The English Concert to receive £115,000 from second round of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund.

  • The English Concert is among more than 2,700 recipients to benefit from the latest round of awards from the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund
  • This award will help The English Concert return strongly as the opportunities for live performance improve and bring its exceptional music making to audiences everywhere.

The English Concert has received a grant of £115,000 from the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to help the organisation recover.

More than £300 million has been awarded to thousands 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 is one of the finest early-music ensembles in the world and a pioneer in its field. It has made 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 by performing at the world’s most renowned venues it is committed to bringing its 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 second round of awards made today will help organisations to look ahead to the spring and summer and plan for reopening and recovery. After months of closures and cancellations to contain the virus and save lives, this funding will be a much-needed helping hand for organisations transitioning back to normal in the months ahead.

Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, said:

Our record breaking Culture Recovery Fund has already helped thousands of culture and heritage organisations across the country survive the biggest crisis they’ve ever faced.
Now we’re staying by their side as they prepare to welcome the public back through their doors – helping our cultural gems plan for reopening and thrive in the better times ahead.

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

We are thrilled and extremely grateful to have been awarded this generous support from the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund. This award will allow our musicians to re-engage with our friends and patrons, reach out to new audiences and give us the confidence to return strongly as the opportunities for live performance improve. The grant will support our recording plans, allow us to reschedule activity we had planned before the pandemic struck and help us reconnect with our our audience.

Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair, Arts Council England, said:

Investing in a thriving cultural sector at the heart of communities is a vital part of helping the whole country to recover from the pandemic. These grants will help to re-open theatres, concert halls, and museums and will give artists and companies the opportunity to begin making new work.
We are grateful to the Government for this support and for recognising the paramount importance of culture to our sense of belonging and identity as individuals and as a society.

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 Culture Recovery Fund. Find out more at www.artscouncil.org.uk/covid19.

At the Budget, the Chancellor announced the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund would be boosted with a further £300 million investment.