Buy a Bar

What is 'Buy a Bar'?

‘Buy a Bar’ was a crowd-funding campaign launched in February 2011 to raise funds to commission the RPS Award-winning composer Martin Suckling to write a brand new violin concerto for LMM Award Holder Agata Szymczewska. Potential donors were invited to buy a bar of the new work for £5 via social media networks including Facebook and Twitter, with the option of making larger donations by purchasing lines and the pages of the score: www.justgiving.com/buy-a-bar. Our innovative appeal was mentioned in a range of printed and online publications, including The Guardian, The Independent and The Strad in the lead up to its closing date.

With BUY A BAR, the charity is aiming to raise £4,250 by the end of March 2011 to secure

funding of the new commission and to run the related workshops with the Bridge Project

children. Donors are invited to BUY A BAR of the new concerto for just £5 with also an

option of making larger donations up to £120, by purchasing lines and pages of the score.

The campaign is directed at users of online social media sites such as Facebook and

twitter. London Music Masters hopes to reach out to a younger audience of philanthropists

to encourage them to support the vital work of the charity and to get them involved in

commissioning contemporary music

‘Buy a Bar’ was extremely successful and with over 140 people getting involved, we exceeded our target of £4,250 by 89%, raising a fantastic £8,000*!

After the appeal closed, we reached out to all our donors with a short survey to see how they felt about it. For example, what prompted them to donate? – Were they influenced by the amounts suggested by us or by the sums donated by others on the Just Giving page? Did our focus on promoting the appeal through social networks really work? – Might they consider donating towards another crowd-funded initiative in the future, and if so, how soon? The results are in and we think they're very interesting. Click here to find out more!

what happened next?

the piece

Martin went away and created an inventive new piece, de sol y grana, for solo violin and 14 players. It takes its title from an Antonio Machado poem and roughly translates as ‘of sun(light) and scarlet’. In this poem he likens his songs to bubbles, and describes his delight at watching them set off, float in the air, glimmer (with sunlight and scarlet), and then burst. The nine short sections of this violin concerto are little bubbles of music in which the solo violin and ensemble come into a particular relationship and hover there for a few moments before disintegrating into something new. Each ‘bubble’ behaves quite differently: some hang in the air relatively serenely while others are considerably more volatile and unpredictable.

the workshops

The additional funds raised through the ‘Buy a Bar’ crowd-funding campaign enabled us to deliver comprehensive workshops to 80 7/8-year-olds participating in our music education initiative, the Bridge Project. Led by LMM Animateur Jessica Maryon-Davies with Agata, Martin and musicians from the London Contemporary Orchestra, the children were introduced to Martin’s new piece and given the opportunity to create and perform their own compositions. They had a fantastic time exploring de sol y grana and you can view a short video of the extraordinary results here!

the premiere

The first performance of de sol y grana was premiered by Agata and the London Contemporary Orchestra, under the baton of Hugh Brunt, as part of the Spitalfields Music Winter Festival in December 2011, impressing both the audience and critics alike. Agata’s compelling and energetic performance perfectly captured the unique qualities of each ‘bubble’, while admirably maintaining the high level of technical accuracy needed to perform this challenging work. The premiere received fantastic reviews in The Times, The Telegraph, The Guardian and the Financial Times.

LMM Award Holder Agata Szymczewska
with 'Buy a Bar' donor Aaron Holloway-Nahum

the second performance

The ‘Buy a Bar’ appeal has also been able to support a second performance of de sol y grana, encouraging the continued life of the new work. Under the baton of Jonathan Berman, Agata will perform with Southbank Sinfonia at St John’s, Waterloo on Thursday 24 May 2012 as part of the ensemble’s Rush Hour series.

the benefits

Through this initiative, we have been able to provide both LMM Award Holder Agata Szymczewska and young composer Martin Suckling with invaluable career development opportunities. Our Bridge Project students have also had the chance to experience contemporary classical music in a new and exciting way, through a set of fun, yet informative workshops. Furthermore, the ‘Buy a Bar’ crowd-funding campaign has been an important tool in enabling LMM to reach out to a broader audience, getting more people involved in commissioning new music.

Martin Suckling with Ashmole Primary School Bridge Project
students at the de sol y grana workshops

Thanks to everyone who bought a bar (or several)!

... and those who wish to remain anonymous

* Includes Gift Aid. Exact amount = £8,013.38. Figures in our survey results document were based on an earlier total of £7,950.