Classic Concerts Trust – great music, innovative solutions

welcome

Classic Concerts Trust has been promoting and supporting concerts and other musical projects in the UK and abroad for more than 25 years.

Sustaining high quality performances through innovative business models has been at the heart of our work from the very beginning, when we established orchestral concerts in venues all over south-east England with a combination of commercial sponsorship, local authority funding and sales revenue. More recent innovations have been experimentation with a donations-based model (RAVE), which through harnessing the added value of donations compared to ticket revenue produced substantial gains in net income, and an experiment with wholly online marketing.

More recent work has involved supporting the development of new generations of artists, through provision of training and career opportunities. The initial focus of this work was through the Conductors’ Academy, a project initiated with support from the legendary Russian maestro, Yuri Simonov.

For 2019 we are extending our support for young artists through partnership with the New Generation Festival in Florence.

New Generation Festival

New for 2019, Classic Concerts Trust will be working with the New Generation Festival and we look forward to supporting their programmes to encourage the development of emerging talent.

The New Generation Festival provides a platform for the finest young music talent from across the globe, showcasing rising stars of the opera, theatre and music industry in a unique and picturesque setting: the Gardens of the Palazzo Corsini al Prato in Florence, Italy.

We are raising funds to increase opportunities through support for young artist development programmes implemented by the festival. To make a donation to support this work please use the button below.

Donate now

UK taxpayers can increase the value of their donations by 25% with a simple declaration. Those who pay tax at higher or additional rate can also reclaim the additional tax paid.

With gift aid added and additional taxes reclaimed, the final value of the donation can be more than 80% greater than the net cost!

Conductors Academy

The Conductor’s Academy was formed in 2009 with the support and encouragement of the legendary Russian maestro, Yuri Simonov to further develop and disseminate knowledge about the development of the highest levels of conducting skills.

Projects have included masterclasses in the UK, Russia, Poland, Hungary, Estonia and Brazil, with students from every part of the world. Through online interaction the reach has extended to many thousands of people.

In 2017 the 1st Audite International Competition was a world first: a conducting competition with screened jury and judgement on the basis of sound. The idea was to help clarify that skilled conducting is not merely visible but also clearly audible.

About us

Mission

Our mission is to produce great musical projects and innovative solutions for sharing them more effectively.

We believe that artistic experience brings huge value to quality of life and that as our world becomes ever-more technologically oriented people become increasingly alienated and in need of experiences to provide a means relating both to themselves and to others. We also believe that music is relevant to people of all walks of life, cultural background and ability.

Profile

With over twenty-five years’ experience in the field, Classic Concerts Trust supports and promotes concerts, recordings and other musical projects of the highest possible quality. The trust provides advice and consultancy concerning any aspect of concert promotion, direct grant support for concerts or associated activities and in some cases undertakes full-scale promotion or management of concerts or other projects.

Our story

Over the past twenty-five years the trust has produced concerts, masterclasses, workshops and other projects both in the UK and internationally through collaboration with partner organisations in Poland, Russia, Hungary and Estonia.

One of our objectives has always been to support innovation and generate activity in places where none existed before. Our starting point in the 1980s was creative partnerships – combining commercial sponsorship with local authority support to create funding for professional orchestral concerts in towns across south-east England where such a resource had never previously been possible. In the 1990s we moved into direct concert promotion with concerts at Blackheath Concert Halls and central London venues including the South Bank Centre and St John’s Smith Square.