News
Gala concert for the Forces Children's Trust
Docklands Sinfonia is delighted to have been asked to perform at a special gala concert for the Forces Children’s Trust, which raises awareness and funds for children whose parents have died or been badly injured whilst serving in the UK’s Armed Forces.
The concert is being held on Wednesday May 16 at Guildford Cathedral, Surrey, and will star renowned trumpeter Alison Balsom, who was named Female Artist of the Year 2009 and 2011 in the Classical Brit Awards.
The Trust takes to its heart the well-being of children who have lost parents whilst serving in the UK's armed forces. Its activities range from organising days out to theatres to arranging counselling for bereaved children.
The concert is the brainchild of Lawrence Clark, who, prior to joining the RAF, was a professional musician.
He explained: “During the months of December 2010 to February 2011, I was deployed to Afghanistan as part of 1310 flight operating the Royal Air Force’s contingent of Chinook helicopters in Helmand Province. A major part of the support we offer is casualty evacuation for ISAF troops, the civil population and wounded enemy combatants.
“In early February 2011, one of our crews was called out to a member of the 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment who had been injured by an IED. Despite reaching the casualty quickly and the level of care provided by the RAF's Medical Emergency Response Team, the soldier sadly died of his wounds.”
Shortly afterwards, Lawrence learned that the young soldier had been due to fly home for the birth of his first child. As a father of two, Lawrence began to wonder what help there would be for his family if anything should happen to him. That’s when he discovered the Forces Children’s Trust.
“The idea of a fundraising concert seemed a natural one to me, bringing together former friends and colleagues to perform in order to raise funds to enable the charity to continue their valuable work and also to try and create something positive out of a tragic situation.”
Details on how to buy tickets for this special event will follow. For more information about the charity, please go to www.forceschildrenstrust.org/
Ed Balls praises Hackney Schools project
Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls has paid tribute to the ‘brilliant’ performance of young musicians who performed alongside players from Docklands Sinfonia at the Hackney Empire on Thursday November 10th.
Mr Balls and Docklands Sinfonia’s patron Admiral Lord West were among the 600-strong audience for the Hackney School Gala concert.
Docklands Sinfonia was proud to have been involved in the joint collaboration with the Hackney Learning Trust and Hackney Borough Youth Orchestra. It was the orchestra’s first educational project and, hopefully, the first of many in the area.
Mr Balls took to twitter to tell Docklands Sinfonia conductor Spencer Down that he had enjoyed a ‘brilliant night’ at the Hackney Empire. He added that ‘Lots of hard work and talent gone into the performances - and great teaching too.’
Tickets selling fast for Chelmsford M&G series
Sunday 19th February 2012, 7:30pm
OVER 400 tickets have already been sold for Docklands Sinfonia’s debut at the prestigious M&G civic concert series on Sunday 19th February 2012.
The orchestra is stunned to have pre-sold more tickets than all the established professional orchestras taking part in the series – including Britten Sinfonia, City of London Sinfonia and the European Union Chamber Orchestra.
With 200 tickets remaining, we recommend that you buy your tickets quickly for this event as we do not want our valued supporters to miss out!
The orchestra will be repeating its ‘Made in Britain’ concert which celebrates the best of British orchestral music with pieces by Coates, Wilson, Delius and Elgar. The evening includes a pre-concert talk by our conductor Spencer Down.
With more than 100 performances over the last 23 years, the M&G civil concert series has established itself as one of the most prestigious classical events in Essex, celebrating the very best in classical music from some of the world's most talented orchestras and musicians.
To book tickets, costing from £12.50, please go to the M&G Civic Concerts Season website.
BBC Radio 3 'Light Fantastic' recording
May 22nd 2011
Docklands Sinfonia has been selected to make a recording at the BBC studios in Maida Vale on May 22nd for BBC Radio 3's 'Light Fantastic' festival celebrating British light orchestral music.
The orchestra will record Jack Beaver's rousing 'Cavalcade of Youth' which is best known as the theme to 1950s radio play 'The Barlows of Beddington'.
Concert for the Queen, Buckingham Palace Ballroom
May 9th 2011
Docklands Sinfonia is honoured to have been invited to perform for Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh in the Ballroom at Buckingham Palace.
The symphony orchestra will perform alongside distinguished artists – including world famous soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa - and rising stars at the Reception to celebrate young talent in the British Performing Arts in the United Kingdom.
Docklands Sinfonia, which has been rated as one of London’s top 5 non-professional symphony orchestras, will be involved in a specially commissioned theatre performance in the Ballroom which has been inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
The performance, which has been produced by the English National Ballet in association with Dramatico Entertainment, aims to showcase distinguished artists and young people pursuing excellence in their chosen fields including drama, dance and music.
It will present a light-hearted exploration of Shakespeare’s story and feature mentor artists such as Dame Kiri, Anne Reid MBE, Bryony Hannah and Amy Robbins, in addition to rising stars such as Tamsin Egerton, Daniel Kaluuya, Rumer and Alleviate.
Guests attending the reception will be drawn from all parts of the United Kingdom and represent many organisations and individuals who make a contribution to the performing arts industry.
Representatives from performing arts organisations such as English National Ballet, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the National Youth Music Theatre will also attend the reception.
At the conclusion of the performance, The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh will meet artists and guests, of which there will be approximately 450 in total.
Imogen Heap at the Royal Albert Hall
November 2010
Docklands Sinfonia is thrilled to be performing the premiere of Grammy winner Imogen Heap's orchestral composition 'Love The Earth' at the Royal Albert Hall.
The piece will be streamed live over the internet on Friday November 5th at 7:30pm and will accompany the singer-songwriter's new film about nature. It will be the first time that a performance has been broadcast in high definition over the internet from this famous London concert venue.
Docklands Sinfonia Storms Into Top Orchestral Rankings
June 2010
Docklands Sinfonia has been rated as one of the top five non-professional orchestras in London by the respected industry magazine Classical Music – just one year after its creation.
The accolade is a remarkable achievement for the orchestra, which was only formed in January 2009 by conductor Spencer Down.
Classical Music’s Hannah Nepil, who singled out just 5 of the 100 plus amateur orchestras in London for praise, wrote: “This ensemble has something that even some professional orchestras struggle to maintain: real joy in the music-making.”
The ranking establishes Docklands Sinfonia as a cultural force in East London. The orchestra has already achieved previous success with a BBC1 performance and a number of sell-out concerts with major solo artists.
Admiral Lord West Becomes Patron
March 2010
Docklands Sinfonia is proud to announce that Admiral Lord West has agreed to become the orchestra's patron.
Lord West, who was security minister in Gordon Brown’s government and is the former head of the Royal Navy, has been a huge supporter of the orchestra along with his wife Rosemary.