|
SEASON'S GREETINGS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
|
|
|
Wishing you health, happiness, and prosperity in 2021
|
|
|
VBF Baroque Birthdays
A KEYBOARD FANTASIA BY ORLANDO GIBBONS,
baptised Christmas Day 1583
|
|
Gibbons was an English composer of impressive versatility who developed what we would now label a Baroque style, especially in his sacred and (most especially) secular choral music. In around the year 1621, GIbbons, alongside William Byrd and John Bull, had various pieces published in Parthenia, subtitled The Maydenhead of the first musicke that ever was printed for the virginals. At that time, 'virginals' was a word in England that referred to any plucked keyboard instrument, so I beg minor forgiveness for playing this Fantasia on a copy of an 18th-century Flemish harpsichord.
Jonathan Darbourne
|
|
|
|
GOING FORWARD
With our application to become an official charitable organisation well underway, we are almost ready to launch our exciting annual membership scheme, VBFriends. This is a chance for anyone and everyone to support our work in a very tangible way, helping us continue to put on safe and sophisticated performances of Baroque music, keeping young creatives and audiences at the heart.
We have big plans for the future, including an expanded 2021 festival, more subsidised tickets for under-35s at our events, and masterclasses for our young artists from leading creatives and performers, so we hope you will join us in making these ambitions a reality.
As a thank you for your support, all VBFriends will receive an exclusive members’ newsletter, access to priority booking for our public events, and your name listed on our website- unless you’d prefer to stay anonymous! Additional perks you can look forward to include members-only events, invitations to rehearsals and masterclasses, and, when restrictions allow, guided tours around The Vache. And, as part of our commitment to young audiences, we are offering an under-35s scheme at the low cost of just £10 a month.
All being well with our CIO application, we should be able to launch VBFriends at the start of the New Year, so keep your eyes peeled for the announcement, and spread the word to anyone you think might like to be involved.
|
|
The final thing from me is to share with you our 2020 Impact Report. This is a concise summary of our activity this year, the team behind it, and our plans going forward. We are particularly excited to announce that Heather Wakefield, Louis Balogun, and Kate Antrobus are joining VBF as our founding trustees.
I hope you all manage to have a restful festive season despite everything going on, and I look forward to writing to you again in the New Year.
Caroline Halls
|
|
|
|
|
