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Salomon Orchestra

London's award-winning symphony orchestra

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BBC Radio 3's Listen Up Festival of Orchestras includes the 2nd movement of Scheherazade from our May 2006 concert, broadcast 7:30pm Tuesday 3rd October 2006

Salomon brass members played in the Cheltenham Music Festival 2006 grand finale: '...Awesome...' - The Guardian <click here>

About Salomon

'I cannot quibble when it describes itself as London’s leading non-professional orchestra...Throughout the Finale the virtuosity of these non-professionals remained exemplary...' Jim Pritchard for Seen and Heard Concert Review on Mahler's 6th Symphony, February 2007.

'Salomon Orchestra really is the finest non-professional orchestra in London'. Jonathan Burton, Words and Music.

Salomon appeared in Radio 3's Festival of Orchestras 3rd October 2006 and on 'Listen Again'

Warm up in SJSS with Malcolm Binney 10th February 2004

The first concert series around London in 1963

The Salomon Orchestra was conceived in the Augustiner Keller in Vienna in 1963 by the conductor Nicholas Braithwaite and a group of his contemporaries. The orchestra has worked with artists in the early years of their professional careers, many of them now established names in British music making, including conductors Andrew Davis, Simon Rattle and Martyn Brabbins, and soloists such as Felicity Lott, Jean Rigby, Kennedy, Barry Douglas, Piers Lane, Paul Crossley and Ronan O'Hora.

The orchestra is named after violinist, composer and impresario Johann Peter Salomon (born in the same house as Beethoven in Bonn) who brought Haydn to England 1791 and reflects the predominance of that composer in the orchestra's early repertoire. Since then the orchestra has become known for its performance of late romantic and 20th Century works.

In 1990 the Salomon Orchestra received the Enterprise award from the Performing Rights Society for its continued initiative in promoting the performance of contemporary music.

The orchestra celebrated its 25th anniversary in October 1988 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall where it gave the first performance of Giles Swayne's The Song of the Leviathan specially commissioned for the occasion.

Examples of continued challenging programming include Messiaen's Turangalîla Symphonie and Tippett's 4th Symphony in 1993 and in 1998 the programmes included contemporary British works by John McCabe and John Pickard.

In May 1999 at the Royal Festival Hall the orchestra promoted a performance of Mahler's 8th Symphony conducted by Martyn Brabbins with the Huddersfield Choral Society, Crouch End Festival Chorus and Finchley Children's Music Group.

For the 40th anniversary concert in October 2003 The Salomon Orchestra assembled the huge orchestra needed for Richard Strauss' Alpine Symphony, directed once again by founding conductor Nicholas Braithwaite. February 2005 included a performance of Sir Michael Tippett's Concerto for Orchestra to mark the centenary of his birth.

Salomon Orchestra World Record

Following our Beethovenathon in 2003 and Tchaikovskyathon in 2005 we were delighted to join our President and Cheltenham Music Festival Director Martyn Brabbins in all of Dvořák's symphonies on Sunday 8th July 2007 at Cheltenham Town Hall. We are advised by a founder member of the Dvořák Society of Great Britain that such is the rarity of performance of the earliest symphonies that this was the most Dvořák symphonies performed in one day and therefore a World Record! Click here for a description and pictures of the event.

Recorded at our May 2006 concert, The Story of the prince-kalandar from Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade was broadcast in BBC Radio 3's Festival of Orchestras in October 2006.

Saint John's Smith Square 'brim full' for Mahler's 6th Symphony, 6 February 2007.

Photo by Stefan

'...balance was excellent and detail was vivid...the Andante was beautifully done, genuinely heartfelt and emotionally outpouring... A memorable performance.' Colin Anderson for classicalsource.com

Details of recent concerts are found via past concerts.

To view lists of our repertoire please go to the Repertoire page.

Check out our photo gallery.

Engagements

The orchestra will consider commissions which may be interesting to members and beneficial to the orchestra. The list of planned engagements with other organisations is on the Concerts page below details of our own season. Our contact details are on the home page.

We have had the privilege of working with some very fine groups:

'Please convey our grateful thanks to the members of the Salmon Orchestra for an awe-inspiring performance last Saturday at the Cathedral. As a member of the choir I am able to say how much we appreciated being accompanied with such sensitivity and clarity. The whole evening was a truly magical experience!'. Quoted with permission from John Willmott of the Epworth Choir following a beautifully sung performance of Verdi's Requiem at Guildford, 26th April 2008.

Some recent outside engagements

Sunday 2nd November 2008 at Cheltenham Town Hall

Conductor Martyn Brabbins Cello Julian Lloyd Webber

Cheltenham's Homage to Holst