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
"The success of our BBT winners consistently validates the judgement of our artistic committee."
Ilaria Borletti-Buitoni
BBT's selection procedure is central to the ethos, success and integrity of the Trust. We confidentially invite a different group of highly respected figures throughout the music world to nominate a young artist or ensemble for consideration.
We will not accept any unsolicited approach, whether from an artist, their representative, or any other party, for awards or nominations.
At the time of their nomination BBT artists are usually in their early twenties to early thirties and have made some significant headway with their careers. They may already have a manager representing them. They may be instrumentalists, singers or chamber groups. In addition to quality of performance, the Trust looks for artists with “something to say”, who preferably have some chamber music experience.
The selected musicians will be expected to enter into dialogue with the Trust as to how they feel they can most effectively be supported. BBT looks to give awards to the kind of person or ensemble that will fit well with the Trust’s ethos and will benefit most from the award.
BBT awards are announced in February.
What happens when an artist is nominated?
When nominations are received, we write to the artists and ask them to provide the following for the Artistic Committee's consideration:
- a biography
- five copies of an audio recording, preferably in live performance. The recording should include works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann or Brahms, amongst other repertoire.
- date of birth
- for chamber groups, the date that the ensemble was formed
Each member of the Artistic Committee individually considers submissions from all nominees before arriving at a shortlist. Artists on the shortlist will be asked for the following material:
- a repertoire list
- a list of future engagements
- a personal statement as to how they think they could best use the Trust's support
The Artistic Committee then meets and reviews all the nominees, whether shortlisted or not, before making its final decision. All nominees and nominators are informed of the Trust's final selection.
Arrangements are then made for the successful candidates to meet with the Chief Executive so that the level and type of support to be given can be discussed in detail.