## Trustees Annual Report (TAR) for Period 1 October 2022 to 30 September 2023 ## Reference and Administrative Information **Charity Name:** Bristol Opera Company **Working Name:** Bristol Opera ## **Registered Charity Number:** 258553 **Website: http://www.bristolopera.co.uk** ## **Charity’s Principal Office Address as at 15 July 2025:** 36 Dirac Road Ashley Down: Bristol BS7 9LP ## **Charity’s Principal Office Address during TAR Period 1 October 2022 to 30 September 2023:** 39 Canford Lane Bristol BS9 3DQ ## **Charity Trustees as at 15 July 2025:** Gary Richard Andrews Vice-Chair – currently fulfilling the duties of Chair Dr. Steven John Harris Chair – _**currently on leave of absence due to illness**_ Lee James Hall Treasurer – _**appointed at AGM 19 October 2023**_ Sue Tansey Secretary Katharine Clare Billington Membership Secretary Charlotte Monk Secretary to the Friends of Bristol Opera Abigail Elizabeth Rogers Publicity / Social Media Robert Aarons Chorus Representative Mary Helen Cummings Social Secretary Dr. Anna Maria Woods Ex-Treasurer – _**stepped down at AGM 19 October 2023**_ |**Charity Trustees during the TAR**|**Period 1 October 2022 to 30 September 2023**| |---|---| |Dr. Steven John Harris|Acting Chair| |Gary Richard Andrews|Acting Vice-Chair and Website manager| |Dr. Anna Maria Woods|Treasurer| |Kathryn Harris|Secretary| |Katharine Clare Billington|Membership Secretary| |Charlotte Monk|Secretary to the Friends of Bristol Opera| |Robert Aarons|Chorus Representative| |Veronica Lois Lander|Social Secretary| ## Structure, Governance and Management **Charity Structure:** Unincorporated charitable association **Governance:** Constitution as amended on the 14[th ] September 1973, as amended 20 May 1993, as amended 3 September 1998, as amended 6 October 2022 Management **Charity Membership** : Our members pay an annual subscription at the appropriate rate, to sing in rehearsals, and perform in opera productions and concerts. **Trustee Selection method** : Trustees are appointed or reappointed every year, at the Annual General Meeting (AGM), which typically take place in October. No person receiving any form of remuneration from the Charity may be a trustee. A Musical Director and Producer are appointed each year at the AGM. The Musical Director receives a modest fee and is therefore not a trustee. Regular committee meetings of trustees, Musical Director and Producer are held online via Zoom. Between meetings, daily communications happen via email and the Committee WhatsApp group. ## **Financial Management:** Our bank account has as least three signatories on the mandate, including The Chair, Treasurer and Membership Secretary. Every payment transaction must be signed by two people. Receipts and payments accounts are prepared each year by the Treasurer and presented to our members at the AGM. Objectives and Activities **Objectives:** The object of the charity is to educate the public in the art of opera. **Activities:** Founded in 1923, Bristol Opera is accessible opera, created by and for the people of Bristol. Every Spring we present a fully-staged opera, followed by a smaller-scale, opera-themed concert in Summer. Past shows are listed on our website http://www.bristolopera.co.uk In recent years, we have won three Rose Bowl awards ( _Eugene Onegin 2009_ , _Pearl Fishers 2010_ , _The Vampire 2012_ ), the Wilfred Roe Trophy for Chorus Singing ( _Eugene Onegin_ ) and three times, the National Operatic and Dramatic Society (NODA South West) Gerry Branton Award for Best Operatic Production ( _Flying Dutchman 2014, Cavalleria Rusticana & Il Campanello di Notte_ 2016 and _Carmen 2017._ The charity trustees have complied with the duty in section 4 of the 2006 Act to have due regard to guidance on public benefit published by the Commission. ## Achievements Our fully-staged production this year was _La Traviata,_ by Giuseppe Verdi. 15-18 February 2023, at the MacKinnon Theatre, 1532 Performing Arts Centre, Bristol Grammar School, Elton Rd., BS8 1SJ. Performing were 11 principal singers, 23 chorus, and 13 instrumentalists, conducted by Arne Kovac, our Musical Director since 2005. Arne has built up an orchestra pool of fabulous, local musicians, many of whom return every year. Our Producer / Stage Director was Charlotte Monk, a stalwart member since 1985, who has directed 11 operas since her 2009 debut with our double award-winning _Eugene Onegin_ . Arne sourced a lush reduced orchestration by Francis Griffin (https://www.reducedoperaorchestrations.info/la-traviata) and we used a new English translation of the libretto by our multi-talented member, the late Graham Billing, who played Josef and sang tenor chorus too. The production was a great success – we did 4 nights instead of the usual 3, sold ~523 tickets totalling £9,010 sales and got very positive audience feedback. Our two _Violletas,_ Jennifer Walker and Rebecca de Coverly Veale, gave outstanding vocal performances, and lead tenor John Haque had great stage presence and emotional connection. John was so generous with his time, travelling from Sweden to rehearse and perform with us. Our chorus really brought the party to life, with exciting, clear-voiced singing. As always, we’re very grateful to our enthusiastic team of set builders, costume makers, stage crew and front of house people. To celebrate our Centenary, we held a blockbuster concert, 24 June 2023, under the wings of Concorde, at Aerospace Bristol, Hayes Way, Bristol BS34 5BZ. Audience members arriving early were able to board Concorde too! Usually, concerts are small-scale compared with the main production, but this just grew and grew, once our planning team - Gary Andrews, Rob Aarons, Kath Billington, Charlotte Monk and Susan Weaver (Life Member and ex-Chair 2013-2020) - got to work. In early 2022, we commissioned a new opera, _**Fish**_ by local composer Joel Baldwin (https://www.joelbaldwin.com/), based on the life of Bristol-born cartoonist and illustrator Anne Harriet Fish, to premier at our concert and herald in the next phase in the life of Bristol Opera. We engaged bass William Stevens (https://wno.org.uk/profle/william-stevens), who most recently sang Dulcamare in our 2022 production of _L’Eliisir d’amore_ , as guest conductor and rehearsal repetiteur for _Fish._ Meanwhile, Arne devised and rehearsed a dazzling programme of opera choruses and arias, showcasing out hits over the years. We invited past members and soloists to join us, as well as our President, professional baritone Andrew Shore (https://www.bristol.ac.uk/alumni/our-alumni/honorary-degrees/honorarygraduates/2014/shore.html) who came and sang the role of Omar Kaayham in _Fish_ . Altogether, 50 singers, a 35-strong orchestra, and a sellout audience of 312 people made it a magical and memorable night. In terms of Income and Expenditure, the Centenary concert was highly atypical. Concert income of £12,843 was very high compared with the 2022 concert income of £1,523. This was due to:- - Ticket sales £7,195 = ~312 seat @ £25/£20, compared with 2022 concert Ticket sales £1,188 = ~84 seat @ £15/£8. - One-off Sponsorship income £4,861. This included a single donation of £2,000 from member - - Robert Aarons and his employer Hewlett-Packard via Benevity https://hub.benevity.com/en gb// Other contributors listed on the 2023 Accounts Breakdown, were members, former members and friends of Bristol Opera. In contrast, the 2022 concert sponsorship was zero. - Programmes income £635, compared to £25 for 2022. Also, Susan Weaver bore the cost of programme design and printing herself, which was sponsorship-in-kind. Similarly, concert total expenditure of £11,078 was high compared to £2,688 spent on the 2022 concert. This was mainly due to:- - Commission of _Fish_ £2,000. Zero for 2022. - Lighting, Audio/Visual and staging hire £3,722. Zero for 2022. - Venue hire £1,800, compared with £245 for 2022. - Musical Director Fee £350. Fee waived for 2022. - Advertising £275. Zero for 2022. - Set and costumes for _Fish_ £166. Zero for 2022. - Photographer’s fee £125. Zero for 2022. Overall, our Centenary concert made a gain of £1,764.85 and the Year End Result was a gain of £1,283.54, so we had a successful year, both musically and financially. ## Financial Review **Reserves Policy:** There is no policy on reserves in place. Informally, we aim to maintain a bank balance greater than £15,000, to cover the cost of our main production, in the extremely unlikely case that we sold no tickets. As Authorised by the Trustees of Bristol Opera, Signed by: Anna Maria Woods, Trustee, and Treasurer during TAR Period 1/10/2022 to 30/09/2023 Dated: 15 July 2025 **Bristol Opera** Registered Charity No. 258553 **Accounts Breakdown for period 1 October 2022 to 30 September 2023 Page 1 of 2** |**La Traviata 15-18 February 2023**|| |---|---| |**Production Expenditure**|| |Theatre Hire|2408.66| |Orchestra: 13 players x 6 calls|4985.17| |Orchestra Parts Hire|638.00| |Orchestra Score Postage|34.25| |Music Director Honorarium|900.00| |Principal Expenses - John Haque|900.00| |Photographer Fee|125.00| |Costumes|517.98| |Set Build - Materials|183.07| |Set Transport|100.00| |Lighting Design, Hire & Operation|1034.28| |Audition Room Hire 8 Aug 2022|28.00| |Rehearsal Room Hire|1239.00| |Rehearsal Accompanist Fees|910.00| |Print Vocal Scores|303.88| |Print Flyers & Banner|116.75| |Print Programmes|316.09| |Advertising - What's On|150.00| |**Subtotal**|**14,890.13**| |**Production Income**|| |Ticket Sales:~523 seats @ £20, £18, £14|9010.00| |Programme Sales: 187 @ £2.50|468.10| |Audition Fees|40.00| |Vocal Score Sales|195.00| |**Subtotal**|**9,713.10**| |**La Traviata LOSS**|**-5,177.03**| ## **Company Operation Expenditure** |**Company Operation**
**Expenditure**|| |---|---| |Insurance|382.88| |NODA Subscription|190.00| |NODA & Rosebowl Reports - LaTrav.|130.70| |Friends' Reception - La Traviata|98.50| |Friends' Postage - Concert Programm|22.30| |Presentations - La Traviata|275.30| |Presentations - Centenary Concert|387.48| |Logo Designs - Matthew Mills|180.00| |Name Badges - La Traviata FoH|33.89| |Website Hosting - Heart Internet|194.26| |Zoom License|134.31| |Sum Up Air Card Reader x 2|122.97| |Sum Up -Transation Fees @ 1.69%|18.17| |Bank Charge - non-UK bank transfer|25.00| |Raffle Float - to Veronica Lander|25.00| |**Subtotal**|**2,220.76**| ## **Centenary Concert @ Aerospace Museum 24 June 2023** |**Concert Expenditure**|| |---|---| |Commissioned Opera:**FISH**by Joel Baldwin|2000.00| |Venue Hire - Concorde Hangar @ Museum|1800.00| |Lighting, A/V & Staging - Stage Electrics|3722.40| |Music Director Honorarium - Arne Kovac|350.00| |Guest Conductor (**FISH**) - William Stevens|200.00| |Orchestra: 29 /34 players, 5 calls maximum|935.75| |Orchestra: desk lights & batteries|29.69| |**FISH**Costumes -**Donated by Teresa Davey**|**-**| |Omar Khayyam's Turban - Nicola Didcot|40.00| |**FISH**Set|126.67| |Photographer Fee|125.00| |Commemorative Programme - Design & Printing|| |**Sponsored by Susan Weaver**|-| |Rehearsal Room Hire|713.00| |Rehearsal Accompanist Fees|320.00| |Print Vocal Scores & FISH full score|292.76| |Print Flyers|107.12| |Advertising|275.00| |Postage: orchestra and vocal scores|40.89| |**Subtotal**|**11,078.28**| |**Concert Income**|| |Ticket Sales: ~312seats @ £25, £20, £15|7195.00| |Programme Sales: 127 @ £5|635.00| |Vocal Score Sales|151.90| |Sponsorship:**FISH**Commission**[1]**|2219.23| |Sponsorship: Centenary Concert & Future**[1]**|2642.00| |**Subtotal**|**12,843.13**| |**Centenary Concert GAIN**|**1,764.85**| |**[1] See Page 2 for list of Sponsors**|| ## **Company Operation** |**Company Operation**|| |---|---| |**Income**|| |Members' Subscriptions|4800.00| |Friends' Subscriptions|1570.00| |Collection for Presentations - La Traviata|115.00| |Refreshments|157.63| |Raffles|273.85| |**Subtotal**|**6,916.48**| |**Company Operation GAIN**|**4,695.72**| **Bristol Opera** Registered Charity No. 258553 **Accounts Breakdown for period 1 October 2022 to 30 September 2023 Page 2 of 2** ## **Thank You! - to our friends, members and former members who kindly sponsored the commission of Joel Baldwin's opera FISH, and supported our Centenary concert including the first performance of FISH:-** Gordon Brand in memory of Daphne Jane Burton Ken Mewes in memory of Christine The late Geoff Wickham in memory of Hazel Sandy Johnstone Sir John Kingman John Lye (legacy) Andrew Pincott Charlotte Monk Nigel Tasker Jeremy Watkins Monica Watkins Anthony Kennesson-Adams Gary Andrews The late Graham Billing Alison Bolster Neil Bennion Peter Braddock Glynis Campling Rebecca Chellappah Ethel-Jane Cormack Heather Davidson Teresa Davey Alexandra Denman Elfride Harris Beatrice Hayes Norma Head Niall Hoskin Cathy Mackerras Mary Miller Esmeralda Patatin Susan Weaver Anna Woods Anonymous Donors - with fund-matching from Hewlett-Packard ## **2023 Expenditure before 1 Oct 2022 2024 Income & Expenditure before 30 Sept 2023** |**2023 Expenditure before 1 Oct 2022**||**2024 Income & Expenditure before 30 Sept 2023**| |---|---|---| |**La Traviata 15-18 February 2023**
**Production Expenditure**
Adition Room Hire:
28.00
St. Andrew's Methodist Church 8 August 2022
Print Vocal Scores - 6 Sept 2022
303.88
**Subtotal**
331.88
**Centenary Concert 24 June 2023**
Commissioned Opera: FISH by Joel Baldwin
50% downpayment 29 April 2022
1000.00
**TOTAL 2023 Spend before 1/10/22**
1,331.88||**Merry Wives of Windsor 15-17 February 2024**
**Production Expenditure**
Print Vocal Scores
351.00
**Production Income**
Vocal Score Sales
240.00| |||| ||| |---|---| |**CALCULATIONS LEADING TO:-**
**YEAR END RESULT & BANK BALANCE ON 30 SEPT 2023**
**Year End Balance on 30 Sept 2022**
£19,552.98
Company Operation GAIN
£4,695.72
La Traviata LOSS
-£5,177.03
Centenary Concert GAIN
£1,764.85
**Year End Balance at 30 Sept 20223**
**£20,836.52**
**Merry Wives of Windsor -**spend before 30/9/23
**-£351.00**
**Merry Wives of Windsor - income before 30/9/23**
**£240.00**
**Predicted Bank balance at 30 Sept 2023**
**£20,725.52**
**Barclays Balance on 30 Sept 2023**
**£20,725.52**|| ||| ||**Result for Year Ended 30 Sept 2023**| ||**Year End Balance at 30 Sept 2022**
**£19,552.98**
**Year End Balance 30 Sept 2023**
**£20,836.52**| ||**Overall Result for Year(GAIN)**
**£1,283.54**| |**Bristol Opera**Registered Charity No. 258553|**Bristol Opera**Registered Charity No. 258553| |---|---| |**INCOME AND EXPENDITURE for year ending 30 Sept 2023**
**Productions: La Traviata Centenary Concert**
**This Year**
**Company Operations**
**Income**
**Expenditure**
Members' Subscriptions
4,800.00
Friends' Subscriptions
1,570.00
Gift Aid
-
Donations Received
-
Refreshments
157.63
Raffles
248.85
Jim Head Commemoration
-
Insurance
382.88
NODA Subscription
190.00
Website Hosting
194.26
Zoom Licence
134.31
Presentations
547.78
Friends' Reception
98.50
Committee Expenses
81.19
2 SumUp Card Readers & Transaction Fees
141.14
Bristol Opera Logo Designs
180.00
NODA & Rose Bowl Awards - Reports
130.70
Subtotals
6,776.48
2,080.76|**Year Ended 30 Sept 2022**
**L'Elisir D'Amore A Masked Ball**
**Last Year**
**Income**
**Expenditure**
4,700.06
930.00
-
31.90
105.05
214.00
50.00
382.88
117.00
158.28
172.68
88.52
71.18
41.34
5,981.01
1,081.88| |**GAIN on company operation**
**4,695.72**|**4,899.13**
**(GAIN) Last Year**| |**Productions**
Production Expenses
25,305.42
Tickets Sales
16,205.00
Refreshments
-
.
Programmes
1,103.10
316.09
Audition Fees
40.00
Sponsorship
4,861.23
Subtotals
22,209.33
25,621.51|14,620.41
7,720.00
80.00
50.00
351.40
230.39
60.00
-
8,211.40
14,900.80| |**LOSS on productions**
**3,412.18**|**6,689.40**
**(LOSS) Last Year**| |**Total Income and Expenditure**
**28,985.81**
**27,702.27**
**Overall Result for Year (GAIN)**
**£1,283.54**|**14,192.41**
**15,982.68**
**£1,790.27**
**(LOSS) Last Year**| ## **BALANCE SHEET AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2023 Current Assets brought forward 1 October 2022** Barclays £18,221.10 Cash £0.00 2023 EXPENDITURE before 1/10/22 £1,331.88 GAIN for year ended 30 September 2023 £1,283.54 2024 EXPENDITURE before 30/9/23 -£351.00 2024 INCOME before 30/9/23 £240.00 Total **£20,725.52** ## **Current Assets carried forward 30 September 2023** Barclays £20,725.52 Cash £0.00 Total **£20,725.52** **Submitted by Anna Woods (Treasurer) to Bristol Opera at AGM on 19 October 2023 Re-Issued by Anna Woods 15 June 2025** ## ## ## ##