Autumn Concert 2024

Join us for our Autumn Concert on Dec 7th @ 7:30 pm, All Saints Church, Orpington.

Faure – Pavane
J.C. Bach – Sinfonia in B flat, Op. 18 No. 2
Wagner – Siegfried Idyll
Mozart – Symphony No. 40

The Orpington Symphony Orchestra is now in its 75th Season.

Founded in 1949, Orpington Symphony Orchestra was conducted by Joseph McMenemy for twenty-one years. Leonard Davis was appointed conductor in 1970, and Michael Axtell succeeded Leonard Davis in 2000. Raymond Lewis conducted the orchestra from 2003 to 2018 and Sean Morris for the 2018/2019 season.

Daniel Hogan conducted during our 2019/2020 season, and into the pandemic, finishing in December 2021. Emily Singh conducted from March 2022 and in December 2023 Dominic Wells took over this role.

The orchestra is now a fully independent organisation although it originally came under the auspices of Orpington and District Adult Education Centre, subsequently becoming part of Bromley Adult Education College. Throughout its life, the orchestra has been supported by Bromley Arts Council. Orpington Symphony Orchestra is a member of the National Federation of Music Societies.

The orchestra has established a regular pattern of three concerts: one in December, one in March, and the final concert of the season, in June.

News

Solist Profile: Madeleine Brown

“Madeleine is a pianist of stature. She combines high intelligence with a profound feel for the music, so much so that she captures your attention and takes you on a voyage of musical discovery.” – Marios Papadopoulos.

Madeleine Brown is an emerging young pianist based in London. Having graduated with a BA in Music from Trinity College, Cambridge in June 2023, she now studies privately with Helen Krizos and Lora Dimitrova. Madeleine has previously learnt with esteemed pedagogues, including Dina Parakhina and Charles Owen, and is very grateful to receive coaching from Stephen Kovacevich and Adolfo Barabino. She looks forward to starting her postgraduate studies at the Royal Northern College of Music from September 2024 with Helen Krizos.

Dominic Wells – Conductor

Having graduated with first-class honours for a B.Mus at Royal Holloway, University of London, Dominic received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council to continue with an M.Mus at the same institution. He then spent a year working (and living) at Westminster Cathedral, before returning to academia for a PhD, supported by a Doctoral Fellowship, at Durham University. In 2012 he was awarded his PhD, which focused on the concept of retrospection…

Soloist profile: Zoe Barnett

Zoe Barnett is a classical guitarist who is currently studying at the Royal College of Music for a Master of Performance where she is generously supported by the Derek Butler Trust and the Sussex Young Musician Award. In 2022, Zoe enjoyed performances in Wigmore Hall, Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall. She was awarded the title of Sussex Young Musician of The Year 2022 and first prize in the Guitar Competition at the RCM. Zoe is currently an awardee of the International Guitar Foundation’s ‘Young Artist Platform’ where she has performed in the London Guitar Festival at Kings Place and has premiered new repertoire for the guitar.

Soloist profile: Izzy Cheesman

Izy completed both her Bachelor of Music and Master of Performance at the Royal College of Music in London, winning a scholarship place in 2015 and graduating in 2021 with Distinction. Izy studied oboe under the tuition of John Anderson, Fabien Thouand, Juliana Koch, and Olivier Stankiewicz, and cor anglais with Christine Pendrill and Jane Marshall.

Solist Profile: Stone Tung

Stone Tung was born in Hong Kong and has started learning trumpet at the age of 6, alongside piano and voice. A graduate of the Chetham’s School of Music, he is now studying at the Royal College of Music, London, with Mark Calder, James Fountain and Kate Moore on a full scholarship supported by the Croucher Hong Kong Charitable Trust. He has participated in masterclasses with Gustav Melander, Paul Archibald and Henning Kraggerud

Tickets now available online!

Our concert tickets are now available online. Simply visit Ticketsource to purchase yours for our Summer Concert before 18th June. Tickets will also be available on the door for both cash and card payments.

Emily Singh – Conductor

Emily Singh, 26, is a conductor, clarinettist, and pianist based in Kent.

Described as “poised and precise”, Emily has been conducting since university where she founded and led several ensembles: she co-founded the university’s first auditioned wind ensemble while studying a Bachelor’s degree in Music…

Soloist profile: Zoë Perkins

The Soloist for our Christmas Concert on Saturday December 14 2019 is Zoë Perkins. Zoë began her musical career at the age of 7 playing the cornet but soon moved to playing the trumpet when she began lessons with Cambridge based teacher Michel Sedgwick. In 2013 Zoë commenced her studies at the Royal Academy of Music Junior Department in February 2013 where she was taught by David Price. In her final year she was invited to perform the Arutiunian Trumpet Concerto with the…

Introducing Daniel Hogan

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Daniel Hogan as Musical director for our 70th season. Daniel Hogan is 22 and an aspiring conductor who, as described by players in the Watford Youth Sinfonia, ‘draws emotion out of each individual player’ and ‘has a similar musical maturity to much older conductors’.