Lammermuir Festival faces future challenge head-on as Creative Scotland turns it down for funding in 2023 - Lammermuir Festival
Lammermuir Festival has been turned down by Creative Scotland’s Open Fund for funding towards this year’s festival. Over a period of 40 weeks the festival lodged three applications, having been strongly encouraged by Creative Scotland officials to re-apply twice. Each application was strongly recommended for funding by the Music Department at Creative Scotland, particularly as a key part of a network of festivals across the country including East Neuk, Paxton, Cumnock Tryst and St Magnus. Each application has been turned down by assessment panels, the last notification being on 22 August, just 16 days before the 2023 festival opened.
Statement on the future of the Lammermuir Festival from the Chair and Trustees
The Chair and Trustees of the Lammermuir Festival are appalled and saddened at the lack of investment in the 2023 festival by Creative Scotland. The Times described the Lammermuir Festival as “an indispensable part of Scotland’s musical culture”. It has indisputably been a huge success over the past 14 years, giving pleasure to audiences from East Lothian and further afield, transformative experiences for people young and old through our community engagement, and presenting Scottish and international performers with worldwide reputations in beautiful and intimate settings across the county.
Presenting the Festival in its current form has relied on a strong, supportive audience; our loyal Friends, Benefactors, sponsors and other generous funders; and investment from public funds, mainly Creative Scotland but also contributions from EventScotland and East Lothian Council. In previous years ticket revenues, private sector funders and public support have contributed about one third each of the cost of the Festival enabling us to keep ticket prices at a level to allow the widest audience to attend the performances.
If Creative Scotland had invested the sum requested in 2023 it would have represented 23% of the Festival budget. This is crucial investment in an area of Scotland which does not have regular high-quality cultural events drawing audiences to the area. In 2022 the Lammermuir Festival generated £780,000 of economic benefit for East Lothian (Source: MKA Economics, November 2022).
Public support has in addition allowed children and young people from across the county to discover and develop musical skills and benefit socially from participation in music. Most recently this brought almost 700 people together in our community opera and engagement work, giving them the experience of every aspect of production as well as performing.
This year Creative Scotland has declined to support the festival despite having encouraged us to re-apply twice over the last nine months. Reasons given were first: prioritising applications with activity earlier in the year; second: Fair Work; third: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. This third application was refused on a criterion which the Music Department assessor judged to be fully met. We are urgently seeking clarification on how this could be. The artistic ambition and quality of the festival has been consistently recognised in Music Department assessments.
In particular there has been no recognition that what has emerged is effectively a decision by Creative Scotland to give no priority to a festival as significant as Lammermuir, despite its record of achievement and its obvious appeal to audiences and performers; and no attempt is made to justify this. This flies in the face of the expressions of support for culture in Scotland, and in particular for festivals, that have been made in recent days by the First Minister, Neil Gray and Angus Robertson.
To deliver this year’s Festival as planned – with what is already being acclaimed as an outstanding artistic programme – we shall be obliged to use a significant proportion of our reserves which we have judiciously built up over many years. Thankfully on this one occasion we were in a position to do this, allowing audiences to once again enjoy beautiful music in beautiful places as in previous festivals, and meet our commitment to artists.
Without Creative Scotland support the Lammermuir Festival’s future is under threat.
We urge Creative Scotland to reconsider their decision and secure the future of Lammermuir Festival. In order to make plans and commitments for 2024 and beyond we need the financial stability which Creative Scotland has provided over the past 13 years.
We are determined to save the Lammermuir Festival for the future.
From the Chair and trustees of Lammermuir Festival
How you can help!
If you would like to voice your support for Lammermuir Festival, you can:
Tweet us @LammermuirFest copying in @creativescots @iain_munro @AngusRobertson @ChristinaSNP
Tag us on Facebook and on Instagram at LammermuirFestival
Use the hashtag: #LammermuirFestival
Please do share what Lammermuir Festival means to you, and memories of friends made and concerts enjoyed.
You can also:
Email us at [email protected]
Write to us at
Lammermuir Festival
Poldrate
Haddington
East Lothian
EH41 4DA
Or write directly to Creative Scotland, with copy to us, addressed to:
Iain Munro
Chief Executive
Creative Scotland
Waverley Gate
Edinburgh
EH1 3EG
Feedback on Catriona and the Dragon, this year’s community opera
From Our Cast of Young Musicians
“I can’t stop thinking about it, it’s the first and last I think about every day.”
“It has grown my confidence and experience and has given me a new appreciation both of the people around me and the environment.”
From Our Professional Musicians
“I was able to use all facets of my working life. It has nurtured my soul and I feel very lucky and proud to have been a part of it.”
From Parents and Audience
“What you combined through music, storytelling, graffiti, culture and relationships struck me as being a meaningful, powerful mental health intervention!”
“It was astounding – the powerfulness of the community, the collaboration between children and adults, the confidence and passion of children, and the storyline itself was so memorable.”
“It is going to be hard to go back to normal life after this! A sincere thank you for possibly a life changing opportunity for our young people.”
Quotes in support of Lammermuir Festival
Steven Osborne, pianist and Patron of Lammermuir Festival:
“It has been an honour to be Patron of the Lammermuir Festival over many years, observing the tremendous quality of programming and artistry that Hugh MacDonald and James Waters regularly deliver for the region. Festivals like this, outside of suburbia, have a very special place in music-lovers hearts, and act as beacons of pride for their communities. To be able to hear world class musicians in such beautiful settings as East Lothian provides is a wonderful thing, and as such I strongly believe the Lammermuir Festival should be cherished and fought for.”
Sian Edwards, conductor:
“I have been involved in three community opera projects, funded by and mounted as part of the Lammermuir Festival. All three productions were a miracle of inclusivity, creativity and community participation, with music and drama of the highest quality all presented on the tiniest of budgets. This intrinsic part of the Lammermuir Festival highlights the overall variety, accessibility and range of performances offered by the Lammermuir Festival, and it would be tragic for the people of East Lothian, and beyond, if this well-loved and well-attended programme of events was not supported to continue.”
Maria Wloszczowska, violinist:
“The Lammermuir Festival has played a crucial part in the development of my career giving me repeated opportunities to perform with a world class guest artist. Not many festivals have the vision to develop young artists in this way and the festival is highly to be praised for this.”
Ryan Corbett, accordionist:
“For a young musician, the opportunity to perform at a prestigious festival close to home is a rare occurrence. Lammermuir Festival provided this for me and countless others. My concerts were consistently sold out even though nobody knew of me – a sure sign that the festival and its audience have built a strong trust. A platform like this is necessary for ensuring a healthy musical future in Scotland and beyond.”
Jeremy Denk, pianist:
“I can’t say enough good things about the Lammermuir Festival. Gorgeous venues, engaged and passionate audiences, creative wide-ranging programming, all the haggis you can eat… I have met some wonderful local musicians there who have become friends and I’ve been dazzled by the best of Scottish orchestras. I hope Creative Scotland understands what an asset this festival is!”
Elena Urioste, violinist, and Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective:
“I think it’s wonderful when a festival utilises an array of venues across a region, as it shows the festival is taking care to reach out to the community at large and bring music to them, rather than expecting them to travel long distances to attend concerts. And Kaleidoscope has been so grateful for the freedom given to us to dream up programmes featuring such a diverse range of music we feel passionately about.”
Letter in support of the Lammermuir Festival
Duncan Strachan
Cellist, Maxwell String Quartet
Artistic Director, Loch Shiel Festival
To: Creative Scotland
I am writing to you on behalf of my string quartet, the Maxwell Quartet, which was established in 2010 at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and in the thirteen years that have followed has gained a reputation as one of the leading string quartets of its generation.
We have been so fortunate to have had the consistent support of Lammermuir Festival over that time. We gave our first performance at Lammermuir Festival in 2012, when we had barely given many concerts. This was a huge leap of faith, for the festival, and a massive source of experience and confidence for our ensemble, to be featured alongside world-renowned artists in such a high-profile event.
Since those early days, the Lammermuir Festival has maintained a supportive relationship to us, inviting us to give performances, many of them collaborative and featuring new works, in 2014, 2018, 2019, and 2021; we worked in partnership with the festival in 2023 on the community opera, ‘Catriona and the Dragon’, leading the young string players in the orchestra, too.
This year, we are delighted to be continuing this affiliation with the festival with an associate artists role for the next three years with the festival. This level of sustained support for ensembles is almost unheard of on the festival circuit; it has been utterly vital in our development, and the festival’s ability to consistently create varied and is so inspiring to us and to many artists.
It has also been inspiring for us to see the way the Lammermuir Festival engages with its local community, which has led us to begin plans to devise a community embedded string quartet programme of our own across the region.
Overall, we believe Lammermuir is a truly remarkable festival, and one which we feel is completely intertwined in the journey of our ensemble. Its passion for nurturing young ensembles and developing talent, by bringing together young artists with world-class musicians, is such a valuable asset in the Scottish chamber music scene.
Yours sincerely
Duncan Strachan
Cellist, Maxwell String Quartet
Artistic Director, Loch Shiel Festival
Danny Driver, pianist:
“The Lammermuir Festival is without doubt a vibrant highlight of Scotland’s classical music calendar, bringing great music to a multiplicity of local venues across East Lothian and attracting many visitors from much further afield. The atmosphere is unique; the benefits to the local tourist economy and cultural ecosystem beyond doubt. I therefore cannot remotely understand why Creative Scotland would suspend their funding in such an ill-considered and short-sighted manner.”
Malcolm Martineau, pianist:
“In the Lammermuir Festival you get both intimacy and grandeur side by side. Imaginative programming and clever choice of musicians who come back and back to the Festival because they enjoy the atmosphere and the camaraderie.”
About Lammermuir Festival
The Lammermuir Festival has established itself as one of the UK’s most significant Classical Music Festivals having won the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Festivals and Concert Series in its 7th year in 2017 and now regularly attracting over 50% of its audience from beyond the local area. Since its beginnings in 2010, it has developed from 13 to 35 events.
It has delivered performances in 56 venues across East Lothian hugely contributing to the county’s cultural life and allowing it to reach into communities and find new audiences. In 2020 it delivered an online festival, in 2021 it staged the first distanced classical music festival in indoor venues that year. In 2022 it bounced back to pre-covid audience and income figures. Audience figures in 2023 are already record breaking.
Alongside its outstanding core programme, Lammermuir Festival has partnered with McOpera to develop and present three hugely successful community operas including the most recent, ‘Catriona and the Dragon’ in April 2023 to a score by Scottish composer Lliam Paterson commissioned with Creative Scotland funding.
Each year, the festival provides work for around 350 musicians. It makes a priority of working with key Scottish ensembles (BBCSSO, SCO, Scottish Opera, Red Note, Dunedin Consort, NYCOS); it develops young talent (Philip Higham, Sean Shibe, Emily Hoile, Ryan Corbett, Maxwell String Quartet), and it presents international artists of the highest standard who often make repeat visits to the festival (Jeremy Denk, Mahan Esfahani, Danish String Quartet, Quatuor Mosaïques).
Scotland’s most acclaimed pianist, Steven Osborne is the festival’s Patron.
Its regular partnership with BBC Radio 3 ensures it reaches the widest possible audience. The festival also builds local partnerships with businesses including accommodation, hospitality and transport providers and the many heritage sites and churches across the county, making a vital contribution to local tourism infrastructure.
The festival consistently raises over two thirds of its income: one third from private sources including sponsors, trusts and foundations, and one third from its box office which will achieve over 80% this year. This mix of income sources gives evidence of the value placed on the festival by audiences, trusts, media and event partners, and demonstrates a strong model for the festival which has enabled it to thrive over its first 13 years.
