The Guildhall Orchestra was founded in 1980 in response to the suggestion that there were a number of talented players in the York area who would enjoy exploring the repertoire of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and that there was an audience who would enjoy the experience of listening to such a repertoire.

At the time of its inauguration by John Hastie (see Reflections), the orchestra’s home was the Guildhall of York, from which its name is derived; since then it has given more than fifty concerts, most of them in York, but also in Halifax, Richmond, Beverley and Ampleforth. In 1993, the Guildhall Orchestra was featured in two concerts at Fountains Abbey in their Music by Moonlight series.

In 1992 when Simon Wright took over the baton, the orchestra became the official orchestra of the City of York with the Barbican as its residence. The standard and size has grown throughout the years and is now comparable to many professional orchestras. Several works have been commissioned especially for the orchestra; in 1993, it premiered David Gow’s Marimba Concerto with Evelyn Glennie as soloist.

The orchestra continually works with distinguished national and international soloists. Indeed, it has been the case that our orchestra has been sought out by soloists as a vehicle and venue for them to play in York. Visit our Visiting Soloists Page to see the names of soloists who have appeared with the York Guildhall Orchestra.

The repertoire is wide ranging, and some of the larger works include: Stravinsky Firebird Suite; Brahms Symphony No.1, Sibelius Symphonies 1, 2 & 7; Verdi Requiem; Rimsky Korsakov Capriccio Espanol; Elgar Violin Concerto; Brahms Double Concerto; Berlioz Symphony Fantastique; Prokofiev Violin Concerto No.1; Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1; Bruckner Symphony No.4.   The Orchestra has tackled some notoriously difficult works including the Bartok Concerto for Orchestra and the Stravinski Rite of Spring.

The orchestra is featured regularly as part of the Ryedale Festival, and has performed some notable concerts, including the spectacular Berlioz Grande Messe des Mort, with its huge orchestra of over 120 players, enormous choir of over 300 voices (the Halle Choir, the Leeds Festival Chorus and the Sheffield Philharmonic Choir) together with four brass bands.  Performed in York Minster in 1999, it is still being talked about!

Popular Music has included: Holst Planets Suite; Beethoven Symphony No.5; Bernstein West Side Story; and the Suite by John Williams from the film Star Wars.  More unusual music has included Jongen’s Symphonie Concertante for Organ & Orchestra and Frank Martin’s Concerto for 7 Wind Instruments, Strings and Timpani.

The orchestra has commissioned new works by local composers, notably Concert Overture Marinus by Richard Blackford, Music on the Line “The Problem of Evidence by Derek Chivers; and The Musicians of Bremen by Richard Shephard.  The latter was for one of a number of highly successful concerts especially for young people including such works as Tubby the Tuba and Barbar the Elephant, both narrated by Brian Kay. Visit our Repertoire Page to see a full listing of all our performances.

The orchestra is a registered charity and is run by an elected committee. Although none of the regular orchestral members are paid (apart from the 5 principle strings players), and the manager and elected committee members give of their time voluntarily, the costs of mounting concerts is significant.  Audience numbers, now regularly approaching 1000, have climbed steadily.

The City of York Council is generous with their arrangements for the use of the concert venue.  However soloists fees, music hire, conductor’s and leader’s fees, music rights, rehearsal room hire, publicity and all the other costs associated with running such a large organisation, are ongoing and considerable.