Governance
Chairperson’s Report to Music for Galway
AGM 2024
Early in 2023 Music for Galway published a three year strategic plan, titled “From Galway to the World”. This plan was developed with the support of the Arts Council, and its creation was facilitated by Mary Carroll of Growth Potential who has extensive experience in the arts sector. The process began with broad stakeholder engagement via survey and interviews. It was heartening to hear people talk so positively about the MfG, and we received excellent advice on how we should develop in the future.
The plan was launched at an event in the PorterShed in March and was published on the Music for Galway website. It is backed by a detailed operational plan which drives day to day work, and also drives the agenda for board meetings.
The plan sets a high three year goal: “Increase our impact and that of our artists, by ensuring we bring our programmes to a greater share of the community we serve” and from that sets six objectives, with specific actions and metrics.
Those objectives cover Experience, Communications, Sense of Community, Collaborations and Partnership, Organisation Development, and Sustainability.
Progress against the plan will be reviewed formally on an annual basis, however we do believe that through 2023 we made significant progress against all objectives.
For example,
- We have invested in staging and lighting to improve the overall concert experience, the Taste of Cellissimo concert (featuring Isata and Sheku Kanneh-Mason) a great example of this.
- We have increased our communication activity in response to stakeholder feedback that we might be “hiding our light under a bushel”. Music for Galway concerts are now always covered in local newspapers, and we have raised our game on social media with more video content.
- In line with our Sustainability objectives, we now regularly repeat concerts at venues around the county. Lucy Parham’s Elegie concert (the story of Sergie Rachmaninov) received a particular positive reaction when it was reprised in Athenry
We are particularly pleased with overall audience numbers across our entire concert programme and at a range of venues – from our traditional home at the Emily Anderson Concert Hall to the PorterShed, St Joseph’s Church, the Hardiman Hotel and St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church. We were privileged to attend performances by a wide range of solo and ensemble musicians – including The Irish Chamber Orchestra, Lenneke Ruiten, Sean Shibe, Collegium Choir, Tedi Papavrami, the Castalian Quartert and, of course, our own artistic director, Finghin Collins.
On a grander scale, we were delighted to present the St Matthew Passion as a pillar of our 41st season which was focussed on the music of JS Bach.
Towards the latter end of 2023, our attention shifted to preparations for our Cellissimo festival to be held in May 2024. We have been greatly encouraged by the growing interest in the festival, catalysed by our Taste of Cellissimo concert in November. An audience of almost 600 in The Galmont Hotel witnessed a dazzling performance by Isata and Sheku Kanneh-Mason.
From a financial perspective, greater ambition both with our regular season program and with Cellissimo obviously requires increased investment. We welcome the increased subvention for the Arts Council for 2024, also the continuing support from other public bodies and from our sponsors and patrons. Above all we appreciate the growing support of the people of Galway - we are delighted to see new faces at our concerts, complementing the more familiar who have been supported us for many years.
Mark Gantly, Chair
May 2024
