A warm welcome
We are the New Forest Orchestra, a group of amateur musicians brought together by a shared love of classical music. Led by the talented Musical Director, Ieuan Davies, we perform to audiences across the New Forest around four times per year. The Orchestra was founded in 2002, and we are proud of what we’ve achieved over the last 20 years. Our mission is twofold – to provide a space for musicians to develop and improve their playing, and to bring high quality live orchestral music to the New Forest.
We’re a diverse group of musicians from a wide variety of backgrounds. Some of us had a significant gap before joining the orchestra, some of us joined to gain more orchestral experience and expand our playing. Above all, we love music and the New Forest Orchestra provides us with new challenges and the unique enjoyment gained from playing with a supportive group.
New players can always be sure of a warm welcome! We aim for a high standard, and although there is no entrance audition we suggest grade 5 standard as a minimum. We rehearse on Wednesday evenings at Hordle Memorial Hall from 19.30 to 21.45, with a break for refreshments at 20.30. If you’re interested in joining, please contact us or come along to a rehearsal. Taking that first step may feel daunting, but there are so many reasons to join an orchestra (here are just eight of them) that once you’ve done it, you won’t look back.
Trustees: Alan Ford, Siubhan O'Neill, Harry Baynham, Vivienne Baxter and Amy Taylor
Committee: also in attendance (non-voting) Ieuan Davies
We’re a diverse group of musicians from a wide variety of backgrounds. Some of us had a significant gap before joining the orchestra, some of us joined to gain more orchestral experience and expand our playing. Above all, we love music and the New Forest Orchestra provides us with new challenges and the unique enjoyment gained from playing with a supportive group.
New players can always be sure of a warm welcome! We aim for a high standard, and although there is no entrance audition we suggest grade 5 standard as a minimum. We rehearse on Wednesday evenings at Hordle Memorial Hall from 19.30 to 21.45, with a break for refreshments at 20.30. If you’re interested in joining, please contact us or come along to a rehearsal. Taking that first step may feel daunting, but there are so many reasons to join an orchestra (here are just eight of them) that once you’ve done it, you won’t look back.
Trustees: Alan Ford, Siubhan O'Neill, Harry Baynham, Vivienne Baxter and Amy Taylor
Committee: also in attendance (non-voting) Ieuan Davies
A Message from Alan Ford (Chair)
"New or prospective players can be sure of a friendly welcome. We see it as part of our function to be able to offer orchestral experience to improving players and to rusty players who might want to come back to orchestral playing after a gap of some years. We find that resuming regular playing in an orchestra is an excellent way of improving." One Guest Conductor (Stefan Defilet) once memorably said: "You can't play all the notes? Well, enjoy the ones you can play!" |
Returning to one's musical instrument - in the news:
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