The Orchestra
Bath Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1948 and is a registered charity. It is Bath’s only large amateur symphony orchestra and is made up of over sixty playing members, with a minimum entry requirement of Grade 8 standard. Extra players are brought in for balance and strengthening as appropriate for larger scale works, for example to form expanded wind sections.
The orchestra caters for people from all walks of life, all of whom are dedicated and talented amateur musicians who aim to perform challenging symphonic programmes to a near-professional standard. The Leader of the orchestra, Alison Boden, and the Musical Director, Eugene Monteith, are employed on a professional, paid basis.
The orchestra gives three symphony concerts a year using venues in and around Bath such as the Roper Theatre at Hayesfield School, The Forum and the Wiltshire Music Centre.
Musical highlights of recent years have included performances of Stravinsky Firebird Suite 1919, Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances, Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique, Bernstein West Side Story Dances, Bartók Concerto for Orchestra, Dvorak Symphony No. 8, Sibelius Symphony No. 5, Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherezade, Stravinsky Symphony in Three Movements, Borodin Symphony No. 2, Mahler Symphony No. 1, Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition.
We enjoy performing concertos and have engaged both locally-based and internationally known soloists including Freddy Kempf, Nadia Myerscough, Madeleine Mitchell, Alice Neary, Nicola Meecham, and Maxim Calver (BBC Young Musician finalist 2018).
In November 2017, to mark our 70th anniversary season, we performed Mahler’s epic Symphony No. 2 ‘Resurrection’ with Bristol Choral Society in The Forum, to a capacity audience. This production involved over 100 orchestral players.
We rehearse weekly on Tuesday evenings from September to June with breaks for school holidays and around 8 or 9 rehearsals for each concert. If you are interested in joining our friendly and welcoming orchestra please see vacancies for further information.
