New commissions for RVW150
With characteristic generosity Ralph Vaughan Williams founded the RVW Trust in 1956 to support the work of his fellow composers. To celebrate the 150th anniversary of our founder we are supporting a diverse series of new works around the country reflecting on or inspired by his ideas and music in 2022-23 .
The new commissions form part of RVW150 – a comprehensive programme of his work, presented throughout the UK and internationally,
Anthony Payne 1936-2021
We are very sad to announce the death of Anthony Payne – a long time adviser to the Trust
Celebrated composer, writer and generous champion of so many young musicians, Tony died just a month after his beloved wife of more than 50 years, the soprano Jane Manning. His “quiet but thoughtful presence in British music always strikes me as a kind of anchorage in sanity, confirming the continuing life of trusted values,” critic Michael White once wrote in The Independent on Sunday.
We will miss him enormously.
Latest grants
In the last twelve months the RVW Trust has awarded almost £200,000 for the support of recent British music. Grants were made to festivals, orchestras, ensembles, opera companies, national organisations, composers, solo performers and recording companies.
Projects have been supported the length and breadth of the United Kingdom: from new contra-bass clarinet works on the Isle of Raasay to an ensemble passionate about bringing contemporary music to Cornwall; and from a children’s opera touring Northern Ireland to a lively festival in East Kent.