Applications Open for the Continuo Foundation's Period Instrument Grants

The UK-based Continuo Foundation has launched its third round of grants for period music ensembles. The organization is offering a launch target of £100,000 worth of funding in 2022, after having supported 37 different groups with a total of £250,000 in their second round of grants in 2021.

Funding is available for projects that will take place between April and September 2022. Possible scenarios could include:

• funding to mobilize a performance which is at risk of being canceled
• a new project where there is uncertainty about audience size
• a chamber recital series
• touring an existing program to new UK locations
• the recording of new repertoire
• creating a filmed concert which can be used to generate further touring opportunities

The grants will prioritize those projects which employ freelance musicians, which will facilitate performances in less well-off regions, and which create opportunities for a program to be taken on tour.

This third round of grants also takes into account ensembles that have only formed recently, whose lack of performance history might have prevented them from receiving a grant in 2021. These groups will be prioritized because of the various challenges associated with getting a new ensemble off the ground and presenting live performances during the pandemic.

Applicants will be UK-based professional ensembles made up of three or more players, who play either period instruments or faithful replicas, and focus on repertoire from the Middle Ages through to the early nineteenth century. All applications should be submitted by 7 February.

You can read more and apply on the Continuo Foundation's website.