
Steven Tuckwell
Relevant professional
qualification{s} or body
(if any):
ACCA
Address:
151 Cloud Accountants
117-119 Sea Road, Sunderland, SR6 9EQ
IER
October 2018

Section B
Disclosure
Only complete if the examiner needs lo highlight matters of concern (see CC32,
Independent examination of charity accounts.. directions and guidan￿ for
examiners).
Give here brief details of
any items that the
examiner wishes to
disclose.
IER
October 2018