Edinburgh Competition Festival Assoclation TrUrte Report 2026 The Edinburgh Competition Festival AsSOOation {ECFAI is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation, SC (ffi128. The aims and objectives of the Association are to advance education in the arts, particularly in Music. It doe5 this primarily by holding an annual music Festival of competitive and non-competitive classes for a wide range of ages and abilities, offering opportunities for strin& piano, wind. vocal, guitar, percussion, harp and traditional amateur musicians to tske part. aasses are adjudicated by specialist adjudicators. The Festival is called The Edinburgh Music Competition Festival. We are without a permanent Treasurer at the moment. With muth difficulty we found a replacement for our long-standing Treasurer. Russell Pugh, who announced his retirement at lastyear's AGM. Unfortunately our new Treasurer. Richard Fon& suffered a stroke in January and Russell once again took over the reins. We are extremely grateful to him for all that he has done to see us through another festival. We wish Richard well in his recovery from his stroke. Our Vice Chair, Claire McLean. resigned from the board in March. Claire worked hard for the festival and took on many roles on the Counol over the years, indudingthe positions of secretary. string advisor, the engaging of adjudicators and the organising of the Highlights part of the final concert. We are grateful for all that Claire did and acknowledge the part she played in the success of our festival. This year the Concerto dass first round was held on the 23rd and 24th of January. We had 30 entrants. The four ch05en finalists were Rhea Fittgerald- Chopin Piano Concerto no. I mvt.., Sandy Reilly- Rebecca Clark Wiola Sonata. William Guo - Mozart- Violin Concerto no,4 mvts.1&2; and Paul 088ier- Haydn Cello Conrt0 in C Major mvts. l & 2. The A550ciation ran its main 2026 Festival from the 3rd to the 15th of March. We had slightly fewer entries this year. Our piano, strings, wind and vocal classes were very popular. Harp. 8Uitar and percussion classes all had less. but nevertheless just as enthusiastic, entrants. The venues this year worked out very well though the initial timetabling was difficult as St Mark's Unitarian Church and St Michael and All Saints had less all-day availability. We had to use the more expensive St Cuthberfs Parish Church more than we would have liked. St Wincenys Chapel provided good accommodation for our 8Uitar dasses and some of the beginner string dasses. Our Highlights concert and the concerto Finale were held in St Cuthberfs Parish Church on Sunday 15th March. It was a wonderful festive occasion with great performances by Several of the class winners. In the second half, The Friends of the Festival Orchestra. condurted bv William Conway, played with the four finalists in the Concerto Class. The standard of play was outstanding and the adjudicators, Hilary Stuart and Jena Pan& declared Rhea Fittgerald and Paul 088ier as joint winners of the Audrey Innes Trophy. Audrey Innes and the Lord Provost of Edinburgh presented the trophy and medals. Our 15 minute recitsl class winners, Mrabh Downey. singin& Shionka Kamikaji-lnkster. harp, Jemma Grosse. flute, Grace Cooper, violin. and Ki Mingjia, piano, performed in the
music series -st Giles at 6" on Sunday 19th April. This was a wonderful showcase for young musical talent. The large audience was very appreciative. Unfortunately the success of this year's Festival is not reflected in the financial figure5. For the period ending 30 April 2026. the income was £23.141. down 14% from last year and expenditure, at £28,861, was an increase of 15%. This results in a deficit this year to 30th April 2026 in a loss of £5.720 and a lower cash balance of the same amount at the end of the year. We were without two of our regular sponsors this year and total sponsorship was down £3,600 while adjudicator and accompanist fees and expenses increased by £2,652, accommodation increased by £761 and venue costs increased by £l.010. These represent the largest changes in the year. We need to look again at our venue costs and our accommodation costs which continue to rise in Edinburth. The Association records with gratitude the finanoal assistance of sponsors large and small, in particular, The Plum Trust and The Educational Institute of Scotland. It remains very important that we continue to attract donations and grants to support amateur music performance. particularly for the youn& as we seekto develop our festival and make it even more accessible to all. As always, we are also grateful to the Council members who donate a great deal oftheir time and expertise to the planning and administration of the festival throughout the year and to the day to day management of the Festival itself. Without them and the many othef volunteers, hosts and stewards, we would not be able to fun a suc$$ful event. We also thank the many schools, teathers and parents whose interest and enthusiasm encourages the growing number of entrants to our festival. And finally, thanks must go to the venues for providin8 excellent facilities and for making us feel very welcome in their Space. SIGN Gillian Cowie Chair, ECFA
EDINBURGH COMPETMON FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR 1 May 2025 to 30 April 2026 202612026 202412025 Notes RECEIPTS Membership subscriptions Entry fees Audience takings Sale of Programmes Advertising Grants Donations Bank interest received Other Total Ordinary Recelpts 995 12.551 1,490 1,089 710 875 13,175 1,303 1,247 910 1.654 412 240 23.141 1,181 476 26,767 PAYMENTS AdjudicatorlAccornpanist Fees/Expenses Adjudicator Accommodation Administration Printing 10,938 3,295 1,312 2,034 8.286 2.534 1.555 2.470 rji Awards Venues Instruments/Music Federation Membership & Insurance Other Total Payments 320 9,912 330 71X) 20 28.861 8.902 365 570 104 25,154 Surplu5 (Defldtl for year 15.7201 1,613 Notes l The grants were from The Plum Trust and The Els 2 Covers range of costs, mainly postage, stationery. IT and the on line entry system. 3 Total Expenses incurred by and reimbursed to ten Trustees was £1444
EDINBURGH COMPETITION FESTNAL ASSOCIATION STATEMENT OF BALANCES AS AT 30 April 2026 At 30.4.26 At 30.&25 Notes Bank Accounts CAF Bank Treasurers Account CAF Bank Gold Account 640 19,784 20.424 3.763 22,381 26,144 Total Totsl Net Balances 20.424 26,144 Balances at 30.4.25 Surplus for Year to 30.4.26 Balances at 30.4.26 26.144 15,720) 20,424 24.531 1.613 26,144 Other Assets Computer Music light and 2 music stands Banners Trophies Totsl 50 Notss 1 Surplus from Receipts and Payments Account 2 At estirnated current value. Gillian Cowio Chaimian ECFA www.ecfesLorg.uk l June 2026 A Scottish Charitable Ineorporated Org*nisalioD SC 1106128