Royal Forest of Dean Orchestra

Some from yesterday’s concert.
Creds Guillaume Nerzic

Another great concert yesterday! Thanks so much to our super audience; we’re so grateful for your continued support and encouragement.Thanks to Coleford Baptist Church for the use of their excellent venue. Thanks to Lydbrook Band for the loan of their timpani. Thanks to Alison who’s stepping down as Chairperson, and thanks to superstar horn player Jane for all the wonderful years; Jane is moving to France😢😢
Thanks to all our extra players- they are a very talented bunch.
Just general thanks ❤️❤️
Save the dates
April 20/2024. Newnham church. Boulanger, Suk, Copland, Brahms
July 13/2024. Parkend Church. Anderton, Richter, Mozart, Beethoven

VACANCIES. FRENCH HORN. TROMBONE. ALL STRINGS.
Sorry no permanent woodwind spots atm but it’s always worth asking.
Minimum requirements. Grade 8/standard for all wind
Grade6+ for strings

Don’t forget to come and join us for our carol concert this Friday night. Doors open at 7pm, free entry (with retiring collection), non need to book tickets.
Tell all your friends, family and contacts and come and share a bit of the magic of Christmas.
We have Philomusica of Gloucestershire & Worcestershire, Kings Voices from King’s School, Gloucester and the wonderful Kathryn and Tim Jeffree performing. The evening will be competed by ’s Jon Smith.

Tonight, tonight…
It’s concerto time! Well, concerto plus…all featuring members of the orchestra.
We have the incredible Bruch violin concerto No 1….feat Katherine.
Christopher Ball Clarinet concerto….feat Cherryll
Vivaldi Concerto for two flutes…feat Beth and Fiona
Plus a newly composed orchestra piece by Bill. It’s called La Folia, which roughly translates as ‘Madness’…entirely appropriate, really. Just saying.
Sounds like a fantastic evening!
If you want to catch this amazing orchestra live?
See the poster below!

Our friends at Sinfonia Cymru are hosting a wonderful concert next week at Chepstow upcycle…their previous date in Chepstow was stunning so do try to make it if you can. Not only will there be mulled wine and mince pies but also Schubert…❤️❤️🎶🎶

One of our lovely horn players is moving abroad next year ( we are really happy for her, but also really miserable at the same time) and she wants to sell her beautiful piano. If you’re genuinely interested then pm here and we can put you in touch.

Bechstein V 6ft grand piano, serial number 62905 (=> 1902).
It's been in my family since about 1965, but moved about 4 times in the last few years.
Re-conditioned in July 2005, with new hammers, felts and the regulation was worked on.
It's in very good condition, except for the top of the legs where some veneer is coming away.
Price £3,000 ono.

Absolutely wonderful evening playing baroque concertos with these completely fabulous musicians..

Winter wandering, chilling or daydreaming, pop into our next concert at Coleford Baptist Church….only £5….and if you’re a child, or a student or a Ukrainian guest, then you get in for free. No idea what happens if you’re a Ukrainian student…

Wow! Just got a sneak peek at the artwork for our winter concert…( creds to Naoko, Guillaume and Naoko’s niece)….definitely save the date..it’s an hour of beautiful seasonal music plus a cheeky reworking of some classic Beatles numbers…and a brilliant retiring collection…looking forward to seeing you there🎶🎶

One of the great pleasures of amateur music making is hearing our colleagues and desk partners play. It’s such an emotional experience; you know that they’re pretty good, actually you secretly suspect that they’re very good indeed, and so it’s a real joy and often revelatory to see and hear them standing out front, giving their absolute all, accompanied by the rest of us in the general herd.
So concerto week, on Thursday 26 October, will be a delight for the orchestra. This week we have a veritable feast from the baroque era-
We’re kicking off with Bill and Josie playing the Bach double violin concerto, followed by our distinguished principal cellist, Liz, with the Vivaldi cello concerto in e minor, then we have a flute concerto, also by Vivaldi ( he wrote a lot of stuff) and finally the concerto in b minor for four violins by, yes, Vivaldi again. This will feature Ros, our leader, Alastair, our co-leader, Adrian, the leader of the second violins, and Emma, a long standing member of the first violin section.
It’s a mouthwatering musical feast and I am quite overcome with excitement…
Fancy joining us, or even playing a concerto….send a pm

Our friends at St Mary’s Priory Church in Chepstow have this fantastic recital coming up next month…

Brava! Maestra!

Joana Mallwitz is the first woman to lead a Berlin orchestra. And, no, she hasn’t seen Tár Comparisons to Cate Blanchett’s fictional conductor abound. But for Mallwitz that is irrelevant – her work is the thing

Home NEW - Thomas has been appointed Musical Director for London City Orchestra. You can find information about them here: www.londoncityorchestra.com

Save the day!!
We’re extremely excited to announce early details of our orchestral workshop day.
SATURDAY 7 SEPTEMBER 2024
ST MARY’S PRIORY CHURCH, CHEPSTOW
THE PLANETS HOLST
With esteemed conductor THOMAS PAYNE
We’re also delighted that Tom has agreed to take this workshop day because, you may remember, his early career included a few years conducting our orchestra. We have all been following his subsequent career with much interest and will be delighted to see him again.
Check Tom’s bio here

Home NEW - Thomas has been appointed Musical Director for London City Orchestra. You can find information about them here: www.londoncityorchestra.com

Here at RFODO, we’re really not all about classical. We like classical, we play a lot of it. But we’re also about the power and emotion of music from different genres and we salute the magnificent Ezra Collective and congratulate them on their Mercury Prize. If you haven’t heard them yet and enjoy a jazz/funk/Latin style groove then this is definitely one for you!

Our first rehearsal back last Thursday was scorchio! Delius’s Sleigh Ride provided a half decent coolant, as did our fabulously cool wind players in Swan Lake. And did I mention that we have a new trombonist too? Welcome Kim🎶
A few of our members celebrated significant birthdays during the summer- happy belated birthday sung to Tony and Alastair.
One of our longest standing members celebrated a very important milestone birthday on Thursday evening itself! Congratulations to our principal cellist, Liz, who has been playing with the orchestra for one third of her life. Thanks for your continued commitment and good humour, not to mention wonderful playing.

Today, possibly due to boredom, my younger daughter is “helping me practise my scores” and is pretending to play different orchestral instruments.
Please guess what these are-
Answer in comments below

Alan, our principal trumpeter and glamorous part time conducting assistant, has been rummaging around and has found some wonderful light music to play through on Thursday September 28th. We love a play through- not only is it great for our sight reading, but it expands our repertoire and introduces us to new styles. We don’t just play classical!
Really looking forward to this one! If you fancy joining us then send a pm.

What a dull evening 😳
Time for a musical quiz or two…but first…
We restart rehearsals on September 7th at 7.30 pm Newnham Primary School. We still have spaces for all strings, horns and lower brass and for this term only we are in need of a second bassoon. Please message us if you’re interested in joining, or just come along and listen.
Back to the quiz. Can you name these works? A* if you get both right!
One of these extracts is the first movement of the symphony that we are playing this term. Check it out at our forthcoming concert at Coleford Baptist Church on the afternoon of December 16.
The other extract is the opening theme of a work premiered in 1875….and we’re planning a very exciting concert to celebrate this in 2025. Watch this space 🎶

Reasons to join the orchestra..
#1……..concerto week.
We have some fabulous players who for one reason or another don’t get to play solos…so every so often we have a members’ concerto evening at our regular Thursday evening rehearsal where any member of the orchestra can play a concerto, a single movement or whatever they like! It’s great fun!
This autumn we will have the pleasure of the Bruch Violin concerto No 1, Vivaldi cello concerto in a minor, something flutey, something clarinety, plus an oboe, and possibly a trumpet concerto, if our youngest member can be persuaded….
Contact us about our various vacancies; all strings, lower brass, French horns, and bassoon! Wind should be around grade 7-8 standard, strings grade 6.