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= York Guildhall Orchestra = York’s Guildhall Orchestra is one of the leading orchestral ensembles in the North of England. It is a large amateur/volunteer symphony orchestra working regularly with top class international soloists, it is capable of giving high-quality performances of some of the most demanding large-scale works in the orchestral repertoire. The Guildhall Orchestra performs three regular concerts as part of its annual season, usually in the York Barbican. Concerts are occasionally held in York Minster and other venues such as Ampleforth Abby and Ripon Cathedral. It is considered to be one of the key cultural assets of the City of York.

History
The York Guildhall Orchestra was founded in 1980 in response to the suggestion that there were a number of very talented players in the York area who would enjoy exploring the repertoire of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries - and that there was an audience who would enjoy the experience of listening to such a repertoire. At the time of its inauguration by John Hastie, the orchestra's home was the Guildhall in York - hence the orchestra's name. Since then it has given a great many concerts, most of them in York, but also in Halifax, Richmond, Beverley, Scunthorpe and Ampleforth. In 1993, the orchestra was featured in two concerts at Fountains Abby in their music by Moonlight series. It has also been engaged for several private functions and concerts.

In 1992 when Simon Wright took over the baton from John Hastie, the band became the official orchestra of the City of York - changing its name to the York Guildhall Orchestra. Due to an ever-increasing audience size, the orchestra had outgrown the Guildhall; following negotiations with the City of York, it transferred to the then brand new York Barbican Centre, where it is currently the Orchestra in Residence.

The size and most certainly the standard of playing has grown considerably throughout the intervening years and is now comparable with many professional bands. The orchestra has both commissioned and premiered several works; for example, in 1993 it premièred David Gow’s Marimba Concerto with Dame Evelyn Glennie as soloist. Local composer Dick Blackford has written several pieces for then orchestra as well.

The orchestra has featured as part of the Ryedale Festival and has performed some notable concerts, including the truly spectacular Berlioz Grande Messe des Mort, with its huge orchestra of over 120 players, an enormous choir of over 300 voices (the Hallé Choir, the Leeds Festival Chorus and the Sheffield Philharmonic Choir) and four brass bands. Performed in York Minster in 1999, it is still talked about! More recently, in 2011, there was a performance of Mahler’s enormous 8th Symphony - named Symphony of a Thousand - which required enormous forces including nearly 400 in the choir, 130 orchestra players and 8 top class soloists!! Never performed in York before (and may not be again for a long while) this was quite a feat of logistics and planning.

Popular music concerts have included concerts for younger listeners, such as one with Brian Kay as narrator in various pieces, including a musical version of The Musicians of Bremen commissioned by the orchestra from local composer Richard Shephard. The orchestra was a central feature in a concert in 2014 to commemorate the memory of local composer John Barry - a wonderful dedication to a fantastic composer performed to a full house in the Barbican.

The York Guildhall Orchestra does not rehearse on a weekly basis - rehearsals are scheduled over a 3-week period prior to each concert. Players are invited from a large pool of instrumentalists, according to the forces required. The players come from a wide range of backgrounds including teachers, gifted amateurs, students and professional players. The minimum standard is at least Grade VIII or diploma and players are expected to have a high level of commitment and enthusiasm.

Charitable Aims
The orchestra is a registered charity and Simon Wright, the orchestra's music director and the members of the committee are committed to spreading the word about educating and involving children in the world of classical and orchestral music. The orchestra works closely with the City of York Council and the York Music Hub to get primary and middle school children attending the orchestra's concerts, and by such means to get them more interested in the wider world of live music either as listeners or, more hopefully, as instrumentalists and musicians. More advanced young players are invited to the first rehearsal to sit amongst the regular orchestra players and play through the works for that particular concert. In association with the York Music Hub and the York St John University, the orchestra arranges with the soloist for each concert for that individual to give a Masterclass on their particular instrument; these prove very popular and are a wonderful opportunity for some lucky youngsters to receive a one-to-one session as they play their prepared pieces for the guest soloist to review and advise on technique and interpretation.

Soloists
The orchestra has had the privilege of working with a wide range of distinguished national and international soloists. Recent concert appearances have included Ian Bousfield, Jack Liebeck, Alessio Bax, Andrew Haveron, Daniel Zisman, Emma Johnson, Evelyn Glennie, Guy Johnson, Ian Bousfield, Ioan Davies, Jamie Walton, Jagdish Mistry, Leon McCawley, Martin Roscoe, Nicholas Wright, Paul Whelan, Peter Donohoe and Steven Isserlis.

Repertoire
The orchestra's repertoire is very wide ranging. One of the orchestra's more recent feats is being one of the very few amateur orchestras to have ever played all ten of Mahler’s symphonies in chronological order - a feat that few professional players could make the same claim. The orchestra has tackled some notoriously difficult works, such as Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra and Strauss’ notorious tone poem Don Juan - none of these are taken lightly, even by professional groups.

Sponsorship
The orchestra is currently in long standing partnership with The York St John University. Part of this sponsorship arrangement is to hold a workshop day for the music students there - composers, instrumental soloists and budding conductors. Where possible, the orchestra selects and performs one of the student pieces as part of its concert series.

Other current sponsors include the Shepherd Group, Fulprint, O'Neill Associates, Bettys and Crombie & Wilkinson. Support is also received from the City of York Council and from the York Music Hub.