Hundreds of musicians have voiced anger that an ensemble of nonagenarian players are being evicted from the UK’s only home for retired musicians by a charity specifically founded to care for those in need.

Sir Roger Norrington, the conductor, is among prominent figures who have been appalled by the decision of the Musicians Benevolent Fund (MBF), the music business’s own charity, to close Ivor Newton House in Bromley, Kent.

Those being forced to find alternative accommodation include Leonard Davis, 93, a former viola player with the London Symphony Orchestra and other leading ensembles, and Richard Arnell, 90, a major composer for the ballet, who worked with the choreographers George Balanchine and Frederick Ashton. Younger members include Alan Loveday, 80, who was one of Britain’s foremost violinists.

While most of the residents earned little more than unskilled workers, despite their professional skills, and now have to make ends meet on a state pension, the MBF — whose patron is the Queen — has resources of £48.7 million, according to its 2007 financial review. The annual cost of maintaining Newton House is around £1 million, around 17 per cent of MBF’s income.

Although its remit is to support musicians in need of help due to “illness, accident or other misfortune”, and it awards grants for training and instruments, it has decided to close Newton House, which it has owned and run since 1975.

Residents like the home particularly for the company of fellow musicians. Music has been a lifeline for them. Facilities include a Steinway Grand among several pianos, a music room and recitals given by students and professionals.

MBF argues that the building’s closure is not proposed purely for financial reasons, but that the money could be used “more effectively in other ways”.

Hundreds of musicians, including the whole BBC Symphony Orchestra, have condemned the closure as callous and signed a petition.

Speaking to The Times before conducting The Last Night of the Proms, Sir Roger Norrington said: “It’s disturbing. Ivor Newton House has been a wonderful institution. I’m very worried about it.”

Other leading protesters include Levon Chilingirian, the violinist of the Quartet. He said: “I’m so sympathetic to the residents ... A nominal extra cost [to the Fund] could be a matter of life and death for some of them.”

Praising the Fund’s support for young musicians, he urged it not to neglect the older generation.

Mr Davis, who has lived five years at Newton House, said: “The MBF is reputed to be one of the wealthiest charities in the country, so they have no legitimate excuse for forcing their near-centenarian beneficiaries to face the daunting task of relocating at our time of life.”

He added that musicians have thrived on its music facilities: “Many care homes do have a piano in the lounge or other common-room area. Most have not been tuned for ten or more years and are virtually unplayable by any real musician.”

The Musicians’ Union is taking legal advice on whether a judicial review could overturn the decision, but the MBF has already reduced the numbers to only 15 residents and wants everyone out within a year. Residents are yet to be told whether they will receive any financial help in moving.

The charity argues that Newton House should be closed because it could not offer specialist nursing. It decided that it was more cost-effective to fund retired musicians in residential and nursing homes around the country.

Mr Davies said that in his five years at Newton House, only one resident has had to be moved into a nursing home: “So in no way can that justify closing the home.”

A member of staff told The Times: “Many of the residents thought that this was going to be their home for life. They are just appalled and shocked. One woman, who’s in her nineties, collapsed and needed medication because she was so distressed about having to be moved. Age Concern says that being moved in one’s later years shortens people’s lives.”

In contrast, retired actors and variety performers are looked after in their old age in two specialist homes that are run by entertainment charities.

Asked whether he felt uncomfortable about closing the home, Richard Lyttelton, chairman of the MBF, said: “No, I don’t feel uncomfortable. Not at all. I know that sounds very brutal, but we have obligations to all our beneficiaries.”

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