New Classics funding for 18 performing arts organisations
The aim of the New Classics fund is to extend the life cycle of productions and increase their audience numbers. Funding was awarded to 18 organisations in the theatre, circus, dance and music sectors.
Set up by the state and four foundations in 2022, the New Classics fund supports the work and growth of organisations who have already established themselves in the field of art in Finland. The grants are awarded in alternate years to artists working in performance and visual arts, and in this autumn’s application round, the grants go to the performing arts. The New Classics fund promotes the growth of art organisations and, at the same time, encourages new forms of cooperation across various administrative models and funding schemes.
This year, 18 performing arts practitioners were awarded a New Classics grant for either entirely new works or for expanding the audience base of performances that have already premiered.
Among the grantees are Cirko and & Espoo Theatre which are creating a new contemporary circus performance in collaboration with the national Swedish touring theatre company Riksteatern and Denmark’s Vendsyssel Teater. The work, tentatively titled Something, will have approximately 50 performances in Denmark, Sweden and Finland. It is based on simple and recognisable everyday situations that develop into touching, breathtaking and ultimately impossible events.
00100ENSEMBLE is an independent group focused on immersive, comprehensive and multidisciplinary performances. With the help of the New Classics funding, the group will co-produce Francesco Cavalli’s opera La Calisto in a decommissioned terminal at Helsinki Airport, making use of the techniques of immersive art. 00100ENSEMBLE’s co-production partners in the opera are the Finnish National Opera and the Finnish Baroque Orchestra.
Sirius Teatern (Universum rf) and Tapiola Sinfonietta are producing a theatrical poem entitled Till Vågorna (To the Waves), involving actors and an orchestra. Till Vågorna is a cross-disciplinary two-part performance combining drama, poetry, marine biology, illustration and contemporary music. It traverses between internal and external depths – between humans and the sea, words and sounds, imagination and reality. The performance is based on Martina Moliis-Mellberg’s poetry collections Ad Undas and Medusa.
Touring professional theatre company TOTEM, based in Espoo, received funding to expand its children’s theatre repertoire in three city theatres. TOTEM Theatre’s acclaimed children’s production Kuvitellaan Toivo (Let’s Imagine Hope), written by Iida Koro, deals with the prevention of bullying through friendship and helping others. Performances will be held not only at partner theatres, which include Teatteri Imatra, Theatre of Varkaus and Kokkola City Theatre, but also in the neighbouring municipalities where elementary school gyms will serve as performance venues.
Ticket sales affect how big the grant is
A key feature of the New Classics funding is the way the grant amount is determined. In addition to the basic amount of the grant, if any, awarded on the basis of the application, successful applicants will receive additional funding during the grant period. The amount of this additional funding (known as the calculated amount) is determined according to the proceeds from ticket sales. The basic amount ranges between €10,000 and €60,000, and the calculated amount is a maximum of €300,000. In other words, the calculated amount that is based on ticket sales is a maximum of five times the basic amount received by the applicant.
The New Classics fund aims to support the role and significance of art in society and to increase the lifespan of the productions and works of art, as well as the number of people who see them. The fund was set up jointly by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture and the following four foundations: the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland, the Alfred Kordelin Foundation and the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation.