ANNUAL REPORT 2015/16
Keran Phull Dance Double Image: Darren Tiffney FC Rakesh Chaurasia Solstice Festival Image: Darren Tiffney
SAA-uk Annual Report 2015/16
CONTENTS Chairman’s Message 4 CEO’s Message 5 SAA-uk Facts at a glance 6 The Case for SAA-uk 7 Focus on our Associate Artists 8-9 SAA-uk Performances SAA-uk Concert Series 10-11 SAA-uk Solstice Festival 12-13 SAA-uk Learning & Participation SAA-uk Academies 14-15 SAA-uk Summer School 16 Academy Performances 17 Community Engagement 18-19 Special Projects 20-22 Artists on Tour 23 Making it Happen SAA-uk Fundraising 24-25 Strategic Engagements 26 Communications & PR 27 Financial reporting 28-29 Staff and Governance 30
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Chairman’s Message
2015/16 was a year of intense productivity for SAA-uk, with the organisation continuing to provide educational work and productions of the highest quality, whilst maintaining the governance standards and fundraising efforts that are vital for its continued success. We are very grateful to our major funders, Arts Council England and Leeds City Council, but the challenge for the organisation of developing more diverse finance streams so that it can reduce its dependency on these funders continues to occupy much of the management team’s time. Both the quantity and the quality of SAA-uk’s output continues to be prodigious, even though the majority of the workload falls on a staff establishment of only three people. As always I have to thank the full time members of staff, Keranjeet Kaur Virdee and Darren Tiffney, both of whom work tirelessly for the organisation and Ines Soria-Donlan, who joined us during the year and has immediately become an integral member of the team.
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e were sorry to say goodbye to Maria Spadafora during the year after 4 years with SAA-uk; she will be missed and we wish her all the best for her future career. As always we are heavily dependent on the assistance of our team of volunteers, to all of whom we are most grateful, but I would particularly like to thank Amardev Gahir, Fi Murray, Manjit Kaur and Jaskiran Kaur Mehmi for their contribution. Finally, my thanks go to my Board Members for their support and advice over the year. I believe that SAA-uk makes a major contribution to the cultural and educational life of Leeds and the wider community. I am personally grateful to all those individuals and institutions that contribute to making it possible for us to thrive. Paul French Chair of Trustees - SAA-uk
SAA-uk Annual Report 2015/16
Chief Executive & Artistic Director’s Message
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s I read this Annual Report, I feel so proud of all that we have achieved in a year; with our small team of three in the office, freelance artists, volunteers, a Board that has complete faith in us and invaluable investment by Arts Council England, Leeds City Council, Leeds Music Education Partnership and our donors.
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When I think of 2015-16, the thought that is most powerful is ‘What didn’t we do!’. Sustain, grow, create and make new work, forge new relationships, increase our audience engagement by 29%, and invest in talent development through providing a diverse range of performance opportunities in professional venues alongside internationally renowned artists. The year was demanding and at the same time full of reward. We delivered 21 concerts, which included 12 new commissions, featuring both the UK’s best and stalwart international musicians including Ustad Irshad Khan, Pt. Shivkumar Sharma, Rakesh Chaurasia, Kiran Phull and Ramneek Singh and delivered through our partnerships with Darbar Festival, Sitar UK and Gem Arts. Our Music and Dance Academies are at the core of our work and at least 81% are children, young people and their respective families, all from diverse BAME backgrounds. A total of 967 Sessions were undertaken, ensuring we continued to provide access to a diverse range of instruments and dance styles, delivered by some of the best musicians and dancers in the country ‘Sacred Sounds – Sikh Music tradition WW1’, Undream’d Shores, ‘Just A Vibration and ‘Shakespeare Lives’ were new productions that were an outcome of both long-standing and newly forged partnerships. We are delighted that all four projects were highly successful; the praise we received from our partners, collaborators, artists, participants and audiences, new and loyal was extremely rewarding, making all that we went through a worthwhile learning curve. ‘Sleeping Beauty’ was our major new production which took us into the unchartered territory of creating a dance theatre with little resources and a community company. Glad to say, the production was very well received and achieved its aim to demonstrate and highlight to participants, parents and audiences how an ancient artform is relevant in the 21st Century. At SAA-uk diversity ‘just is’ and we are driven by our belief that everyone has the right to participate in cultural relevant art and experience high quality diverse arts. Considering this and as part of our commitment to sharing good practice and empowering the local arts constituency we worked alongside local community groups and organisations to hold a Multicultural Variety Show in the heart of Roundhay. An area where there is very little access to diverse arts and the local population does not explore beyond its own boundary. We have managed to do all of the above, whilst increasing our reach, achieving our financial targets with robust management, and increasing skills in fundraising and teamwork between Staff, Board and Volunteers. Keranjeet Kaur Virdee CEO and Artistic Director - SAA-uk
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FACTS AT A GLANCE
12,381
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Participants and Audience members enjoyed an artistic activity provided by SAA-uk. This includes our Academies, Concerts and Workshops.
Brand new commissions undertaken by SAA-uk during the year. Strengthening our commitment to facilitating new expressions of South Asian Art.
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81%
Artists employed by SAA-uk during 2015-16 in our education, performance or workshop environments.
Proportion of our Academy students that are 18 years and under. SAA-uk is committed to Children and Young People and the investment in the future potential of our young people.
30% Proportion of overall expenditure spent on Artists and their output. SAA-uk prides itself on efficient management providing more opportunities for our associate artists.
967 Academy sessions in our Music and Dance Academies.
155,000
£5,320
YouTube views on our popular channel showcasing concert excerpts from our various performances. We also had over 4,000 views of our live Solstice broadcast.
Individual donations to support SAA-uk’s work. This represents a 350% rise in indiviudal giving from last year. Thank you to everyone who donated.
77%
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Proportion of our programmes that target BAME communities; promoting positive experiences and opportunities for the UK’s ethnic communities.
International Artists performed for SAA-uk including Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Rakesh Chaurasia, showcasing world class talent for UK audiences.
SAA-uk Annual Report 2015/16
THE CASE FOR SAA-uk
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n the 2011 Census, the total population of people who classify themselves as Asian or British Asian in the UK numbered 4.1 million, or 7.8% of the total UK population. Considering the Yorkshire region specifically, 6.2% of those Asian or British Asian people are located within these counties (approximately 250,000 people). Since 1997, SAA-uk has strived to sustain, promote and celebrate South Asian Art and Culture, appealing not only to a broad Asian or British Asian audience in the region and UK-wide, but also to audiences of all ethnicities interested in the rich heritage and artistic excellence that South Asian classical music and dance has to offer. We passionately believe in the transformative effect that being involved in the creative arts has on children, young people and adults. It is this initiative that drives our Academies of Indian Classical Music and Dance in both Leeds and Hull, through which over 900 learning sessions a year are created for over 6,000 participants from as young as 3 and a half years old to 70 years old to take part in.
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potting, nurturing and developing talent to give rise to the next generation of artists and arts leaders is at the heart of SAA-uk’s work. To date, SAA-uk can confidently claim to have played a key role in shaping and supporting the careers of many artists and arts leaders: Roopa Panesar, Jesse Bannister, Giuliano Modarelli, Bhupinder Singh Chaggar, Jasdeep Singh Degun, Kamaljeet Kaur Alluwhalia, Dilrani Kaur, Shahbaz Hussian, Olivia Moore, Mohammed Abbas, Helen Moore, Shahaa Kakar and Seetal Kaur Dhadyalla to name just a few. SAA-uk also contributes to the cultural fabric of the region through Special Projects. In 2015-16 these projects included Just a Vibration, Undream’d Shores and Sacred Sounds: Sikh Soldiers in World War 1. Our work within schools, colleges and universities contributes to the national curriculum in both participating and appreciating world musical and dance forms, and to the cultural understanding of worldwide customs, religions and festivals. This is further enhanced by the SAA-uk Performance Programme (delivering 45 performances to over 9,500 people) which adds to the diverse cultural offer of the region and provides people a holistic and enriching experience of South Asian Art. Tabla Students SAA-uk Music Academy Image: Maria Spadafora
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INVESTING IN ARTISTS SAA-uk adopt an holistic approach to investing in artists, developing professional practice and artistic ambition, this work includes:
Employment - 9 freelance artists with regular employment, 5 support musicians Advice and guidance on project development and artistic concept development through project days. This includes project creation, budgets and application feedback. Brand Identity and development Each performance or tour is packaged, titled and branded – through this process artists are developing their awareness of brand identity. Training and Development - 4 Community musicians –within the South Asian Community there are dedicated community artists who have experience and knowledge in a specific genre, but lack skills in teaching, performance, directing and producing. Through SAA-uk these individuals are supported to develop these skills through a live project, where they are guided and empowered to research, plan, teach, direct, produce and perform high quality shows in community setting providing an excellent and inspiring experience for participants and audiences. 6 young music mentors - informal development for gifted and talent Young people aged 14 to 18 years old in the art of oral teaching, planning and delivery Artist Management – promo package, securing, negotiating, handling contracts for performance opportunities in the UK and internationally. 2015-2016 highlights included Roopa Panesar’s first cruise tour with Cunard Chennai to Cochin.
Kirpal Panesar Solstice Festival Image: Angel P Cabrera
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SAA-uk Annual Report 2015/16
DEVELOPING TALENT DANCE ACADEMIES
MUSIC ACADEMIES Vocals (Hindustani/Punjabi) Poulomi Chakraborty
ASSOCIATE ARTISTS FACTS & FIGURES
Kanwaljeet Kaur
Support Tutors Kal Mellor
54 Different Freelance Artists employed during 2015-16 Santoor
23 Women, 31 Men
Harjinderpal Singh
14 Artists reguraly employed to deliver the SAA-uk Academies programme 8 Support tutors including 6 Music Mentors, developing future talent
Kaviraj Singh Support Tutors Jaskiran Kaur Mehmi
Bowed (Dilruba/Sarangi/Taus) Kirpal Panesar
Surjeet Singh
Support Tutors Sehaj Singh
Kathak Aditi Sen
Sitar Dharambir Singh
Jasdeep Degun Support Tutors Joe Dooley
Bharatanatyam Ramya Tangirala
Santosh Menon
Tabla / Dhol Bhupinder Chaggar
Sukhmani Rayat
Pritpal Singh
Gary Singh
Support Tutors Prabhjot Gill
Bhavanjot Rehal Jeevan Singh Raj Virdee
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SAA-uk CONCERT
CASE STUDY I n June 2015, I had the good fortune of performing for SAA-uk, which was a memorable experience, primarily because of the professional yet personal feel that I got through the artistic director & volunteers of the organization.
I will always be thankful to SAA-uk for inviting me, a Canadian artist, for my first ever performance in the UK. This clearly indicates that this organization is always working hard to hunt for not only local talents, but others, from all over the world. Since the concert that I performed through SAA-uk, many doors have opened for me for UK and Europe and I’m indebted to them for their trust in me and hope to be back for many more performances through them in the near future. Ramneek Singh July 2015
ALL THE FACTS 496 7 23 2
SAA-uk Annual Report 2015/16
SERIES
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The SAA-uk Concert Series has become a popular platform to develop talent and showcase the very best of South Asian Classical and Contemporary Music and Dance. This season included: April May June Sept Oct Mar
Patalia to Leeds – Celebration of the Folk music of Punjab Dance Double Bill – Kathak & Odissi – Canadian Kathak Dancer and Italian Kathak Sadhana - Smt. Ramneek Singh Pandit Shivkumar Sharma Music to Heal your Soul – Nikhil Patwardhan Indigo Soul & Ustad Irshad Khan
Opposite Ramneek Singh, Unnati Dasgupta, Ileana Citaristi, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma This page Irshad Khan Generations of Sitar Images: Darren Tiffney
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SAA-uk SOLSTICE
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AA-uk returned to Left Bank Leeds in what was the fourth Annual Summer Solstice festival of Indian Classical Music.
This year featured the talents of Achuthan Sripathmanathan, Deepa Nair, Pt. Sanju Sahai, Mehboob Nadeem, Bhupinder Singh Chaggar and Rakesh Chaurasia. The audience where once again blown away by the musical talent on offer which profiled the violin, mridangam, Sufi vocals, sitar, tabla and the bansuri. Performances began at 8pm and concluded at daybreak 5am the next day.
Amazing vibes and peacefulness! Keep up the wonderful work spreading art and culture First time to this amazing event - mind blowing! Selected Audience Feedback
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he event was live-streamed reaching a global audience and cemented the place of the Summer Solstice Festival firmly in the SAA-uk calendar. The collated YouTube clips have reached an audience of over 46,000 to date.
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SAA-uk Annual Report 2015/16
FESTIVAL 2015
ALL THE FACTS 236 2 12
Achuthan Sripathmanathan Solstice Festival Image: Angel P Cabrera
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SAA-UK ACADEMIES
ALL THE FACTS 922 classes 4,785 students 22 Artists
CASE STUDY Manjit and Narinder (Parents)
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eshar, Jeevan, Sirrjan and Aekam have all participated in the SAA- uk Music Academy. Through the provision of good quality teaching over the years, all have excelled in their understanding of Indian Classical Music. They have all become competent musicians who can perform in public with confidence. The Music Academy provides wonderful opportunities for children and young people to meet others in a friendly, supportive and caring environment which not only helps children and young people learn music but also grow in confidence and self-esteem.
Opposite Bharatanatyam and Dhol Classes Images: D Tiffney/M Spadafora This page Summer School Images: Darren Tiffney / Author’s own
SAA-uk Annual Report 2015/16
MUSIC & DANCE
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or over 15 years, SAA-uk has been nurturing and developing the creative talent of children, young people and adults. Our SAA-uk Music and Dance Academies provide training in Sitar, Dilruba, Sarangi, Taus, Santoor, Tabla, Vocals, Sarod, Bharatanatyam Kathak, Gidha Boliyan and Dhol. Participants are trained by world renowned artists in the field and each participant develops a deep understanding of the basics, laying a solid foundation to grow and develop their own freedom of expression through Indian classical music and dance. Our end of year productions build confidence, pride, and team spirit, to inspire and motivate each generation. Our Folk Music of Punjab classes enable participants to develop confidence in music activity that reflects and enhances cultural events such as weddings, Asian festivals and other related activities. 30 sessions of Dance Academy Classes 34 sessions of Indian Music Academy Leeds 30 sessions of Punjabi Folk Music 20 sessions of Indian Music Academy Hull
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n joining SAA-uk in May 2015 as Learning & Participation Development Officer, I was plunged into the deep end as producer and co-director of the SAA-uk Dance Academy’s choreography of Sleeping Beauty at West Yorkshire Playhouse, a production which challenged me to produce to the highest quality to create a professional stage for our talented dancers, and which yielded fantastic results. As I gradually took the reigns of all three existing SAA-uk academies, and help develop our new upcoming Carnatic Music Academy, the power of community, both within the team, the participants and the wider SAA-uk family, as well as the level of excellence which all stakeholders work towards, confirmed to me SAA-uk’s unique offer and deeprooted foundations. This has given me a great platform to develop our relationship with and offer for learners of all ages, and young people especially. As the role develops, I am looking at ways to increase young people’s voice within the organisation, and take time for both us and them to understand and recognize the unique skills they gain through being involved in SAA-uk, my hope is that these can help SAA-uk, in turn, to continue development of our academies into the UK’s leading organisation for the teaching of Indian music and dance. Inés Soria-Donlan
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SUMMER SCHOOL
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he SAA-uk Summer School is an opportunity for our existing students to focus in on their practice, for participants to increase their wellbeing through a week of mindful and positive music making, and for new students to discover the world of Hindustani music. Now in its 17th year, our Summer School welcomes around 60 students and covers classes in Sitar, Santoor, Hindustani Vocals, Tabla and Bowed instruments delivered by world-class musicians. The week is augmented with movement and visual arts sessions. We are proud that our Summer School is inclusive, and last year welcomed students from across Europe as well as an inspiring student, Ava, who lives with Downs Syndrome and is now a regular attendee of our classes, as well as a focus of our fundraising campaigns. Each year the school develops, and we are currently researching into residency opportunities for Summer School 2017.
ALL THE FACTS 12 sessions 65 students 10 Artists
A few words have come to mind to describe the week for me personally... heart-warming, spiritual, humbling, enriching, exhilarating, therapeutic, positive Parent/Participant
SAA-uk Annual Report 2015/16
ACADEMY PERFORMANCES
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he Academy sharing events are an opportunity for all participants regardless of age or ability to contribute to the SAA-uk end of year performances, showcasing their development to family and friends. This year the SAA-uk team took on the ambitious task of developing brand new work in the production of SAA-uk’s Sleeping Beauty at West Yorkshire Playhouse. The production involved the Bharatanatyam
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and Kathak academies and was met with critical and popular success.
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aag Darbar hosted by the Leeds 11 GNNSJ showcased the incredible talents of our young classical musicians. The event platformed all participants of the Music Academy and also raised vital funds for both SAA-uk and GNNSJ in continuing to support the development of Indian classical music learning in Yorkshire.
Opposite Various Summer School 2015 Image/s: Darren Tiffney This page Sleeping Beauty & Raag Darbar Academy events Images: Darren Tiffney/InĂŠs Soria Donlan
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SAA-uk COMMUNITY
SAA-uk Annual Report 2015/16
ENGAGEMENT
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AA-uk’s Community Engagement Strategy is designed to empower and build the confidence of diverse South Asian communities to participate and contribute to the wider arts and culture offer of the City of Leeds. We believe that South Asian Arts is an integral part of the cultural fabric of our society, and deserves to be celebrated and valued alongside established British culture. We select events or platforms that are either free or subsidised in order for the general public who may have financial barriers to enjoy the Arts, to experience as wide a range as possible of artistic expressions. The opportunity to perform to large groups of people is also a valued experience for our young participants in developing their own sense of self and their relationship with their chosen art form.
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Highlights Include: Fresh Dance - Yorkshire Dance Hull Mela New Wortley Festival York Baisakhi and Holi Kirkstall Festival Wakefield Gala CBeebies - Leeds Trinity Community Dance Platform Hull Freedom Festival Concord Interfaith Peace Service
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ll at SAA-uk want to take the opportunity to thank all our participants for taking part and using their valuable time to support these events. Also a huge thanks to all the parents and guardians of these participants for taking the time and energy in supporting our young people in achieving their potential.
Opposite Dance Academy Community Dance platform, Raj Virdee Kirkstall Fest, Joe Dooley New Wortley Image/s M Spadafora This page Dance Academy students - CBeebies Trinity Shopping Centre Image: M Spadafora
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SPECIAL PROJECTS
JUST A VIBRATION Huddersfield/Leeds
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ust a Vibration was a cross-cultural project writing Sitar taans (tunes) for Yorkshire Brass Band led by composer, musician and producer Shri Sriram. Shri initially trained on Tablas before developing a unique style of playing his self-made fretless bass. He was a key member of the Asian Underground scene with Outcaste Records, developing his groundbreaking electro-acoustic sound with Bardmarsh & Shri.
They also were aware of the way the project asked them to experiment with different ways of learning and structuring music, as well as the creative fusion at performance level, e.g. “learning set pieces from sheet music” and “improvising solos” were ways of working that are very different from the Indian classical tradition.
Just a Vibration recruited participants aged between 10 and 18 years old who were confident players that had a solid technical ability and were selected from any of our disciplines (Bowed, Tabla, Santoor, Sitar, Vocals). The weekly workshops culminated in a performance at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in November 2015, to a sell-out audience. In considering feedback from our young participants in the project they felt that the project provided them with skills in time management, confidence, organisation and leadership, as well as allowing them “to explore a different genre and structure of Indian musicians”. They also felt it helped them to “show parents that we can achieve something”. Opposite Jaskiran Kaur Mehmi , SAA-uk Academy in Undream’d Shores Images: Darren Tiffney This page Jasdeep Degun leading Academy Just a Vibration, Shri Sriram Images: Amardev Gahir
SAA-uk Annual Report 2015/16
CASE STUDY
Jaskiran Kaur Mehmi - Music Student & Volunteer
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he most important thing that SAA-UK has done for me was introducing me to the instrument Santoor at their annual summer school. Following summer school, the weekly lessons allowed me to develop my santoor playing under the guidance of a respected senior musician. SAA-UK has also provided me with the chance to explore this art form in different contexts such as with a brass band in the ‘Just a Vibration’ project and with various orchestras from around the world in ‘Undream’d Shores’. In both of these projects, I feel as though my confidence and communication skills were developed in these challenging but enjoyable experiences. The concert series has been valuable as it has allowed me to see some of the world’s best musicians perform such as Pandit Shivkumar Sharma whilst also showcasing talented Indian Classical musicians from the UK, both of which are inspirational. I have also volunteered for some of SAA-UK’s projects such as ‘Sleeping Beauty’. This allowed me to have better time management and organisation skills through being a part of this project. For me, SAA-UK is a valuable and essential part of my life as it enables me to stay connected to my culture and meet people of similar interests to me whilst engaging in different South Asian art forms.
UNDREAM’D SHORES Leeds
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unded by Leeds Inspired and the Arts Council, we conducted a set of free public workshops facilitated by Chapel FM, New Wortley Community Centre and the Bangladeshi Centre. Focused around a positive theme of migration, the workshops took people on a musical journey and converted sounds, stories and languages into music. This culminated in two public performances at University of Leeds, entitled Undream’d Shores, with over 150 musicians on stage to critical acclaim.
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SPECIAL PROJECTS
SACRED SOUNDS Bradford/Leeds
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acred Sounds explored the songs and stories of Sikh soldiers during the First World War, produced by Alchemy in conjunction with SAA-uk.
Through music, vocals, and spoken word performances we get glimpses of the defining role the First World War played in the lives of the Sikh people in particular and the Punjab in general. The shabads (Sikh hymns), performed both in classical and folk styles reflect the way they would have been sung by minstrels in the Gurdwaras (Sikh centres of worship) and by rural communities. The accompanying instruments include the dilruba, esraj, percussion and the harmonium. The latter was introduced into India in the late 19th century and became increasingly mainstream in Sikh music during and after the First World War.
France, Mesopotamia and Gallipoli. Considerable care was taken to maintain morale by enabling them to continue their religious practices and providing them with some home comforts.
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erformances took place at Opera North Leeds, and the Leeds and Bradford Gurwaras, with plans now in place to conduct a National tour and workshop programme, on the back of the success of the project. The project was supported by Arts Council England, Leeds and Bradford Councils, and the Network of Sikh Organisations. sacredsoundsprogramme2:Layout 1
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Women’s voices, surfacing through folk-songs of this period, have a markedly different tone, embodying fury, frustration and grief. They plead with their men not to leave home while praying for their safe return. They curse the firangees (foreigners) for the suffering they have inflicted, be they British or German. Historic images provide insights into the lives of the Sikh soldiers on the frontline, for instance in
Men of the 15th Sikhs performing kirtan (devotional music) in a French barn, Le Sart, 1915 ©The British Library Board, Photo 24/70
SacredSounds SIKH MUSIC TRADITIONS AND THE FIRST WORLD WAR
6.30 P.M. WEDNESDAY, 1ST JULY 2015 HOWARD ASSEMBLY ROOM OPERA NORTH 46 NEW BRIGGATE, LEEDS LS1 6NU
Opposite Kaviraj Dhadyalla and Pritpal Rai, Ustad Dharambir Singh Images: Darren Tiffney, Inés Soria-Donlan This page Sacred Sounds Howard Assembly Room, Sikh Soldiers 1915 Images: Alchemy Anew, De Sart
SAA-uk Annual Report 2015/16
ARTISTS ON TOUR
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AA-uk plays an active role in providing associate artists the opportunity to perform in both the UK and internationally. This may involve partnering with other organisations to develop performance events, marketing assistance, web development, tour development and assisting our artists to have a portfolio career in the arts. Performances/workshops included: NHS Junior Doctors Event CBBC Show Me Show Me recording Hull Freedom Festival City of London Festival
Royal Armouries Workshops and performance Roopa Panesar tour - Bristol, Germany, Cunard Cruise Leeds International Concert Season
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MAKING IT HAPPEN
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t was a busy and successful year for SAA-uk’s fundraising activities. The ‘Here to Thrive’ Catalyst project was successfully concluded in May 2015.
SAA-uk also continued to build and refine on the existing campaigns and strategies developed through the GENERATION 21 Fundraising Strategy to support: Children with Learning disability to access culturally relevant arts, Young performers Fund and Bursaries. This required a change in approach from both staff and board, ensuring that fundraising was at the core of the organisation. Activities included: ensuring that donation enevelopes, gift aid forms and donation boxes were at every performance supported by the ‘ask’ to the audiences present, developing fundraising events and performances and digitising the charity’s approach to how it collects and processes donations. The fantastic efforts of Staff, Board and Individuals meant that SAA-uk increased its individual donations by 350% to over £5,300.
SAA-uk Annual Report 2015/16
FUNDRAISING
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D
uring the year, SAA-uk produced three highly successful fundraising events:
Confluence Festival a multicultural event, held to a sold out audience in Leeds. Diwali Delights – Chairperson’s fundraiser - Indian classical music and dance performance held at Bramham Village Hall with auction, raffle and traditional Indian vegetarian meal.
Gaata Rahe Mera Dil - A dinner and live musical evening, celebrating the Bollywood cinematic musical classics. SAA-uk used these events to gain experience in fundraising to develop an understanding of which approach works and which approaches have minimal return on investment.
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he reality is; to raise funds it requires a great deal of time and investment. The challenge in the next financial year 2016-17 is to increase skills in the organisation through board & staff training and development. In addition, to set up Volunteer scheme and increase the human resources within the organisation to sustain the success of individual giving and seek trust & foundation support to develop our programmes of work.
Opposite Unfurl at Diwali Delight - Bramham, Dance Academy students at Confluence Images: Darren Tiffney, Amardev Gahir This page Pooja Angra & Karan Rana Gaata Rahe Mera Dil Fundraiser Images: Darren Tiffney
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MAKING IT HAPPEN
STRATEGIC ENGAGEMENT Diversity Consultation and Artist in Residence - Octagon Theatre As an associate artist, Keran Virdee researched and recommended work that could be programmed at the Octagon Theatre in order to build bridges for potential exchange and understanding of cultural nuances with South Asian communities. This aided development of strategies to overcome engagement barriers as well as create an artistic programme that was relevant to the needs, desires expressed by individuals communities and groups living in and around Bolton. As diversity consultant, Keran assisted Deborah Dickson (Associate Producer at the Octagon) to design and deliver a series of ‘Dinner Parties’ for three different groups; women, young people and the everyman with the aim of creating a safe and welcoming environment, in order to facilitate a conversation that local residents could engage and feedback with the Theatre on its current and future programming.
Shakespeare Lives - India Project in conjunction with Opera North SAA-uk partnered with Opera North in a project that had a simple design: to lock musicians from the UK and India into a room for as many hours as possible, and see what they created in collaboration. With a spoken voice artist (in this case Dominic Gray of Opera North) reading the Sonnets, the musicians would bring their own thoughts, histories and knowledge of musical repertoire into the same space as the poetry. The project was particularly interested in different Indian musical traditions, through which to explore the meeting of more formal musical structures with those more free and improvisatory. From the outset of this process it was clear that the particular personalities and skills of Shubha, Aneesh and Matthew would be able to create something wholly original and beautiful. The artists referred throughout the process to the ‘fragility’ of their collaboration, and the process was always highly respectful, tentative and cautious. There was no ‘lead’ musician/composer, rather a wholly democratic process emerged.
Family Sharing Event - SAA-uk Ideas Group This event was designed to form part of a programme of activities which gave SAA-uk the opportunity to engage with a variety of stakeholders and gather feedback and ideas to inform the next strategic plan. The event format was an extended question and answer workshop, with the organisation bringing forward key strategic questions for further debate. It was also a good opportunity to take the temperature of the organisation is terms of what is working and what could be improved. The assembled stakeholders participated fully, and some excellent, well-developed and positive ideas were brought forward. This page Dinner party - Octagon Theatre, Aneesh-Shubha-Matthew Shakespeare Lives, Family sharing event Images: Keranjeet K Virdee, Video Still
SAA-uk Annual Report 2015/16
COMMUNICATIONS & PR
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Using the SAA-uk Communications and Engagement Strategy, we outline 4 core objectives:
> Identifying, nurturing and supporting participants, artists and staff to achieve excellence in practice > Working in Partnership to engage diverse communities > Creating a Sustainable Organisation > Equal Opportunity is afforded to all Our existing broad audience and participant groups include: British Asian Children and Families, World Traveller Plus, Asian Elders. Our targeted growth demographic includes: British Asian Young Professionals Full-time Students.
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AA-uk works with a small local PR contact to deliver a series of specific stories involving the organisation and its project partners throughout the year. 2015-16 was a tremendous year for SAA-uk to communicate its messages, and focussed on events including; Undream’d Shores/The Isle is full of Noises, Gaata Rahe Mera Dil, Sleeping Beauty, Solstice Festival, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma.
This resulted in the following activities: Paper Articles 28 (including Yorkshire Post, Yorkshire Evening Post, Asian Express) Online Articles 13 (including Asian Lite, Yorkshire Times, Visit Leeds) Radio/TV 7 (including Made in Leeds, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio Leeds, Radio Aire) E-News correspondence 23 ENewsletters sent throughout the year to over 1,500 subscribers
Digital & Social Media Summary 2015-16 154,976 Views
61%
1,292 Followers
21%
4,760 Live Views
210%
38,874 Reach
15%
1,496 Followers
27%
60,354 Views
8%
99,600 Impressions
23%
16,107 Users
14%
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FINANCIAL REPORT
he principal financial target for the year 2015-16 was to make a surplus and it is pleasing to see that this was successfully achieved with a surplus for the year of £53. This is a particularly significant achievement given the continuing challenging economic environment and the maintenance of the level of excellent artistic and educational output. The management of the organisation has managed, again, to keep a tight rein on costs whilst continuing to maintain, or improve, the quality of its output. SAA-uk personally undertook 21 Concert performances (including 12 new commissions) to over 2,500 audience members, 54 Artists were employed by SAA-uk during 2015-16, and the SAA-uk academies delivered 967 sessions in Indian music and dance to over 6,000 participants. Through our audience engagement strategy we were able to increase our total known audience and participant numbers from 9,595 to 12,381 (29% increase). 77% of our audience is from a BAME community, and due to our commitment in being a family-led organisation, has seen a diverse spread of ages in the performance audience itself. Considering just our academy classes, 81% of attendees were children under the age of 18, even though classes are available as an all-age activity, strengthening SAA-uk’s commitment to talent development and providing positive artistic expressions for BAME communities.
A
rts Council England and Leeds City Council continue to provide funding for the organisation and we are grateful for their support, but we are intensely aware that the future of the organisation depends on its ability to reduce its reliance on grant funding and develop new, reliable sources of funds. Much work has been done to build on the Catalyst “Here to Thrive” project to create sustainable alternative funding for the future and the management is focused on continuing this work. Total contributed income amounted to £13,321, which is comprised of the following: Fundraising Events £1,783, Trusts and Foundations £6,218, and One-off donations £5,320, this represented 5.3% of our total income, in contrast to the previous year, where contributed income accounted for 1.1% of total income Paul French - Chair of Trustees
Income 2015-16 Core Funding (ACE Leeds City Council)
6%
Contributed Income (Donations)
13%
Misc Income
3% 52% 17%
Academy Fees Performance Income
3%
Grant Funding
6%
Sales of Service
Expenditure 2015-16 9%
3%
Strategic Planning Human Resources
12% 33%
Admin and Overheads Marketing Resources Artistic Fees
30% 1% 4%
8%
Artistic Overheads Grant Fund Expenditure
77% of our audience is from a BAME community...considering just our academy classes, 81% of attendees were children under the age of 18
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SAA-uk Annual Report 2015/16
2015-16 South Asian Arts - uk
Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ended 31 March 2016 (Including Income and Expenditure Account and Statement of Total Recognised Gains and Losses) Unrestricted funds £
Total 2016 £
Total 2015 £
Income and Endowments from: Donations and legacies Charitable activities Investment income
155,504 93,488 75
155,504 93,488 75
152,348 148,430 195
Total Income
249,067
249,067
300,973
Expenditure on: Raising funds Charitable activities
(134,701) (114,313)
(134,701) (114,313)
(174,625) (122,194)
Total Expenditure
(249,014)
(249,014)
(296,819)
53
53
4,154
16,667 16,720
16,667 16,720
12,513 16,667
Other recognised gains and losses Net movement in funds Reconciliation of funds Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward
Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2016 Fixed Assets Tangible Assets
720
4,297
19,192 11,526 30,718 (14,718)
24,077 23,291 47,368 (34,998)
Net Current Assets
16,000
12,370
Net Assets
16,720
16,667
Charity Funds: Unrestricted Income Funds
16,720
16,667
Total Funds
16,720
16,667
Current Assets Debtors Cash in hand and in the bank Creditors: Amounts due within one year
All of the Charity’s activities derive from continuing operations during the above two periods.
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STAFF & TRUSTEES
The Trustees who served during the year 2015-16 were: Paul French (Chair) Richard Noake Dr Jatinder Singh Mehmi (Deputy Chair) Mandeep Kaur Panesar Pritpal Singh (Treasurer) Wesley Zepherin All Trustees are non-executive and are not remunerated for the services rendered to South Asian Arts-uk. Darren Tiffney (Secretary to Board) Management Team Chief Executive and Artistic Director Head Operations, Finance and Marketing Learning and Participation Development Manager
Keranjeet Kaur Virdee BA Hons Darren Tiffney BA Hons Dip MA Inés Soria-Donlan MA PGDip
Music Academy Assistant co-ordinator
Mohinderpal Kaur Matharu
Interns University Of Leeds (paid) Marketing & Digital Media Angel Ponce Cabrera Placements School Placements
Trainee Arts Admin
Gursimran Kaur Virdee
Volunteers SAA-uk Fiona Murray Amardev Gahir Learning & Participation Programme Joe Dooley - Sitar Prabhjot Singh Gill - Tabla Bhavanjhot Singh -Tabla Amandeep Singh - Tabla Jeevan Singh – Tabla Jaskiran Kaur – Santoor Pritpal Singh Pooni - Bowed Pamela Kaur Pooni - Bowed Registered Office: Suite 14/15, Munro House, Duke Street, Leeds, LS9 8AG Charity Registration Number: Company Limited by Guarantee:
1080292 3391845
Legal and administrative details The registered name of the charity is South Asian Arts-uk. The charity was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee 10th June 1997. The charity is governed by the provisions of its Memorandum and Articles of Association. Professional Advisors: External Auditor: HCA Group Accountants Bankers: Lloyds Bank, Briggate, Leeds
SAA-uk Annual Report 2015/16
FUNDERS & PARTNERS
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Principal Funders
Event Partners
BRAMHAM VILLAGE HALL
Dance Student Sleeping Beauty Image: Darren Tiffney
GNNSJ LEEDS 11