Project Elgarchive
Donation protected
The Trustees of the Elgar Foundation, responsible for the archives currently held in Worcestershire of Sir Edward Elgar, have made the decision to relocate the collection to the British Library in London. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-44382472 This decision breaks a 160 year old local connection with Worcestershire's most famous musical son in favour of a London institution, contrary to current thinking and practice in the nation's heritage and cultural circles.
Project Elgarchive is planned to comprise three phases. Phase 1 www.projectelgarchive.org https://twitter.com/elgarchive aims to persuade the Trustees of the Elgar Foundation to reverse their surprising and unwelcome decision, thus enabling Elgar's collection of memorabilia and archives to be retained in the county that inspired so many of his works. Phase 2 will be focused on housing the archive in appropriate conditions and fully cataloguing and digitising its contents, thus making it available for the very first time to scholars and researchers all over the world. Building upon this, Phase 3 will then ensure that the archive is not merely retained for research purposes but that it is used, celebrated and displayed creatively for the benefit of all.
Finances raised through this crowdfunding campaign will enable the three phases of Project Elgarchive to move forward, working closely with key partner organisations such as: the Elgar Birthplace Museum https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/the-firs the British Library Archives Music Department http://searcharchives.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=IAMS_VU2 Arts Council England https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/ The Heritage Lottery Fund https://www.hlf.org.uk/ Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service at the Hive http://www.thehiveworcester.org/research-collections.html The University of Worcester https://www.worcester.ac.uk/ The University of Birmingham https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/index.aspx The Elgar Society http://elgar.org/elgarsoc/ Worcester Civic Society http://www.worcestercivicsociety.org.uk/ Worcester Live Charitable Trust http://www.worcesterlive.co.uk/ The Elgar Festival http://elgarfestival.org/ and the Elgar School of Music https://www.elgarschoolofmusic.org.uk/
The outcome of Project Elgarchive will be a professionally stored, catalogued and fully digitised collection of Elgar's Worcestershire-based archives, together with an integrated programme of exhibitions, displays, concerts, recitals, special events, school workshops, lectures, etc. that will celebrate Sir Edward Elgar and his music in new and imaginitive ways.
And as this exciting initiative has solely been prompted by the Elgar Foundation Trustees' recent announcement of their decision regarding the archives, it seems that, ironically, we may be greatly indebted to them in the future!
Running in parallel with this crowdfunding campaign, an online petition was launched by Councillor Lucy Hodgson, Communities Cabinet Member at Worcestershire County Council, on 16th June 2018. The petition, which calls upon the Trustees of the Elgar Foundation to revisit their decision as soon as possible, attracted over 1200 supporters within the first four days after its launch.
To sign the petition, go to: https://www.change.org/p/the-elgar-foundation-keep-the-edward-elgar-archives-here-in-worcestershire
Cottage at Lower Broadheath (Elgar's birthplace) reproduced with the kind permission of David Birtwhistle http://www.birtiesofworcester.com/D_Birtwhistle_Art.htm
Project Elgarchive is planned to comprise three phases. Phase 1 www.projectelgarchive.org https://twitter.com/elgarchive aims to persuade the Trustees of the Elgar Foundation to reverse their surprising and unwelcome decision, thus enabling Elgar's collection of memorabilia and archives to be retained in the county that inspired so many of his works. Phase 2 will be focused on housing the archive in appropriate conditions and fully cataloguing and digitising its contents, thus making it available for the very first time to scholars and researchers all over the world. Building upon this, Phase 3 will then ensure that the archive is not merely retained for research purposes but that it is used, celebrated and displayed creatively for the benefit of all.
Finances raised through this crowdfunding campaign will enable the three phases of Project Elgarchive to move forward, working closely with key partner organisations such as: the Elgar Birthplace Museum https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/the-firs the British Library Archives Music Department http://searcharchives.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=IAMS_VU2 Arts Council England https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/ The Heritage Lottery Fund https://www.hlf.org.uk/ Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service at the Hive http://www.thehiveworcester.org/research-collections.html The University of Worcester https://www.worcester.ac.uk/ The University of Birmingham https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/index.aspx The Elgar Society http://elgar.org/elgarsoc/ Worcester Civic Society http://www.worcestercivicsociety.org.uk/ Worcester Live Charitable Trust http://www.worcesterlive.co.uk/ The Elgar Festival http://elgarfestival.org/ and the Elgar School of Music https://www.elgarschoolofmusic.org.uk/
The outcome of Project Elgarchive will be a professionally stored, catalogued and fully digitised collection of Elgar's Worcestershire-based archives, together with an integrated programme of exhibitions, displays, concerts, recitals, special events, school workshops, lectures, etc. that will celebrate Sir Edward Elgar and his music in new and imaginitive ways.
And as this exciting initiative has solely been prompted by the Elgar Foundation Trustees' recent announcement of their decision regarding the archives, it seems that, ironically, we may be greatly indebted to them in the future!
Running in parallel with this crowdfunding campaign, an online petition was launched by Councillor Lucy Hodgson, Communities Cabinet Member at Worcestershire County Council, on 16th June 2018. The petition, which calls upon the Trustees of the Elgar Foundation to revisit their decision as soon as possible, attracted over 1200 supporters within the first four days after its launch.
To sign the petition, go to: https://www.change.org/p/the-elgar-foundation-keep-the-edward-elgar-archives-here-in-worcestershire
Cottage at Lower Broadheath (Elgar's birthplace) reproduced with the kind permission of David Birtwhistle http://www.birtiesofworcester.com/D_Birtwhistle_Art.htm
Organizer
Paul West
Organizer
