Royal Sutton Coldfield Orchestra is to mark five decades of music-making in the town with a celebratory 50th Anniversary Concert, conducted by Bob Vivian, at Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Hall on Saturday 18 October.
To mark the occasion, the Orchestra has commissioned a jazzy new Trumpet Concerto by Robert Ramskill, with soloist Steve Lee, as the centrepiece to a concert packed with classical favourites and music from stage and screen. Highlights include selections from Pirates of the Caribbean and Jurassic Park, themes to the Magnificent Seven and 633 Squadron, and music by Shostakovich, Debussy and Marquez, whose foot-stomping Danzon No 2 ends the evening.
The ensemble began life in 1975 as the Sutton Coldfield Chamber Orchestra, a small group playing music of the Classical era such as Mozart and Haydn. Now, as the Royal Sutton Coldfield Orchestra, it has around 50 regular members from all walks of life including current and retired teachers of music as well as many other professions, and the increased size allows it to play larger-scale works.
The Orchestra helps keep classical music alive in Sutton Coldfield through varied programming and support for young musicians. It gives five concerts a year featuring symphonic music to family performances and an annual Young Soloists concert that offers highly talented instrumentalists a rare chance to play a solo work with an orchestra.
Since 2016, RSCO has also had a Youth Orchestra that welcomes young musicians from the Sutton Coldfield and North Birmingham area.
