About Us
Continuo Foundation, a charity that supports Early Music, launched Continuo Connect in 2023 as the much-needed hub for Early Music in the UK.
Continuo Connect is the digital hub for Early Music in the UK – a place for audiences to discover upcoming concerts, artists, composers and venues. Since launching in 2023, Continuo Connect has transformed a fragmented sector into a visible, connected and discoverable community, linking audiences, promoters and artists in a way that did not exist before. In turn, promoters and artists gain a powerful new shop window.
Continuo Connect contributes directly to the long-term financial sustainability of the Early Music sector by growing audiences, concert attendance and artists’ incomes, while instilling a deeper appreciation of the music, the research underpinning it, and the sense of a connected sector.
Read more in our Impact Report.
Our Founder
Tina Vadaneaux created Continuo Foundation in 2020, in response to the challenges of the pandemic for early music artists. Her aim has always been clear and generous: to help the UK’s Early Music sector to survive, flourish and reach wider audiences.
Her subsequent vision for Continuo Connect is rooted in support and discovery. Tina has a profound admiration for the artists who research, perform and renew this repertoire. As she has said, this means bringing the work of musicians ‘out from under the radar and opening up the fascinating world of Early Music for everyone, from complete newcomers to experts.’
“These musicians are the guardians of almost 1,000 years of our music heritage.” — Tina Vadaneaux, Founder of Continuo Foundation and Continuo Connect
Tina’s journey to arts leadership has been unusual and inspiring, spanning project finance on Wall Street and in the City of London, postgraduate study in English and Art History at King’s College London, and roles in music and audience development. Before founding Continuo, Tina worked pro bono with the European Union Youth Orchestra and later in audience engagement for The Mozartists. She brought that breadth of experience, together with strategic insight and a deep commitment to the arts, to build Continuo Foundation into a vital source of support for Early Music across the UK.
Our Team
Sam Pearce
Digital Marketing & Communications Manager
Formerly a professional French Horn player, Sam is as passionate about music in all its forms as he is shouting about it from the rooftops! A digital marketing and community specialist, he is the man behind Continuo Connect's social media accounts, plus his analytical insights help shape the future of our online platform. His goal is to make Continuo Connect the perfect tool for British concertgoers to indulge in their love of historically inspired music.
Daphne Delfas
Content Creator
Daphne is a conductor and violinist currently studying at the Royal Academy of Music, following a degree in Music from the University of Cambridge. She creates Continuo Connect's fortnightly newsletter, curates our playlists, and supports artists and festivals using the platform. Daphne has a keen interest in early music, having performed in several historical performance projects as a violinist at RAM and Cambridge.
Alma Vink
Content Creator
Alma is a violinist currently studying at the Royal Academy of Music with Alex Redington, having graduated from the University of Cambridge with a BA in English Literature. She's studied with early-music specialists, including Rachel Podger, and frequently plays the violin on a historical setup. At Continuo Connect, she works on our features and contributes to the newsletter.
Simon Mundy
Writer-in-Residence
Simon is Adviser to the European Festivals Association and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He has written six books of poetry, several biographies of composers, artists and musicians and a handful of novels. He is an experienced broadcaster and festival director and was a founder and first President of the European Forum for the Arts and Heritage (now Culture Action Europe). He has also worked on cultural policy with the Council of Europe, UNESCO and King's College London. He has been writing on classical music and the arts for most of Britain's newspapers and arts magazines since 1977.
Nick Edwards
Strategy & Growth
Nick has scaled multiple tech startups, from inception to established businesses employing hundreds of people. As a founder himself, he set up a record label which pivoted into a music tech business that counted major labels (Sony, Virgin Music and Universal) among its customers. A former choral scholar and pianist at the University of Cambridge, for a period Nick ran the King's Singers' charitable foundations and worked on projects for composer Eric Whitacre. These roots in classical and early sacred music brought him to Continuo Connect, where he focuses on growing and developing the platform and, by extension, the wider Early Music sector.
Ashutosh Khandekar
PR & Editorial Consultant
Ash was born in India and raised in the United Kingdom. He graduated with a degree in English Literature from Oxford University, where he was a tenor choral scholar at New College. He went on to train as a journalist on the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, becoming the Sunday edition’s deputy arts editor and chief music critic. He went on to work as an editor, music journalist and arts consultant with a wide range of music publications and cultural organisations in Hong Kong, India and the UK, including managing editor of Classical Music and Early Music Today, and a 25-year stint as Editor-in-Chief of Opera Now magazine. He is currently a director of C Sharp Media.
T5 Digital
Technology Partner
T5 Digital is a boutique consultancy specialising in software delivery, technical leadership, and managed services. We focus on creating tailored solutions that make life easier for our clients – whether that’s developing new systems, improving existing ones, or helping teams work better together. We’re delighted to partner with Continuo Connect, supporting and managing their platform as an extension of their team to ensure it’s reliable, secure, and ready to grow with their mission.
Our Latest Grantees
Click below to visit the profile pages of the current round of Continuo Foundation grantees:
Apollo's Cabinet
Baroque In The North
Bloomsbury Players
Early Opera Company
English Haydn Orchestra
Ensemble Hesperi
Figure
Fiori Musicali
Gabrieli
In Echo
Istante Collective
Linarol Consort of Viols
Monteverdi String Band
Nocturnalia Ensemble
Norwich Baroque
Obsidian Baroque
Palisander
Rautio Piano Trio
Republic of Viols
Saraband
Sirinu
Sounds Historical
Spiritato
The Harmonious Society of Tickle-Fiddle Gentlemen
The Kaleidoscope Band
The Morley Consort
The Mozartists
The Royal Sackbut Collective
Vache Baroque
Wessex Baroque Collective
Support Us
Our work is made possible by the generosity of our donors, and your support at any level helps the Continuo Connect team to run the website, create engaging features, and to share curated content and event highlights in our fortnightly newsletter - all made available for free. Continuo Connect contributes to Continuo's mission by:
- helping artists and festivals raise their profiles and fill their concerts
- opening access to early music for audiences across the UK and beyond
- engaging larger, more diverse audiences for early music
- building a community of early music artists, festivals and fans
- facilitating collaboration across the sector
