Sinfonia Smith Square (formerly Southbank Sinfonia) is an arts organisation and orchestra formed out of the merger of Southbank Sinfonia and St John's Smith Square. The organisation comprises a venue, Smith Square Hall , and a fellowship orchestra.
7-489: The Berkeley Ensemble is a British chamber music ensemble that explores little-known twentieth- and twenty first-century British chamber music alongside a more established repertoire. Founded in 2008 by members of Southbank Sinfonia , the ensemble reached the finals of the 2009 Royal Over-Seas League music competition and has since performed regularly in the UK and abroad. Their recordings and performances are regularly featured in
14-622: Is the resident orchestra of the Anghiari Festival, held in the town of Anghiari (Tuscany, Italy) each July. Sinfonia Smith Square's patrons include Sir Thomas Allen , John Anderson , Vladimir Ashkenazy , Edward Gardner , Patricia Hodge , James Naughtie and the Rt Hon Lord Smith of Finsbury . Originally, Southbank Sinfonia was founded in 2002 by Simon Over (the current Artistic Director of Sinfonia Smith Square) Michael Berman CBE, and Katharine Verney. The aim of Southbank Sinfonia
21-679: The Royal Opera House , Academy of St Martin in the Fields , the National Theatre and artists such as Patron Vladimir Ashkenazy . The orchestra frequently collaborates with artists from other music genres, including Squarepusher in 2013, as well as in theatrical projects with the National Theatre. These have included critically acclaimed productions of Amadeus in 2016/18, and Every Good Boy Deserves Favour in 2009/10. On 14 May 2023
28-764: The first winner. Since 2016 the Berkeley Ensemble has curated the annual Little Venice Music Festival in London. It celebrated its 10th anniversary with a performance at the Purcell Room in September 2018. The ensemble is named after the British composers Lennox Berkeley and Michael Berkeley . Its patrons are Michael Berkeley and Petroc Trelawny . The ensemble has released a number of albums, most notably: Southbank Sinfonia Composed of young professionals from around
35-475: The national press. Their album Lennox Berkeley: Chamber Works was selected by BBC Music Magazine as Chamber Choice in 2015, and Lennox Berkeley: Stabat Mater was nominated for a Gramophone Magazine Classical Music Award in 2017. The ensemble revived the Cobbett Competition for chamber music composition (as The New Cobbett Competition) in 2014, with Sequenza for string quartet by Samuel Lewis as
42-435: The orchestra made an appearance in a YouTube video made by Max Fosh , where he played the triangle during one of their performances of Finlandia . The orchestra was shortlisted for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Ensemble in 2016 and a Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Concert Series and Festivals in 2017 for #ConcertLab, a series that explores new approaches to concert presentation. Sinfonia Smith Square
49-444: The world, each year the orchestra brings together 33 graduate musicians for a programme of performance and professional development. The annual fellowship comprises performances across Britain and Europe, and features orchestral repertoire, chamber music, opera, dance and theatre, alongside artist development sessions. An integral part of the programme is the orchestra's creative partnerships with performing arts organisations including
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