London Sinfonietta Receives £100,000 Cockayne Grant for the Arts

The ensemble will use the funding to commission and premiere works from eight different composers

The London Sinfonietta has been announced as the recipient of a £100,000-grant from the Cockayne Grants for the Arts, to support its work commissioning and performing new music. The ensemble will use the grant to fund a series of eight new commissions, all of which will be premiered by the ensemble in forthcoming programs. The ensemble will select a representative and inclusive group of composers, with the goal being to mirror the diversity found in London more broadly.

These eight works will join a collection of more than 470 pieces commissioned by the London Sinfonietta over the course of its 56-year history.

"This award confirms the faith that other funders, and audiences, have in us — and particularly in contemporary classical music — which, by exploring contemporary sound worlds and amplifying themes in society, can be as relevant to schools, young people and communities as any other art form," said Andrew Burke, London Sinfonietta's CEO and Artistic Director.

"The compositions that we have commissioned over the years have since influenced other music creators and artists from across contemporary society and inspired ever increasing audiences who discover and are moved by these innovative approaches to sound," he added. "We are pleased and proud — with Cockayne's extraordinary support — to be able to plan a longer-term future for this tradition."

"For over 50 years London Sinfonietta has championed the music of the avant-garde," said Jo Hedley, the Executive Director of Cockayne. "Their back catalogue of commissions and collaborators reads like a who's who of modern and contemporary classical music in the second half of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries."

"Staying at the cutting edge of musical creation and performance in this manner takes courage and demands resources, especially in the current economic and funding climate. At a moment when art is needed all the more to comment on and make sense of the rapidly changing world around us, Cockayne is delighted in this, its 10th anniversary year, to support London Sinfonietta forge into the future with a special £100,000 Anniversary Commissioning Grant aimed at providing opportunities for a new generation of composers, performers and audiences."