Philharmonia Orchestra receives Culture Recovery Fund grant

The Philharmonia Orchestra and Principal Conductor & Artistic Advisor Esa-Pekka Salonen are delighted to have been awarded just under £1m from the UK Government’s Culture Recovery Fund, announced yesterday by Arts Council England and delivered by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The grant, for £967,413 for the period to 31 March 2021, will allow the Philharmonia to continue to develop new live and online performances and learning and engagement activity for its worldwide audience, and to support its group of world-renowned player members.

Chief Executive Alexander Van Ingen said: “We warmly welcome this grant from the Culture Recovery Fund, which will enable the Philharmonia to provide music to communities, deliver investment in our activities across the UK, and help us to provide the support our players need. There is much more to be done, and we look forward to welcoming audiences back to our concerts just as soon as we can, in addition to creating class-leading online content such as our acclaimed Philharmonia Sessions.

We are very grateful to Esa-Pekka Salonen, and to the Philharmonia’s wonderful family of supporters for their exceptional generosity to the Orchestra at this difficult time. The shared experience of music is profound and powerful, and together we are determined to bring the Philharmonia back to its previous strength.”

Lord King of Lothbury, Chair of Philharmonia Ltd, said: “We are extremely grateful for our grant from the Cultural Recovery Fund.  It will enable us to keep the Orchestra together in these most trying of circumstances when it is not possible to play to live audiences. The Philharmonia is a world class orchestra and will continue to find ways to perform for virtual audiences and be ready to launch a new season when circumstances permit.”

Victoria Irish, President of the Philharmonia, and first violinist in the Orchestra, said: “Receiving this grant will make a huge difference and helps us support our orchestra members as individuals, while at the same time looking after the financial welfare of the organisation as a whole and ensuring its longevity, which, in turn, also helps our membership. It is a critical time and we are all extremely appreciative that the UK government has offered this support through Arts Council England.”

The Philharmonia recently announced its full programme for October and November 2020: six online performances in two strands, encompassing livestreamed concerts, pre-recorded performances and radio broadcasts. On 26 October, as part of the Live from Royal Festival Hall series, the Orchestra will perform – for a livestreamed audience – from its home at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, for the first time since March. This upcoming programme also builds on the success of its Philharmonia Sessions series, filmed and recorded at Battersea Arts Centre during summer 2020.