Organisations awarded funding to inspire new audiences

Scottish Ensemble 20th-Century Perspectives: City Spaces & Strings (Hugh Carswell)

The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) recently announced the recipients of the RPS Audience Fund.

The fund was established last year to give classical music organisations the means to devise fresh ways to attract, engage and retain new audiences. In the Spring, the panel chose five applications to receive a share of the £180,000 fund.

Over the Summer, applicants have been finding creative ways to deliver their bold plans in light of the pandemic.

It’s something we at through the noise really support. The whole classical music industry believes in music’s power to inspire and enrich people’s lives but, more than ever, we need optimistic and creative thinking to succeed.

The RPS add, ‘While this is evident to those already acquainted, the challenge persists in sharing that conviction with others, encouraging the population at large to discover classical music’s rewards for themselves.’

Aurora Orchestra performing under West Handyside Canopy, King’s Cross

Recipients of the RPS Audience Fund are:

Aurora Orchestra (Step Inside) – a commitment to evolving Aurora’s celebrated memorised performances so audiences can experience performances from inside the orchestra, with a priority of encouraging first-time classical attendees.

City of London Sinfonia – a new approach that will involve audience members in each stage of the orchestra’s creative process over two years, directly involving them in planning meetings, interactively in concerts, and evolving new feedback models afterwards.

London Sinfonietta (Couch to Concert) – an initiative to entice absolute beginners to contemporary classical concerts from mid-2021 onwards, emulating the spirit of popular fitness regimes with listening challenges, training podcasts, and visual ‘route maps’ to complex works.

Paraorchestra – the creation of a vital new digital toolkit and short series of online learning classes encouraging venues nationally to take simple steps to broaden access for disabled audiences.

Scottish Ensemble (Sound On) – commissioning a series of filmmakers to collaborate with the Ensemble’s players in developing a fresh filmic / cinematic language for classical music, highly distinct from streamed concert footage, to be shared online and through special screen and gallery partnerships – increasing access and exposure amongst new audiences.

Read more about the fund here.