The Collaborative Orchestra

On Friday 6 July at St. John's Smith Square, a new orchestra makes its public debut, the Collaborative Orchestra. The brainchild of conductor Andrew Farid, the idea is to bring together professional musicians to provide a platform for performers and composers. The orchestra has members not just from the UK but from all around the world.

"The orchestra is a group of people that have come together with a shared goal and ethos, to try and give composers and musicians and opportunity that we feel is lacking to them." 

For their first concert they will be performing an appealing if relatively mainstream programme consisting of Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture, Haydn's Trumpet Concerto (with soloist Andrew Tovey) and Dvorak's 9th Symphony. But Farid has a background a film composer and the orchestra has plans for recording a film sound-track and producing work with living composers. The area of TV and film is one that the group will be focussing on, aiming to provide composers with a competitively priced platform for performing work.

Andrew Farid trained at the Conservatory of Tehran and already has a background of successfully forming orchestras there. His new venture, rather enterprisingly sponsored by a Persian beer company and a Persian restaurant, looks all set for an interesting life.

Tickets are available from the St. John's Smith Square website.