The Living Music Trust will establish a long-term endowment to support composers, musicians, and artists working across new and exploratory forms of music.
Designed as a sector-owned resource, it aims to transform how adventurous music is sustained – expanding opportunities for artists and enriching connections with audiences for decades to come. It is being supported by The Hinrichsen Foundation in partnership with The Ivors Academy, alongside organisations and composers across the new music sector.
Inspired by the likes of the Vaughan Williams Foundation, Holst Foundation and Britten Pears Foundation, The Living Music Trust will offer a new model for supporting contemporary work. As historic, royalty-funded trusts begin to reach the end of their terms (70 years after their passing), the need for sustainable, forward-looking support has never been greater.
The Trust will be built collectively, with composers contributing a small percentage of their posthumous royalties into a shared fund. This pooled crowdfunding-style approach aims to secure longer term backing for innovative music, and the composers shaping its future, beginning with an endowment and legacy campaign from supporters beyond the composer community.
The initiative has already received strong support across the sector, including from the Vaughan Williams Foundation, PRS Foundation, Boltini Trust, Richard Thomas Foundation, Composers Edition and Sound and Music, alongside growing engagement from composers nationwide.
Early momentum was established through Composer Town Halls in April and June 2025, demonstrating a clear appetite for a new, collective funding model. That momentum has continued to build through a series of composer assemblies across the UK, including a gathering in Wales in partnership with Tŷ Cerdd in January 2026, and with the Scottish Music Centre in March 2026.
Roberto Neri, CEO of The Ivors Academy, said, "We are pleased to be working with The Living Music Trust at such an important moment for contemporary composition. Supporting and celebrating the work of today’s composers is essential to ensure a thriving future for music. This initiative reflects the collective responsibility of our sector to invest in new voices and the value of composition."
Emily Howard, Board Director of The Ivors Academy, said, "The Living Music Trust is being explored based on a powerful idea, that through collective posthumous royalties, we can create lasting support for contemporary and experimental music. At a time when some prominent royalty-based trusts are ending and funding models are changing, it is vital that we find new ways to champion and support composers over the long-term."
The award from Arts Council England marks an important step in developing this model. Funding will enable research to test viability and build sector engagement, planning toward a potential launch.
The call-out to appoint a freelance researcher is now live. The deadline for expressions of interest is 22 May 2026. For more information, please contact [email protected].
The grant award will be facilitated by The Hinrichsen Foundation, which provided seed funds for this process, with activity supported by The Ivors Academy.
