About

The Orpington Symphony Orchestra is in its 74th Season.

Founded in 1949, Orpington Symphony Orchestra was conducted by Joseph McMenemy for twenty-one years. Leonard Davis was appointed conductor in 1970, and continued to direct the orchestra for the next thirty years. Michael Axtell succeeded Leonard Davis in 2000. Raymond Lewis conducted the orchestra from  2003 to 2018 and Sean Morris took over for the 2018/2019 season.

Daniel Hogan conducted during our 2019/2020 season, and into the pandemic when we did not hold concerts, but did do workshops during periods between lockdown. Daniel’s last concert with us was our first post lockdown Christmas concert in December 2021.

For our March 2022 concert, we are pleased to announce Emily Singh as conductor.

The orchestra is now a fully independent organisation although it originally came under the auspices of Orpington and District Adult Education Centre, subsequently becoming part of Bromley Adult Education College. Throughout its life, the orchestra has been supported by Bromley Arts Council. Orpington Symphony Orchestra is a member of the National Federation of Music Societies.

The orchestra has established a regular pattern of three concerts: one in December, one in March, and the final concert of the season, in June.

Soloists who have appeared with Orpington Symphony Orchestra include:

 

Ralph Holmes
Levon Chilingirian
Irene Kohler
Hugh Bean
Colin Parr
William Overton
John Coulling
Julia Cload
Paul Barritt

Lorraine McAslan
Lionel Handy
Alison Kelly
Nigel Clayton
Gary Ryan
Gina McCormack
Francis Mason
Clare Hammond
Susie Meszaros

Ursula John
Madeleine Ridd
Raymond Lewis
David Owen Norris
Haru Ushigusa
Nelson Sinclair-Strong
Akito Goto

Emily Singh, 26, is a conductor, clarinettist, and pianist based in Kent.

Described as “poised and precise”, Emily has been conducting since university where she founded and led several ensembles: she co-founded the university’s first auditioned wind ensemble while studying a Bachelor’s degree in Music at the University of Bristol which aimed to promote original wind repertoire and to commission new works. Upon completing this course, she was selected to be the first student conductor of the Students’ Union Orchestra, tackling bold repertoire such as Rachmaninoff’s ‘Symphonic Dances’.

Emily was then awarded a scholarship which enabled her to pursue conducting studies alongside her Master’s in Clarinet Performance and Musicology. She has worked with Martyn Brabbins, Sian Edwards and Mark Heron on conducting courses and has gained places on the Royal Academy of Music’s 2021 Sorrell Programme for Women Conductors and the Royal Northern College of Music’s short conducting courses, and continues to hone her technique with Jonathan James and Jessica Cottis.

Alongside her industry role with the Association of British Orchestras, Emily has held a number of professional conducting engagements with a variety of ensembles. Recent positions include Assistant Conductor for the South East London Orchestra, as well as guest conducting for several local groups such as Beckenham Concert Band. In January 2020, Emily founded Invicta Sinfonia, a new ensemble focusing on promoting underrepresented voices, charity work, and community engagement.

Emily is delighted to be working with Orpington Symphony Orchestra from their 72d season, and is excited to be working with the ensemble on unknown works alongside concert favourites.