Always on
This project successfully funded on 31st May 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
This project successfully funded on 31st May 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
Help Corra Sound change the landscape for women composers, performers and conductors
The aim of this project is to encourage equity for female composers, performers and conductors in the international classical music sector. By performing and recording Goblin Market, an incredible choral-orchestral work by Ruth Gipps set to Christina Rossetti’s poem, our project seeks to offer a creative and cultural re-think towards programming challenging and thought-provoking music written by previously marginalised and game-changing female composers, alongside new voices in choral composition.
1. The Challenge Facing Us
The classical music sector continues to underrepresent female composers, conductors, and upper-voice ensembles. Major works by pioneering women—such as Ruth Gipps’ Goblin Market—remain rarely performed, under-recorded, and largely absent from the mainstream repertoire. At the same time, professional upper-voice ensembles in the UK lack the visibility, representation, substantial repertoire and financial backing within a global market saturated by mixed or male-voice groups. As a result, audiences are denied access to a richer, more inclusive musical canon, and the legacy of significant female artists risks being overlooked or lost.
2. How We Will Make A Difference
This project will bring Ruth Gipps’ extraordinary Goblin Market to life through a landmark performance - only the second in the UK since its premiere 70 years ago - and recording. Alongside additional vocal works by Gipps, Nicola LeFanu, Kari Kruver Medina and others, it will present a bold programme that illuminates and celebrates creativity by women composers and writers, and reframe the classical canon through a female lens.
Beyond the event itself, the recording will create a lasting cultural asset, ensuring the substantial Goblin Market Cantata is accessible to global audiences, educators, and future performers. It will contribute to the ongoing revival of Gipps’ music, amplify living female composers, and demonstrate the artistic and commercial viability of upper-voice ensembles. Ultimately, this project aims to shift programming norms, challenge structural inequities, and help build a more representative and sustainable future for classical music.
3. What We Need to Make This Happen
To realise this project, we need financial support to cover essential costs including professional musicians, rehearsal and performance logistics, recording and production, and fair artist remuneration.
Corra Sound is an established, high-performing ensemble driven by a shared commitment to artistic excellence and advocacy, but we operate without core funding and have found it increasingly difficult to secure support through traditional funding channels.
Investment in this project is an investment in cultural change: enabling the performance, preservation, and future life of overlooked repertoire, while advancing equity for women in the arts. Contributions of any scale will directly support the creation of this performance and recording, helping to bring this important work to audiences now and for generations to come.
Any amount you share will be graciously received and will help us to realise our vision. As a guide to where your money may be spent, here are some helpful parameters:
1 hour of admin time: £20
Programme printing: £100
2 concert performance singers: £500
1 half day rehearsal for 15 singers & MD: £1000
Dress rehearsal and concert performance for string ensemble: £5000
Full recording package inclusive of dedicated marketing: £10,000
Further details can be found here:
Pre-concert talk with Dr Victoria Rowe: Holy Trinity Church, Guildford, Friday 3rd July, 18.00-18.45
Performance: Holy Trinity Church, Guildford, Friday 3rd July, 19.30. Programme: Ruth Gipps (1921-99) Goblin Market; Nicola LeFanu (1947) Rossetti Songs; Kari Kruver Medina The Land of No More Night, and other works.
Recording: Holy Trinity Church, Guildford, Saturday 11th July
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made