Reading Youth Orchestra
Encyclopedia
Reading Youth Orchestra (RYO) is one of the oldest youth orchestra
s in Britain
. It was formed in 1944 with just eleven members and has a history rooted strongly in the British
Youth and Community Service. It is open to all young people in the general area of Reading
in the English
county of Berkshire
; admission is by audition. The orchestra
, whose members range from fourteen to nineteen years of age, meets on Friday evenings to prepare for its three annual concerts. The orchestra celebrated its 60th birthday in 2004.
RYO has toured to European cities and regularly holds summer courses.
Reading Youth Orchestra is supported by Friends of RYO (FRYO).
Schools, and some of the teachers playing along.
In March 1945, the orchestra made its debut in a small-scale concert playing simple pieces like Handel
's Scipio. On 16 November 1945, the orchestra performed for the first time movements from major works in a joint concert with Reading Youth Choir. The programme included Strauss
' Blue Danube waltz
.
In 1947, RYO went on their first tour to Zaandam
in Holland.
The concert of February 1948 saw the premiere of a Fugue specially composed for, and dedicated to Reading Youth Orchestra by Humphrey Hare. This fugue is featured on one of the 78 RPM records recorded on 23 May at Leighton Park.
On 8 August 1949, the now sixty strong orchestra went to Düsseldorf
for a week's visit during which they gave four concerts, which were very much appreciated by local people who came to see them.
The fifth anniversary concert in March 1950 marked the five years since the first concert in March 1945.
In August 1950, RYO toured again to Germany
. The cost to members was £13.00. Five concerts were given, finishing with a return visit to Düsseldorf
.
The tour to Denmark
in August 1951 was organised by RYO’s new conductor, Mark Wigram, at the Invitation of the World Friendship Association. The orchestra travelled as two separate parties. One travelled by air and had five days in Denmark before the other party arrived. The other party travelled by sea and stayed on a further five days after the air party had left. In addition to the usual sight seeing program, which included the Carlsberg breweries. The orchestra gave three concerts. The second concert was notable because part of it was broadcast on Danish National Radio. The final concert of the tour was given in the concert hall of the Tivoli Gardens
in Copenhagen
.
Mark Wigram’s last concert with RYO, in February 1952, included the first public performance of Serenade (for small orchestra) by Richard Bennett
, now Richard Rodney Bennett
, who played in the percussion section of the orchestra. In 1959, at the age of 23, Bennett
also composed an overture that was dedicated to Reading Youth Orchestra. This remained unplayed for many years in its full orchestral form, although it received its first public performance as part of the fiftieth anniversary celebrations in 1994.
The concert given in June 1953 celebrated the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
.
The tenth anniversary concert, conducted by John Russell, was held in the town hall on Friday, 16 July 1954. During the concert, Gwynneth Reed was presented with a bouquet of flowers and later a brooch after six years with the orchestra. Following the tenth anniversary concert, John Russell handed over the baton to Edward Underhill who had been deputy conductor since the early years of the orchestra’s life.
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
s in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. It was formed in 1944 with just eleven members and has a history rooted strongly in the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Youth and Community Service. It is open to all young people in the general area of Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
county of Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
; admission is by audition. The orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
, whose members range from fourteen to nineteen years of age, meets on Friday evenings to prepare for its three annual concerts. The orchestra celebrated its 60th birthday in 2004.
RYO has toured to European cities and regularly holds summer courses.
Reading Youth Orchestra is supported by Friends of RYO (FRYO).
History (1944-1954)
Reading Youth Orchestra was founded in 1944, after the Youth Committee of the time had begun instrumental lessons for modest fees (sixpence, or 2.5p today). The conductor was Humphrey Hare, senior science master at Leighton Park and amateur musician. It had its first rehearsal on 29 October 1944, with 11 players, many of whom could not even read music. This number slowly increased, fed by pupils from Leighton Park and KendrickKendrick School
Kendrick Girls' Grammar School is a selective girls' grammar secondary foundation school situated in the centre of Reading, Berkshire, UK. In 2010 Kendrick became an Academy.-History:...
Schools, and some of the teachers playing along.
In March 1945, the orchestra made its debut in a small-scale concert playing simple pieces like Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
's Scipio. On 16 November 1945, the orchestra performed for the first time movements from major works in a joint concert with Reading Youth Choir. The programme included Strauss
Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
' Blue Danube waltz
The Blue Danube
The Blue Danube is the common English title of An der schönen blauen Donau, Op. 314 , a waltz by the Austrian composer Johann Strauss II, composed in 1866...
.
In 1947, RYO went on their first tour to Zaandam
Zaandam
Zaandam is a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad, and received city rights in 1811...
in Holland.
The concert of February 1948 saw the premiere of a Fugue specially composed for, and dedicated to Reading Youth Orchestra by Humphrey Hare. This fugue is featured on one of the 78 RPM records recorded on 23 May at Leighton Park.
On 8 August 1949, the now sixty strong orchestra went to Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
for a week's visit during which they gave four concerts, which were very much appreciated by local people who came to see them.
The fifth anniversary concert in March 1950 marked the five years since the first concert in March 1945.
In August 1950, RYO toured again to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. The cost to members was £13.00. Five concerts were given, finishing with a return visit to Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
.
The tour to Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
in August 1951 was organised by RYO’s new conductor, Mark Wigram, at the Invitation of the World Friendship Association. The orchestra travelled as two separate parties. One travelled by air and had five days in Denmark before the other party arrived. The other party travelled by sea and stayed on a further five days after the air party had left. In addition to the usual sight seeing program, which included the Carlsberg breweries. The orchestra gave three concerts. The second concert was notable because part of it was broadcast on Danish National Radio. The final concert of the tour was given in the concert hall of the Tivoli Gardens
Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen
Tivoli Gardens is a famous amusement park and pleasure garden in Copenhagen, Denmark. The park opened on 15 August 1843 and is the second oldest amusement park in the world, after Dyrehavsbakken in nearby Klampenborg....
in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
.
Mark Wigram’s last concert with RYO, in February 1952, included the first public performance of Serenade (for small orchestra) by Richard Bennett
Richard Rodney Bennett
Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, CBE is an English composer renowned for his film scores and his jazz performance as much as for his challenging concert works...
, now Richard Rodney Bennett
Richard Rodney Bennett
Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, CBE is an English composer renowned for his film scores and his jazz performance as much as for his challenging concert works...
, who played in the percussion section of the orchestra. In 1959, at the age of 23, Bennett
Richard Rodney Bennett
Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, CBE is an English composer renowned for his film scores and his jazz performance as much as for his challenging concert works...
also composed an overture that was dedicated to Reading Youth Orchestra. This remained unplayed for many years in its full orchestral form, although it received its first public performance as part of the fiftieth anniversary celebrations in 1994.
The concert given in June 1953 celebrated the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
.
The tenth anniversary concert, conducted by John Russell, was held in the town hall on Friday, 16 July 1954. During the concert, Gwynneth Reed was presented with a bouquet of flowers and later a brooch after six years with the orchestra. Following the tenth anniversary concert, John Russell handed over the baton to Edward Underhill who had been deputy conductor since the early years of the orchestra’s life.
Conductors
- 1944-1949 Humphrey Hare
- 1950-1952 Mark Wigram
- 1952-1954 John RussellJohn Russell-Politicians:* John Russell , MP for Herefordshire and Speaker of the House of Commons.* John E. Russell , U.S. Representative from Massachusetts* John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford -Politicians:* John Russell (speaker) (died 1497), MP for Herefordshire and Speaker of the House of Commons.* John E....
- 1954-1974 Edward Underhill
- 1974-1976 Roy GoodmanRoy GoodmanRoy Goodman is a conductor and violinist, specialising in the performance and direction of early music...
- 1976-1997 Robert Roscoe
- 1997-2000 Rupert D'CruzeRupert D'CruzeRupert D'Cruze is a British conductor who resides in New Zealand.His earliest musical training was as a chorister in the Temple Church Choir, London. He later performed in the London Schools Symphony Orchestra and the European Union Youth Orchestra...
- 2000-2006 Christopher WalkerChristopher WalkerChristopher Walker may refer to :* Christopher Walker , a British mycologist* Christopher J. Walker , a British historian* Christopher "Kit" Walker, the real name of the comic book character The Phantom...
- 2006- Paul CoxPaul Cox (musician)Paul Cox is the current conductor of the Reading Youth Orchestra. He took on this role in 2006, succeeding Christopher Walker. Cox is also Head of Strings at Southampton University. He has broadcast on the BBC, Independent Radio Network and Swiss Radio. He set up the Eureka Foundation in 1997 and...
Leaders
- 1948-1954 Gwynneth Reed
- 1954-1955 David Gribble
- 1955-1957 Margaret Martin
- 1957-1960 Vivienne Martin
- 1960-1962 Ronald Colyer
- 1962-1966 Susan Armitage
- 1966-1969 Stephen Lustig
- 1969-1970 John Berridge
- 1970-1972 Jane Chrzanowska
- 1972-1973 Penelope Gouk
- 1973-1977 Rosemary Seward
- 1977-1979 Colin Albery
- 1979-1981 Karen Fawcett
- 1981-1982 Edward Morton
- 1982-1983 Rebecca Richardson
- 1983-1985 Sarah Ewins
- 1985-1986 Patrick Evans
- 1986-1987 Hannah Lynch
- 1987-1989 Philip Montgomery-Smith
- 1989-1990 Guy Haskell
- 1990-1991 Laura Dudeney
- 1991-1993 Richard Briggs
- 1993-1995 Hannah Rowley
- 1995-1996 Catherine Offord
- 1996-1997 Hui Hui Ng
- 1997-1998 Emma Gostling
- 1998-1999 Rachel Rowntree
- 1999-2000 Nick Sexton
- 2000-2001 Biddy McClure
- 2001 Nathalie Dudman
- 2001-2004 Tim Hawken
- 2004-2005 Lucy Deeks
- 2005-2006 Arangan Nagendran
- 2006-2007 Lauren Willis
- 2008-2009 Laurence Beveridge