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Orchestra
of the Swan
David
Curtis – Artistic Director
Nicholas
Cleobury – Associate Director
Errollyn
Wallen – Associate Composer
Under the direction of Artistic Director David
Curtis, Orchestra of the Swan has achieved national recognition for
outstanding performances combined with innovative programming and an
accessible style of presentation. The orchestra’s performances receive
widespread critical acclaim in the national and regional media and are
frequently chosen as Pick of the Week for the Guardian, Times, Independent
and Daily Telegraph.
The Orchestra’s home is at the Civic Hall,
Stratford-upon-Avon
where it has been based since its inception. There are also residencies at
Cheltenham
’s Pittville Pump Room, Redditch Palace Theatre and Bedworth Civic Hall.
In addition the orchestra has performed at major concert halls including
Symphony Hall,
Birmingham
, Warwick Arts Centre and
St John’s Smith Square
as well as giving performances for numerous other promoters and festivals.
Venues for the 2005-6 season included the Three Choirs Festival, St
George’s Brandon Hill Bristol, Lichfield Festival, Deal Festival, Kings
Lynn Festival and Stoneleigh Abbey among many others, as well an Arts
Council Funded tour of ten venues showcasing work by Sir Michael Tippett
and newly commissioned work.
Orchestra of the Swan’s exciting, innovative
programming draws on masterpieces of the chamber orchestra repertoire,
from the classical and romantic canon to significant works from the 20th
century. The orchestra recently finished a major two-year concert series
Music of our Time celebrating the work of one of
England
’s greatest composers, Sir Michael Tippett whose centenary fell in 2005.
Commissioning new music forms a major part of the
orchestra’s programme, working with some of the
UK
’s leading composers and also encouraging composers from the younger
generation. Recently the orchestra has commissioned new work from Joe
Duddell, Julian Philips, Errollyn Wallen, Joe Phibbs, Dobrinka Tabakova,
John Woolrich, Tansy Davies, Paul Patterson, Shu Wang and Oscar Colomina I
Bosch.
Orchestra of the Swan is committed to taking music
of the finest to quality to everyone – including those unable to attend
main-stream concerts. The 2005 – 6 season saw a major rural concert
series in the villages of Southam and Shipston-upon-Stour in Warwickshire,
supported by the Nationwide Foundation and Stratford Town Trust,
as well as outreach work involving 8
Stratford
primary schools and a premiere of the chamber orchestra version of Paul
Patterson’s Three Little Pigs.
The orchestra recently completed a ground-breaking education project based
around the nationally acclaimed Music of our Time concert series celebrating the work of Sir Michael
Tippett giving AS-level music students in Stratford the opportunity to
have their work played by a professional orchestra and mentored by
composition students from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 2004
Orchestra of the Swan took part in the national Listen
Up! festival of orchestras, organised by the ABO and BBC Radio 3, and
initiative aiming to raise the profile of British orchestras.
The past 3 years have seen Orchestra of the Swan
establish a highly innovative sponsorship arrangement with
Birmingham
International
Airport
. Supported by Arts & Business the orchestra is Resident Orchestra at
BIA, a unique arrangement benefiting airport staff, customers and the
local community. Now in its third year the support of the airport has
enabled Orchestra of the Swan to become of leading arts organisation in
the region and one of Warwickshire’s proudest exports!
Patron
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
Vice-Presidents
The Countess of
Leicester
, The Marquess of Cholmondeley,
Lord Simon of Highbury, Lord Broers
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