Founded in 1961 English Sinfonia is one of the earliest established chamber orchestras in the United Kingdom; in its earlier years Sir Charles Groves was the name most closely associated with the orchestra, a relationship which produced recorded cycles of all the main canons of the chamber orchestra repertoire which are still available commercially.

English Sinfonia’s operational basis is as a chamber orchestra; this implies “small” in size, although no set definition of a chamber orchestra exists - literally an orchestra that can fit into a chamber or room as opposed to a symphony orchestra. English Sinfonia has a membership of 28 players drawn mainly from the major London orchestras, all performing on modern instruments; however we do expand to include percussion, trombones, keyboard in order to perform music from 18th to 21st century. We perform Mozart’s symphonies which require 2 Oboes and Horns, maybe a bassoon, and strings; sometimes we perform baroque repertoire which requires just 12 strings and harpsichord – on the other hand we have expanded to perform music from the romantic era requiring up to 50 musicians. In that way we’re flexible and stylistically versatile.

English Sinfonia’s home base is Hertfordshire, thereby enabling it to take full advantage of its proximity to London and the availability of many of the best freelance musicians nationally, plus the commercial advantage of being centrally located.

In 2005 the distinguished violinst Janice Graham was appointed Artistic Director; Janice had formerly been Leader of English Sinfonia since 1995, having also held top positions with the London Symphony Orchestra, and a frequent guest of all the major UK orchestras. In demand as a performer, Janice also holds positions as Professor at the Royal College of Music, is a Governor of the Purcell School in Hertfordshire, and a regular jury member of BBCTV’s Young Musican of the Year.

A new and exciting artistic team is growing at English Sinfonia alongside Janice Graham; Tim Steiner has been appointed Artist in Residence from late 2005. Tim enjoys an enviable reputation as one of the UK’s most respected leaders in the field of musical training, development, and workshop direction. His skills will enhance a developing national recognition of the work English Sinfonia already delivers in this field.

English Sinfonia was recently awarded a substantial grant to work with the University of Hertfordshire’s electro-acoutsic music department to develop innovative educational workshops featuring the latest technological developments, webcasting, and also an interactive website which will position the orchestra at the head of this area of work nationally.

2006 sees English Sinfonia celebrate its 45th anniversary; during this season the orchestra will develop its growing London concert profile, record for Naxos and other international labels, feature in Lesley Garrett’s UK Tour (classical music’s most popular artist), and continue to deliver performances which reflect the unique collection of like-minded dynamic musicians.

For further information, please contact Christine Lee or Janice Graham.