{{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The North Cheshire Wind Orchestra (NCWO) is a symphonic wind orchestra based in

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. The membership of around 40 players is drawn from throughout the North West of England, many of whom travel considerable distances to rehearsals. Whilst a number of members make their living from music, the group is essentially non-professional. Over the last 5 years the NCWO has developed to the point where it is now regarded as one of the finest ensembles of its type in the UK. In April 2006 the NCWO was honoured to give the European premiere of

Daron Hagen Daron Aric Hagen ( ; born November 4, 1961) is an American composer, writer, and filmmaker. Biography Early life Daron Hagen was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and grew up in New Berlin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. Hagen was the youngest of t ...

's opera Bandanna, along with soloists from the

Royal Northern College of Music The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...

and the Manchester Chamber Choir, in the presence of the composer. The NCWO are affiliated to the

British Association of Symphonic Bands and Wind Ensembles The British Association of Symphonic Bands and Wind Ensembles is an organisation that represents symphonic bands and wind ensembles, also known as concert bands, in the UK. History It was founded in July 1981 by Timothy Reynish at a conference f ...

(BASBWE) and play a prominent part in its activities. This has included performances at the annual International Wind Festival at the

in Manchester in 1999 and 2002, and regular success in the National Concert Band Festival at both regional and national level, including consecutive Gold Awards at the 2004 and 2005 National finals. The NCWO is also a member of Making Music - the National Federation of Music Societies. In November 2002 the orchestra performed at the opening celebrations for

Pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilate ...

’s new arts centre. The concert included the premiere of a new work commissioned for the occasion by the Irish composer, Fergal Carroll. In October 2003 the NCWO launched a concert season at

which has established a regular base for the orchestra. A wide range of music is performed by the group, although there is a particular commitment to music written for the modern wind orchestra in the past 30 years. The organisation is now noted for its adventurous programming and has taken part in several commissioning projects. This interest in commissioning and performing new music was an important factor in the decision of the

Arts Council of England The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both h ...

in May 2000 to award the NCWO over £21,000 of National Lottery funding towards the purchase of new instruments.

External links

North Cheshire Wind Orchestra
English orchestras Musical groups from Cheshire Wind bands Warrington