Towards 20

Oxford Philomusica Music Director Marios Papadopoulos MBE Artist in Residence Maxim Vengerov

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Towards 20

Performance

A Strategic and Business Plan for the next three years

May 2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS

MISSION STATEMENT

4

STRUCTURE

5

ACTIVITIES

7

GEOGRAPHICAL CLAIM

9

BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE

10

YEARS 2011 – 2014

10

OUR HOME THE ORCHESTRA REHEARSAL TIME NUMBER OF CONCERTS AUDIENCE NUMBERS INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

10 11 11 11 12 12 13

THE OXFORD PHILOMUSICA ACADEMY

14

PIANO FESTIVAL UNIVERSITY RESIDENCY YOUNG TALENT -­‐ COUNTY MUSIC SERVICE CONCERTO COMPETITION

14 14 16 16

COMMUNITY

16

SCHOOLS FAMILY CONCERTS HOSPITALS

16 17 18

RECORDINGS

19

OPERA

20

MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION

21

MANAGEMENT STYLE SYSTEMS

21 21

PR & PRESS

22

MEDIA

22

MARKETING

22

RECOGNITION

23

TOWARDS 20

24

THE PATHWAY TO THE FUTURE CHANGE OF NAME

24 24

1

ARTISTIC POLICY

26

MEMBERSHIP SOUND AND STYLE REPERTOIRE CHAMBER MUSIC ARTIST RELATIONSHIPS

26 27 27 28 28

FORWARD PLANNING

29

CELEBRITY SERIES ARTIST IN RESIDENCE RECORDINGS TOURING AND ENGAGEMENTS NUMBER OF CONCERTS REHEARSALS

29 29 30 30 33 33

ACADEMY

34

PIANO FESTIVAL UNIVERSITY RESIDENCY

34 34

COMMUNITY

34

FAMILY CONCERTS

35

OPERA

35

PR & MARKETING

35

BOX-­‐OFFICE SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION

37 37

SWOT ANALYSIS

38

THE ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT

40

EXPENDITURE

40

CONCERT ACTIVITY PLAYERS FEE STRUCTURE CELEBRITY ARTISTS COSTS VENUE COSTS MARKETING/ADVERTISING COSTS ARTIST IN RESIDENCE COSTS RECORDINGS COSTS RUNNING THE ACADEMY RESIDENCY COSTS PIANO FESTIVAL COSTS SERVING THE COMMUNITY OVERHEADS

40 40 41 41 42 44 44 44 44 44 45 45

INCOME

46

TICKET SALES TRUSTS AND FOUNDATIONS INDIVIDUALS FUNDRAISING EVENTS

46 46 46 46

2

GIFT AID

47

FORECAST 2014/15

48

FORWARD PLANNING 2015 – 2018

49

PROMOTIONS/ENGAGEMENTS

49

SEASON 2015/16

50

SEASON 2016/17

51

SEASON 2017/18

52

SOURCES OF FUNDING

54

BOX-­‐OFFICE REVENUE RESERVES

54 54

SPONSORSHIP/FUNDRAISING TARGETS

55

CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP UNIVERSITY SUPPORT STATUTORY FUNDING INDIVIDUAL GIVING TRUST AND FOUNDATION GRANTS BENEFIT CONCERTS PIANO FESTIVAL SPONSORSHIP THE TRUSTEE BOARD

55 55 55 56 57 57 57 58

CODA

58

APPENDICES OXFORD PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

59

RATES OF PAY

61

ADMINISTRATION

62

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MISSION STATEMENT The Oxford Philomusica is Oxford’s professional symphony orchestra serving the Oxfordshire and Thames Valley regions and beyond, offering:

• Concert performances -­‐ symphony and chamber orchestra, chamber music and recitals • educational programmes ranging from primary to tertiary level tuition • performing opportunities for young artists • a platform for new compositions • recordings • opera

Oxford Philomusica is dedicated to the highest standards of artistic excellence and integrity.

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The Oxford Philomusica was founded in 1998 by Marios Papadopoulos, the orchestra’s Music Director. Since its inception, it has been at the forefront of Oxford musical life, at the service of the community.

STRUCTURE Oxford Philomusica embraces two companies: The Oxford Philomusica Trust, a registered charity, (Charity Registration number 1084256; Company Registration number 3608496), and Oxford Philomusica Productions Ltd (Company Registration number 3592323). Both are companies with limited liability, the Trust limited by guarantee and the Productions company by share capital wholly owned by the Trust. Both are governed by a set of Memorandum and Articles of Association.

Apart from their fiduciary duties, members of the trust provide funding, handle donations and disburse funds to the Production company as necessary to enable concerts and other activities as per our mission statement.

As the trading arm of the organisation, the Production company carries out and runs the every day affairs of the orchestra. It is governed by a board of directors and run by a management team.

TRUST

PRODUCTIONS

MANAGEMENT

ORCHESTRA

The review of our financial operations is conducted by a Finance and General Purposes Committee, which meets regularly and reports to the trustees.

As a charity we are regulated by the Charity Commission. Our annual accounts, which are independently examined and audited, are filed with Companies House and the Charity Commission.

Our Advisory Council is comprised of 18 members of high social standing in the Oxfordshire community. The Council aims to further the cause of the orchestra locally and serves as a channel of professional advice within the areas of expertise of its members.

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Oxford Philomusica Royal Patron HRH Princess Alexandra Life Presidents Geoffrey de Jager Harry Leventis Zvi Meitar Mary Weston Honorary President The Rt Hon Lord Patten CH Vice President Sir Victor Blank Patron Vladimir Ashkenazy Artist in Residence Maxim Vengerov Piano Festival Patron Alfred Brendel KBE Piano Festival President Sir András Schiff Patron for New Music Marina, Lady Marks Music Director Marios Papadopoulos MBE

Oxford Philomusica Advisory Council Saphieh Ashtiany (Chair) Prof Roger Ainsworth Baroness Deech Prof Raymond Dwek CBE Prof Michael Earl Joanna Foster CBE Peggotty Graham Jeff Hewitt Robert Jackson Lady Kenny Lord Krebs Felicity Lusk Lady North Dr Jill Pellew Cllr Bob Price Sir Ivor Roberts Prof Peter Tufano Suzy Webster

Oxford Philomusica Trust Registered Charity Number 1084256 Peter Earl (Chairman) Geoffrey de Jager (Deputy Chairman) Elena Ambrosiadou Saphieh Ashtiany Raymond Blanc OBE Prof Michael Earl Peter Frankopan

Finance and General Purposes Committee Prof Michael Earl (Chairman) Geoffrey de Jager David Haenlein Jeff Hewitt Anthony Loehnis Richard Smethurst

Jacob Grierson David Haenlein Sir David Keene Margarita Louis-Dreyfus Aviad Meitar Sir Michael Parkinson CBE Sir Curtis Price Kim Samuel Francesca Schwarzenbach James Sherwood Richard Smethurst George Tsavliris Georg von Opel Bruno Wang

Honorary Members Lord Butler of Brockwell Sir Jeremy Greenstock Lady Heseltine John Leighfield CBE Dr Michael Peagram Anthony Smith CBE Prof Reinhard Strohm

CONCERTS Orchestral Pers Alexa Butterwor Planning Rebeccah Consi Logistics Sumita Menon Stage Managem Max Howard

DEVELOPMEN Special Adviso Carmen Zgouras Research & Ad Rebeccah Consi

Oxford Philomusica Productions Ltd Company Number 3592323 Directors Peter Earl David Haenlein Anthi Papadopoulos Marios Papadopoulos MBE

Administration

MARKETING/ Director Anthi Papadopo Marketing John Bowker Box Office/Eve Kirsten Dunn Press and PR Julie Peacock Advisor Simon Wall

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ACTIVITIES The Oxford Philomusica’s activities are concentrated in five main areas:

• Performance • Education • Community Work • Recordings • Opera

The Oxford Philomusica’s many achievements to date include:

• Extensive annual concert seasons in Oxford • Touring performances across the UK and a growing list of international engagements • Acclaimed recordings of Haydn’s Creation and Handel’s Acis and Galatea • Major anniversary celebrations of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven • Hugely popular family concerts • Annual Piano Festival and Summer Academy • A highly successful Chamber Music Series and Summer Baroque Festival both showcasing the Soloists of Oxford Philomusica – a tight-­‐knit group of musicians described by The Times as the orchestra’s ‘glorious individual players’.

• Our first fully staged Opera in May 2015

The Oxford Philomusica is considered today to be one of the leading orchestras in the UK. Our reputation is based on uncompromising artistic standards maintained by some of the finest musicians in the country and is reflected in performances that create bold musical statements with every concert we perform.

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With our home Wren’s Sheldonian Theatre and our close association with the University of Oxford we attract internationally acclaimed artists to appear in our series.

Season 2015/16 Guest Artists

Vadim Repin Maxim Vengerov Pinchas Zukerman Nicola Benedetti Renée Fleming Nigel Kennedy Leonard Elschenbroich

With a comprehensive season of concerts in Oxford that encompasses all musical styles and genres and an ever-­‐increasing schedule of appearances in other parts of the UK and abroad, the Oxford Philomusica is the fastest growing orchestra in the UK.

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GEOGRAPHICAL CLAIM With no other orchestra within a large radius from Oxford we have clear territorial claims and a remit to serving the community around the area in which we operate.

Orchestras which make a territorial claim, mostly those operating in the regions and serving local communities, appear to have a longer life-­‐span than those who don’t.

Those that have built their reputations around strong individual personalities or claim a specific niche have enjoyed short-­‐lived success but those which have a clearly identifiable regional presence seem to have better prospects for a longer life-­‐span.

Given the parlous financial state of some orchestras, it would be difficult to predict the long-­‐term viability of those who do not have a clearly defined remit to serve a particular geographical region or who lack certain characteristics that appeal to a niche market.

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BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE Years 2011 – 2014

In our 2011 Business Plan entitled ‘Building for the Future’, we set out an ambitious three-­‐year programme to place the Oxford Philomusica amongst the top orchestras in the UK.

At the heart of this strategy was a series of proposals aimed at recruiting the finest freelance musicians as members of the orchestra, increasing rehearsal time and the number of concerts.

Over the last few years, we enjoyed performances that were better prepared and executed as a result.

Our Home The 17th-­‐century Sheldonian Theatre is the Oxford Phil’s home. It seats around 800 people and is steeped in history having played host to both Haydn and Handel.

Sir Christopher Wren’s amphitheatre-­‐style architectural masterpiece, and the University of Oxford’s ceremonial hall, offers patrons the unique opportunity to be enveloped by the sound and provides an intimacy between audience and musicians that few if any venues in the UK could equal.

Daniel Barenboim and the Berlin Philharmonic performing in the Sheldonian

The ‘Sheldonian Musical Experience’, is a phrase coined by many of our loyal followers as describing this unique musical experience.

In addition to its excellent acoustics and architectural marvel, the Sheldonian has huge appeal amongst the great artists whom we bring to Oxford.

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The Orchestra Membership of the orchestra comprises some of the finest musicians in the UK and Europe. They are our greatest asset whom we value highly and look after.

In recent years a number of positions have been created and musicians of exceptional ability have been appointed.

While not implementing a strict policy on the number of concerts our musicians are asked to undertake, we expect our appointed players to fulfill a high percentage of the work we offer.

Rehearsal Time For most of our concerts we now have at least one extra rehearsal. This has enabled us to delve deeper into interpretative issues and work on phrasing, style and sound in more detail.

Number of Concerts The number of concerts has increased from an average of 20 a year prior to the expansion in 2011 to an average of 40 between 2011 – 2014.

50 40 30 20 10 0

The surge in work we have been able to offer our players has enabled many of our finest musicians to prioritise the Philomusica over work offered by other orchestras and has increased player loyalty.

A stable membership has meant that the Oxford Phil can now field a recognisable team of players for most of our concerts.

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Audience Numbers Attendance has increased year on year to reach an average of 600, or 75% of capacity, for every concert.

Of all the concerts we presented in the Sheldonian Theatre in 2013/14, 14 were sold out.

2014/15

2013/14

2012/13

2011/12

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

International Artists As part of our strategy to enhance the status of the orchestra, we embarked on a mission to attract to Oxford some of the world’s leading artists to collaborate with the Oxford Philomusica.

The lure of Oxford as well as the reputation of the orchestra led to a number of important and fruitful collaborations.

Lang Lang was one of the first celebrity artists to perform with us in a concert at the Sheldonian Theatre in 2012. Since then, world-­‐renowned artists have appeared with the Oxford Philomusica, raising the profile of the orchestra internationally, including:

• Anne-­‐Sophie Mutter • Maxim Vengerov • Nigel Kennedy • András Schiff • Valery Gergiev

To have been able to persuade such artists to come to Oxford and perform with the Oxford Phil was in itself a major achievement. However, to have these same artists express the desire to return to Oxford to work with us again speaks volumes for the quality of the orchestra’s playing, which today stands at a high enough level to meet the demands and expectations of the great and the good of the international musical forum.

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Artist in Residence Maxim Vengerov is widely recognised as the greatest violinist alive today. He came to Oxford to perform the Dvořák and Britten Violin Concertos with us in April 2013. Following the success of this first collaboration, Maestro Vengerov agreed to become the Oxford Philomusica’s first Artist in Residence and has performed with us on numerous occasions, both as soloist and conductor.

In 2014 he chose the Oxford Phil as the orchestra with which to make a new recording of the Brahms Violin Concerto to add to his 1996 award-­‐winning recording of the same work with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim.

Maestro Vengerov’s high regard of and close affinity with the musicians of Oxford Philomusica and its Music Director have resulted in numerous collaborations of great artistic merit.

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THE OXFORD PHILOMUSICA ACADEMY The Oxford Philomusica has been firmly committed to education work from its earliest days.

The Oxford Philomusica Academy incorporates all Oxford Philomusica’s educational programmes ranging from primary to tertiary level tuition, including our Residency Programme at the University of Oxford, the high-­‐level tuition given to pianists during our Piano Festival, as well as our partnership with the Oxfordshire County Music Service. The Academy offers tuition by the Philomusica’s own principal players, as well as visiting international artists, for students at all levels.

Piano Festival The Festival and Summer Academy was founded 16 years ago as part of the Oxford Philomusica’s educational activities. It has since become a mecca for young pianists from all over the world who converge on Oxford to study with the world’s most renowned artists and professors. An intensive programme of masterclasses during the day is complemented by a series of evening concerts in some of the most beautiful venues in Oxford.

The Festival has been hailed as “the most significant annual musical event in Oxford” and was the subject of an extensive article in the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune, the latter devoting its whole back page to the Festival. It is a residential course held in St Hilda’s College with masterclasses and lectures taking place in the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building.

The Festival is now linked to the Lang Lang Foundation and welcomes a select number of their talented scholars to Oxford to take part.

In the last three years, the Festival has reached new heights with applications from students to study far exceeding the places available. On average, we now receive over 100 applications for just 15 places and we are therefore in the enviable position of selecting the very best students. Some of the artists teaching and performing at our 2015 Festival include Sir András Schiff, Menahem Pressler, Byron Janis (the exemplary student of Horowitz), Veda Kaplinsky (Head of Keyboard at Juilliard School), Ferenc Rados (András Schiff’s teacher) and Alfred Brendel.

University Residency The University of Oxford’s Faculty of Music is academically oriented. In recent years emphasis on performance, spearheaded by talented performers studying at Oxford, has grown and opportunities for students to improve their performance skills and showcase their talents have been sought. Having provided such opportunities on an ad hoc basis for two years since our inception, the University recognised the value of tuition and performance opportunities we offered, formally appointing the Oxford Philomusica in 2002 as its first ever Orchestra in Residence.

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The agreement, which is renewable every five years, is between the Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford and the Oxford Philomusica. In its current format, the residency is unique amongst British orchestras.

It is significant to note that the Oxford Philomusica is the Resident Orchestra at the University of Oxford as a whole and not specifically the music faculty.

As part of our Residency we offer students unique and unparalleled opportunities to receive tuition from members of the orchestra – many of whom hold positions in the major UK conservatoires -­‐ and by visiting international artists. In recent years, we have organised masterclasses for the benefit of the students by artists such as Lang Lang, Maxim Vengerov, Anne-­‐Sophie Mutter and Valery Gergiev.

Our Apprenticeship Scheme offers a select number of students the opportunity to join the orchestra in some of our performances and gain orchestral experience and training by professional musicians.

Our annual Composer’s Workshop allows student composers to hear their works performed by a professional orchestra and receive invaluable feedback. At the end of each session, a work is selected for public performance in the Oxford Philomusica’s series of concerts in the Sheldonian.

Over the years, the orchestra has collaborated with many of the College Choirs and we have made recordings of Haydn’s Creation (BBC magazine’s CD of the Month) and Handel’s Acis and Galatea with New College and Christ Church choirs respectively.

Our Young Artist’s Platform offers those selected by audition a performance slot just before one of our Sheldonian evening concerts. In exceptional circumstances, a student is invited to play a concerto with the Oxford Philomusica, though such opportunities are limited to the winners of our annual Concerto Competition.

In 2013, the University held a thorough review of the Residency and reappointed the Oxford Philomusica for a further five-­‐year term.

Many of the benefits we enjoy as being associated with Oxford University include use of the University logo in our publicity material in the UK and access to the

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American Friends of Oxford, the University’s charity in US, through which many of our donors make their contributions to the Orchestra.

Young Talent -­‐ County Music Service Working closely with the Oxfordshire County Music Service, we are one of the key partners with them on the Arts Council-­‐funded Oxfordshire Music Education Partnership, bringing music education to every child in the County.

As well as providing workshops and masterclasses, our Apprenticeship Scheme offers a number of young musicians an introduction to playing professionally.

Our Young Artist Platform award provides a unique opportunity to perform a pre-­‐concert recital before a Philomusica concert.

Concerto Competition The Oxfordshire Youth Concerto Competition, a joint initiative of the Oxford Philomusica and Oxfordshire County Music Service, aims to showcase and reward the brightest young musical talent across Oxfordshire, and attracts a huge level of interest each year. Musicians from across the county and the University compete for prestigious prizes including the opportunity to perform a concerto with the Oxford Phil.

COMMUNITY Ever since our inception we have been committed to bringing music to areas in the community where access is not normally available, particularly in economically deprived parts of the city and the surrounding environs. Our award-­‐winning outreach programme includes local schools, hospitals, and retirement homes.

In addition we have initiated the new concept of activity-­‐packed family concerts, specially aimed at the very young, in association with the City and County Councils.

Schools Over the years Oxford Philomusica has delivered school programmes benefitting many hundreds of pupils, and our work is always very highly evaluated and much in demand.

Our specially trained musicians work with teaching staff in a range of different schools to develop workshops that reflect the individual needs of the school. The workshops might focus on a particular curriculum need, or be used to elaborate a general theme or project that the school is working on.

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We are very active in local primary schools, bringing music where few of the participating pupils will have had experienced it before. We have a long-­‐term relationship with the schools on the Blackbird Leys estate where we hold regular workshops and open days, working in close collaboration with the staff of the newly formed Blackbird Academy Trust.

In addition, our specially trained musicians also work with the county’s special schools where the children, often emotionally disturbed and behaviourally challenged, reap the rewards of improved social and communication skills, powers of concentration, and self esteem.

Successful series of musical open days for children from visiting schools are held in collaboration with the Dragon School and the County Music Service. These open days provide local state schools with workshops and performance opportunities for all ability levels.

Family Concerts Family Concerts branded as ‘FUNomusica’ are created specifically with younger audiences in mind, but all the family is welcome. We set our concerts in the Town Hall rather than a formal concert hall: no sitting stiffly and listening raptly. We encourage audiences of all ages to have fun with music. For an hour prior to each concert, we provide musical games and crafts and instrument demonstrations.

Each concert is themed, with orchestra and children all in fancy-­‐dress reflecting the theme. The beneficiaries are mainly children aged 4-­‐8 from the local community, including from the local Oxfordshire estates with high levels of unemployment, crime and social service intervention. The concert capacity is 600 and previous events have sold out. Tremendous feedback has been received from families who have attended our concerts over the past six years: after our Halloween-­‐themed ‘Spookacular’ 100% of respondents to a post-­‐concert questionnaire said they would come again.

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FUNomusica concerts are presented in partnership with Oxford City Council.

Hospitals Over the years we have been very active in local hospitals and have established special relationships with a number of wards where our workshops have always been regarded as having extremely beneficial therapeutic results.

Our projects at the Oxfordshire Mental Healthcare NHS Trust, where we developed specialist therapeutic work at the Park and Highfield Hospitals for disturbed adolescents, were awarded a major grant from Youth Music. For a number of years we have been running workshops at the Centre for Enablement at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, for physically handicapped outpatients.

Hospital staff rated our work there as ‘the most valued visiting resource’.

A more recent series of workshops has been developed at the Spinal Unit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury. We are also active in the Geratology Unit of the John Radcliffe Hospital, and in the Fulbrook Centre of the Churchill Hospital for older adult patients suffering from acute mental conditions. The physiotherapist at the Cherwell hailed this work as the “best therapeutic activity they have”. Next year we will be extending this work to include the Oxford City Community Hospital.

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RECORDINGS In 2006, Oxford Philomusica launched its own label and released its first CD in a recording of Haydn’s ‘Creation’ with the Choir of New College Oxford conducted

by Edward Higginbottom. The recording was CD of the Month in the December 2008 issue of the prestigious BBC Music Magazine.

Our second recording features Handel/Mendelssohn’s Acis and Galatea with Christ Church Cathedral Choir conducted by Stephen Darlington.

Both recordings have elicited high praise.

The Oxford Philomusica label has also released a number of solo piano recordings of the Music Director previously on other labels.

All recordings are available to purchase online and in all good record shops.

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OPERA In past years, the Welsh National and Glyndebourne Touring Operas visited Oxford twice a year to present opera to the local community. In recent years, fully staged productions of a high quality in Oxford have been confined to those presented by WNO once a year. From the research we have undertaken, there seems to be considerable demand for the genre and the Oxford Philomusica, as the City’s professional orchestra and the principal promoter of classical music in Oxford, aims at filling the identifiable gap.

In our 2011 Business Plan we set out our vision and budgeted for presenting opera in Oxford. Though later than planned, we presented Mozart’s Così fan Tutte in a new production at the New Theatre in two performances on the 1st and 3rd May 2015.

For the occasion, we have teamed up with Metta Theatre and their award-­‐ winning Director Poppy Burton-­‐Morgan, whose visionary setting of Mozart’s masterpiece to wartime Britain resulted in a stunning re-­‐enactment of the opera’s tale.

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MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION The orchestra’s day-­‐to-­‐day affairs are managed by the directors of the trading company and carried out by 8 fulltime staff. Their duties include:

• Artistic Planning • Booking the musicians • Operational Planning • Marketing • Box Office and Event management • Development • Education • Accounts

We also maintain a number of specialist professionals as consultants or advisors.

For a full list of employees, consultants and advisors please refer to Appendix 3 on page 62.

Management Style Our Management Team has underpinned the orchestra’s meteoric rise.

Because we are a small team we are able to make quick decisions and act upon them.

In managing our affairs, we adhere to the following principles:

• We are not afraid to do things differently

• We often persist in the face of obstacles and don’t like to take “no” for an answer

• We have a passion for the product. (Those who don’t believe in it, have no place in the organisation)

• We avoid taking the path of least resistance, which often produces mediocre results, however convenient at times

• We aim to provide a “wow factor” in performance and anything else we present

• We deliver, and people have come to rely on us and trust us

Systems From the beginning, we set up systems in the office that allow us to work efficiently and turn things around quickly.

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These have included databases for those attending our events, for prospects, for orchestral personnel, for creating estimates, and systems for marketing and accountancy.

PR & PRESS In 2008, we appointed Peacock PR to look after our PR and Press office.

Our focus has been the core Oxfordshire press and UK journalists, all of whom have an awareness of the orchestra. Key messages at the beginning centered on the University link, the nurturing of young talent, Oxford Phil’s outstanding outreach programme and the organisation’s financial stability. More recently these messages have focussed on the star guest appearances that are now a regular feature of the Oxford Phil season, including of course the relationship built with Maxim Vengerov.

There has been particular success with the major magazines over the years: BBC Music, Gramophone, Classical Music and the orchestra has enjoyed a number of good reviews although having consistent review coverage remains a challenge, as with all music organisations.

MEDIA Since 2014, we have been collaborating with TallWall Media, a leading promotional film company, whose dedicated team have produced high-­‐quality documentaries on the Orchestra and some of our concerts.

These include documentaries on visits to Oxford to perform with Oxford Phil by Maxim Vengerov and Valery Gergiev and a documentary on our Piano Festival.

Concerts with Maxim Vengerov, Anne-­‐Sophie Mutter and Valery Gergiev are also available as are masterclasses given by these artists. The films appear on our website and are sent out for promotional use.

Simon Wall, WallMedia’s director, is one of our consultants whose background both as an artist manager and marketing manager to one of London’s leading artists agencies brings a wealth of experience to our marketing team.

MARKETING Our marketing campaigns in recent years have successfully increased awareness of the orchestra and the number of people attending our concerts.

The current brochure design is considered strong and has relevance to music lovers, journalists and promoters who still appreciate print materials. With a circulation of around 80,000 a year, the orchestra’s brochures, listing all our events, are disseminated widely.

We currently have over 14,000 people listed in our database and send out information about concerts to most either by post or email on a regular basis.

Our Newsletter is circulated to around 600 people three times a year.

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Our website supports all our events and provides information about the orchestra in general, including media links.

An increased use of Social Media has also enabled us to communicate more directly with our patrons.

RECOGNITION In 2013 the Oxford Philomusica and Music Director Marios Papadopoulos were awarded the Oxford City Council’s coveted Certificate of Honour in recognition of the contribution we have made to education and performance in Oxford.

Oxford City Council have included the Oxford Phil in their portfolio of core-­‐ funded cultural organisations. While the grant is by no means substantial, it is a recognition of our efforts and provides leverage to any future applications we submit to the Arts Council.

In 2014, Marios Papadopoulos was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List for services to music in Oxford.

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TOWARDS 20 Years 2015 – 2018 Having implemented the three-­‐year strategy as set out in our 2011 Business Plan, we have come close to fulfilling our goal of placing Oxford Philomusica in the top league of UK orchestras.

The challenge remains to maintain the momentum and realize the full potential of the orchestra as we approach our 20th anniversary in the year 2018.

The Pathway to the Future In order to identify the challenges ahead, we held Away Day meetings in February 2015 over two days for an in-­‐depth review of our organisation and its objectives, involving members of the Trust, the Finance and General Purposes Committee, the Advisory Council, all our staff, several of our regular musicians, consultants, friends and patrons and our newly appointed agents International Classical Artists.

During the course of the two days, we examined every aspect of Oxford Philomusica’s activities in a series of presentations and discussion sessions. At the end of an intensive two-­‐day symposium, we emerged with a clearer picture of the main objectives of the organisation and what we might set out to achieve over the next three years.

It was agreed that Oxford Philomusica faced tremendous challenges and opportunities. The question was posed as to whether we grasp these and move forward or resort to being a provincial orchestra concentrating mainly on a series of concerts in our home town. The overwhelming consensus amongst those present was that we should take advantage of all the exciting opportunities presented to us and move onwards and upwards. As one of our leading players said: “we are a great orchestra and we want to be recognised internationally as such”.

The three-­‐year plan set out in this document is based on the conclusions made during the Away Days.

Change of Name It is plain to see that Oxford Philomusica’s activities are expanding rapidly, partly because of our collaborations with many of the world’s greatest artists and also because of a rise in awareness of the orchestra’s quality performances.

Access to some of the world’s most prestigious centres is now closer within our reach than ever before. We have been advised by our agents International Classical Artists (ICA) as well as by other agents in Germany and the USA working on our behalf, that they are finding it difficult to sell the orchestra with its name as it currently stands because promoters are confused as to what we stand for and often wonder whether we are a student orchestra. We are being strongly advised to change our name to Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra as soon as it is practical to do so.

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Following discussions with all our major stakeholders including the University of Oxford we have decided to accept the recommendation of the music industry to allow the orchestra to move forward and realise its full potential. The Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra has a more permanent ring to it and more accurately portrays the breadth and depth of the organisation’s current and future activities.

The orchestra’s Board of Trustees have unanimously approved and ratified the change.

From September 2015 onwards we will be adopting the name of Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra.

Oxford Philomusica is not the first organisation of its kind to change name: the Philharmonia once changed to ‘New Philharmonia’, and back again. Other examples include the Danish Radio Orchestra and Minneapolis. Organisation titles can sometimes sound parochial. The impacts of changing the orchestra’s name will affect perception, marketing and ultimately the place within the industry.

The orchestra will still be known by its colloquial name, the Oxford Phil. In the initial stages, we will retain the logo, which is an acronym for Oxford Phil, so that people clearly connect the change to our organisation. The domain name oxfordphil.com will also remain the same.

Marketing and press campaigns will ensure that the public and the musical establishment is informed of the change and the reasons behind it.

Constitutionally, the legal bodies representing the organisation, namely the Oxford Philomusica Trust and Productions Ltd, will remain intact and all existing contracts, including our agreement with the University of Oxford, will require minor modifications to reflect the change.

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ARTISTIC POLICY Over the last three years we have applied a policy for improving the orchestra by recruiting outstanding new players, increasing rehearsal time and procuring opportunities for repeat concerts.

Membership Our strings in particular are considered today to be amongst the best in the UK and a number of international soloists and conductors, including Maxim Vengerov, Anne-­‐Sophie Mutter and Valery Gergiev, have praised their outstanding qualities.

Our Royal Patron HRH Princess Alexandra meeting OP musicians at St James’s Palace

Members of the orchestra are attracted to the Oxford Phil for a number of reasons:

• The quality of the music-­‐making and our strong musical statements • The ability to work with like-­‐minded musicians of the highest calibre • The quality of the string playing • The repertoire • Working with world-­‐class soloists and conductors • Opportunities to play solo • Opportunities to play chamber music • The Sheldonian Theatre’s excellent acoustics and intimate environment • Oxford’s renowned status as the home of one of the world greatest universities

The Music Director makes all final decisions on the membership of the Orchestra.

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Sound and Style With the recruitment of a number of exceptional musicians from Eastern Europe the orchestra has acquired a special sound, possibly unique in the UK.

The qualities we look for in a player are:

• Quality of sound • Technical proficiency • Commitment

We greatly encourage individuality within the disciplines of teamwork.

We abhor a deadpan approach to music-­‐making and expect players to play each concert as if their life depended on it.

We make strong musical statements and avoid routine performances.

While much has been achieved, we cannot rest on our laurels and become complacent. The challenge of ensuring that at all times the Oxford Philharmonic can field a team of the highest order remains. Over the next few years we shall continue to provide the right environment for improving the quality of our performances and seek out the very best musicians available to increase our membership.

Repertoire With no other orchestra within a large radius from Oxford, we are not restricted by the programming of others and can present to the public we serve a wide variety of repertoire. Our musical activities, therefore, feature:

• The classical repertoire • The full symphonic repertoire • The Baroque repertoire in a dedicated Festival in July • The contemporary repertoire • Opera

Oxford audiences tend to be conservative and while the core repertoire of Mozart and Beethoven – highlighted on a number of occasions in a series of concerts dedicated to these composers – draw a large audience, more esoteric repertoire featured in some of our concerts, like the Haydn Series in 2009 and the Britten Series in 2012/13, proved less appealing. Nevertheless, new music represents 7% of the repertoire we present, which is as high as many other orchestras in the UK. This is partly because of our association with the University of Oxford and our support of the Faculty of Music’s new music programme.

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Chamber Music The Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra is probably the only orchestra in the UK that offers its principal players opportunities to play chamber music on a regular basis.

Great orchestras have a uniformed sense of style and it is through chamber music that The Soloists of the Oxford Philharmonic – the elite group of some of the finest musicians occupying principal positions in the Orchestra – attain a unified approach to music-­‐making that permeates through the ranks to create a homogeneity of sound and style, making the Oxford Phil a distinct musical instrument.

The Soloists at Buckingham Palace

Artist Relationships Having concentrated on improving the quality of the Orchestra, we have created a musical instrument good enough for artists of international renown to play with. Return visits by such artists as Maxim Vengerov, András Schiff, Nigel Kennedy, Valery Gergiev, Anne-­‐Sophie Mutter and Vladimir Ashkenazy are a testimony of the esteem in which the Oxford Phil is held in the eyes of those who regularly collaborate with the world’s greatest orchestras.

The notion that the Oxford Phil has buckets of money to throw these artists’ way in order to lure them to Oxford is of course totally false and needs to be dispelled. We are extremely fortunate that these artists recognise the confines within which we operate, such as the limited Box-­‐Office revenue from the Sheldonian Theatre, and readily accept highly discounted fees for their appearances in Oxford.

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With such an auspicious line-­‐up of international artists, we have to ensure that we provide an environment these artists are accustomed to and offer rehearsal time commensurate to that offered by other orchestras. Such opportunities will not reappear if we renege on our promise to deliver.

Beginning as a relatively unknown entity, the Oxford Phil has struggled to gain recognition from those within the musical establishment. Building reputations takes time and when artists of the calibre of Maxim Vengerov and Anne-­‐Sophie Mutter speak highly of the Oxford Phil, people’s perceptions begin to change, even though the orchestra’s inherent qualities have always been there for them to see.

FORWARD PLANNING Continuing to improve the Orchestra and seeking closer relationships with international soloists and conductors remain at the core of the Orchestra’s future planning.

Celebrity Series The celebrities we collaborate with as well as the Oxford brand provide us with a passport to gaining access to the national and international musical arena.

Other than return visits by Maxim Vengerov, Andras Schiff, Nigel Kennedy, Valery Gergiev, Anne-­‐Sophie Mutter and Vladimir Ashkenazy, we have firm commitments from the following artists to appear with the Oxford Phil in the seasons ahead:

• Vadim Repin • Renée Fleming • Pinchas Zukerman • Anne Sofie von Otter • Cecilia Bartoli • Yuri Temirkanov

Forming close relationships with these artists will have a profound effect in raising the Orchestra’s national and international profile.

Artist in Residence Maxim Vengerov’s tenure as the Oxford Phil’s ‘Artist in Residence’ comes to an end in August 2016. The desire for the association to continue is mutual and is likely to result in a renewal of the agreement allowing the relationship to blossom further.

Since we embarked on this relationship, the benefits to the Oxford Phil have been immense and far-­‐reaching. Maxim Vengerov has appeared with us on numerous occasions in Oxford as well as in concerts in London, Manchester and Basingstoke. As soloist, he has performed the Britten, Dvořák, Brahms and Tchaikovsky violin concertos. As conductor, he has led the Orchestra in performances of Mendelssohn’s ‘Scottish Symphony’.

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In June 2015, he will be the soloist in the Sibelius Violin Concerto and will conduct the Orchestra in performances of Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique.

Recordings High amongst the achievements of this relationship must rank the recordings Maxim Vengerov has made with the Oxford Phil due for release later in 2015.

These feature performances of the Brahms Violin Concerto and Mendelssohn’s ‘Scottish Symphony’. By his own admission, the recording of the Brahms ranks high amongst his prodigious discography and he considers it superior to the one he made with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim. So much so, that he gave his consent to have the recording broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and on Classic FM before the final edit was completed.

Two further recordings have been scheduled, one of the original version of the Sibelius Violin Concerto in 2015 and another of the Elgar Violin Concerto in 2016. Releases of these recordings will coincide with performances in major concert halls including London’s Barbican.

Touring and Engagements The special relationship the Oxford Phil has with Maestro Vengerov and other prominent artists pave the way for access to the major performing centres of the world.

The music industry is artist-­‐led and the only way a relatively unknown entity such as the Oxford Phil can command the attention of the musical establishment is to collaborate with the eminent artists we have formed close relationships with.

Adding to the package offered to promoters a brand that stands for excellence the world over augurs well for procuring engagements and performing at prestigious venues and international festivals.

The opportunities on offer need careful and expert handling. This is why in January 2015 we have entered into an agreement with International Classical Artists, an established artists’ agency, who know the music industry and the national and international promoters who might invite the Orchestra to perform.

ICA’s role is to advise and assist the Oxford Philharmonic in its development, to seek engagements on our behalf, to offer overall strategic planning and work closely with our team to deliver our long-­‐term objectives. Specifically, ICA will:

• Devise a strategic touring plan from 2015 onwards, with the aim of achieving up to 30 additional concerts per season by 2017/18

• Promote and sell the Oxford Phil to new venues, festivals and agents, both in the UK and abroad and work through the lining up of key territories such as Asia, Japan, China, Central Europe, South America, USA, Scandinavia, Germany/Austria/Switzerland

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•

•

•

Prospect specific touring projects and identify key towns, local agencies and festivals that will need to be contacted with tailored programmes/ soloists, proposals, budgets, and selling conditions for the orchestra

Liaise with venues, book dates for rehearsals and concerts, negotiate financial terms and contractual arrangements

Create estimates for each concert and for potential projects to assess their viability, working within the Oxford Phil’s overall financial parameters for touring

Heading the team at ICA is Stephen Wright, a manager whose career spans over forty years and who successfully delivered the worldwide touring management of the Oslo Philharmonic with Mariss Jansons and of the St Petersburg Philharmonic with Yuri Temirkanov.

Stephen and his team will seek to develop the Orchestra’s career and reputation at both national and international levels through a carefully integrated strategy.

ICA have already procured a major tour of the UK with Nigel Kennedy as soloist in the Elgar Violin Concerto for spring 2016 and have set into motion possible tours in Germany and other parts of Europe, appearances at the prestigious Lucerne and Prague Spring festivals as well as at the BBC Proms, performances in New York and a tour in South America.

As indicated by Stephen Wright at the Away Days, international touring is a troubled area with ferocious competition. The Oxford Philharmonic will need to start from scratch and ‘buy in’ to certain musical centres such as Berlin and Paris.

At this stage of the development of our touring programme we have to accept low fees and part-­‐subsidise some of the engagements on offer.

We need to review/revise the concert loss strategy of the UK national concerts (i.e. non-­‐Oxford/London) and readdress the current budget spend allocating some of this to a development fund for international touring.

The ‘Oxford’ brand is not necessarily helpful in the UK but potentially extremely appealing to promoters overseas. Describing the Oxford Philharmonic as “the Resident Orchestra of the University of Oxford” would be valuable in some places such as the Salzburg Festival.

Presenting a programme that weighs heavily on our Oxford identity may well prove appealing to some promoters. Haydn is a composer whose links with Oxford are strong. To offer to perform Haydn’s ‘Oxford Symphony’ or the composer’s Creation with an Oxford orchestra and College Choir could be an attractive proposition.

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Given the advanced planning of most international promoters, ICA have already begun to make approaches in the hope that engagements are procured in two to three years from now.

A careful selection of possible touring territories has been compiled with strong emphasis on those where there is a strong Oxford alumni presence. These include Asia and USA.

Markets which can afford to pay high fees such as Germany are also being pursued.

In order for the Oxford Philharmonic to enhance its national and international profile, ICA have strongly recommended that we undertake a series of concerts in London which replicate those we present in Oxford with celebrity artists.

The ‘regional orchestra’ mentality that assumes that quality is lower in the provinces than in London will change with a London series.

The artists we are approaching to take part in the series include Maxim Vengerov, Evgeny Kissin, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Andras Schiff and Valery Gergiev.

Columbia Artists Management Inc (CAMI) in the USA strongly recommend that we take up a two-­‐day residency at the Lincoln Center in New York with Maxim Vengerov as Artistic Director, in order to raise the orchestra’s profile in America and pave the way for a major US tour in future years.

All these major projects are being pursued for 2017/18, offering us the opportunity to make a quantum leap into the major league.

In summary, they include:

• A German tour with violinist Vadim Repin in 2017/18 • A major tour of Asia in 2017/18 • A two-­‐day residency at New York’s Lincoln Center in 2017 • A series of four concerts in London’s Barbican in 2017/18

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Number of concerts The quality and quantity of the Oxford Philharmonic’s concerts have to be carefully monitored to ensure that at all times our performances are at the highest level.

Within the ranks we have a number of soloists who continue to pursue solo careers. In contemplating the number of concerts the OP should aim to do a year, we should be conscious that some of our outstanding players may not be able commit to an OP schedule that overburdens their other musical pursuits. We must therefore provide a schedule to ensure loyalty while allowing our players the freedom to undertake other commitments:

• More Concerts/Increased player loyalty • Too many concerts/Decreased player loyalty

Over the next three years, we aim to increase the number of concerts incrementally to an optimum of 60 by the season 2017/18. This should provide our members with a substantial income stream while allowing them the luxury of pursuing other musical interests.

It is not the objective of the Oxford Philharmonic to become a fulltime orchestra in the foreseeable future.

Even though some of the London orchestras provide financial stability and security for members, we have recently witnessed an exodus of some fine players from these orchestras to the Oxford Phil because of the flexibility and variety of work we offer.

Rehearsals It is our aim to increase rehearsal time to provide an extra six hours prior to the dress rehearsal for every concert we present.

Once a programme has been rehearsed extensively prior to the first concert of a tour, then of course subsequent concerts with the same programme would require less rehearsal.

Maestro Valery Gergiev conducting the Oxford Phil

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ACADEMY Our educational activities are important to our remit and we shall continue over the years to provide help and tuition to young musicians.

Piano Festival The basic formula for our Piano Festival has changed little over the years. While it would be ideal to extend the period to two weeks, the amount we would need to charge resident observers attending to cover our costs would be prohibitive.

Providing a variety of teachers and performers who represent diverse schools of piano playing will continue to open new horizons for our students.

While maintaining a nucleus of returning students, we will continue to seek out others who might benefit from the knowledge and expertise imparted to them by our illustrious faculty.

University Residency Our Residency at Oxford University is highly beneficial and important to us. Our term of office expires in October 2017. In order to ensure that we can still call ourselves the Orchestra in Residence at the University of Oxford when talking to promoters or planning our activities beyond 2017, we will be applying for a renewal of the residency in 2016.

COMMUNITY Our programme for the community will continue and expand over the next three years. Partnership with other music and cultural organisations delivering work similar to ours has always been very important, and going forward we are now working in close collaboration with two very important local cultural organisations.

We are a founding member and major partner of the newly formed Oxfordshire Music Education Partnership (OMEP), one of the new Music Education Hubs that are central to the UK Government’s National Music Education Plan which came about following the report on music education by Darren Henley in 2011. Music Education Hubs, of which there are now over 100 nationally, are funded and overseen by the Arts Council on behalf of the Department of Education. This is a partnership between music organisations working together to ensure that every child aged 5-­‐18 in the area has the opportunity to sing, to learn a musical instrument, to perform as part of an ensemble or choir and to take their talent further.

In addition we are planning a series of open workshops for local secondary schools which will be based on the GCSE syllabus for children studying for the exam in music.

Similarly we are now a partner of the City Council’s funded Cultural Partnership Group, along with other major cultural organisations in the City such as the Oxford Playhouse, Pegasus Theatre, Modern Art Oxford and the University Museums. In promoting the cultural life of the city, this partnership has three

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main objectives: leading a partnership-­‐based approach to developing the cultural life of the city; improving opportunities for young people to access and actively participate in high-­‐quality cultural activities; and improving opportunities for the diverse range of communities in the city to participate actively in high-­‐ quality cultural activities that reflect their own identities.

It is significant to note that our Artist in Residence Maxim Vengerov has shown enthusiasm to be a part of future initiatives and of course brings significant experience through his global UNICEF Ambassador role.

Family Concerts Our agreement with the Oxford City Council requires that we increase the number of these to three a year.

OPERA Opera has enormous appeal and it is probably the most attractive of all classical music genres.

Following the successful new production of Così fan Tutte in 2015, we will be evaluating the impact this has had on our audiences and on our finances.

From the feedback we have received, it is clear that the public warmly embrace our efforts. Evidence also suggests that funding is available from sources that would otherwise not fund any of our other activities.

In an ideal world, we would prefer to work with an established opera company such as Glyndebourne Touring where we provide the orchestra and they provide the rest. However, we have proved that we can do it on our own, working as we did for Così with a company such as Metta Theatre and their talented director and design team.

An opera production every two years is envisaged as a first step to establishing a more regular operatic programme for the future.

PR & MARKETING The first task facing our PR and Marketing team is the handling of the change of name and making the announcement. This offers an opportunity to gauge the interest of the press/media who might consider attaching a story to the announcement.

The change of name also offers an opportunity to revamp our website which needs to deliver a strong message about who we are and what we do.

Further challenges to our PR efforts include the negative media perception attached to regional orchestras; a lack of understanding as to why the Oxford Phil enjoys so many high level collaborations/associations with leading soloists and the myth of OP being a wealthy, privately funded orchestra. Journalists hold a narrow view of the industry and 2-­‐3 years of continued focus is required to change perceptions.

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High-­‐profile visits by leading soloists rarely present a ‘story’ as such, leading to the potential deepening of old preconceptions. Future repeat performances with these personalities would help underline more substantial commitments to the orchestra by such soloists, emphasising OP’s quality.

Few journalists will travel to review events outside of London, despite c.60% of them having studied at Oxford. For instance, Fiona Maddocks of The Observer lives in Oxford but will not review events there.

The proposed London series will help counteract this and positive national reviews are still important in selling overseas.

In attempting to strengthen the Oxford Phil brand we need to address the following:

• Communicate our reputation for being ‘bold’ • Clarify the University link • Increase communication before an event – social media is currently the best platform for this • Become known as a renowned academy for developing young talent

In summary, we need to:

• Support an artistic strategy that will define our programming • Communicate why OP exists and contributes to the UK orchestral landscape • Address the common misconception that the OP buys into high-­‐calibre, high-­‐fee soloists • Strengthen links between audience and orchestra: ‘meet the orchestra’ initiatives to profile players with interviews/photos/online presence • Create new imagery • Use multimedia provided by TallWall • Explore other media opportunities – BBC4, Sky Arts • Explore live streaming opportunities such as Medici TV • Expand our social media network • Broadcast player achievements to increase relationship and connection between audience/orchestra • Update frequently the ‘News’ section of our website

Going forward, we have appointed Nicky Thomas Media Consultancy to handle the change of name and general PR for the orchestra.

With over 15 years experience in PR and corporate media relations, Nicky Thomas Media has an excellent track record having built the reputation of prestigious arts organisations and individual artists such as Antonio Pappano and the Accademia di Santa Cecilia Orchestra.

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Box Office Systems At the moment most of our bookings are handled by the Playhouse Box Office based in Oxford. However, we sell an increasing number of tickets through our own office.

We will seek to install our own Box Office system to save on commissions paid to the Playhouse and allow for increased audience data capturing – currently a very difficult and time-­‐consuming process and not entirely accurate for a number of reasons. Our own Box Office system will also help us deliver a better service to our customers in general.

Management and Administration To underpin and provide backup to all our expanding activities, our small team in the office is stretched to the full.

Resources must match ambition and time seems to be the biggest issue amongst our staff. The proposed sales strategy of repeat performances and contracted dates brings the potential for economies of scale in terms of administrative workload: primarily the orchestra wouldn’t be responsible for marketing each event and a run of dates would create defined periods of work for both staff and players. However, there remains a concern that important tasks are at risk when the team is under pressure. The recruitment of supplementary admin staff is therefore inevitable.

Communication, resourcing, expectations and the appropriate support for initiatives must be continually assessed.

With operations rising as fast as they are, it will not be long before the management team at a higher level is augmented with a General Manager taking charge two to three years from now.

Maxim Vengerov visiting our offices to meet the team

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In contemplating the future we list below a SWOT analysis of what we feel are our strengths and weaknesses as well as the opportunities and threats:

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths • Oxford University association • Oxford brand • Strong team of top-­‐level musicians eager to be involved • The high-­‐level artists which the orchestra collaborates with • Only professional orchestra in the Region • Strong territorial claims • Healthy reserves • Strong and influential Boards of Trustees and Advisors • Sheldonian Theatre with its unique identity • Tight and prudent control of finances and governance • Strong community and education programme • Versatility in size of ensemble and repertoire to be presented • Proficient and effective management and administrative team • Realisation of ideas delivered at speed • Close proximity to London where most freelance players live and work • Oxfordshire as a region is cultured and affluent

Weaknesses • Annual recurring funding not to the level required to ensure financial stability • Capacity and box-­‐office revenue at Sheldonian limited • Poor backstage and hospitality facilities at the Sheldonian • Overstretched personnel resources especially at senior management level

Opportunities • Capitalise on top-­‐name associations to gain wider recognition and increase engagements • ICA representation paves the way for wider touring prospects • Celebrity soloists and conductors continue to show interest in coming to Oxford and to perform with the orchestra • With a declining number of opera productions in Oxford, opportunities arise for capitalising on a large market share

Threats • Not being able to deliver to the expectations of VIP artists because of lack of funding • Uncertainty about the pentannual renewal of the University residency

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• • •

• • • •

Other orchestras such as the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment vying to take the residency over A serious downturn in the local economy OP Trustees who make substantial contributions to the orchestra may refuse to be in a minority if the financial burden is not equally shared amongst all members Confusion with Oxford’s amateur orchestras Public sector cut-­‐backs will mean other arts organisations will target OP sources of funding Difficult to replace key sponsors if they withdraw Should the Music Director retire, it will be difficult to sustain the operation as currently structured and which relies on some recurring funding due to the personal nature of his links to major sponsors

While there are clear threats and a number of weaknesses, most of which we intend to address, the Oxford Philharmonic has excellent prospects to reach its goals and attain the national and international recognition it deserves.

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THE ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT

Like all orchestras in the UK, the Oxford Philharmonic has to operate within a parlous economic environment.

It is important to state that the OP receives no funds from statutory bodies such as the Arts Council or the University of Oxford – despite being its Orchestra in Residence -­‐ and relies entirely on donations from individuals, trusts and foundations.

Over the last five years there has been considerable growth. Total revenue has approximately doubled driven by more concerts, reputation and ability to attract “box office names”.

Direct costs have grown 124%, reflecting more performances, higher musician fees, high-­‐level soloist appearances and more rehearsal time. Indirect costs have grown more steadily (78%) keeping the cost structure in a more stable environment.

EXPENDITURE

CONCERT ACTIVITY Concert Activity accounts for 51% of our total expenditure and 15% of our income.

All our promotions in Oxford make significant losses. This is partly because of the capacity of the Sheldonian Theatre and the way it is structured, which restricts box-­‐office revenue with few premium seats available to sell at high prices. We also provide as many as 300 seats to students in the Upper Gallery for just £5.

Norman Lebrecht writing in the Evening Standard in 2004 makes the following point: “a sold-­‐out symphony concert at the Royal Festival Hall yields an average loss of £48,000 [for the LSO]”. The loss-­‐making nature of concerts is therefore not a new phenomenon.

Players Fee Structure The Oxford Phil has devised positions within the ranks that best serve our needs and which are quite distinct from any other orchestra in the UK.

In the string sections, we have:

• 3 Concertmasters • 1 Co-­‐Concertmaster • 4 Associate Concertmasters • 2 Assistant Concertmasters • 2 Solo Violas • 2 Solo Celli

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• •

1 Solo Bass Principals and Sub-­‐Principals

For a full list of appointed members please refer to Appendix 1 on page 59.

Musicians are remunerated according to their status and not according to where they sit. For instance, if all three Concertmasters are playing – and this has happened on a number of occasions – they will receive their Concertmaster’s fee regardless of where they sit.

The Oxford Phil is a full member of the Association of British Orchestras. The ABO/Musicians’ Union Agreement governs the rates we pay our musicians which are comparable to those paid for Category 1 orchestras such as the LPO, LSO, The Philharmonia and the RPO.

For full details of the rates the Oxford Phil offers to its members please refer to Appendix 2 on page 62.

Celebrity Artists Costs Even though concerts featuring luminary names are more expensive, it is the artists’ demand for extra rehearsals that make these concerts costly, rather than their fees. Indeed, we are fortunate that many offer us a considerable discount when coming to Oxford. However, when appearing with them outside our home territory, their fees are higher.

Lang Lang with the Oxford Phil

Venue Costs Despite being the University’s Resident Orchestra, the OP receives no preferential rates for the hire of the University’s ceremonial hall. Furthermore, priority booking – offered to many other UK orchestras with residencies in places such as the Southbank Centre and the Barbican, is denied to us.

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Marketing/Advertising Costs The budget for this is relatively small, only 0.5% of the total direct expenditure of a concert, and is increasingly being reduced as concerts do well with little advertising.

The table below shows the profit and loss of a typical Sheldonian concert with one extra rehearsal the day before:

REVENUE

Ticket Sales

£ 7,000

Programme Sales

£ 250

TOTAL (A)

£ 7,250

VARIABLE EXPENSES

Orchestra Fees

£ 16,121

Soloists' Fees

£ 4,000

Conductor's Fees

£ 2,000

Hire of Hall

£ 1,200

Hire of Instruments

£ 1,000

Hire of Music

£ 300

Advertising/marketing

£ 600

Printing

£ 350

Distribution

£ 350

Stage Mgt & van

£ 250

Front of House Staff

£ 200

Travel

£ 500

Accommodation

£ 500

Receptions

£ 800

Programme notes

£ 100

Staging

£ 135

Contingency

£500

TOTAL (B)

£ 28,906

CONTRIBUTION (C)

£ 21,656

FIXED EXPENSES (D)

£ 19,836

PROFIT/LOSS (C-­‐D)

£ 41,492

To the direct costs of a concert we add a share of our overhead expenses apportioned equally to all income-­‐generated activity of the orchestra, bringing the total deficit to £41,492.

We estimate that the Oxford Philomusica subsidises every one of our concerts at an average of £70 a seat for every person that walks through the Sheldonian doors.

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The following table shows the estimated profit and loss for all our concerts for 2014/15:

Concert Date

Title

Direct Costs less Ticket Income

% of Fixed Expenses

P/L

1

13/10/2014 Anne-­‐Sophie Mutter

£38,725

£19,836

£58,561

2

25/10/2014 Dvorak 9th

£21,345

£19,836

£41,181

3

26/10/2014 Family Concert

£7,933

£19,836

£27,769

4

15/11/2014 Dvorak 8th

£18,956

£19,836

£38,792

5

16/11/2014 Queen's Evensong

£4,683

£19,836

£24,519

6

29/11/2014 Bruckner Te Deum

£25,027

£19,836

£44,863

7

11/12/2014 Messiah

£7,474

£19,836

£27,310

8

20/12/2014 Birthday Concert

£38,710

£19,836

£58,546

9

04/01/2015 New Year's Concert

£18,118

£19,836

£37,954

10 06/01/2015 Aylesbury

£13,059

£19,836

£32,895

11 12/01/2015 Cadogan

£62,778

£19,836

£82,614

12 24/01/2015 Mozart

£17,896

£19,836

£37,732

13 21/02/2015 Sibelius

£17,459

£19,836

£37,295

14 01/03/2015 Pires

£19,176

£19,836

£39,012

15 02/03/2015 Cheltenham

£18,538

£19,836

£38,374

16 12/03/2015 Angela Hewitt

£33,030

£19,836

£52,866

17 15/03/2015 Family Concert

£7,932

£19,836

£27,768

18 15/03/2015 Verdi Requiem

£46,831

£19,836

£66,667

19 02/04/2015 Easter Concert

£11,337

£19,836

£31,173

20 01/05/2015 Opera

£40,765

£19,836

£60,601

21 03/05/2015 Opera

£40,765

£19,836

£60,601

22 16/05/2015 Andras Schiff

£34,121

£19,836

£53,957

23 22/05/2015 Kennedy Tour

£13,825

£19,836

£33,661

24 23/05/2015 Kennedy Tour

£13,825

£19,836

£33,661

25 25/05/2015 Kennedy Tour

£13,825

£19,836

£33,661

26 27/05/2015 Buckingham Palace

£25,000

£19,836

£44,836

27 05/06/2015 Ashkenazy

£23,957

£19,836

£43,793

28 06/06/2015 Guildford

£27,676

£19,836

£47,512

29 19/06/2015 Vengerov

£68,214

£19,836

£88,050

30 27/06/2015 Baroque

£3,000

£19,836

£22,836

31 04/07/2015 Baroque

£3,000

£19,836

£22,836

32 11/07/2015 Baroque

£3,000

£19,836

£22,836

33 18/07/2015 Baroque

£3,000

£19,836

£22,836

34 25/07/2015 Baroque

£3,000

£19,836

£22,836

£16,500

£19,836

£36,336

35 02/08/2015 Piano Festival

£762,480

£694,260 £1,456,740

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Artist in Residence Costs The position of Artist in Residence was created two yeas ago especially for Maxim Vengerov in order to signify the artist’s close association with the Oxford Phil and to promote the orchestra’s name and reputation worldwide. The agreement is for an initial period of three years and comes to an end in December 2016.

As part of this agreement and use of the artist’s name as Artist in Residence we pay an annual fee.

As the Oxford Philharmonic’s global ambassador, Maestro Vengerov has already opened many doors to us. The stipend for the title is offset by lower fees for concerts in Oxford and repeat performances. Furthermore, Maestro Vengerov waives his fee in full for specific benefit concerts in support of the orchestra.

We are extremely fortunate, and grateful, that one of our Trustees has agreed to cover the cost of Maxim Vengerov’s association with the Oxford Phil for the duration of our agreement.

RECORDINGS COSTS Despite dramatic reductions in CD sales in recent years and ongoing concern over free downloads, a recording still has the capacity of reaching a far greater audience than any one single concert. Furthermore, it is a testament of a performance stored for posterity. For these reasons, the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra has been investing in building up a catalogue of recordings including those with Maxim Vengerov. In 2014/15, our investment in this field amounted to 4% of our total expenditure.

RUNNING THE ACADEMY Residency Costs The OP makes a contribution of around £150,000 a year to the economy of the University of Oxford. This includes a substantial contribution to St Hilda’s College for the use of its facilities during our Piano Festival, fees paid to College choirs for participating in our concerts and the hire of the Sheldonian and other University venues.

0.5% of our expenditure is allocated to running our Residency Programme.

Piano Festival Costs In recent years, the Piano Festival has come close to breaking even. With the help of many individuals we are in a position to offer scholarships to most of the outstanding students attending. With higher profits from an increasing number of fee-­‐paying observers, sponsorship of some of the events and good box-­‐office return on ticket sales, the Festival is beginning to be financially on an even keel and more self-­‐reliant.

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SERVING THE COMMUNITY Our special projects for the benefit of the community, including work we undertake in hospitals and for young musicians in schools, amount to 1% of our total expenditure, quite comfortably covered by donations from trusts and foundations as well as by individuals who are sensitive to this area of our activity.

OVERHEADS The OP employs 8 full-­‐time staff and retains a number of consultants such as ICA and others in Press and PR, Development and Marketing. Salaries, professional fees and general running expenses account for 33% of our total expenditure, of which salaries is 56%.

Current expenditure:

4.5%

Concert Activity Piano Festival 33%

Recordings 51%

University Residence Community Overheads/Salaries

4% 1%

Artist in Residence

6%

0.5%

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INCOME

The Oxford Phil relies almost entirely on donations from individuals, trusts and foundations.

Ticket Sales These amount to 15% of our income.

Trusts and Foundations These tend to support our educational and community programmes.

Individuals 48% of our total income comes from individuals who enjoy, admire and wish to be part of the larger OP family. Their contributions are allocated to sponsoring individual events, either through personal donations or via their charitable trusts, or to support the overall running of the orchestra.

Fundraising events For years we have been able to organise annual fundraising events in special venues that have attracted donors contributing to our charity by attending and/or placing bids at the auction we frequently hold at the end of some of our events.

Special events have been held at:

• Palace of Westminster • Buckingham Palace • No. 10 Downing Street • St James’s Palace • Patrons’ homes

Performing at St James’s Palace in July 2014

46

Gift Aid As a UK registered charity, we benefit from Gift Aid eligible on donations.

Sources of income:

2%

10%

15% 5%

Ticket Sales Piano Festival

20%

Individual Donations Fundraising Events Gift Aid Trusts and Foundations 48%

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FORECAST 2014/15

Our forecast for 2014/151 is as follows:

% of total

EXPENDITURE SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES Own Promotions

50.83%

Vengerov Residency

£85,000

4.10%

Recordings

£85,000

£291,321

14.50%

Programme Sales

£5,410

0.27%

4.10%

Advertising Sales

£5,500

0.27%

£125,000

6.03%

Piano Festival

£110,000

5.48%

£1,348,801

65.06%

Total Earned Income

£412,231

20.52%

GENERAL ACTIVITIES

UNEARNED INCOME £20,000

0.96%

Individual Donations

£966,233

48.11%

University Residency

£10,000

0.48%

Fundraising Events

£400,000

19.92%

1.45%

Trusts and Foundations

£200,000

9.96%

£30,000 FIXED EXPENSES

Gift Aid

£30,000

1.49%

General & Administrative Advertising & Promotion

Total Unearned Income

£1,596,233

79.48%

Total Income

£2,008,464

100.00%

£89,630

4.32%

£20,500

0.99%

£85,100

4.11%

Wages & Salaries

£421,030

20.31%

Occupancy Costs

£18,000

0.87%

Equipment

£60,000

2.89%

£694,260

33.49%

£2,073,061

100.00%

Total Fixed Expenses

Total Expenditure

Ticket Sales

Community Work

Operating Expenses

P/L

EARNED INCOME £1,053,801

Piano Festival

% of total

INCOME

£64,597

1 The data has been compiled three months prior to the end of the 2014/15 financial year with some figures given as estimates

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Forward Planning 2015 – 2018

Promotions/Engagements In order to provide more work for our musicians and increase both rehearsal times and repeat performances of the same programme, we have undertaken a number of self-­‐promotions in the UK, mostly within our catchment area. These included concerts in Aylesbury, where the Oxford Phil is the Orchestra in Association, Bristol and Cheltenham. Like all other self-­‐promotions, the deal varies between paying for the hire of the venue and all associated costs in return for a receipt of ticket sales, or a box-­‐office split, usually 80/20, in our favour. In both cases, the orchestra incurs substantial losses. Nevertheless, these have been foreseen and budgeted for and were part of our strategy to improve the quality of our performances and increase player loyalty and awareness.

Currently the ratio between self-­‐promotions and paid engagements weighs heavily towards the former. As most of the engagements we seek over the next few years will need to be artist-­‐led, the package we offer to promoters is likely to be expensive when the artists’ fees are added to those of the orchestra, requiring a level of subsidy to secure them.

We are therefore revising the loss strategy of the UK concerts in order to readdress the current level of commitment and allocate some resources to a development fund for Foreign Policy.

We will continue to promote our own series in Oxford, which acts as a shop window of who we are and what we do.

As the reputation of the orchestra continues to grow, we should be in a position to command high enough fees to cover all our costs and in some cases turn engagements into profitable enterprises.

For the next three years, we will be allocating funds to kick-­‐start our touring programme.

In order to concentrate on our concert activity and continue to build the reputation of the Oxford Philharmonic both in the UK and overseas, it is envisaged that expenditure for other non-­‐performing activities over the next three years, including those in the education and community sectors, will be maintained at 2014/15 levels. However, staffing requirements to cope with expanding activities and the recruitment of at least one executive in the position of General Manager will increase our overheads.

49

SEASON 2015/16 Season 2015/16 is now almost complete and features a variety of programmes to suit all musical tastes and showcase the orchestra at its best. Our collaborations with eminent international artists continue with appearances by:

• Nicola Benedetti • Vadim Repin • Renée Fleming • Pinchas Zukerman • András Schiff • Nigel Kennedy • Maxim Vengerov

Of particular significance are the following projects:

• A UK tour in the spring of 2016 with Nigel Kennedy as soloist in the Elgar Violin Concerto which culminates in a concert at London’s Barbican

• Another concert in the Barbican in June 2016 to launch Maxim Vengerov’s recording of the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Oxford Phil

• An appearance at the prestigious Spring Prague Festival in June 2016

EXPENDITURE

2015/16

% of total

SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES Own Promotions

£900,000

42%

Artist in Residence

£85,000

4%

Recordings

£80,000

4%

£100,000

5%

£50,000

2%

£135,000

6%

£1,350,000

63%

Community Work

£25,000

1%

University Residency

£12,000

1%

£37,000

2%

Salaries

£463,133

22%

Running Expenses

£300,575

14%

£763,708

36%

£2,150,708

100%

Kennedy Tour European Touring Piano Festival

EDUCATION/COMMUNITY

OVERHEADS

Total Expenditure

Expenditure in 2015/16 is expected to rise to £2,150,708, an increase of 3.75% from 2014/15 levels.

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SEASON 2016/17 Oxford concerts will retain their familiar outlook for this season.

In addition, we plan a weekend residency at the Lincoln Center in New York with Maxim Vengerov as Artistic Director. This mini Oxford Festival will comprise a concert at the Avery Fisher Hall featuring the Oxford Philharmonic in performances of Brahms and Mendelssohn and complemented by a second concert of chamber music featuring The Soloists of Oxford Philharmonic and Maxim Vengerov in a performance of Mendelssohn’s Octet.

A new recording made in 2015 of Maxim Vengerov and Marios Papadopoulos playing Brahms Violin Sonatas will be launched in recitals at London’s Royal Festival Hall and the Vienna Musikverein, and will kick off the New York Oxford Festival.

The New York project is highly prestigious and will expose the orchestra at the highest echelons of the American musical establishment, paving the way for a major US tour in years to come.

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Following the success of our production of Così fan Tutte, we plan to make a return in the spring of 2017 to the opera with a performance of Puccini’s La bohème.

EXPENDITURE

2016/17

% of total

SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES Own Promotions

£800,000

34%

Recordings

£100,000

4%

European Touring

£150,000

6%

New York Festival

£150,000

6%

Piano Festival

£140,000

6%

Opera

£150,000

6%

£1,490,000

63%

Community Work

£25,000

1%

University Residency

£15,000

1%

£40,000

2%

Salaries

£509,446

21%

Running Expenses

£330,633

14%

Total Fixed Expenses

£840,079

35%

£2,370,079

100%

EDUCATION/COMMUNITY

OVERHEADS

Total Expenditure

Expenditure in 2016/17 is expected to rise to £2,370,079, an increase of 10.20% from 2015/16 levels

SEASON 2017/18 In 2017/18 we envisage a quantum leap reaching our goal of around 60 concerts.

Top of our agenda is a Barbican Series of four concerts we are planning featuring artists with whom we now have a close relationship such as Maxim Vengerov, András Schiff and Vladmir Ashkenazy with guest appearances by Cecilia Bartoli and Evgeny Kissin.

During this season, Anne-­‐Sophie Mutter is scheduled to make another appearance with the Oxford Phil in Oxford and other parts of the UK. Other artists that have agreed to perform with us and whose concerts in Oxford are likely to take place during the 2017/18 include:

• Valery Gergiev • Yuri Temirkanov • Anne Sofie von Otter • Maxim Vengerov

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A major tour of the Far East is planned for September 2017 as well as a tour of major venues in Germany.

EXPENDITURE

2017/18

% of total

SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES Own Promotions

£700,000

29%

Recordings

£120,000

5%

European Touring

£150,000

6%

Asia Tour

£100,000

4%

Barbican Series

£200,000

8%

Piano Festival

£150,000

6%

£1,420,000

59%

EDUCATION/COMMUNITY Community Work

£28,000

1%

University Residency

£15,000

1%

£43,000

2%

Salaries

£560,391

23%

Running Expenses

£363,696

15%

Total Fixed Expenses

£924,087

39%

£2,387,087

100%

OVERHEADS

Total Expenditure

Expenditure in 2017/18 is expected to be £2,387,087, a slight increase of .72% from 2016/17 levels.

In summary, total expenditure for the next three years is as follow:

2015/16 £2,150,708 2016/17 £2,370,079 2017/18 £2,387,087

It is significant to note that the budget for own promotions is reduced year-­‐on-­‐ year as the number of fee-­‐paying engagements increase and own promotions decrease.

On average, we need to raise a total of £2,300,000 a year over the next three years to make ends meet.

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SOURCES OF FUNDING

The Oxford Philharmonic is financially sailing perilously close to the wind. Every year we have to push the boat out in the hope that we meet our targets.

Box-­‐Office Revenue One means of raising profits in a price-­‐sensitive market is to increase capacity or volume. However, the Sheldonian Theatre does not have additional seats. Even though a 50% increase in ticket prices would yield another £100,000 contribution, this would prove unaffordable to many of our patrons. A slight increase in prices and more sell-­‐out concerts should enable us to increase our earned income stream.

Over the next three years, we aim to increase our ticket sales to reach 21% of our total income to an average of around £440,000 a year.

The net contribution required to meet our current plans over the next three years is estimated to be an average of £1,900,000 a year.

Reserves In order to avoid hand-­‐to-­‐mouth operation we need to create a recurring income stream essential for our long-­‐term planning.

So long as this eludes us, the only way we can survive a parlous financial situation and fulfill our long-­‐term objectives is to increase our reserves.

It is therefore imperative that we concentrate on raising funds for general use, over and above our current needs, in order to create a cushion for future activity.

Our reserves currently stand at £453,000, not enough to meet our immediate needs.

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SPONSORSHIP/FUNDRAISING TARGETS Corporate Sponsorship Here the OP is seriously lagging behind many of its main competitors.

In the arts world, individuals or companies frequently use sponsorship opportunities to help build goodwill and brand recognition by associating with an event or group. As such, sponsorships are regarded as income-­‐generating opportunities for the orchestra, where we offer something of value to the sponsor. These range from corporate entertainment and company promotion to opportunities offered to individuals to celebrate special occasions with a concert and dinner afterwards.

While we acknowledge the philanthropic nature of any donations received, we nevertheless endeavour to offer benefits in return to those who seek a level of recognition. We run the orchestra as a business, and as such, we feel that everything we do as part of our wide range of musical activities is worth something to somebody. We pride ourselves in the quality product we “sell” and attach a value accordingly.

Our chances of procuring sponsorship deals would be much higher if OP friends with connections to the corporate world were to approach companies on our behalf to make introductions. A letter from the admin team will more often than not be ignored.

The ‘Sheldonian Musical Experience’, together with the exceptional level of music-­‐making the Oxford Phil offers to members of the public, provide a USP for corporate sponsorship.

Our target is to raise £150,000 a year from sponsorships.

University Support With a unique educational programme on offer to Oxford students as well as many other benefits, including opportunities to meet and nurture prospects at our events, we feel that, after 13 years as the University Orchestra in Residence, the University should be making a contribution to our efforts.

Even though there are some indirect benefits attached to our association with the University, such as the ability of donors to make a contribution to the OP through the American Friends of Oxford, the fundraising systems of the University are restricted to us by those in the Development Office who see us as a threat.

Our target is to persuade the University to sponsor a concert annually and make a total contribution to the OP of £50,000 a year.

Statutory Funding We should use our newly acquired status as one of Oxford City Council’s core-­‐ funded organisations to apply for funding from the Arts Council, which has thus

55

far eluded us. Over the next three years, any such funding is likely to come from their Grants for the Arts programme to support isolated projects as it is unrealistic to hope to achieve RFO (Regularly Funded Organisation) status any time soon.

Our target is to receive statutory grants of £50,000 a year.

Individual Giving The Oxford Philomusica has built a reputation for excelling in its fundraising efforts, particularly in forging close relationships with major donors on whose annual gifts the orchestra’s main activities depend.

Such relationships have been created based on trust and mutual benefit: • •

Acknowledgments are afforded to all who contribute to our efforts Donors are treated in a special way and feel special

Benefactors are often reminded that their funding is considered an investment that has so far contributed to the meteoric rise of the orchestra. They are also more likely to lend support to a successful organisation than to fill a black hole.

From early on we have extended hospitality to patrons at post-­‐concert receptions, offering people an exclusive environment to meet like-­‐minded people and learn more about our activities. Complemented by a select group of local residents, mostly from the University of Oxford, our post-­‐concert receptions offer unprecedented opportunities for people to meet fellow businessmen and women in a convivial environment and network. Such opportunities enhance the value attached to supporting the Oxford Phil.

We are often successful during that critical 24-­‐hour period following a concert where a member of the audience has enjoyed a highly emotive experience.

We often organise private events at our patrons’ stately homes in Oxfordshire in order to meet individuals who might take an interest in our affairs, while also providing our players with further opportunities to play chamber music.

The Music Director is always available to meet people who prefer to deal with the head of the organisation.

Even though we enjoy a high level of support from individuals -­‐ either through personal contributions or grants made via their charitable foundations -­‐ we are currently too dependent on a small number of major donors and we need to populate the bottom end of the giving pyramid in fear of losing those at the higher end.

We also need to seek longer-­‐term commitments from donors. The great difficulty is not to secure a one-­‐off gift but turn that into a recurring one.

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With over 14,000 entries in our database of people who have either attended an OP event or should be targeted we may only be tapping into 30% of our capability. Systematic research and analysis of our database will identify the next major donor who is staring us in the eye.

Our target is to raise a million a year from private individuals, either directly or through their charitable foundations, and seek three-­‐year commitments.

Trust and Foundation Grants Even though a number of Trusts and Foundations find our community/education programmes appealing, we should be able to procure funding for our concert activity and other operational expenses.

Our target is to raise £200,000 a year from Trusts and Foundations.

Benefit Concerts High-­‐profile events such as the ones we hold in Royal Palaces have proved hugely beneficial to us. Complementary to these are private events held at patrons’ homes and following a concert. Auctions have also yielded healthy profits in the past.

Our target is to raise £500,000 a year from dedicated fundraising events.

Piano Festival Sponsorship Having attained a unique position as the world’s leading summer academy for young pianists, the Piano Festival can attract major funding.

There is also substantial scope for increasing the Festival’s earned income, not least by a flow of observers from places such as China where the Festival recently enjoyed a high profile campaign.

Our target is to raise £100,000 a year to support the Festival.

Targets at a glance:

£1,000,000

£900,000

£800,000 £700,000

£600,000

£500,000 £400,000

£300,000

£200,000 £100,000

£0

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If we were to meet these targets, we should be breaking even. However, we aim to surpass them in order to increase our reserves to around £1M over the next three years.

The Trustee Board The trustees exercise duties of diligence and care.

While the former is linked to their fiduciary obligations, the latter is associated with providing the resources for the orchestra to operate.

In all arts organisations, trustees are expected to either provide direct financial support themselves or lead the organisation to sources of funding. Indeed, in some major arts organisations such as the Metropolitan Opera in New York, donations in excess of £1M are required before a seat on the board is considered.

The OP has become a prestigious enough organisation to attract attention from individuals with the capacity to assist us with our operations. Indeed, we can no longer afford to have passengers or non-­‐performing members on board.

When we seek funding to underwrite our activities our first port of call has to be the trustees who serve on the board of the charity which provides the finance for the orchestra’s operations.

Some trustees have been immensely generous and we are enormously grateful to them.

A multi-­‐tier trust of people who donate and those who don’t is not advisable. A trust that makes distinctions between members would become less attractive to those we want to appoint.

CODA The momentum behind the Oxford Philharmonic is gathering pace at an unprecedented scale. If we were to grasp all the opportunities presented to us, maintain diligence over the management of our affairs and continue to seek ways of improving our performances there is no reason why in three years from now the Oxford Philharmonic cannot attain a position amongst the great orchestras of the world.

At this critical stage in our development, we seek visionaries who will invest in our future.

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APPENDIX 1 OXFORD PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

59

60

APPENDIX 2

RATES OF PAY

POSITIONS Violin Concertmaster Concertmaster Concertmaster Co-­‐Concertmaster Associate Concertmaster Associate Concertmaster Associate Concertmaster Associate Concertmaster Assistant Concertmaster Assistant Concertmaster Principal Violin Principal Violin Viola Solo Viola Solo Viola Principal Viola Principal Viola Cello Solo Cello Solo Cello Principal Cello Bass Solo Doublebass Principal Doublebass Flute Principal Flute Sub-­‐Principal Flute Oboe Principal Oboe Sub-­‐Principal Oboe Clarinet Principal Clarinet Sub-­‐Principal Clarinet Bassoon Principal Bassoon Sub-­‐Principal Bassoon Horn Principal Horn Sub-­‐Principal Horn Trumpet Principal Trumpet Trombone Principal Trombone Principal Bass Trombone Timpani Principal Timpani

MUSICIANS

Carmine Lauri Tamas Andras Natalia Lomeiko Yuri Zhislin Eva Bindere Shlomy Dobrinsky Charlotte Scott Anna-­‐Liisa Bezrodny Emily Davis Michael Gurevich Colin Callow Helena Smart

Jon Thorne Jonathan Barritt Sophie Renshaw Stephen Wright

Peter Adams Mats Lidstrom Martin Thomas

Tom Martin Adam Precious

Tony Robb Robert Manasse

Tim Watts Joe Sanders

David Rix Lorraine Schulman

John Orford Fiona Bryan

Richard Dilley David Wythe

Joe Atkins

Danny Scott Paul Lambert

Tristan Fry

RATES

£400.00 £400.00 £400.00 £260.00 £250.00 £250.00 £250.00 £250.00 £190.00 £190.00 £150.00 £150.00

£190.00 £190.00 £150.00 £150.00

£190.00 £190.00 £150.00

£200.00 £150.00

£170.00 £140.00

£170.00 £140.00

£170.00 £140.00

£170.00 £140.00

£190.00 £170.00

£170.00

£170.00 £150.00

£170.00

61

APPENDIX 3

ADMINISTRATION

62