Orpheus Sinfonia launches foundation programme

London-based orchestra Orpheus Sinfonia has announced the launch of a new Foundation Programme designed to give music graduates their first steps into a professional career. The programme will be supported in its first five years by the music education funding charity Skyrme Hart Charitable Trust.

Musicians of all backgrounds who have completed full-time study in the last two years are encouraged to apply for the programme from today. Following a two-stage application process, successful participants will receive fees for rehearsals, sessions and performances in the season

Orpheus Sinfonia CEO Rosie Taylor said: ‘Orpheus has created this programme to fulfil need to create access channels into the industry, especially for those that may not have pre-existing connections. We have come to realise leadership skills of how to work in an orchestra and the industry as a whole remain largely untaught. Multiple avenues in music are paramount to career success yet opportunity to explore how is sparsely available. Numerous connections need to be forged to break into the profession, and spaces to create these are vital.’

The orchestra will launch its Foundation season with a concert on 14 September led by artistic director Thomas Carroll which will also reveal Orpheus Sinfonia’s inaugural Foundation soloist. As well as further concerts in November 2023 and March and May 2024, the programme will offer participants guidance sessions on fundraising, networking, creative development and ‘approaches to professional life and work’.

Established in 2009, Orpheus Sinfonia has given concerts across the UK, as well as performing at events including the world premiere of Avatar: The Way of Water and the Platinum Jubilee Concert at Windsor Castle. The new scheme aims to support a total of 225 musicians through roles in an orchestra over the next five years, with 36 instrumentalists, three soloists, one conductor, four singers and one composer welcomed every year.