About BBT

Trustees

Ilaria Borletti Buitoni
Chair of Fondo per l'Ambiente Italiano (FAI)
Serves on many charities internationally

Franco Buitoni
President of the Amici della Musica, Perugia
Director of the Fondazione Perugia Musica Classica

Sir Ewen Fergusson
Former Ambassador in Paris, and subsequently Chairman of Coutts & Co, the Savoy Hotel Group and the Henry Moore Foundation

David Landau
A venture capitalist, Trustee of a number of UK and international charities

Mitsuko Uchida DBE
Internationally renowned concert pianist and Co-Director with Richard Goode of The Marlboro Music School and Festival

Chief Executive

Susan Rivers
Susan Rivers has worked in classical music for over 40 years in the fields of concert management and promotion; orchestra administration and touring; sponsorship and fundraising.

Artistic Committee

Franco Buitoni

Adam Gatehouse
Editor, Live Music BBC Radio 3
Executive Producer, BBC New Generation Artists

Martijn Sanders
Former Director of the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam and arts consultant

Mitsuko Uchida DBE

Honorary Committee

Leif Ove Andsnes
Richard Goode
Clemens Hagen
Heinrich Schiff
Christian Tetzlaff

Press and PR Consultant

Debra Boraston, DBPR Associates

Communications Consultant

David Hoskins

Mitsuko Uchida talks to Nick Breckenfield about the Borletti-Buitoni Trust and why fun is a serious business

The classical music world has not escaped a modern artistic phenomenon of back-slapping. Whereas in art, books, popular music, films and television it is in the proliferation of award ceremonies, in classical music it is in new competitions. Mitsuko Uchida, taking a break from practising in her West London studio, clearly has misgivings about competitions, and will not now accept a position on a jury. "I have done it once and I decided thereafter that it was a waste of my time. I find competitions far too much of a lottery. It's a fact of life that some players are not suited to competitions, but does that mean therefore they are not acceptable for a musical career?"

Then, for a young artist (competition winner or not) there must be a mindset that they should never turn down any offer. "But that is a mistake," even though the pressure is great, especially when most of the great American and European seasons are taken up by well known and established artists, with only a very few slots available to newcomers. "And if the child prodigies take up those places" Uchida says fervently, "I really mind . . . I really do mind!"

"But life is tough and you must be lucky. However, my belief is very strong that if you do make beautiful music, you will always get a slot in due course. Provided you have musical understanding - musicianship as such - that takes into account intellectual capacity as well as overall knowledge and a kind of vision of nature." And there in a nutshell is the ethos of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust (BBT): "This whole thing is about helping out young talented people, who are already professional, during their "difficult years?"

Started in 2003 the Borletti-Buitoni Trust has already fulfilled one of Uchida's avowed aims, to create a musical family, that amidst all the hard work of pursuing a career and the demands of making the best music also has time for some fun. Typically enthusiastic, Uchida takes up the theme: "Yes indeed. But fun is a serious business, and that is what I like!" The ability to take a step back and not rush headlong into every engagement offered, to take stock and think about wider things in life, rather than when to catch the next plane, are all things the BBT's awards and fellowships aim to help.

Putting things into such perspective - in essence making the awards almost non-musical - make the Trust unique.