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 Con￿rt0 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