Spitalfields Music (previously known as Spitalfields Festival, officially registered as Spitalfields Festival Ltd) is a music charity based in the

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...

area of the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and ...

. Through musical events, the charity aims to strengthen the local community. Spitalfields Music is a registered charity with number 1052043. The charity's work mainly consists of producing music festivals and a community programme. Several new works are commissioned each year for the festival.

History

In 1976, Spitalfields Festival was created when an event, organized by Save Britain's Heritage, was held at Christ Church in Spitalfields in the summer. In the Summer of 1977, the first official festival occurred. It was run by Friends of Christ Church, which had been formed the previous year after the single event had been held. The Festival Council and the Learning and Participation Programme were formed in 1989. A winter festival was expanded to starting 1996. In 2003, Christ Church was being renovated, so the festival was spread into 13 other venues. Spitalfeilds Music won

Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards The Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards are given annually for live classical music-making in the United Kingdom. The awards were first held in 1989 and are independent of any commercial interest. Since 2003, BBC Radio 3 has been the media ...

in both 2005 and 2006 In 2020, the festival was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Learning and Participation Programme

Since the founding of the education programme in 1989, the work that Spitalfields Music does with the community of Tower Hamlets has grown considerably. It was an early pioneer in the field of arts festival education programmes in the UK. Spitalfields Music delivers a busy programme throughout the year, working in schools, special needs settings, care homes and community spaces. Alongside its Learning and Participation Programme, Spitalfields Music also runs a number of schemes to develop artists and music leaders of the future, including Trainee Music Leaders Scheme and Open Call.

Trainee Music Leaders Scheme

This is a year-long training programme for emerging music leaders to develop their skills as creative music leaders in learning and community settings, working with national partners including: Welsh National Opera, LSO Discovery, Opera North, Orchestras Live, Multi Story Orchestra and Southbank Sinfonia.

Open Call

Open Call is an open commissioning project that nurtures artists from diverse backgrounds to develop their compositional practice, developing early stage pieces to a work-in-progress stage, and testing new ways to connect their work to audiences.

Funding

Spitalfields Music is a charity and relies on

grants Grant or Grants may refer to: People * Grant (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Grant (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters ** Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885), the 18th president of the U ...

, sponsorships, in kind help and donations to help run its festivals and the Learning and Participation Programme. They receive financial support from trusts, foundations, corporate giving, public funding and individual giving. They also earn a small percentage of their income from ticket sales from their festivals.

References

{{Reflist

External links

www.spitalfieldsmusic.org.uk
Official Website Music festivals established in 1976 Music festivals in London Classical music festivals in England Charities based in London 1976 establishments in England Organisations based in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Spitalfields