THE CONTINUO FOUNDATION

Grants of between £2,000 and £10,000 are available to support touring and greater access to excellent live period classical music to all sectors of society across the United Kingdom.

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o Application deadline: MONDAY 15th AUGUST 2022.

o Funder: The Continuo Foundation (founded 2020. Charity number 1194382. Total charitable expenditure during the year ended 31 December 2021: £247,058).

o Who can apply: UK-based professional ensembles with at least 3 musicians playing period instruments (or faithful replicas) and focusing primarily on music repertoires from the Middle Ages up until the early 19th Century. Proposals can include vocalists, as long as the instrumental ensemble applying has at least 3 instrumentalists, new works commissioned for period instruments, or combine early and contemporary repertoires in their programmes. Please note that applying ensembles must have performed at least one public engagement by Thursday 30th June 2022.

o Key Words: Classical Music, Period Instrument Ensembles, Touring, Culturally Disadvantaged Communities, Performance, Concerts, United Kingdom.

The Continuo Foundation is a recently formed grant-making charity that aims to enable a flourishing of live period performances across the UK, and helps period-instrument ensembles and musicians to engage, inspire and grow audiences of all ages. Its grants support touring and greater access to excellent classical music to all sectors of society, enriching lives and improving the financial sustainability of ensembles and the freelance musicians of today and tomorrow.

The Foundation tends to have a different theme for each of its funding rounds. The focus of the current round, which has an application deadline of Monday 15th August 2022, is to support ensembles to plan and carry out a range of artistically excellent projects that will bring live period music to communities across the UK, particularly those that lack access to high-quality live music, as well to help newly formed ensembles to establish themselves. Around 20 ensembles are expected to be supported in this round of funding. Please note that the Foundation favours concerts over recording projects and that applying ensembles must have performed at least one public engagement by Thursday 30th June 2022. 

Grants can be used by a period-instrument ensemble to (please note that this is not an exclusive list):

o Create a filmed concert which can be used to generate further touring opportunities. 
o Fund a chamber recital series.
o Fund a new project where there is uncertainty about audience size.
o Provide the funding to mobilise a performance that is at risk of being cancelled, 
and/or
o Tour an existing programme to new UK locations. 

The Foundation has earmarked a £100,000 grants budget for this round, from which it will award grants of between £2,000 and £10,000 to professional classical ensembles playing period music and instruments by mobilising projects of outstanding artistic merit and creating meaningful work for freelance period musicians.

Projects should take place between October 2022 and March 2023. 

Applicants will be expected to make a matched funding contribution. This should be at least 10% of the total project cost.

Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:

o The artistic merit and originality of the proposed project
o The extent to which new live or virtual audiences will be engaged.
o The extent to which the project proposed is realistic and will contribute to establishing the group's credentials and visibility (recently formed ensembles only), 
and
o The number of instrumentalists engaged and the proportion of the grant funds dedicated to artists’ fees.

During the year ended 31st December 2021, the Foundation supported 46 projects, 100 performances and 865 musician engagements. Details of grantees are provided on the Foundation's website, while a map on page 5 of the Foundation’s Annual Report shows the location of funded projects. 

Funding is not available for:

o Individual musicians (only ensembles of at least 3 musicians are supported)
o Venues, 
or
o Promoters. 

Further information, guidance and an online application form can be found on the Foundation’s website.

The deadline for applications is Monday 15th August 2022, with successful applicants expected to be informed by the end of September 2022.

Contact details for the Foundation are:

The Continuo Foundation
64 Barkston Gardens
London
SW5 0EL
Tel: 0207 783 3563
Email: info(at)continuofoundation.co.uk

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