Sinfonia Viva is a British orchestra based in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, England. The orchestra is administratively based in Stapleford, Nottingham. It gives concerts in a number of cities and venues, including the following: *

Cleethorpes Cleethorpes () is a seaside town on the estuary of the Humber in North East Lincolnshire, England with a population of 38,372 in 2020. It has been permanently occupied since the 6th century, with fishing as its original industry, then develo ...

( Meridian Park) *

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

(Cathedral, Derby Theatre, and the annual open-air concert in Darley Park) *

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linco ...

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

(The Courtyard) *

Newark-on-Trent Newark-on-Trent or Newark () is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road bypasses th ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

(Palace Theatre) *

(Royal Concert Hall) *

Pakefield Pakefield is a suburb of the town of Lowestoft in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is located around south of the centre of the town. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1774. Pakefield has boundaries with Carlton Colville and ...

* Stamford (Stamford Arts Centre)

History

Malcolm Nabarro founded the orchestra in 1982 as the ''East of England Orchestra'' in

, and served as its first artistic director through 1995. Peter Helps then became chief executive of the orchestra in 1995. In that year, the orchestra moved its residence from Nottingham to Derby, specifically to the Beaufort Business Centre. In 1996, Nicholas Kok became principal conductor of the orchestra. The orchestra changed its name to ''Sinfonia Viva'' in 2000. Kok stood down as Sinfonia Viva's principal conductor in 2006, and then became the orchestra's principal guest conductor.

André de Ridder André de Ridder is a German conductor of classical music based in Berlin and working all over the world. Work De Ridder studied conducting with Leopold Hager at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna and with Sir Colin Metters at ...

became principal conductor of sinfonia Viva in 2007, with an initial contract of 3 years. In September 2010, the orchestra extended his contract through 2012. de Ridder concluded his tenure with sinfonia Viva after the 2011–2012 season. In September 2014, Sinfonia Viva announced the appointment of

Duncan Ward Duncan may refer to: People * Duncan (given name), various people * Duncan (surname), various people * Clan Duncan The personal name Duncan can be found in Scotland’s oldest records in its Scottish Gaelic language, Gaelic form Dunchad/D ...

as its next principal conductor, effective in January 2015, for an initial contract of 2 years. Ward concluded his tenure on 29 November 2017. In January 2018, the orchestra announced the appointment of

Frank Zielhorst Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curre ...

as its new principal conductor, with immediate effect. The orchestra appointed its first resident composer,

Anna Meredith Anna Howard Meredith (born 12 January 1978) is a Scottish composer and performer of electronic and acoustic music. She is a former composer-in-residence with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and former PRS/RPS Composer in the House with Si ...

, as part of the

Royal Philharmonic Society The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a memb ...

's 'Composer in the House' scheme, in December 2009. She formally began her work with Sinfonia Viva in January 2010, and continued in the post through 2012. Peter Helps retired as chief executive in 2021. In October 2021, the orchestra announced the appointment of Lucy Galliard as its next chief executive, effective January 2022. Outside of conventional classical music, Sinfonia Viva made its first London appearance in May 2009 at

King's Place Kings Place is a building in London’s Kings Cross area, providing music and visual arts venues combined with seven floors of office space. It has housed the editorial offices of ''The Guardian'' newspaper since December 2008 and is the fo ...

, as part of the "East Meets West Festival", in collaboration with the Indian violinist

Kala Ramnath Kala Ramnath is an Indian classical violinist. She belongs to the Mewati gharana, a lineage of musicians. She was awarded the Sangeet Natak Academy Puraskaar in 2016, Rashtriya Kumar Gandharva Sanman in 2008 and the Pandit Jasraj Gaurav Puraska ...

. The orchestra has also worked with the group

Gorillaz Gorillaz are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guitar, ...

on their 2010 album ''

Plastic Beach ''Plastic Beach'' is the third studio album by British virtual band Gorillaz. It was released on 3 March 2010 by Parlophone internationally and by Virgin Records in the United States. Conceived from an unfinished project called ''Carousel'', th ...

''.

Principal conductors

* Malcolm Nabarro (1982–1995) (Artistic Director, East of England Orchestra) * Nicholas Kok (1996–2006) * André de Ridder (2007–2012) * Duncan Ward (2015–2017) * Frank Zielhorst (2018–present)

References

External links

Official Sinfonia Viva home page
{{authority control English orchestras Musical groups from Derby Musical groups established in 1982 1982 establishments in England Culture in Derby