Musicians Benevolent Fund

Latest news from the MBF

June 2008

Buy your tickets now for a star-studded concert in aid of the MBF!

FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY - A benefit concert in memory of outstanding musician and accompanist Russell Churney featuring Julian Clary, Sandi Toksvig and Fascinating Aida will be held on Sunday 29th June 2008 at 5pm at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London.

Others appearing will include Kuljit Bhamra, Jenny Carr, Sophia Churney, Buffy Davis, Abi Grant, The Haddocks, Robb Johnson, Barb Jungr, Sue Kelvin, Elizabeth Mansfield, Des de Moore, Howard Samuels, Tina C, Sarah Travis, Mari Wilson and Adrian York.

The concert is in aid of the MBF and two other charities. Tickets are £25 or £12.50 for concessions and can be booked by calling the Bloomsbury Theatre box office on 020 7388 8822 or by visiting the Bloomsbury Theatre website.

MBF announces results of latest Education Awards

The MBF has now concluded its final round of auditions for the summer term. See the results below:

May 2008

MBF Education Award winner takes the Gold Medal and First Prize at the 56th ROSL Annual Music Competition Final

Flautist Laura Lucas has won the First Prize of £5000 and Gold Medal at the 2008 Royal Over-Seas League Annual Music Competition. The win follows her success at this year's MBF Music Education Awards where she received the Charles Leggett Award of £5000 for the most promising woodwind or brass player heard at the week long auditions.

ROSL Annual Music Competition Results

WNO Max's Land Sea Sky Trilogy wins MBF Education prize at RPS Music Awards

WNO Max's Land Sea Sky Trilogy fought off strong competition from the BBC Proms Brass Day and the Beautiful Beginnings project at the Southbank Centre to win the prestigious MBF Education prize 2008. The operatic trilogy, commissioned by WNO Max for performance by schoolchildren and professional musicians, was written for rural Welsh speaking and inner-city English speaking communities. With no compromise to the challenge of the operatic form, the impressive scope of this three-year project, culminating in 2007, brought to young participants and audiences an unforgettable first experience of high quality opera.

Land Sea Sky Trilogy (WNO Max)

MBF award winner becomes youngest ever BBC Young Musician of the Year

Trombonist Peter Moore has been named BBC Young Musician of the Year 2008. Peter, aged just 12, took the coveted title against stiff competition from talented young musicians from around the UK. Peter won a major MBF Young Talent Award of £1000 towards a new trombone in 2005, when aged just 9 years old. Two other MBF Young Talent Award winners made it to the final twenty-Jun Sasaki (cello) and Sam Law (piano). There was also a strong MBF presence on the competition panel with trumpeter Alison Balsom (winner of the MBF's £5000 Charles Leggett Award in 2001) judging the brass category and MBF Education Committee member and pianist Lucy Parham sitting on the keyboard panel.

How to apply for an MBF Young Talent Award

April 2008

MBF launches search for young musical talent

The Musicians Benevolent Fund has just launched the MBF Young Talent Awards 2008. Instrumentalists of 18 years or under are invited to apply for their share of an awards pot of up to £150,000.

Bid for celebrated mezzo-soprano and support the MBF!

Mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly is helping support a new initiative which will assist charities to raise valuable funds. Buy Once Give Twice is an innovative new online auction site which offers people the opportunity to resell lots which they have bought in charity auctions but been unable to redeem. The profits of the sale will go towards helping another charity. The site promises an exciting array of lots of all kinds. Charities and corporate and individual supporters can also donate new items to the site directly.

The MBF is one of the first charities to become involved in the scheme with Sarah Connolly having very generously offered to sing at an event around the London area with the auction proceeds to go to the MBF. So, if you are keen to support a charity and are looking for an unusual and glamorous item, or if you have bought an item and would like to offer it for re-auction then take a look at the Buy Once Give Twice website.

March 2008

Sarah-Jane Brandon sings for joy at MBF vocal awards

Sarah-Jane Brandon (23) is this year‘s recipient of the Maggie Teyte Prize of £2000 and the Miriam Licette Scholarship of £3000. The awards are open to female singers under the age of 30 and place particular emphasis on the interpretation of French mélodie. She will also perform at the Maggie Teyte Prize winner’s recital in the Crush Room at the Royal Opera House in June as part of her prize. As the standard was so high three other singers were also awarded smaller prizes and James Southall (24) received an MBF Accompanist's Prize of £1000 for the best accompanist heard at the auditions.

February 2008

MBF Royal Concert moves to April-book your tickets now!

The MBF Royal Concert has moved this year from its usual November setting and will be taking place on Friday 4th April at 7.30pm at Barbican Centre. This special change in the MBF's calendar enables us to join forces with the National Youth Orchestra who are also celebrating their 60th anniversary. The concert will also be attended by a member of the Royal Family.

The NYO will be performing Stravinsky‘s ’The Rite of Spring‘, Strauss’s ‘Four Last Songs’, with soprano Gabriele Fontana, and the concert will also feature the premiere of a piece by BBC Young Musician of the Year Mark Simpson (made possible by the financial support of the MBF). Tickets are priced £6 - £30 and are available by calling the Barbican Centre on 020 7638 8891 or by visiting the Barbican Centre website. There is a special 10% discount available to Friends of the MBF-contact us on 020 7299 8357 for more information.

December 2007

Empirical win Peter Whittingham Jazz Award 2007

Shaney Forbes (24) and his band Empirical are the winners of the Peter Whittingham Jazz Award 2007. The group will use the £4000 prize to cover the costs of recording and promoting an album of original music. Empirical were delighted with their win saying, “We feel honoured to have won this award. It comes as a surprise to us considering the amount of talented bands that were there that day. We will benefit greatly with this award largely due to the fact that it will help to bring us closer to our goals for our up-coming project and make that journey slightly easier with some extra publicity.”

The quintet Empirical were formed in early 2006 and met whilst members of Tomorrow's Warriors. Empirical are Jay Phelps (trumpet/voice), Nathaniel Facey (alto sax/voice), Kit Downes (acoustic piano), Tom Farmer (double bass), and Shaney Forbes (drums/percussion). Their self-titled debut album, produced by Courtney Pine, has received wide critical acclaim with The Independent on Sunday saying “This is a fantastic debut that everyone needs to hear” and Jazzwise saying “Empirical could turn out to be one of the most important bands in UK jazz history. British album of the year!”. Empirical also recently won the EBU/European Jazz Competition at the North Sea Jazz Festival.

In addition to Empirical the panel also decided to award an MBF Development Award of £2500 to Trish Clowes which she will use to put on a series of gigs at London venues featuring her own original compositions performed by jazz quartet with vibes/percussion and cello.

The panel consisted of Dave O'Higgins, saxophonist, Clark Tracey, drummer/composer, Steve Rubie, owner of the 606 jazz club, and was chaired by Chris Whittingham, son of Peter.

November 2007

Bath student triumphs at MBF Songwriting Awards 2007

Justin Saltmeris from Bath Spa University is the winner of the MBF Songwriting Award 2007. Singer-songwriter Saltmeris will use the £5000 prize to cover the costs of recording, promoting and touring an E.P. of original music. He also intends to purchase new equipment to support the new album and use in future projects. Saltmeris‘s win crushed LIPA’s (Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts) hopes of a hat-trick, having dominated the awards for the last two years.

Six talented young songwriters were selected to perform for a world-class judging panel which included Guy Chambers and Nik Kershaw. The final was held at the famous music venue The Bedford in London, on Tuesday 27 November 2007. The finalists were shortlisted from applicants on pop and commercial music degree courses at universities and colleges across the UK.

Chambers praised the quality of all this year‘s finalists, saying that the standard was really high but “Justin was the clear winner”. Saltmeris was thrilled with his award saying “It’s an unbelievable surprise, I‘m the only one with an acoustic guitar. I felt a bit outnumbered. What Guy Chambers said was amazing. The money really will make a difference. I’m so skint at the moment!”

The standard was so good this year that the judges awarded two additional £2000 prizes, which went to Ziggy Sullivin from Kingston University and Marc Oliver from Northumbria University. Sullivin will be using the money to fund a new album which he will then tour late in 2008. He felt the award gave him ‘musical credibility’, saying “It‘s an honour - and recognition, which is really nice.” Oliver also intends to put his prize money towards the recording of an album and promotional elements including a photo shoot and website. He was overjoyed at receiving the award saying “I’m ecstatic. I've never had £2000 in my life before!”

October 2007

MBF announces record levels of support for young musicians

The MBF has just completed its funding for the academic year 2007-2008 and is delighted to announce a record awards total of £476,780. At postgraduate level 116 individuals and 5 ensembles benefited from awards totalling £315,445. Awards made ranged from £500-£5000. In addition, 184 under-18s benefited from £112,340 of funding with awards ranging from £200 to £1000. These grants provide vital support and will go towards fees,new instruments, music lessons, travel costs and other expenses associated with embarking on a career in music.

How to apply for an MBF education award

May 2007

MBF Music Education Awards 2007

The MBF auditioned more than 100 post-graduate students for this year's Music Education Awards, held at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in April. 69 awards totalling £194,250 were made.

April 2007

All things strings at MBF Monday Platform 2007!

Tickets are now on sale for the third MBF Monday Platform concert at Wigmore Hall. This special evening will showcase the talents of six of our most gifted young education award winners.

In 2002, at the age of twelve, Jennifer Pike became the youngest ever winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition. Pike has been hailed as one of the brightest stars of her generation and received the MBF administered Manoug Parikian Award in 2005. Jennifer will be accompanied by John Reid who received the MBF administered Sir Henry Richardson Scholarship in 2003. The Badke Quartet, formed in 2002, is widely recognised as one of Britain's finest young string quartets and received an MBF Award for Ensembles in 2006 to study with the Alban Berg Quartet in Germany.

Tickets are between just £8 and £15 so book today to avoid disappointment! Tickets are available from Wigmore Hall's website at www.wigmore-hall.org.uk or by calling 020 7935 2141. We are also able to offer Friends of the MBF a very special discount with top price tickets available for just £10. Call the Box Office directly on the above number to take advantage of this special offer.

February 2007

Donate online!

You can now donate to the MBF and make your Gift Aid declaration online. Our new secure facility allows supporters to make one-off donations using all major credit and debit cards. See our Support the MBF pages for more.

January 2007

Have Your Say survey now closed

Thank you to everyone who took part in the biggest ever UK and Eire survey of musicians. The survey has now closed. Your contributions will help the MBF to plan for the future so we can address the real concerns of musicians today. The results will be published later in the year. If you would like to be kept informed email survey@mbf.org.uk. For more information about the research please see our launch press release:

January 2007

MBF Musical Theatre Masterclass
Sally Ann Triplett, one of the UK‘s leading musical theatre stars, will be leading the first of the MBF’s 2007 Masterclasses. Sally Ann has performed in numerous West End shows and most recently starred as Roxy in Chicago and Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls. She has also appeared on television and has released two solo albums.

The MBF masterclasses are attended by young musicians who are currently receiving awards from the MBF to help with their studies, and provide the opportunity for invaluable feedback from specialists as well as public performance experience.

This Musical Theatre Masterclass is for award winners of the Ian Fleming Musical Theatre Awards for 2006, and will be held on Friday 2nd February 2007 at the Royal Academy of Music. The event is free to observe and MBF supporters are welcome to attend.

For more information about the MBF masterclass programme, call the Education Department on 020 7299 8356 or email education@mbf.org.uk

For information about MBF news and events, please contact:

Communications and Development
MBF, 16 Ogle Street, London, W1W 6JA
Tel. 020 7299 8357
Fax. 020 7637 4307
Email. info@mbf.org.uk