I notice a growing number of musically trained people, including our young musicians, who are very serious about finding ways to share their talent and skills with disadvantaged sectors of the population for whom participation is not so easy – and they recognise the mutual benefits of doing this. I want to do all I can to encourage and support this exchange of music and the joy that sharing it can bring to everybody concerned.

Ilaria Borletti Buitoni

We have witnessed first-hand through our BBT Community Grants the positive impact that comes from sharing the joy and transformative qualities of music with people who are vulnerable for many reasons, including low income, disability, poor health, trauma, displacement and isolation. And time and again, we have also heard how the musicians who make these connections are themselves deeply impacted and enriched by their experiences.

In 2025 we approached a small number of our alumni and offered them BBT Artist Encore Awards of up to £15,000 each to devise music projects that address societal issues or inequalities in the communities where they live and work. So far, three pilot projects have been successfully delivered and a fourth is still in progress. These ventures have demonstrated that music can be instrumental in many ways – not only bringing wellbeing and togetherness, but also prompting awareness of the fundamental necessity to take care of not only those people less fortunate, but also our environment.

It is BBT’s hope that these initiatives will inspire more of our alumni to reach out to many more disadvantaged people in the world and, as Ilaria Borletti Buitoni says, share the joy of music.

BBT will be announcing more Artist Encore Awards in March 2027.