Welcome to the Vaughan Williams Foundation – one of the foremost sources of funding for recent and contemporary music in the UK
The Vaughan Williams Foundation is a grant-giving charity which upholds the values and vision of the celebrated composer Ralph Vaughan Williams and his wife Ursula Vaughan Williams.
Our principal aims are to honour RVW’s desire to support his fellow composers through funding for performances and recordings, and to help make his own work widely accessible to the general public.
VWF was founded in 2022, 150 years after the composer’s birth, and brings together the two charities originally set up by Ralph (RVW Trust) and Ursula (Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust).
Funding
Applications Open
Composers are at the heart of what we do. VWF offers three annual funding rounds towards:
the performance, commission and recording of music by British and Irish composers active in the last 100 years, and/or
work which furthers the knowledge and understanding of the life and work of Ralph Vaughan Williams, and of Ursula Vaughan Williams.
We welcome applications from ensembles, organisations and individuals.
Vaughan Williams Scholarships
For more than 40 years Vaughan Williams funding has been awarded to support postgraduate study in composition.
The 270 previous recipients have included names such as Julian Anderson, Christian Alexander, Anna Meredith, Graham Fitkin, Larry Goves, Gavin Higgins, Hannah Kendall and Daniel Kidane. Congratulations to our four new Vaughan Williams Scholars: Tom Burkhill, Lucy Holmes, André Faria Serra and Elliott Park.
The Vaughan Williams Scholarships of £8,000 each are awarded annually to postgraduate students of composition.
Our new Trustees
Joining the Board
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Sam Wigglesworth, Harriet Wybor and Raymond Yiu as new Trustees, bringing with them a wealth of experience and a passion for music.
We are so grateful for their commitment to the Foundation and look forward to working with them to develop VWF for the future.
Find out more about the faces behind the VWF and our work.
RVW
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) is one of the greatest of British composers whose music, generosity and vision for community music making continue to impact British musical life.
Find out more about the composer and explore our extensive archive of letters and photographs and catalogue of published works.
READ THE LATEST
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Vaughan Williams Foundation
@vwfndn
Vaughan Williams writes on how folk music is knitted into culture, making its influence unavoidable.
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Ailsa Dixon Composer
@musicailsadixon
Warm thanks @VWFndn for their generous support of 2026 concerts of Ailsa Dixon’s chamber music and quartet songs including this one 👇@stgeorgesbris @VilliersQuartet @LucyCoxSoprano
Delighted and grateful for this share in RVW’s wonderful legacy
Ipswich Symphony Orchestra
@iosoctweet
Our terrific conductor, Adam Gatehouse, directed our dedicated and enthusiastic musicians, in a programme that included Vaughan Williams Symphony No 5, and we are indebted to the Vaughan Williams Foundation @VWFndn for their financial support. 💐
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Vaughan Williams Foundation
@vwfndn
Tomorrow!
Award-winning Trio Concept shares Vaughan Williams’ Piano Quintet in C minor at the Wigmore Hall in London.
Details here 👉 https://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/202512021300
Vaughan Williams Foundation
@vwfndn
A little #weekend practice inspiration for all you musicians out there! 🎶
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Vaughan Williams Foundation
@vwfndn
The VWF has three annual deadlines for general funding. The next are:
🎵 Monday, January 5, 2026 (for work from April 2026 onwards)
🎵 Friday, May 1, 2026
🎵 Thursday, September 3, 2026
Each round is for projects to be delivered a minimum of three months after the deadline.
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Vaughan Williams Foundation
@vwfndn
Composers are at the heart of our support!
We fund the performance, commissioning & recording of music by professional British/Irish composers; and projects that create developmental opportunities for composers, or promote awareness of British/Irish music.
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Wooburn Singers
@wooburnsingers
Great to welcome @Mark_Aus_tin to rehearsal last night, to work with us on #Finzi, #vaughanwilliams and #WillTodd for A Christmas Fantasy
We’d love to see you on Sat 20 Dec at @StMarysBeaconsf, so book now – https://ticketsource.co.uk/wooburn-singers / tickets@wooburnsingers.org.uk / 07739 184258
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Vaughan Williams Foundation
@vwfndn
Conductor Sir Anthony Pappano describes Vaughan Williams as a ‘visionary’ – hear him discuss why he is moved by the music of British composers in this short clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmpmnqy8T2U&t=9s
Vaughan Williams Foundation
@vwfndn
Radical? Or traditionalist? Where do you stand on the work of Ralph Vaughan Williams…
THE LETTERS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Featured Letter
Get to know the man and his music
RVW’s wide-ranging correspondence – with family, pupils, fellow composers, conductors and performers – paints an intriguing portrait of the man, as well as providing fascinating insights into his major preoccupations: musical, personal and political.
Our searchable database includes over 5000 annotated transcriptions of his correspondence all available to read online.
Letter of the Day
Letter from Alan Bush to Ralph Vaughan Williams
Letter No.: VWL3788
December 28th, 1957.
Dr R. Vaughan Williams, O.M.
10, Hanover Terrace,
Regents Park, N.W.1.
Dear Vaughan Williams,
On January 23rd next Rutland Boughton will be celebrating his 80th birthday.
A number of his friends have met together to discuss how this could be suitably enjoyed. We propose to hold a dinner, either in London or in Gloucester, should Mr Boughton feel disinclined to make the journey to London. He is suffering from cataract in both eyes, and travelling is therefore rather a problem for him.
In addition to this dinner we propose, if possible, to make his remaining years happy by staging one or more of his operas. Evidently the greatest contribution we could make would be to stage the two Arthurian music-dramas which have not as yet been produced. The “Death of Arthur” is Boughton’s last work, and was completed about ten years ago. The other un-produced stage work is “Sir Galahad”, also one of the most recently composed works.
In order to promote this project an organising Committee will have to be formed, in order to collect guarantors, as well as to undertake the manifold tasks of mounting these productions. I am writing to ask whether you would consent to lend your name to this project. The organising will be undertaken by Mr Adolf Borsdorf, 104, Baker St, W.1., a former manager of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and now an impresario in his own right. Mr Borsdorf is responsible for initiating this idea of celebrating worthily his 80th birthday. If you would like me to come and discuss the matter with you I would be delighted to do so, but it would have to be during the next fortnight, as I am returning to Weimer to conduct further performances of my second opera “Men of Blackmoor”, on January 14th.
Hoping that you will help us in this project, and with best wishes for 1958, Yours very sincerely,
