South West Baroque Orchestra - the Period Instrument Orchestra of the South West
| Type of post: | Choir news item |
| Sub-type: | No sub-type |
| Posted By: | Lynn Carter |
| Status: | Current |
| Date Posted: | Tue, 22 Oct 2024 |
Roll back to lockdown and the time when it was difficult for musicians to play together except online. The idea was born to create a period orchestra of the south west to which local players did not have to travel large distances in order to play baroque music. The South West Early Music Forum organised a workshop in November 2021 as a result of which SWBO started up the following January with an orchestra of string players (from as far afield as Cornwall, Dorset and Bristol) and 1 flautist. They chose Culmstock Village Hall on the East Devon/Somerset border as a venue with the thought that most residents of the South West could travel there in less than 1 hour and a half.
After 6 rehearsals on a monthly basis they gave 3 concerts – the first 2 were in the magical spaces of Wells and Exeter Cathedrals, and the third at Dulverton Church on Exmoor; and the following summer they played at Truro Cathedral, St. Peter’s Tawstock near Barnstaple and Sherborne Abbey. By this time they had invited local baroque oboist Zoë Cartlidge and baritone Alan Rowland to join them and started 2024 with a performance of Bach’s Ich Habe Genug in the ballroom of the Shrubbery Hotel in Ilminster. They also expanded their range of music making by offering concerts with the South West Baroque Players (consisting of basically the principals of each section) and as such accompanied the Winkleigh Singers in 2 concerts in Umberleigh.
Last summer they did their first concert in Bristol and Collegium singers are delighted to be performing with them in Taunton on 9th November for the first time!
After 6 rehearsals on a monthly basis they gave 3 concerts – the first 2 were in the magical spaces of Wells and Exeter Cathedrals, and the third at Dulverton Church on Exmoor; and the following summer they played at Truro Cathedral, St. Peter’s Tawstock near Barnstaple and Sherborne Abbey. By this time they had invited local baroque oboist Zoë Cartlidge and baritone Alan Rowland to join them and started 2024 with a performance of Bach’s Ich Habe Genug in the ballroom of the Shrubbery Hotel in Ilminster. They also expanded their range of music making by offering concerts with the South West Baroque Players (consisting of basically the principals of each section) and as such accompanied the Winkleigh Singers in 2 concerts in Umberleigh.
Last summer they did their first concert in Bristol and Collegium singers are delighted to be performing with them in Taunton on 9th November for the first time!
