The sixth running of the annual Nordoff Robbins Classical Quiz, organised jointly by the BPI Classical Committee and PPL, and this year held virtually on the Sporcle quiz platform, raised £4,221.16 for the music therapy charity.

The quiz, with question set as usual by Gramophone Editor-in-Chief, James Jolly, was won for a second year by the team from Gramophone. Captained by magazine Editor Martin Cullingford, the reigning champions finished just ahead of teams from the Association of British Orchestras (ABO) and Universal Music UK in second and third respectively to claim the inaugural Jeremy Elliott Trophy.1

The organisers and members of the BPI Classical Committee/PPL would like to thank all 20 teams, and the 110 participants that took part for their generosity and enthusiasm in supporting such a worthwhile cause.

Ben Hogwood, Group Manager at Naxos Music Group, and one of the Quiz founders and organisers, said:

“We are delighted with our lockdown edition of the BPI Classical Committee / PPL Quiz for Nordoff Robbins, especially as it has raised a much-needed £4,200 for a charity that has seen so much of its funding disappear. Once again James Jolly excelled with some challenging but fun questions, and we took time to mark the passing of two much-missed members of the committee, Andy West and quiz co-founder Jeremy Elliott, after whom the trophy is now named. This year the trophy stays with Gramophone magazine – just! – but we anticipate a keen contest next year when we will hopefully be under the same roof once again.”

The need for the quiz is greater than ever given the charity has missed out on many of its fundraising events this year.  Sarah Wainman, Nordoff-Robbins Events Manager/Interim Trusts and Grants Manager, said: “Nordoff Robbins has been devastated financially due to Covid-19 including the cancellation their flagship O2 Silver Clef Awards, whilst facing an increase in demand for their music therapy services in partner organisations due to Covid-19, both face-to-face where possible and online. They are in urgent need of support, so we are thrilled that this quiz is able to take place online, and are very grateful to everyone’s incredible generosity through this event which will help enable them to continue to deliver music therapy to those who need it most across the UK.”

The night is inspired by the highly successful pop quiz Nordoff Robbins have run for over 25 years, offering a great chance to get together with friends and colleagues – an enormously enjoyable way of raising money for the charity. Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy work with people of all ages and with a range of conditions. To see what they do, watch this video to see how their work changes lives.

The well-chosen video from Nordoff Robbins, featuring Sheku Kanneh-Mason and presented by Sarah Wainman, reminded everyone present of how the money raised will support the charity’s vital work.

The quiz continues to be a keenly awaited annual fixture in the classical music calendar, and we all look forward to next year’s edition in November 2021!

Notes

1 The winner’s trophy has been renamed the Jeremy Elliott trophy in honour of quiz MC and one of its founders and a passionate advocate of Nordoff Robbins, who sadly passed away in August of this year.