Brighton Festival 2013: Get Involved

Brighton Festival and Brighton Dome are supported by both sponsors and individuals. Here, two members explain why they like to be involved…

Patron Circle – Professor David Gann CBE

How did you hear about and become a member of the Patron Circle?
“I have been enjoying the Festival ever since I moved to Brighton, nearly 30 years ago. We have been Friends of the Festival for some years and wanted to become more involved. We read about the Patron Circle on the website and decided to join.”

What does being a member involve and how much time does it take up?
“Being a patron provides a wonderful opportunity to attend additional events that provide insights into particular artists and performances. It also provides an opportunity to learn more about what it takes to produce the Festival and other events at the Dome throughout the year. It takes as much time as you want to give. I am often busy travelling and cannot get to events, but enjoy those that I have attended. It is good to hear what is going on and to know that in some ways I am supporting it.”

What do you enjoy about being a Patron?
“I enjoy the opportunity to meet other supporters of Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival and to hear their views on events and activities.”

What do you personally bring to the process?
“I bring a perspective from my work, based in London and internationally, on innovation in science, engineering and medicine that may at first seem disconnected from the arts. But I think human endeavour to discover the fundamental mechanisms of how the world works and put this to good use in the economy and society is mirrored in the role the arts can play in making one think about life and social affairs. The world is much more interesting when the arts and sciences intertwine.”

Would you recommend being a Patron to others and why?
“Definitely. It provides a way to engage in interesting and important events in Brighton and Hove.”

Is your role solely related to the Festival or does it extend to the whole year of programming?
“Brighton Festival comes at a wonderful time in the year – usually with good weather and Spring in full swing. It is an especially intense period of concerts, theatre, visual arts and events. But it is equally important to support events throughout the year. I have particularly enjoyed the coffee and lunchtime chamber concerts this winter.”

How many events do you actually attend in the Brighton Festival and how do you choose what you see?
“We are attending between 12 and 15 events this year. I normally start by choosing the music I want to hear – chamber concerts, choral, always the concert at Glyndebourne and what we used to call the closing concert. Then I look to see whether some of the more experimental events will excite me and choose a few of these. Unfortunately this year, work will take me a way for a week right in the middle of the Festival. But that’s OK, my tickets will go to family and friends and I hope they will enjoy as much as I would.”

How many events do you attend across the full year at Brighton Dome?
“We probably go to another 10 or 12 events outside the Festival period.”

Is it important that you have a wide range of interests in visual and performing arts?
“Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival caters for a very wide range of tastes. One of the good things about being a Patron is that the additional events help you learn more about performances in music, or the visual and performing arts more widely. So your starting point doesn’t really matter. What’s important is to get involved, be prepared to experiment a bit and learn from other people.”

For more information, please contact ceri.eldin@brightonfestival.org
01273 260818

Corporate Sponsor – Martin Williams (Partner, Mayo Wynne Baxter)

What made you decide to become a Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival sponsor?
“I have a very personal view on this. It was as a result of working on Festival events in the 1980s that I decided Brighton would be the place to move back to after two years spent working in New York. The Festival has, therefore always been special to me. Persuading my fellow Partners in the firm that we should support the Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival was quite easy. Brighton Dome is the heartbeat of the city’s year round cultural offering with something for everyone and my colleagues at Mayo Wynne Baxter immediately recognised the value in supporting it.”

Is this your first year or you been a sponsor before?
“This is our third year as a sponsor. Every one better than the last.”

Can you see real benefits, in a business sense, from you involvement as a sponsor?
“Being associated with such quality of productions that Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival foster has no downside at all. The exposure of our name alongside prestigious events is very important for our profile. Clients remark positively on our involvement which helps cement our position in the city.”

Do you support Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival in other ways aside from providing financial support?
“Being the largest law firm in the city means that our practice is best placed to help with all sorts of legal issues. We also see ourselves as advocates for Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival and seek to promote the work that they do whenever possible.”

What other benefits do you gain from your involvement?
“I personally get a great deal of satisfaction from our involvement. We are also able to pass on some of the benefits of our sponsorship to our staff.”

Are you able to use your sponsorship to develop business links?
“We are one of the key sponsors and getting to meet other businesses at various events arranged by Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival has proved to be effective networking.”

Do you use the benefits of a sponsorship for corporate entertainment?
“Yes and it works. Our guests love the wide choice of events.”

How many events do you attend in the Brighton Festival and how do you choose what you see?
“The short answer is not enough but as many as work and family life will allow. There are so many superb artists to see each year. One year I will take a couple of weeks off and have a true staycation.”

Are you a regular audience member at Brighton Dome year-round?
“My wife and I are members of the Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival Patrons Circle and we consider ourselves as very regular audience members.”

Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival would like to thank:

Funders
Brighton & Hove City Council
Arts Council England
Partners
American Express
Foyle Foundation

Media Partners
The Guardian
The Argus
They.Create
Classic FM
Associate Sponsors
E.ON, Mayo Wynne Baxter, University of Sussex

Corporate Members
City College Brighton & Hove, DMH Stallard, Richard Place Dobson, Selits, University of Brighton, GM Building, Brighton & Hove Jobs, FatSand, Gemini Press, Moshimo, myhotel, One Digital, Terre a Terre, WSL