THE VAUGHAN WILLIAMS FOUNDATION

Grants, generally for up to £5,000, are available to charitable organisations and individuals in the UK, the Republic of Ireland and overseas to support for the work of professional composers of the last 100 years, and work which furthers the understanding of the life and music of Ralph Vaughan Williams and Ursula Vaughan Williams.
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o Application deadline: WEDNESDAY 3rd SEPTEMBER 2025. The latest round opened to applications on Monday 2nd June 2025.
o Funder: The Vaughan Williams Foundation (founded 2021. Charity number 1193080. Total value of all grants awarded during the year ended 31st December 2023: £354,549 (2022: £320,235)).
o Who can apply: charitable organisations and individuals in the UK, the Republic of Ireland and overseas.
o Key words: Public Performance of the work of Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composers, Publication, Performance and Recording of 20th and 21st Century Music, Advancement of Music Education, Overseas, Republic of Ireland, United Kingdom.
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Founded in 2021 but largely dormant until 2022/23, the Vaughan Williams Foundation is a grant-giving charity which upholds the values and vision of the celebrated composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) and his wife, the poet Ursula Vaughan Williams (1911-2007). Ralph Vaughan Williams was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over 60 years.

The Vaughan Williams Foundation’s principal objectives, which carried out by the award of grants to individuals and organisations, are:

1. The advancement of public appreciation of and education in music. In particular by:
o The advancement anywhere in the World of the knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the works of the late Ralph Vaughan Williams and in furtherance of this object the encouragement and financial support of public performance and recording of his works, and
o The encouragement and financial support of publication, performance and recording of music by British, Irish and long-standing UK-resident composers active in the last 100 years.
2. The granting of assistance to British, Irish and long-standing UK-resident composers to further their musical education within the UK for public benefit, and
3. The advancement of such other exclusively charitable purposes for the public benefit as the charity Trustees may in their discretion see fit, having particular regard to the interests of the late Ralph and Ursula Vaughan Williams.

The policies of the Foundation are:

o To give assistance to British composers who have not yet achieved a national reputation.
o To give assistance towards the performance and recording of music by neglected or currently unfashionable 20th and 21st century British composers, including performances by societies and at festivals which include works by such composers in their programmes.
o To assist national organisations which promote public knowledge and appreciation of 20th and 21st century British music.
o To assist education projects in the field of music, and
o To support post-graduate students of composition taking first masters degrees at British universities and conservatoires.

During the year ended 31st December 2023, the Foundation awarded 166 grants totalling £353,049. Grants were awarded against the following headings:

o Public Performance: 78 grant totalling £149,130 (average grant: £1,912).
o Music Festivals: 20 grants totalling £55,000 (average grant: £2,750).
o Recordings: 39 grants totalling £73,575 (average grant: £1,887).
o Student Bursaries: 6 grants totalling £30,000 (average grant: £5,000).
o Vaughan Williams projects: 20 grants totalling £37,844 (average grant: £1,892).
o Training: 2 grants totalling £5,000, and
o Charity: 1 grant totalling £2,500.

A list of all grants awarded over the last 2 years is provided on pages 22-26 of the Foundation’s annual accounts.

Funding is not available for:

o Performances by student ensembles.
o Performances of composers currently in higher education, or
o Retrospective projects (i.e. for work or spending that has already taken place).

The trustees meet twice annually to discuss all applications to the Foundation. The Foundation’s sub-committee which deals with composers from the first half of the twentieth century met three times last year, while the ‘Recent Composers subcommittee’ met four times.

The next deadline for applications is Wednesday 3rd September 2025.

Further information, guidance and an online application form is available on the Foundation’s website.