Orpheus Sinfonia Launches New Foundation Program

Now accepting applications, the program will provide music graduates of all backgrounds support for the beginnings of their professional careers

To tackle critical states of arts funding and ensure employment for music graduates, London’s Orpheus Sinfonia has launched a five-year Orpheus Sinfonia Foundation Program.

Supported by the Skyrme Hart Charitable Trust, the Foundation will run large-scale projects to support 225 emerging professional musicians through roles in an orchestra.

Each year, the Foundation will provide opportunities to 36 instrumentalists, three soloists, one conductor, four singers, and one composer, who have completed full-time study in the previous two years.

Alongside paid work performing four orchestral concerts in diverse programming, program participants will also receive mentoring from core Orpheus members and other industry professionals. 

To apply for the program and check application deadlines, click here. 

“Orpheus has created this programme to fulfill [the] need to create access channels into the industry, especially for those that may not have pre-existing connections,” said Orpheus Sinfonia’s CEO, Rosie Taylor.

“We have come to realize leadership skills of how to work in an orchestra and the industry as a whole remain largely untaught,” Taylor added. “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 Foundation season will launch on September 14, 2023, and be led by Orpheus’ artistic director Thomas Carroll in works by Jessie Montgomery and Beethoven. 

Established in 2009, Orpheus Sinfonia Orpheus is currently led by international cellist and conductor Thomas Carroll, and Oliver Gooch as principal guest conductor. Its patrons include Sir Antonio Pappano and Dame Judi Dench.

A resident at St George’s Hanover Square in London, the group has often appeared at the Royal Festival Hall, London Coliseum, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Hackney Empire. 

Additionally, the orchestra was invited to play at premieres for films including Avatar: Way of Water and Tár, plus perform for the Platinum Jubilee Concert in Windsor Castle. Orpheus is currently developing a new live and digital concert series, Synergy.