2012 Season

Saturday 17 March
Tuesday 27 March
Friday 6 April
Saturday 21 April
Saturday 28 April
Monday 7 May
Saturday 12 May
Wednesday 30 May

***Elgar Festival***
Thursday 31 May
Friday 1 June
Saturday 2nd June

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The Worcestershire-based ESO was founded by William Boughton as the English String Orchestra in 1978. It soon formed a reputation for performances of English music and made many recordings. For full orchestral repertoire, ESO grew to become the English Symphony Orchestra. Ever since then, “ESO” has served as an acronym with a dual meaning.

The idea of ESO is to share the joys of live music with as wide a population as possible. Our typical concert programme will features performances by the Symphony and String Orchestras, and a variety of chamber ensembles, in locations around the West Midlands, ThreeCounties, Shropshire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire, plus invitations to appear elsewhere for festivals or in residence.

These concerts often provide the only opportunity locally to hear live music by a professional orchestra. That includes people who by reason of age (young or old) or infirmity would otherwise be unable to access it. ESO raises funds, therefore, to send its Wind and String Quartets to play in local care homes and Hospices.

We run orchestra courses for children from grade 1 onwards, and train talented young players to perform alongside our regulars in some of our concerts. For pre-school age children, ESO has collaborated with the London Mozart Players to produce Storytime, which introduces the different types of instruments in an orchestra in an engaging (and audience-participatory!) way.

ESO is the only orchestra in the area doing this, and it manages to do so currently without the benefit of public sector funding. ESO as a result is heavily reliant on its Friends organisation, partner organisations and sponsors to support its community work.

Sebastian Parsons	Michael Bochmann	Peter Sheeran