2022 Impact Report

IMPACT REPORT

2022

CONTENTS Introduction 2022 at a glance

3

Letter from the founders

4

2022 in numbers

5

Our Mission & Vision

6

Our 2022 Projects Ukraine Fundraiser

7

Women of the Baroque videos

8

4Seasons school workshops

9

A History of Sound

10

Opera: Orphée by Charpentier

11

Open Dress Rehearsal

12

Children's Choir

13

Come & Learn To Sing

14

Looking Bach at Conway Hall

15

Finance & About Us Income & Expenditure

16

Who We Are

17

Supporting Vache Baroque

18

Thank You

19

2

2022 AT A GLANCE

MAY

UKRAINE FUNDRAISING CONCERT

MAY

VBSHOWCASE: WOMEN OF THE BAROQUE VIDEO SERIES

JULY

4SEASONS SCHOOL WORKSHOPS

AUG

A HISTORY OF SOUND

SEPT

CHARPENTIER OPERA: ORPHÉE

OCT

CHILDREN'S CHOIR COURSE HIGH WYCOMBE COMMUNITY SINGING SESSIONS FOR ADULTS

NOV

LOOKING BACH AT CONWAY HALL

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LETTER FROM THE FOUNDERS We concluded last year’s letter by restating the importance of the support we receive as a small core team. In 2022, alongside a growing family of generous VBFriends and grant makers, this has come most effectively through the help and dedication of our board of trustees and observers, expanding from a group of four to nine. Their time and strategic input continues to be invaluable.

With the grip of the pandemic finally loosened, war returning to Europe was a tragedy. We offered our support for Ukraine by holding a fundraising concert.

Today, as ever, we wish the people of Ukraine all strength and courage.

Our charitable mission was focused most intensely on outreach and education.

We created a series of videos championing women Baroque-era composers, welcoming back one of our former young artists; explored art, crafts, and music related to climate and the seasons in primary schools; ran community singing sessions for adults in High Wycombe; devised and performed our flagship children's show-workshop, 'A History of Sound'; welcomed over 100 guests to the dress rehearsal of our Summer opera; and ran a second VB Children's Choir course.

We’re thrilled that we’re starting to meaningfully connect with the people and places we want and need to reach through this work. Meanwhile we’re proud to report that our professional performances are going from strength to strength.

Our opera - a telling of the Orpheus story by Marc-Antoine Charpentier - played to over 500 people, with Opera Now magazine giving us 'Newcomer of the Year' (it's nice to feel young!). We also took our first major steps away from The Vache to celebrate Bach and his family at Conway Hall in London. Jazz, electronics, visual art, children, and adults all took centre stage, finishing the year in the spirit of real collective artistic enterprise.

And so, another huge thank you to our supporters, audiences, team, board, and artists for all they have given to VB this year.

Bring on 2023!

BETTY & JONATHAN

4

2022 IN NUMBERS

1261

AUDIENCE MEMBERS 36% INCREASE

163

FREE TICKETS VIA COMMUNITY PARTNERS

247% INCREASE

4

PERFORMANCE PROJECTS 33% INCREASE

4

EDUCATION & OUTREACH PROJECTS 33% INCREASE

70

SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN WORKED WITH 483% INCREASE

81

CREATIVES EMPLOYED

14% INCREASE

5

VACHE BAROQUE MISSION We are Vache Baroque, a group of musicians intent on connecting a younger and more diverse range of people to the power of high-quality Baroque-era music and drama. From fully-staged operas to children’s shows and youth residencies, we create dynamic, interactive, and impactful experiences for all to enjoy.

As a registered UK charity, we give special focus to offering young and disadvantaged people opportunities to be creative alongside leading professionals.

We invite people from all parts of our society to be collaborators on a journey to tell the stories of our time through the medium of live music performance.

VACHE BAROQUE VISION Our vision is to see the diversity in the UK’s population clearly represented in our audiences and artistic personnel. To tour our events around the UK, reaching people who would not normally have the opportunity to see live music or drama.

To host annual and fully subsidised vocal, instrumental, acting, and dance residencies for socially and economically disadvantaged young people. To build up a comprehensive online educational resource portal for the teaching, study, and enjoyment of classical music and other art forms connected to Vache Baroque.

6

UKRAINE FUNDRAISER 🗓️ Thursday 19 May

📍 Grosvenor Chapel, London 🎟️ 193 attendees

❤️ £3044.34 raised & donated to WithUkraine Vache Baroque stands for united people, minds, and artists all over the world.

We categorically oppose Russia’s invasion and perpetration of war crimes against the Ukrainian people. It felt imperative at a time of great need to offer them our moral and financial support. Ukrainian pianists Sasha Grynyuk and Vladyslav Kuznetsov joined a consort of Vache Baroque singers and speakers. The evening culminated in an emotional rendition of the Ukrainian National Anthem.

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VBSHOWCASE: WOMEN OF THE BAROQUE 📍 Available online 🎥 Six videos Thanks to generous support from the Marchus Trust, in 2022 we launched our VBShowcase online content series with six videos of vocal works by female Baroque composers Julie Pinel, Francesca Caccini, Elisabetta de Gambarini, Lucia Quinciani, Lady Mary Dering, and Chiara Margarita Cozzolani. The team of performers were all women, including award-winning, established singers Hilary Cronin and Angela Hicks and emerging talents Jasmine Flicker (2021 VB Young Artist) and Karima El Demerdasch. The project was curated by VB co-founder Betty Makharinsky.

VERY ENJOYABLE TO LISTEN TO BEAUTIFUL PERFORMANCE

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'4SEASONS' SCHOOL WORKSHOPS 🗓️ Thursdays 23 and 30 June, 7 and 14 July

📍 St. Peter’s Catholic Primary and Haddenham Community Junior Schools ⭐ 60 year 5 children, no charge We explored the seasons and the world’s environmental challenges through music and crafts. Musically-speaking, our goal was to engage the children with Vivaldi and Purcell through craft, design, listening, movement, and group singing.

The workshops featured live performances by singers and period instrumentalists (harpsichord and violin).

The children even created their own graphic scores.

Responses to “this workshop made me feel” included...

HAPPY, FREE, ALIVE, WONDERFUL ARTISTIC FREE AND HAPPY RELAXED AND HAPPY VERY POSITIVE INTENSE... I LOVE YOUR MUSIC!

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'A HISTORY OF SOUND' WORKSHOP-SHOW 🗓️ Saturday 3 September

📍 The Vache, Chalfont St. Giles, HP8 4SD

❤️ Our first family audience of 62 (38 adults & 24 children) ⭐ Co-devised by 6 creatives To create a magical and memorable education project, we began developing a devised show for young audiences. We presented a first sharing to an enthusiastic family audience. The interactive performance was followed by hands-on workshop stalls, including ‘guess the sound’ listening challenges, creating instruments (out of boxes, milk bottles, and carrots!) and trying instruments (violin and guitar).

We will continue to develop A History of Sound in 2023, creating an accompanying resources pack before touring to schools across Bucks, Slough, and Brent.

THE CHILDREN WERE SO EXCITED TO TOUCH AND TRY THE VIOLIN... ALL THE WAY HOME WE TALKED ABOUT THE SHOW AND SOUNDS AROUND US

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SOPHISTICATED CHARM THE STAGE

★★★★

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR OPERA NOW

2022 OPERA: ORPHÉE 🗓️ Friday 2 & Sunday 4 September

📍 The Vache, Chalfont St Giles, HP8 4SD 🎟️ 519 attendees Two sell-out performances of Marc-Antoine Charpentier's opera La descente d’Orphée aux enfers (1686) were the highlight of our Summer festival. The show was prefaced with our signature sound installations and mini performances throughout the grounds. Our singers were some of the UK’s most promising emerging talent, with international stars Samuel Boden, Lauren Lodge-Campbell and Henry Waddington taking the lead roles. Two BirdGang Ltd dancers completed the cast, bringing street-style movement to the 17th-century musical score.

11

ORPHÉE OPEN DRESS REHEARSAL 🗓️ Thursday 1 September

📍 The Vache, Chalfont St Giles, HP8 4SD ⭐ 121 attendees, no charge

❤️ Groups from both ‘4Seasons’ schools & Wycombe Refugee Partnership We invited members of local youth groups, schools and residential communities to watch the dress rehearsal of our opera ‘Orphée’ free of charge.

Before the performance, members of the opera orchestra introduced and demonstrated their period instruments.

IT WAS LOVELY FOR THE CHILDREN TO SEE THE INSTRUMENTS BEFORE THE SHOW AND THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE AND ATMOSPHERE OF GOING TO THE UNDERWORLD WITH A COIN WAS MAGICAL. A YEAR ON, THE THREE GIRLS FROM LAST YEAR HAPPILY WALKED AROUND THE GROUNDS!

12

CHILDREN'S CHOIR COURSE 🗓️ October half-term holidays

📍 The Vache, Chalfont St Giles, HP8 4SD ⭐ 10 young singers aged 8-13, no charge Two leading vocal animateurs (Suzzie Vango & Shivani Rattan) prepared the choir together with Artistic Director Jonathan. They learned lots of fun songs, as well as special arrangements of 2 Bach preludes which they then performed at our Looking Bach concert. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive; 100% want to join the VB Children's Choir again, and 90% want to watch more classical music concerts.

I LEARNT LOTS OF NEW SONGS AND BREATHING TECHNIQUES... IT MADE ME FEEL JOYFUL IT MADE ME FEEL PROUD BECAUSE OUR TEAM SPIRIT IS REALLY GOOD AND EMPOWERING IT MADE ME FEEL REALLY AMAZING TO BE PART OF A CHOIR WITH MY FRIENDS

13

'COME & LEARN TO SING' WORKSHOPS 🗓️ Saturdays 8 and 29 October, 26 November 📍 Wycombe Arts Centre, High Wycombe ⭐ 12 diverse participants, no charge Thanks to a Magic Little Grant from Localgiving, we ran three trial dropin sessions, pitched as an introduction to singing, being part of a community choir and reading sheet music, for novice singers and those unfamiliar with Western music notation.

I SO APPRECIATED THE TIME, ENERGY AND GOOD HUMOUR AN ENCOURAGING OPEN ENVIRONMENT I ENJOYED SPENDING TIME WITH ALL THE DIFFERENT PEOPLE WHO’VE COME ALONG FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS OF SOMETHING SO TOTALLY DIFFERENT

14

'LOOKING BACH' AT CONWAY HALL 🗓️ Saturday 19 November 📍 Conway Hall, London

🎟️ 355 attendees, many tickets @ £10

⭐ 23 free tickets via Castlehaven & WRP community partners Our first large-scale and multi-disciplinary event away from the Vache.

We celebrated 300 years since J. S. Bach’s publication of Book I of the Well-Tempered Clavier (a collection of keyboard pieces to showcase a way of tuning notes that is now standardised across most of the world). This project featured a gala line-up of industry-leading classical and jazz musicians (pianist Libby Burgess, jazz pianist David Gorgon, tenor Nick Pritchard), a sound commission by Dan Samsa, art installations by Noa Geras, as well as the 2022 VB Children’s Choir.

BRILLIANT AND ENTERPRISING ALL ROUND! VERY INVENTIVE AND GREAT FUN

15

2022 INCOME: £156,113

2022 EXPENDITURE: £159,321

16

WHO WE ARE Artistic Director Jonathan Darbourne

2022 Patron The late James Bowman CBE 6 Nov 1941 – 27 Mar 2023

Executive Director Betty Makharinsky Executive Producer Daniel Makharinsky Development Consultant Tessa Stanley-Price Press Lead Damaris Brown Chair of Trustees Social Media Lead

Jeremy Lewison

Catherine Stuart Trustees Administrators

Heather Wakefield

Emma Elliott

Kate Antrobus

Gabrielle Court

Louis Balogun John Abramson

2022 Festival Assistant Ruth Silver

Stephen Box Mark Mumford Rebecca O’Neill

2022 Production Assistants Liberty Hart Jaiden Parsons

Board Observer Henry Johnson-King

17

SUPPORTING VACHE BAROQUE We are Vache Baroque, a group of musicians intent on connecting a younger and more diverse range of people to the power of high-quality Baroque-era music and drama. From fully-staged operas to children’s shows and youth residencies, we create dynamic, interactive, and impactful experiences for all to enjoy.

As a registered UK charity, we give special focus to offering young and disadvantaged people opportunities to be creative alongside leading professionals. We invite people from all parts of our society to be collaborators on a journey to tell the stories of our time through the medium of live music performance.

All our income goes straight back into our activities. If you are in the position to support us and would like to find out more about doing so, please get in touch with our team, who would be delighted to tell you more.

VBFRIENDS We would love you to join our community of supporters who share our vision and belief in our charitable mission. As a token of our gratitude, VBFriends receive opportunities throughout the year to become more closely involved in our work.

This includes exclusive events (in person and online), behind-the-scenes insights via VBFriends e-newsletter, priority booking, and more...

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THANK YOU We are so grateful for the support of all of our VBFriends and other donors in 2022. Without their generosity and help, we simply wouldn’t have been able to deliver our 2022 programme.

Our sincere and heartfelt thanks go to: Helen Bach

Joel Hayhow

Vassilina Bindley

Svetlana Kashinsky

Paul and Elaine Bollinghaus

Jeremy Lewison

James Bowman CBE

Leonid and Olga Makharinsky

Stephen Box

Peter McDonald

John and Jan Dugdale Bradley

Elizaveta Meshkvicheva

Michael E. Bryant,

Sue and Rick Morrison

Yulia Kazantseva, and Misha

Mark Mumford

Clare Coyle

Richard Ogden

Ina De

Kate Petty

John Everett

Natalia Pochekutova

Liubov Galkina

Nadia Ragozhina

Ann Geary

Anna Somerset

Tatjana Gertik

Kobby Thomas

Norman Ginsburg

Nicholas Thomas

Ed Goble

Olga Tomushkina

Yuri and Raisa Goligorsky

Heather Wakefield

Evgeniya Gribova

Dr and Mrs Anthony Welch

Vitaliy Gubskyy

Terry Winwood

Mikhail Gurevich

Christina Yoon

Katia Haddad

Boris and Yulia Zimin

We would also like to thank the following trusts, foundations and companies that chose to support our work in 2022: The Arnold Clark Community Fund Localgiving The Marchus Trust The Rothschild Foundation UBS Bank 19

vachebaroque.com @vachebaroque #vachebaroque The Vache, Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, HP8 4SD Registered UK Charity 1193591