The UK’s Continuo Foundation Opens Grants Applications

Funding period-instrument ensembles, the grants for round six total £100,000, with applications to close on August 10, 2023

The Continuo Foundation is run by business, media, law, management consulting, classical music, and academia professionals to support period-instrument ensembles and their role in bringing live classical music to local communities in the UK.

With donor support, the Foundation has funded 122 projects and 885 freelance musicians to date. Its round six grant applications are open to UK period-instrument ensembles until August 10, 2023, for projects taking place between October 2023 and March 2024.

This new round of grants will allow ensembles to complete creative projects that will be performed across the country, particularly in areas that lack access to exceptional live classical music. 

Applications are encouraged from both emerging and established professional UK-based ensembles with at least three instrumentalists. Grant amounts will range from £2,000 to £8,000 for each project. 

To apply, click here. The submission deadline is August 10, 2023. 

Following evaluation guided by Continuo’s expert panel, the grant award decisions will be announced by September 21, 2023.

The grant round will also offer a separate eligibility category for ensembles formed between June 2020 and June 2023. Past groups in this category include Ensemble Augelletti, which received funding to record its debut CD in 2021, and was selected this year as the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Baroque Ensemble.

Alongside funding ensembles, the Foundation also promotes artists’ events online. Its recent launch of Continuo Connect, a digital hub for the UK early music sector, has seen over 100 UK ensembles listing their upcoming concerts for audiences.

“Early music concerts are relaxed, affordable and high quality,” explained Continuo’s founder and CEO Tina Vadaneaux. “Smaller-scale local venues enable concertgoers to connect with the musicians and with others in their local community. The most frequently reported audience feedback comment is ‘Please come back!’”

“We have come a long way in the last couple of years and so much is down to the support of the Continuo Foundation,” added Ensemble Augelletti’s founder, Olwen Foulkes. “It’s one thing to have ideas and ambition for a project, but a completely different thing to have them alongside the support to make them happen and bring them to the attention of others! We’re so thankful for the support and can't overestimate the impact for us.”