Orpheus Foundation

The Orpheus Sinfonia Foundation was established in 2009 and supports the musicians of Orpheus Sinfonia - one of London’s most vibrant, dynamic and inspiring of orchestras. It attracts the best of music conservatoire graduates, under the artistic direction of international cellist and conductor Thomas Carroll and exists to help musicians succeed and discover their creativity, investing in music’s future and meaningful, inspiring audience engagement.

The music critic Richard Morrison wrote in The Times in 2013 about the difficulty of making this transition, "Our conservatoires turn out 1,500 instrumentalists each year, and standards are phenomenally high. Yet there are rarely more than a handful of vacancies in British orchestras each year."[1]

Equally at home with symphonic repertoire, world premières, specially curated and bespoke programmes, choral works, live orchestra with film and opera, Orpheus Sinfonia’s versatility has created its own special place in an exciting and developing music industry. The orchestra has enjoyed collaborations with Dame Felicity Lott, Tasmin Little, Jack Liebeck, Heinrich Schiff and our Patron Sir Antonio Pappano, invitations to renowned music festivals including Windsor, Brighton, Wimbledon, Swansea and Cambridge, and appearances at the Royal Festival Hall, London Coliseum, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Windsor Castle, alongside our residency at St George’s Hanover Square.

Acclaimed for the excitement and enthusiasm of its music-making, Orpheus’ reputation continues to grow thanks, in part, to the generous support of many established musicians. The orchestra has featured on BBC Radio 3, BBC World Service and released its debut CD on Signum Classics.

The orchestra has developed outreach work alongside Keys of Change with students from Fukushima, Japan at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, and have been invited to Japan for further projects for which support is currently sought.

The 2014–15 season saw Orpheus embark on their first operatic project, Die Fledermaus, working in partnership with Opera Danube, performing with Dame Felicity Lott in September 2014 at both the Windsor Festival and Cadogan Hall. Further projects include visits to major music festivals around the country, incorporating large-scale symphonic works and smaller scale chamber programmes, as well as continuing to work with world-class soloists and conductors.

Most of the Sinfonia's concerts are given in St George's, Hanover Square in central London.[2] The orchestra's other regular venue is the 900-seat Cadogan Hall in Chelsea.[3] In September 2011, the Sinfonia made its first international tour, performing in venues in Austria. During the tour there was a fortnight-long series of conducting masterclasses culminating in a conducting competition during which nine contestants conducted the Sinfonia.[4]

In January 2013 the foundation inaugurated the "Orpheus Composer of the Year" competition. The 2014 winner was Peter Facer, whose piece, The Peter Pan Suite, received its premiere at Cadogan Hall on 17 June 2014. The foundation also holds a competition for "Orpheus Musician of the Year", the 2014 winner was the young pianist Dominic Degavino.[5]