Giving an empty London church a living future & spirit through music

The below text is taken from an email sent to the District on behalf of the London Chamber Orchestra. Please note that this is an early-stage and confidential exploration of potential opportunities, rather than a confirmed ECO project. At present they are simply seeking initial conversations with churches that may be suitable and open to considering such a partnership.

Good afternoon, 

I am writing on behalf of the English Chamber Orchestra (ECO) to explore whether there may be a church building in Central London whose next chapter could be created together.

For more than six decades, the English Chamber Orchestra has been part of Britain’s musical heritage, performing internationally and working with some of the world’s most distinguished artists. ECO also has the great honour of longstanding Royal Patronage under His Majesty King Charles III.

We are now entering an important new chapter.

Alongside preserving ECO’s artistic legacy, we have made a strategic commitment to significantly expand our work with children, young people, emerging musicians and communities — making world-class classical music more accessible and creating opportunities for future generations to experience, learn and perform.

To achieve this properly, ECO needs something it has never truly had: a London home of its own.

We are therefore exploring whether there may be a closed, closing, redundant or substantially underused church within London Zones 1–3 that ECO could take responsibility for and bring back into regular, meaningful use.

There is something particularly appropriate about a church becoming the home of an orchestra. For centuries, churches were among the places where music was created, taught, performed and passed from one generation to another. We would want to respect that history rather than erase it.

Our vision would be to fill the building again with:

• orchestral rehearsals and performances;

• children and youth music programmes;

• education and community projects;

• emerging musicians and artistic development;

• meetings, offices and charitable activity;

• audiences, supporters and cultural events.

  
  

Ideally, we require a main space capable of accommodating at least 200 people, with 600 or more strongly preferred, so that the building can genuinely function as both ECO’s working home and a concert venue.

At this stage, ECO is only beginning a major new fundraising programme and we are not in a position to pay conventional commercial rent.

What we can offer instead is stewardship and help to raise funds for the church. 

We would be interested in exploring a peppercorn, nominal-rent or flexible cultural-caretaker arrangement under which ECO could take responsibility for the day-to-day life of the building, cover agreed utilities and operational costs, maintain regular occupation, oversee cleaning, security and routine upkeep, and ensure that the property remains active and cared for.

Importantly, we would also be prepared to fundraise alongside the building owner.

If a church requires restoration, refurbishment or investment to secure its future, ECO could explore incorporating the building into our wider fundraising activity — approaching philanthropists, charitable foundations, corporate partners and supporters to help preserve both an important piece of London’s heritage and a home for future generations of musicians.

We are flexible regarding the initial arrangement. It does not necessarily need to be a permanent commitment. A building awaiting a longer-term decision could still be extremely valuable to ECO for one, two or several years. If necessary, we could agree appropriate notice provisions so that the owner retains flexibility over its future.

If the relationship proved successful, we could subsequently explore a longer lease, restoration partnership or potentially even a funded acquisition.

Our immediate ambition is much simpler:

to give the English Chamber Orchestra a place to call home, whilst helping ensure that an important church building remains alive, cared for and filled with purpose.

If you are aware of any suitable church — including buildings that are closed, approaching closure, under review, currently without a clear future or simply in need of a responsible organisation to look after them — I would be extremely grateful to hear from you.

We would be very pleased to arrange an introductory conversation and explain our vision in more detail.

Kind regards,

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Elvijs Plugis

International Advisory Board | Royal Gala Fundraiser - Event Director | Chief Commercial Officer 

elvijs.plugis@englishchamberorchestra.co.uk