DORSET CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

The Dorset Chamber Orchestra

Since its inaugural concert in 1987 the Dorset Chamber Orchestra has performed widely throughout the area from Bridgwater and Axminster to Ringwood and Christchurch with an auspicious debut at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1996.

A main aim has always been to procvide a converto platform for outstanding young soloists and some forty of these have appeared with the Orchestra. In a number of instances this opportunity has proved to be an important stage in the development of young players of truly exceptional gifts. Clarinettist Fiona Cross (soloist at the inaugral concert), 'cellist Rebecca Gilliver (solist at the second concert), violinist Maul Lin, pianist Fiona Dalzell and mezzo-soprano Sophie Grech are just a few who have gone on to win major prizes and establish distibguished professional careers, while Natlie Clein's international celebrity status as the first BBCTV and Eurovision Young Musician of the Year came as no surprise to those who were present at her brilliant debut with the DChO a year or so earlier at the age of fifteen.

John Lill's complete Beethoven Piano Concerto Cycle at Weymouth Pavilion in concerts spread over just two days was another highlight of the first ten years, a period during which the Orchestra also presented all nine Beethoven symphonies.

The generous and enthusiastic response of audiences on these and many other occasions is hugely rewarding for all those taking part but such challenging and exciting enterprises are always likely to be financially hazardous (the cost of music-hire alone, for instance, can easily exceed £1,000 in a single season) and survival must inevitably depend largely on outside support. Special gratitude is, therefore, due to sponsors Premier Oil plc, generous private benefactors wishing to remain anonymous, and the Patrons and Friends of the Orchestra.

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