Orchestras
SHERBORNE SCHOOLS' SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Michaelmas and Lent Terms)
The Symphony Orchestra, which rehearses on Tuesdays in the Tindall Recital Hall during "ring-fenced" time between 5.15 and 6.45 pm, is joint with Sherborne Girls, Leweston and The Gryphon. Entry is competitive by audition at the start of each academic year. The repertoire has recently included the last movement of Saint-Saëns Symphony no 8 (the Organ Symphony), Aaron Copland's Rodeo and Beethoven Symphony no 5. In 2011 the Symphony Orchestra undertook a weekend's residency at St Hilda's College, Oxford, in preparation for a concert in the Sheldonian Theatre. This concert was one of two which the orchestra gives during each academic year - one in the Big School Room (BSR) just before Christmas and one shortly before Easter in either St John's Smith Square, the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford, or St George's Bristol.
The standard of playing in the Symphony Orchestra is high, with most players having achieved ABRSM Grade 7 or more. The more advanced instrumentalists have the opportunity to audition for a Concerto performance to be accompanied either by the Symphony Orchestra or, if numbers of successful candidates are unusually high, by a professional orchestra.
SHERBORNE SCHOOLS' SINFONIA (Michaelmas and Lent Terms)
The Sinfonia rehearses at Sherborne Girls at the same time as the Symphony Orchestra. It, too, is joint with Sherborne Girls, Leweston and the Gryphon and is the training ground for the Symphony Orchestra. The Sinfonia performs in two concerts each academic year: one in the Big School Room (BSR) and one in either in the Tindall Recital Hall or in the Chapel at Leweston, Almost all members of the Sinfonia progress to Symphony Orchestra in time and when they have reached a high playing standard.
CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
The boys' Chamber Orchestra meets for rehearsal once a week in a Q Time slot at lunchtime on Mondays and performs in two concerts each year - once in a lunchtime recital in Cheap Street Church and once during the Symphony Orchestra concert in London, Oxford or Bristol. Entry is competitive by invited audition. From time to time the Chamber Orchestra performs in evening recitals outside Sherborne, in Prep School visits, and in the summer of 2011 undertook a one week concert tour of northern Italy based in Venice and Lido.
CONCERT ORCHESTRA (Trinity term)
In the summer term each year, the boys in the Symphony Orchestra, the Sinfonia and the Chamber Orchestra join forces to form the "Sherborne School Concert Orchestra" which then rehearses once a week on Tuesdays before performing in the annual Gala Concert during Commem in early July. Recent repertoire has included Walton's Crown Imperial, Eric Coates Calling all workers and By the sleepy lagoon, and Wood's Barwick Green. Shortly after playing in the 2011 Gala Concert, the Concert Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra undertakook a concert tour to Italy based in Lido and Venice.
Concert Orchestra, Venice July 2011
