AN award-winning Scottish street orchestra has been forced to close due to “severe funding challenges”.
The Glasgow-based Nevis Ensemble, which has performed nearly 700 shows across the country over the past five years.
The group specialised in pop-up performances and has appeared in schools, supermarkets, museums, children’s parks, train stations and homeless centres.
However, the company’s board of trustees, who announced the sudden closure, said the ensemble was “no longer able to deliver its activities” due to the current financial climate.
It has previously received funding from Creative Scotland, the city council and the Scottish Government.
A statement posted on the group’s website read: “Sadly, this is where the Nevis Ensemble story ends.
“Following severe funding challenges, Nevis Ensemble is no longer able to deliver its activities.
“The Board of Trustees would like to take this opportunity to thank the musicians and staff from over the years who have embraced the vision of Nevis Ensemble, and especially thank the many trusts, foundations, partners and individual donors who have made this journey possible.”
The orchestra, with its mantra of “music for everyone, everywhere”, is the second Scottish arts organisation to close in just three months.
It follows the collapse of the Centre for the Moving Images, which ran the Edinburgh International Film Festival as well as Filmhouse cinemas in Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
Creative Scotland has already warned that up to a third of Scotland’s arts companies could collapse within months due to a “perfect storm” of factors which include the cost of living, inflation and Brexit.
The statement added: “In five short years, the ensemble has changed the narrative of what orchestras and classical music in general should be doing, in terms of inclusion, promoting new music, and sustainability.
“As a small organisation with a big heart, we’re proud to have had an audience of almost 200,000 people across Scotland, as well as more than one million online during lockdown, and changed the perceptions with musicians themselves on what they can do for our communities.”
