College Plans to Launch Community Orchestra

Ambitious plans are being drawn up to launch a new orchestra - and musicians from around the area are welcome to join. The idea has come from Ellesmere College's Director of Music, Tony Coupe who has stressed that, although the College would act as the orchestra's base, it would be open to everyone.

The new Ellesmere Sinfonia will play at events at the College, as well as standalone concerts. Mr Coupe said "I feel there are lots of people in the area who have a musical background who would love to be involved in an enterprise like this. There are some opportunities to play in Wrexham and Shrewsbury, but we want to do something for people in the area and make it easy for them".

The new community orchestra would rehearse every week and build on each individuals skills to form an ensemble. "It would be great to develop a full orchestra but we would get help from outside to fill any gaps when it came to playing concerts. We are not looking for beginners - this is an opportunity for people who are at least Grade Five standard." Mr Coupe said.

The Sinfonia will be open to all ages from around the region and will also involve students from the College. If anyone is interested but isn't sure whether they are good enough to play, they are welcome at any of the rehearsals where they could listen at the start to see whether they think it's for them.

Please contact Tony Coupe, Director of Music for further information on tony.coupe@ellesmere.com Telephone: 01691 622321