The Michael Tippett Musical Foundation

The Michael Tippett Musical Foundation is deeply saddened by the death of our patron, Sir Andrew Davis. Among the most lauded conductors of his time, Sir Andrew was one of Michael Tippett’s greatest friends and champions. His legacy will live on in his large and varied catalogue of recordings, not least of Tippett’s music, including a forthcoming release of A Child of Our Time. Our thoughts are with his family.

We are proud and thrilled to be supporting a public performance and the first ever commecial recording of Tippett’s opera New Year. It will be performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, with the BBC Singers, conducted by Martyn Brabbins. Our Chair, Oliver Soden, said that: ‘It is a challenging and eclectic score, fashioned from a multiplicity of styles and genres: true musical diversity, a tumultuous century of music crowded into one fabric, and an astonishing feat for an octogenarian composer….Its revival and recording fill a gaping hole in the history of British opera, and provide the missing link between Benjamin Britten and Mark Anthony Turnage. In its insistence on renewal and togetherness, it is an opera for now.’

The majority of Tippett’s manuscripts and correspondence is held by the British Library in London. The British Library is currently experiencing a major technology outage as a result of a cyber-attack. Their statement, posted on 27 November 2023, is as follows: “The outage is affecting our website, online systems and services, as well as some onsite services, however, our buildings are still open as usual. We anticipate restoring more services in the next few weeks, but disruption to certain services is now expected to persist for several months.”

This brand new documentary by acclaimed film-maker John Bridcut is now available on the BBC iPlayer . With remarkable documentary footage and contributions from our Chair Oliver Soden and Trustee Sally Groves, this brilliant documentary has been widely seen and well-reviewed.
The Times: ‘a hypnotising, tender story told with love’. See also Martyn Brabbins’ article for BBC Music Magazine and John Bridcut’s article in The Telegraph.

On 23 September 2022 the London Philharmonic Orchestra released on its own label a recording of its acclaimed concert performance of The Midsummer Marriage, Tippett’s first major opera. Available across three discs or as a download, it is conducted by the Foundation’s Patron, Edward Gardner, and stars Rachel Nicholls and Robert Murray. The release was supported by the Michael Tippett Musical Foundation in memory of Dennis Marks, and is available in all formats from Prestomusic and elsewhere.

We are delighted that Oliver Soden is the new Chair of The Michael Tippett Musical Foundation (as of June 2022). Oliver succeeds opera manager Anthony Whitworth-Jones who has held the role of chair since 1998. Whitworth-Jones will continue his relationship with the Foundation in the role of trustee. Conductor Edward Gardner OBE has become a Patron of the Foundation, joining writer and critic David Cairns CBE, pianist Paul Crossley CBE, and conductor Sir Andrew Davis CBE who also hold this role.