Who can play?
We give the opportunity to play to anyone who has commitment and basic abilities. The orchestra currently includes active and retired professionals, accomplished amateurs, people returning to their instrument after a break and people learning their instrument as an adult.
There is no formal audition process; if you feel that you can read and play well enough to contribute to the orchestra, please sit in on a rehearsal and see how well it works. All we ask is that players make a commitment to come to the weekly rehearsals, and practise when they can!
What vacancies are there?
We can give an immediate welcome to string players, particularly violin and viola players, and also to bassoon and brass players.
With woodwind, doubling up on parts normally doesn't work for the orchestra as a whole or for the individual part players. Players do have other life commitments, so we encourage you to take part for an evening and leave your details so that we can let you know opportunities that arise.
What about finances?
It does require funds to hire good premises and to secure good professional input from the conductor, leader and soloists. Participants are expected to support the orchestra by subscriptions of £75 a term, which compares well with other orchestras.
New members are encouraged to try out the orchestra before they commit themselves, and people for whom the fee could be an obstacle to membership are invited to discuss possible concessions with the committee.
What if I don't play?
We will always welcome volunteers to help, either selling tickets or serving refreshments at concerts, or preparing and distributing concert programmes and flyers.
You would also be highly valued if you could take on a role such as librarian (organising library loans of scores, distributing and collecting back parts), coordinating extra players (such as brass who may only want to come to concerts) or treasurer (mainly collecting subscriptions).