Wiltshire and Swindon youth orchestra

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Index of content

• About the orchestra
• Orchestra course/concert dates
• How to join
• Auditions
• Membership subscription
• About the conductor
• Sponsorship opportunities
• Become a patron

About the Wiltshire and Swindon Youth Orchestra

The Wiltshire and Swindon Youth Orchestra was formed in the early 1960s.

Each year Wiltshire’s most committed and able young musicians give up large stretches of their school holidays to rehearse and perform major symphonic programmes with repertoire ranging from Dvorak and Tchaikovsky through to 20th century symphonists such as Stravinsky and Bernstein. The orchestra commissioned the British composers David Bedford, Gareth Wood and Bill Connor and, in 1995, was proud to give the first performance of Bill Connor’s Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Orchestra, The Last Picture Show, with the Apollo Quartet.

Tours of Vienna and Hungary in the 1980s were followed by a tour to the United States in April 1996, the Czech Republic in 1999 and to Italy in 2004. The performance of Act 1 of Wagner’s Siegfried in 1996 achieved a wide audience through broadcast in the BBC Radio 3 series Youth Orchestras of the World.

The WSYO achieved the rare distinction of becoming one of the six national winners of the Sainsbury’s Youth Orchestra Series during each of the four years it has run. In the summer of 2006, thanks to a generous grant from Allianz Cornhill, the orchestra was able to broaden the range of its work by undertaking workshops with The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

The orchestra played to a large international audience during the summer of 2007 at La Mortella, the home of Lord and Lady Walton on the Island of Ischia in Italy. These unique achievements have been made possible by the orchestra’s professional team of conductors and tutors, and by many friends and supporters who raise the funds to sustain our ambitious programme year after year.

Orchestra Course/Concert Dates

2012 season

The dates for the new season are as follows:

New Year	Course dates Tuesday 27 December – Friday 30 December 2011 Concert dates Friday 30 December 2011 Course and concert to be held at the Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford on Avon.
Easter	Course dates Monday 9 April 2012 – Sunday 15 April 2012 The course will be held at the Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford on Avon Concert dates Saturday 14 April 2012 at Malmesbury Abbey and Sunday 15 April 2012 at Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford on Avon
Summer	Course dates Monday 27 August  - Sunday 2 September 2012 Concert dates Saturday 1 September 2012 and Sunday 2 September 2012 Venues to be arranged

Concert programmes during the season will include:

Piazolla: Two Tangos

Christopher Gunning: Poirot Fantasy

Richard Rodney Bennett: Waltz - Murder on the Orient Express

Shostakovich: The Gadfly

and

Beethoven: Symphony No 5.

Courses are held at the Wiltshire Music Centre in Bradford on Avon and transport is available from various pick-up points in Wiltshire and Swindon including:

• Salisbury
• Lavington
• Devizes
• Trowbridge
• Swindon
• Wootton Bassett
• Calne
• Chippenham
• Corsham

How to Join the Wiltshire & Swindon Youth Orchestra

The opportunity to join the orchestra is open to all Wiltshire and Swindon young musicians currently in full-time education. The minimum standard required is Grade 6 or equivalent.

If you are interested in joining please contact Kate Macey, the Youth Orchestra Administrator on 01225 713845 for an application form or you can download an WYSO Application Form application form here 64kb.

The closing date for applications is Wednesday 19 October 2011. Applications are also welcomed throughout the year but will be kept on file until a suitable opening occurs.

Auditions

Auditions will take place during November but you may apply all year round.  

During auditions you are asked to perform:

• Two contrasting pieces of your own choice (unaccompanied)
• An orchestral excerpt (which will be sent to you one week before the audition)
• A sight-reading piece

Membership Subscription

There will be 3 courses during 2012.

The membership subscription is £225 per annum for members paying in full before 31 December 2011 after which the price is £240 per annum. There is a £30 discount for second and subsequent members in the same family paying in full before 31 December 2011. There is an additional £20 charge for use of the coach for each course. Arrangements are in place for families that need to pay by instalment.

We are always sympathetic towards cases of genuine need and no one should hesitate to apply to join the orchestra because of financial concern. To apply for remission of fees please write to Valerie Hayward, Director-WSYO, Schools and Learning Branch, Wiltshire Council, County Hall, Trowbridge. BA14 8JN, marking the envelope ‘confidential'.

About the conductor

Timothy Redmond - Principal Conductor

Timothy Redmond has conducted concerts with some of Britain’s leading orchestras, including the London Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the Orchestra of Opera North.

For over ten years he has been a regular guest conductor with the Manchester Camerata and recently he made his debut with the Northern Sinfonia and City of Oxford Orchestra. His well-known affinity with contemporary music has taken him to festivals throughout Europe and the US and he has broadcast on BBC and international radio. Last season he was appointed principal conductor of the Cambridge Philharmonic.

This season Tim records albums for Natasha Marsh and Mara Carlyle with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (EMI), records Gerard McBurney’s Holly, Go Whistle with the Northern Sinfonia and conducts concerts with the Manchester Camerata and the Ulster Orchestra. In October he conducts the Russian premiere of Thomas Ades’ Powder Her Face at the Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg - a work he will also conduct later in the season in a new production for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Sponsorship opportunities

Companies and individuals can help support the orchestra through four levels of sponsorship programme; Adopt a Chair, Bronze, Silver and Gold. wsyo-sponsorship-prog-application.pdf View our sponsorship programme 122kb

Become a patron

The orchestra is generously supported by sponsors, patrons and the Friends of the Wiltshire & Swindon Youth Orchestra. Contributions to the orchestra are needed for funding instruments and overseas tours which could not otherwise take place. By becoming a patron and or joining the Friends and attending the concerts you will help ensure the future of the orchestra. Wiltshire and Swindon Youth Patron Programme View our patron programme 85kb.

Last updated: 30 September 2011