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cornish sinfonia
History
During its formation in 1999, the Sinfonia was asked to
perform the winning entries of the Cornwall Young
Composers’ Competition at the Hall For Cornwall,
accompany the premiere of a new opera by local
composer Russell Pascoe, called Charlotte Dymond, under
the baton of David Frost. The orchestra was asked to step
in at short notice to take over a concert from the
Bournemouth Sinfonietta as a result of its regrettable
demise. This concert was widely hailed as a huge success.
In the summer of 2000, The Cornish Sinfonia forged
collaboration with Macmillan Cancer Relief, performing
with the Duchy Opera Chorus, a scintillating programme
of orchestral and choral classics in the imposing grounds
of Pendennis Castle. This was followed in the summer of
2002 with a concert at the Eden Project to a capacity
audience.
of the chamber version of Mahler’s 4th Symphony and in
November of 2010 the orchestra performed as part of the
Hall’s International Season. Members of the Cornish
Sinfonia also performed at the Hall For Cornwall in View
From The Shore with the Jacky Lansley Dance Theatre and
took part in a tour of British Cathedrals, in a production of
Standing Stones for Ascendance.
2014 saw the premiere of the acclaimed community
production, Giant Bolster by David Frost at the Hall For
Cornwall. Since then the orchestra has appeared again at
the Hall with a Valentine’s Day concert and a series of
open air concerts at Lusty Glaze.
In March our principal conductor David Frost, passed away
and a wonderful celebration concert of his life and music
was held at Truro Cathedral, to a packed congregation and
with nearly two hundred performers. David was a great
support and inspiration to the orchestra and will be
greatly missed.
We are delighted that Michael Reed has agreed to take
over the role of principal conductor and we are busy
planning concerts for the next season.
Above The Mahler concert
poster from January 2007
which featured the world
premiere of Richard Pascoe's
"Yseult of the White Hands".
The orchestra has also played in a performance of the
award winning The Armed Man conducted by the
composer Karl Jenkins and accompanied the soprano
Katherine Jenkins in concerts at the Plymouth Pavillions.
In 2003 the orchestra began an association with the Duchy
Ballet and performed the premiere of an adaptation of The
Mousehole Cat by Ian Hughes, together with Giselle. The
resulting artistic success was also matched by record
audiences at the Hall For Cornwall and the composition
was one of three finalists for stage productions at the
British Composers Awards. The Sinfonia was used for the
premiere of the highly successful ballet by David Frost of
The Mermaid of Zennor.
In 2005 we began a collaboration with the Duchy Opera in
their production of The Masked Ball, followed by The
Wreckers and Tosca.
2008 saw a highly praised concert at the Hall For Cornwall
featuring Suzanne Manuell, which included a performance
The following year the
orchestra played live to the
animated films of Mousehole
Cat & The Story of Arion &
The Dolphin with music by
the late Ian Hughes. The
orchestra also received Arts
Council support for a
commission of Grasshopper
Rhymes, which was
performed with William
Walton’s Façade and
featured Jenny Agutter and
Peter Skellern as the soloists.
Above The orchestra played a series of annual open air concerts on the
Cornish Beach at Lusty Glaze