We are a ‘rehearsal orchestra’ – that is, we meet to play for the enjoyment of the members rather than to prepare for concerts.

We meet in Shalford Village Hall but players come from all over the Guildford area.

Repertoire

We play works by everyone from Bach & Boyce through Mozart & Mendelssohn to Prokofiev, Sibelius as well as more recent composers – and everything from orchestral suites to symphonies. A recent venture has been to play a couple of movements of the Bruch violin concerto No 1 with a young musician from the Yehudi Menuhin School.

Matthew’s early career was as a boy chorister at Westminster Abbey, singing at numerous state occasions including the wedding of the current Prince and Princess of Wales. He also made a name for himself as a violinist, but for the last few years he has been concentrating more on conducting – starting with the Guildford Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Surrey University String Orchestra. He has also built up relationships with a range of other groups including Guildford Opera and Kingston Philharmonia.

Matthew took over as regular conductor of the Claud Powell Chamber Orchestra in February 2023. Previous conductors have included Professor Sebastian Forbes and the late David Stone.

Membership

Membership of the Claud Powell Chamber Orchestra is open to anyone aged 18 or over who has reached or exceeded Grade 6 standard on their instrument and to children of members who have also reached that standard. The cost is £60 per term of 10 rehearsals.

We are currently seeking additional string players. Horn players would also be particularly welcome.

If you think you might like to join us, please email join@cpco.org.uk. As well as telling us your name and your instrument, please also give us an idea of how familiar you are with playing in an orchestra or other musical groups.

You are also welcome to come and try us out for free at one of our rehearsals (see below). Please email info@cpco.org.uk to let us know that you will be coming.

Forthcoming Rehearsals

All rehearsals are held 7.45 – 9.15pm in Shalford Village Hall. Please bring your own stand.

The schedule for the Autumn 2023 term is as follows:

• Rehearsal dates:
  September 11th; 18th; 25th
  October 2nd; 9th; 30th
  November 6th; 13th; 20th; 27th
  i.e. a total of 10 rehearsals with a ‘half-term’ break on October 16th and 23rd

We shall be working on:

• Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony (No 41)
• Schubert’s Little C-Major Symphony (No 6); and
• Faure’s Pavane