One of the oldest non-professional orchestras in England, the Newbury Symphony Orchestra is now enjoying its 133nd season. NSO comprises sixty to seventy enthusiastic amateur musicians and draws its members and audience from four counties. Our resident professional conductor is John Traill and our professional leader is Mike Jones.
A major objective of NSO is to encourage young and up-and-coming soloists by inviting them to perform concertos. The orchestra owes much to Adrian Brown who conducted the orchestra for twenty-three years. Soloists John Lill and Barry Tuckwell have gone on to achieve international acclaim after performing with the Newbury Symphony Orchestra. Recent popular soloists have been Lucy Jeal, violin and Daniel Grimwood, piano and Lawrence Power, Viola. The orchestra continues to make a vital and valuable contribution to the cultural environment of Newbury and locality. In addition to performing two major concerts a year, it regularly takes part in the Newbury Spring Festival, one of the major Arts festivals in the country. Another regular commitment is to the Hungerford and District Community Arts Festival. New players are always welcome, and there are opportunities in every section for enthusiastic amateur musicians. At present we are especially short of trumpts and trombones. Since some works are difficult, we request as a guidline, in the string section at least, that prospective playing members have a minimum standards of Grade 7 Associated Board. |   |