The Orchestra of St John's is an
orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, founded in 1967 by
John Lubbock. Originally called the Orchestra of St John's Smith Square, it was named after
St John's, Smith Square
St John's Smith Square is a redundant church in the centre of Smith Square, Westminster, London. Sold to a charitable trust as a ruin following firebombing in the Second World War, it was restored as a concert hall.
This Grade I listed
...
in central London.
The Orchestra has worked with British soloists including
Dame Felicity Lott,
Tasmin Little
Tasmin Little (born 13 May 1965) is an English classical violinist. She is a concerto soloist and also performs as a recitalist and chamber musician. She has released numerous albums, winning the Critics Award at the Classic Brit Awards in 2011 ...
,
John Lill
John Richard Lill (born 17 March 1944 in London) is a British classical pianist.
Biography
Lill studied at the Royal College of Music with Angus Morrison, and with Wilhelm Kempff. His talent emerged at an early age, he gave his first piano rec ...
and
Stephen Kovacevich, and also aims to provide a platform for new musicians, including performers such as
Julian Bliss
Julian Bliss (born 1989) is a British clarinettist and clarinet designer. He has performed as a soloist, chamber and jazz musician, notably with his teacher Sabine Meyer. He also designed the Bliss Clarinet for instrument manufacturer Leblanc (mu ...
and
Chloë Hanslip
Chloë Elise Hanslip (born 28 September 1987) is a British classical violinist.
Biography
Hanslip was born in Guildford, Surrey, and has been playing the violin since she was two. At the age of four she performed solo at the Purcell Room. When sh ...
.
The Orchestra has held its own music festival each year at
Dorchester Abbey
The Abbey Church of St Peter and St Paul, more usually called Dorchester Abbey, is a Church of England parish church in Dorchester on Thames, Oxfordshire, about southeast of Oxford. It was formerly a Norman abbey church and was built on the ...
in Oxfordshire since 2003, and also promotes concerts in London. These have included a one-hour series of early evening concerts at
Cadogan Hall
Cadogan Hall is a 950-seat capacity concert hall in Sloane Terrace in Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England.
The resident music ensemble at Cadogan Hall is the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), the first ...
as well as performances at
St John's, Smith Square
St John's Smith Square is a redundant church in the centre of Smith Square, Westminster, London. Sold to a charitable trust as a ruin following firebombing in the Second World War, it was restored as a concert hall.
This Grade I listed
...
, the
South Bank Centre
Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge).
It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nat ...
and regular appearances at the
BBC Proms
The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...
.
The Orchestra has also featured on two albums by the rock group
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...
: the
Grammy
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
award-winning ''
Kid A
''Kid A'' is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 2 October 2000 by Parlophone. It was recorded with their producer, Nigel Godrich, in Paris, Copenhagen, Gloucestershire and their hometown of Oxford.
After th ...
'' and Grammy-nominated ''
Amnesiac
Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be caused temporarily by the use o ...
''.
OSJ performed the première of ''Escape Velocity'' by Benjamin Wallfisch at the 2006 BBC
Proms festival. The composer
Matthew King also collaborated with the orchestra and the savant pianist
Derek Paravicini
Derek Paravicini (born 26 July 1979) is an English autistic savant known as a musical prodigy. He resides in London.
Biography
On 26 July 1979, Paravicini was born at Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, He was born extremely prematurely, at ...
on a piano concerto entitled ''
Blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...
'' in 2011.
References
{{reflist
British orchestras
Musical groups established in 1967
1967 establishments in the United Kingdom