±«Óãtv Concert Orchestra
The mission of the ±«Óãtv Concert Orchestra is to bring inspiring musical experiences to everyone, everywhere, with the ensemble’s versatility as the key.
For ±«Óãtv Radio 3, the Orchestra explores a wide selection of classical and contemporary music and is broadcast weekly on Friday Night Is Music Night. It has performed on many soundtracks, including Blue Planet, Serengeti and Wild Isles for ±«Óãtv One, as well as recording new music for ±«Óãtv Sounds’ Music & Meditation Podcast and George the Poet’s award-winning, Have You Heard George’s Podcast? In 2022, it recorded Isobel Waller-Bridge's score for Charlie Mackesy’s Oscar winning animated film, The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse. It performs in ±«Óãtv Radio 2’s Piano Room Month for ±«Óãtv iPlayer and ±«Óãtv Sounds, which features collaborations with pop artists, including Raye, P!nk and Petshop Boys.
The orchestra appears annually at the ±«Óãtv Proms and regularly at London's Southbank Centre and Nottingham Royal Concert Hall. It now has a formal partnership with the University of Nottingham, Nottingham Trent University and Nottingham Royal Concert Hall, which provides world-class performance, composition, and production experiences to students and local communities.
Highlights of the 2024 Proms season include disco music with Everybody Dance! The Sound of Disco, a concert with singer-songwriter Sam Smith in their only UK appearance of 2024, a celebration of jazz singer Sarah Vaughan, Ultra Lounge: Henry Mancini and Beyond with newly appointed Principal Guest Conductor, Edwin Outwater, and a Proms residency in Nottingham featuring a performance by ±«Óãtv Young Composer competition winners with presenter Jess Gillam, and Chief Conductor Anna-Maria Helsing conducts a programme celebrating local hero Robin Hood.
Highlights in the 2024 London and Nottingham seasons include DvoÅ™ák's Cello Concerto with Senja Rummukainen, legendary Jazz-fusion drummer Billy Cobham and Guy Barker at the EFG London Jazz Festival, an orchestral celebration of Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland, and a grand collaboration between both Nottingham’s universities for Orff’s Carmina Burana.
The ±«Óãtv Concert Orchestra takes a leading role in Create Yarmouth, a three-year residency with Orchestras Live, which aims to engage and inspire young people and adults in the Great Yarmouth area.
The orchestra offers enjoyable and innovative education and community activities and, in addition to Create Yarmouth, is also involved in ±«Óãtv Ten Pieces, the ±«Óãtv Young Composer competition, and the ±«Óãtv Open Music programme.
