Chamber orchestra appeals for funding after ACE cut

Britten Sinfonia has started an appeal to raise £1m after the loss of its Arts Council England (ACE) funding.

The Cambridgeshire-based chamber orchestra, which is the only professional orchestra in the East of England, says the campaign is to address the shortfall left by the loss of its National Portfolio status.

The orchestra was founded in 1992. A crowd funder campaign on its website says “everything we have built over the last 30 years and planned for the future is at risk”.

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Speaking to the BBC, founding member Nicholas Daniel said the orchestra had been “utterly baffled” as to why its funding was cut, adding that it was “not the way to level up”.

“The trouble is it is so easy to lose something in this current climate we're in with the arts; it's so easy to just throw it away and we have to fight,” Daniel said. 

Alongside its Cambridge base, Britten Sinfonia has residencies in Essex and also works across Suffolk and Lincolnshire.

It says donations will go towards expanding its work in schools and hospitals, as well as a year-round programme of cross-generational musical activities and concerts in areas of the East of England which are currently under-served by arts provision.

Composer Judith Weir, who currently serves as Master of the King’s Music, said “hearing less of – or even losing – this vital ensemble is not an option, especially in its East of England centres”.

“We definitely need more live classical music outside of our biggest urban centres – in smaller cities, towns and rural spaces. 

“Fortunately we have a successful model for this, widely considered to be the UK’s finest chamber orchestra – inventive in its public approach, accessible and creative. This is, of course, Britten Sinfonia.”

ACE has awarded Britten Sinfonia £237,188 of transition funding.

A spokesperson told the BBC it had to “make many difficult decisions in delivering a balanced portfolio that ensures more people and more places get to experience fantastic cultural experiences”.