The English Concert to receive £80,000 from third round of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund.

  •  The English Concert among 925 recipients to benefit from the latest round of awards from the Culture Recovery Fund
  • This award will help The English Concert continue its recovery, support its highly skilled musicians, and allow it to bring its unique sound and exceptional music-making to audiences across the UK as well as being a global cultural ambassador for a great British musical tradition.

More than £100 million has been awarded to hundreds of cultural organisations across the country including The English Concert in the latest round of support from the Culture Recovery Fund, the Culture Secretary announced today.

The English Concert in London has been awarded a grant of £80,000 by the Culture Recovery Fund.

The English Concert is one of the finest ensembles in the world and a pioneer in the field of historical performance. It has produced over 100 critically acclaimed recordings and works with leading directors, as well as a stellar roster of the world’s most outstanding artists. With a global reach, both through its extensive discography and performing at the world’s most renowned venues, it is committed to bringing exceptional music-making to audiences everywhere. This award will be used to support its return to live performance, with concert activity, recording and digital projects, designed to take its work far beyond the concert hall to audiences across the UK and beyond, as well as nurture young and emerging talent, and provide support for its highly skilled freelance musicians.

The third round of funding will support organisations from all corners of the sector as they deal with ongoing reopening challenges, ensuring they can thrive in better times ahead.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said:

Culture is for everyone and should therefore be accessible to everyone, no matter who they are and where they’re from.
Through unprecedented government financial support, the Culture Recovery Fund is supporting arts and cultural organisations so they can continue to bring culture to communities the length and breadth of the country, supporting jobs, boosting local economies and inspiring people.

Over £1.2 billion has already been awarded from the unprecedented Culture Recovery Fund, supporting around 5000 individual organisations and sites across the country ranging from local museums to West End theatres, grassroots music venues to festivals, and organisations in the cultural and heritage supply-chains.

Alfonso Leal del Ojo, Chief Executive, The English Concert said:

We are delighted and extremely grateful to have been awarded this generous support from the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund and receive this endorsement of the value of what we do. Whilst the arts have been one of the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic, it has also demonstrated they are intrinsic to cultural understanding as well as being central to our wellbeing. We firmly believe that culture is for everyone, and this award will allow The English Concert to re-engage with our audiences, reach out to new ones and give us the confidence to return strongly as the situation improves.

Darren Henley, Chief Executive, Arts Council England, said:

This continued investment from the Government on an unprecedented scale means our theatres, galleries, music venues, museums and arts centres can carry on playing their part in bringing visitors back to our high streets, helping to drive economic growth, boosting community pride and promoting good health. It’s a massive vote of confidence in the role our cultural organisations play in helping us all to lead happier lives.

The funding awarded today is from a £400 million pot which was held back last year to ensure the Culture Recovery Fund could continue to help organisations in need as the public health picture changed. The funding has been awarded by Arts Council England, as well as Historic England and National Lottery Heritage Fund and the British Film Institute.

Notes to Editors:

Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. We have set out our strategic vision in Let’s Create that by 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone of us has access to a remarkable range of high quality cultural experiences. We invest public money from Government and The National Lottery to help support the sector and to deliver this vision.  www.artscouncil.org.uk.

Following the Covid-19 crisis, the Arts Council developed a £160 million Emergency Response Package, with nearly 90% coming from the National Lottery, for organisations and individuals needing support. We are also one of the bodies administering the Government’s unprecedented Culture Recovery Funds. Find out more at www.artscouncil.org.uk/covid19.