Projects
Transition Fund
The Coronavirus pandemic had a significant impact on chamber music promoters, musicians, and audiences. We realised there was a need to support chamber music promoters in exploring and developing new ways of reaching their audiences and delivering chamber music, to ensure support reached musicians during a time of great financial difficulty, and to encourage promoters to develop new partnerships within their communities.
So, we created our 2021 Transition Fund, which enabled promoters to respond and adapt to challenges created by the events of the past 18 months. Almost half of our promoter network applied for support for new activity through the Transition Fund, which has seen events taking place across the width and breadth of Scotland, from Dumfries to Oban, Aberdeen to Orkney.
Some of the projects funded:
- Pianodrome held their “Pianodrome Sessions: Chamber Music Scotland Special” as part of the Edinburgh Fringe on Demand. The programme blended early music with operatic songs and Bach-inspired improvisation, performed in the world’s only amphitheatre made entirely from pianos.
- Orkney Arts Society commissioned Gemma McGregor to write a piece of music entitled “On the Trysted Shore” for flute and viola, inspired by Orcadian poet George Mackay Brown’s poem “Magnus.” The piece was premiered by Gemma and Katherine Wren (Nordic Viola) at a socially distanced concert in Stromness in July 2021.
- Classic Music Live! Falkirk partnered with Canal Encounters to host a concert ft. Earthtones Trio at the Falkirk Wheel. The trio premiered excerpts from the CMS/CML!F co-commission “Sound Tracks,” written by Euan Stevenson.
- Westbourne Music have used the Transition Fund support to appoint their first Composer in Residence.
- Penicuik Community Arts Association worked with cellist Justyna Jablonska-Edmonds to create a free improvisation with students from Penicuik High School. The pieces were recorded as part of Penfest 2021.