Mozart C Minor Mass Recording

Who are we?

Dunedin Consort is one of the world's leading baroque ensembles, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Consort is known for its vivid and insightful performances and recordings and its innovative approach to historically informed performance. Under the direction of Professor John Butt OBE, the ensemble has earned two Gramophone Awards, a Grammy nomination, a BBC Music Magazine Award, and the 2021 Royal Philharmonic Society Ensemble Award. The Consort is recognised for its innovative historically-informed approach to music and its championing of and commitment to the creation and performance of new music. In recent years it has commissioned and premiered new works by Errollyn Wallen, Nico Muhly, Stevie Wishart, Stuart Macrae and Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade. Alongside its performance and recording work, Dunedin Consort is committed to a wide-ranging education programme both in schools and in the wider community. In inspiring and encouraging musical participation, developing skills and fostering a love of classical music, historical performance and new music, Dunedin Consort aims to develop and nurture its potential audience and to encourage the performers of the future. 

What are we fundraising for? 

This year we are celebrating our 25th anniversary. To mark this occasion, we are mounting our biggest recording project for many years. We will be recording Mozart’s ‘Great Mass' in C Minor from a new edition by Clemens Kemme. Featuring soloists Lucy Crowe, Anna Dennis, Benjamin Hulett and Robert Davies, it promises to be a fitting recording to mark our anniversary year — and of course we are hoping to mirror the success of our last Mozart recording (Requiem, 2014), which earned us a Grammy nomination!

Our recording of Mozart’s C Minor Mass will be based on a new critical edition by Clemens Kemme, which brings together the latest musicological research to present a more convincing completion of Mozart's tantalising incomplete score. It is paired on this recording with C.P.E. Bach’s 'Heilig', to date unrecorded by any UK ensemble and thought to be an important double-choir model that Mozart could have used as his inspiration for the Mass. The recording — which takes place at Perth Concert Hall in September —  will be complemented by three live performances at Lammermuir Festival, Perth Concert Hall, and Saffron Hall. 

Why do we need your help? 

A project of this scale requires significant support and fundraising – for the recording to go ahead, we must raise more than £55,000 through individual donors, trusts and foundations. We are fortunate to have already raised nearly £40,000 in pledges — and now we need your help to reach our target! The project itself will give over 10 days’ work to more than 50 musicians at an important time when the industry is still recovering from the impacts of the pandemic. 

Your support can help to bring this stunning new edition of Mozart’s C Minor Mass to life. Your donation will be acknowledged (unless you prefer to remain anonymous) within the CD booklet and on our website, and anyone donating £250 or more will be invited to sit in on a recording session and attend a private reception at Perth Concert Hall. All support — large or small — is gratefully received and will help us reach our target. Thank you in advance for considering donating to our recording project.