English ensemble: The Arts Council have killed us

The only contemporary music ensemble in northwest England, Psappha Ensemble was forced this afternoon to shut down. They were part of the nation’s infrastructure for 32 years. Composer Gavin Higgins eulogised it as the best contemporary group in Britain.

Another devastating loss to our cultural landscape – totally gutted for everyone at Psappha, the best contemporary music ensemble in the UK. The blame for this lies solely at the feet of @ace_national – we are becoming a poorer and poorer every day. Complete solidarity with you https://t.co/UFnGIIrYar

— Gavin Higgins (@gavhiggins) May 5, 2023

Composer Adam Gorb writes: ‘Such a sad day for new music in Manchester with the closure of the fantastic group Psappha. Alongside all the wonderful educational opportunities for young composers so much of their aesthetic put the quality music at the forefront. ‘

Here’s the Psappha statement:
We write, with deep regret, to inform you that Psappha has made the very difficult decision to close.

The ensemble has had an outstanding history, and we still have plenty of ideas and plans for future projects. However, the loss of 100% of our regular public funding from Arts Council England, which constitutes around 40% of our income in an average year, has ultimately proven too great a challenge for an organisation of our size and scale to overcome, especially in such a difficult funding climate for the arts. We’ve worked tirelessly behind the scenes and considered every possible alternative, but we haven’t identified a realistic new funding model that would allow us to continue working to the high standards we’ve set ourselves over three decades of commissioning, performing and promoting new music.

We’d like to take this opportunity to extend our heartfelt thanks to you, our friends and supporters, who have been such an important part of our work over the years. We look back on more than 30 wonderful years since our organisation was founded by Tim Williams, and feel very proud of all that the group has achieved.

We’re committed to completing our current Composing For… scheme as planned, after which we will wind down the charity. This will take some time, and we will continue to be available for any questions or enquiries until we close – most likely around the end of this summer. If you have any questions, please contact info@psappha.com and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Best wishes,

Kate Stross, Chair

Benjamin Powell, Artistic Director

Sally Cook, Managing Director