The Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra is an amateur symphony

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: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

based in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Based in the cultural heart of the City of Sheffield at the Victoria Hall, the SPO draws on players of all backgrounds from across Yorkshire & the Humber, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire. The Orchestra gives five concerts a year across Sheffield and beyond, and its regular programme of season concerts is supplemented by music weekends, foreign tours, collaboration with local choral societies and open air charity concerts. Over the years the SPO has performed in many venues, such as: Sheffield City Hall, Buxton Pavilion Gardens and

Birmingham Symphony Hall Symphony Hall is a 2,262-seat concert venue in Birmingham, England. It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 12 June 1991, although it had been in use since 15 April 1991. It is home to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and hos ...

, where they recorded a live CD with acoustic and electric guitarist, Gordon Giltrap MBE. The Orchestra has also performed at music festivals on the islands of Crete, Malta and Sardinia. The Sheffield Philharmonic performs a broad range of symphonic repertoire and commissioning new work by local composers and arrangers. The SPO have accompanied a number of soloists, such as: Fenella Humphreys, Benjamin Frith and Rohan da Saram.

History

The SPO gave its first public performance on Sunday 22 April 1945 in Sheffield City Hall under the baton of Herman Lindars, the founder of the orchestra. The audience included the Lord and Lady Mayoress of Sheffield and the Master and Mistress Cutler, Lord and Lady Riverdale. At the time the orchestra was known as the 'Sheffield Amateur Symphony Orchestra' but a year or so later it was incorporated into the Philharmonic Concerts Department of the Sheffield Corporation, taking on the name by which it is known today. Over the next forty years, the SPO gave concerts regularly at the

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

, performing with distinguished soloists and guest conductors. During the 1980s the orchestra played concerts in St. Johns Church (Ranmoor),

Beverley Minster Beverley Minster, otherwise known as the Parish Church of Saint John and Saint Martin, in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, is a parish church in the Church of England. It is one of the largest parish churches in the UK, larger than one-thir ...

, St Marie’s Catholic Cathedral, The Octagon Centre and Buxton Pavilion Gardens. Family concerts were usually given once a year in the

with well-known personalities such as Johnny Morris and

Anthony Hopkins Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor. Considered one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for List of Anthony Hopkins performances, his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins ha ...

. Following a few years of decline, the orchestra began rebuilding its membership and prestige under the baton of Andrew Lucas and its fortunes were further revived when John Pearson took on the role of Musical Director. Over time, membership continued to increase and the quality of performance improved, and it was during this period that the Orchestra played a highly successful concert in

featuring the music of folk guitar virtuoso, Gordon Giltrap, followed by a commercial recording of his symphonic work, ''The Eye of the Wind''.

Conductors

*Herman Lindars 1945 – *Andrew Lucas *John Pearson * Ewa Strusinska *Jonathan Lo *Jack Lovell-Huckle 2016 – 2018 *George Morton 2018 – Present

References

Orchestras in Sheffield British symphony orchestras {{Orchestra-stub