1 year ago
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ARTICLE AD BOX
Image source, Britten Sinfonia/Molly Marsh
The orchestra regularly performs for under fives and their parents, including in Diss, Ely and (above) Stowmarket
"The UK's finest chamber orchestra" has launched a £1m appeal after Arts Council England removed its funding.
The Britten Sinfonia is based in Cambridge, has residencies in Norwich and Saffron Walden, Essex, and also works across Suffolk and Lincolnshire.
Master of the King's Music, Judith Weir, backed the appeal, saying "more live classical music outside of our biggest urban centres" was needed.
Arts Council England said it had had to make "difficult decisions".
Image source, Britten Sinfonia
Image caption,Britten Sinfonia cellist Chris Allen playing for patients on a ward at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge...
Image source, Britten Sinfonia/Shoel Stadlen
Image caption,... while their oboists performed on Addenbrooke's paediatric oncology ward
The grant-giving body, which invests money from the government in arts and culture organisations in England, announced the cutback in November.
The sinfonia said this left them with a shortfall of £1m over three years.
Meurig Bowen, its artistic director and chief executive, said the funding had allowed it to "have a wide-reaching presence throughout the East of England in concert halls, schools, health and community settings".
"Now, everything that is celebrated internationally, nationally and regionally is at risk," he said.
"This level of skill, expertise and extraordinary musical synergy is rare; it has taken three decades to build, and simply can't be replicated overnight."
Image source, Tom Lovatt
Image caption,The sinfonia has a residency at Saffron Hall, a performance venue in the grounds of Saffron Walden County High School
An Arts Council England spokeswoman said it had to "make many difficult decisions in delivering a balanced portfolio that ensures more people and more places get to experience fantastic cultural experiences".
"We recognise the impact of Britten Sinfonia's work and have awarded them £237,188 of transition programme funding to support them managing this change," she said.
The orchestra says it has worked with more than 80 schools across the region in the past decade, many of them in "levelling up" areas.
Image source, Tom Lovatt
Image caption,Trumpeter Alison Balsom, performing with the Sinfonia at Snape Maltings in Suffolk, is backing the fundraising bid
It also tours to the USA, South America, India and across Europe.
Composer Ms Weir said it is "widely considered to be the UK's finest chamber orchestra".
Singers Dame Sarah Connolly and Roderick Williams, trumpeter Alison Balsom and pianist Benjamin Grosvenor are among those backing the fundraising bid.
Mr Bowen said: "We are so proud of the range and quality of our work and are determined that this loss of Arts Council England funding will not decrease or degrade what we do."
Image source, Britten Sinfonia
Image caption,Cellist Laura van der Heijden and Britten Sinfonia at The Halls Norwich on 1 March
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