Psappha, a Manchester-based ensemble for contemporary music, has announced that it will close following the loss of its entire Arts Council England funding. The ensemble was launched in 1991 to commission, perform and promote new music. A statement on Psappha’s website says:
« 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. »
