Music at Paxton is seeking to recruit at least two new trustees to replace those who come to the end of their terms at the end of this season.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

We are looking for individuals from all backgrounds and skills sets, but we would be particularly interested to hear from those with a strong connection to the Scottish Borders and/or Northumberland, and from those with experience in the following areas: attracting business sponsorship and partnerships; developing creative education and outreach initiatives; fundraising.

We also wish to appoint a trustee aged 18-30 to strengthen our collective expertise and perspectives, and to contribute to the effectiveness of the organisation. We believe that having younger representation at board-level will enable better decision-making around the future of the Festival, and we look forward to the fresh insights and new skills that a younger trustee will bring.

ABOUT US

Music at Paxton is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) which produces a summer festival of chamber music each July at Paxton House in the Scottish Borders, just five miles from England’s most northerly town of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Our mission is to produce exciting and diverse programmes to move and inspire, allowing affordable access to world class music in local settings throughout a region with little arts provision.

The Festival is run by a volunteer Board of Trustees, supported year-round by two professional freelancers – an Artistic Director (0.2 FTE) and a General Manager (0.6 FTE) – with additional volunteers assisting with the routine tasks essential to the smooth delivery of the Festival.

The Board of Trustees is responsible for Music at Paxton’s governance and strategy (including Green initiatives and widening participation), and for making sure that the charity is administered effectively, monitoring and controlling the charity’s financial affairs. The Board meets three times a year, with a mix of online and in-person meetings.

APPLICATION PROCESS

For an informal/confidential discussion about the role(s), please contact General Manager Elizabeth Macdonald: info@musicatpaxton.co.uk

To apply, please submit a statement of interest and a brief biography detailing relevant experience for the attention of Andrew Walker (Music at Paxton Chair): info@musicatpaxton.co.uk.

The deadline for applications is 30 September 2022.

To download a pdf version, click HERE

In the second of our pre-Festival talks, Artistic Director Angus Smith explores how the experience of travelling around Europe in the 18th and early 19th centuries impacted on the lives and works of many artists, writers and musicians. The talk is free to watch and will be available to view for the duration of the festival. Simply click here to access the film.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, Eddie Seaman and Luc McNally are no longer able to take part in the concert at 12 noon on Saturday 24 July 2021. We are grateful to Dockyard Trio for stepping in at short notice, and you can find out more about this group below. Unless you wish to receive a refund for this concert, ticket holders need take no action, and we look forward to welcoming you to Paxton later this month.

DOCKYARD TRIO

Sarah Markey, Flute & Vocals
Lea Larsen Søndergaard, Bodhrán
Seán Gray, Guitar

Dockyard Trio musicians come from varying backgrounds rooted in traditional music, tastefully blending their own influences of Scottish, Irish, French and Danish styles of traditional music to create their own unique sound and self-penned compositions.

In association with Live Music Now Scotland

Listen to our Artistic Director, Angus Smith, give an introduction to the programme for this year’s festival. The talk is free to watch and will be available to view for the duration of the festival. Simply click here to access the film.

We would like to update you on our progress towards the 2021 Music at Paxton Festival and share an important piece of information with you.

We are very excited that the modification of the Scottish Government’s rules on physical distancing at indoor events is scheduled to take place on Monday 19 July; all the Festival events we have planned after this date will fully comply with the new regulations.

However, we are compelled to move some concerts planned for the first two days of the Festival (Friday 16 & Saturday 17 July) from Paxton House to Berwick Parish Church (also known variously as Holy Trinity Church and the ‘Cromwellian’ Church) in Berwick-upon-Tweed to enable us to accommodate all those people who have already bought tickets to hear the recitals to be given by Steven Osborne and James Gilchrist with Anna Tilbrook.

We would like to assure everyone that all the Health and Safety protocols and procedures we have set in place for Paxton House, earning us our official ‘We’re Good to Go’ accreditation from Visit Britain, will also be applied at Berwick Parish Church. Our revised schedule can be found below, and please also note the change of location for our Family Concert on Saturday 17 July from Kelso Old Parish Church to Paxton House.

Ticket-holders do not need to take any action: you will be seated in the Church in positions that relate as closely as possible to those you have booked for Paxton House. There are a few tickets still available to purchase from our Box Office (https://musicatpaxton.online.red61.co.uk) but, as we are close to capacity for some events, we advise early booking. Please note that tickets will not be available for purchase on the door.

There are several public car parks close to Berwick Parish Church and all of them are free for holders of a reusable Parking Disc (£1 from local outlets).

Please note: We regret that the Brook Street Band concerts on Sunday 18 July are now closed for further booking due to distancing regulations that will still be in place on that date, but all current ticket holders are guaranteed entry. However, we would like to invite non-ticket holders to contact us directly if they would like us to notify them if seats become available for these performances, and we are pleased to say that some tickets are still available for the Family Concert the previous day.

We will continue to pass on any further updates to you, and you can also view full information about all our Covid-19 Safety Measures by following this link: https://www.musicatpaxton.co.uk/covid-19-safety-measures-online-events

Please contact us directly by email if you have any outstanding questions .