Orchestra of the Swan

Orchestra of the Swan is a British professional chamber orchestra based at Warwick Schools Foundation in Warwick.^[1] It is Resident Orchestra at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, The Courtyard Hereford, Warwick Hall and the Stratford Play House with regular concert series at Number 8 Pershore and Cheltenham Town Hall.^[2]

Founded in 1995 the orchestra has been creatively led by Artistic Director David Le Page since 2018. It gives over 45 concerts annually and is increasing its overseas touring. In 2014 the orchestra undertook its first highly successful tour to China. In 2016 The Swan performed at the Istanbul International Festival, and in 2017-18 toured to Mexico and New York (Carnegie Hall). The Swan has also toured the UK with groups such as Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel and James, with sell-out performances at London's Albert Hall.

Recordings and digital concerts (a strand of digital creativity spurred on by the Covid lockdown in 2020) have been nominated Gramophone Choice awards, Album of the Week on Classic FM and Scala Radio (UK) and Washington Public Radio and live concert recordings are frequently broadcast on USA Performance Today, in Canada and Australia.^[3]

A dynamic new touring series – Swan Projects – is gaining momentum. The first of these is Earthcycle, a project, with associated educational resources that focus on the impact of climate change, including a podcast featuring George Monbiot and Madeleine Finlay^[4] based on Vivaldi’s Four Seasons alongside a new commission by jazz/baroque composer and Associate Artist David Gordon, interspersed with 4 folk songs arranged for orchestra by David Le Page and sung by Jackie Oates.

Earthcycle: Released on 19 January 2024 , Earthcycle is a 2 CD album, incorporating new compositions by David Gordon, newly arranged folk songs by Le Page and Jackie Oates, and Vivaldi’s four concerti. Vocals from Jackie Oates, harpsichord and piano, David Gordon, and violin David Le Page with Orchestra of the Swan.

The Swan's extensive discography includes its 2023 mixtape album 'Echoes' conducted by Philip Sheppard featuring 14 tracks including orchestral arrangements of songs by Frank Zappa, Adrian Utley, The Velvet Underground and A Winged Victory for the Sullen alongside classical standards by J.S. Bach, Delius, Max Richter, Philip Glass and Finzi, which reached number 10 in the Specialist Classical Charts.^[3] BBC 6 Music's Iggy Pop described The Swan's Venus in Furs arr. David Le Page as "Beautiful".^[5] 'Timelapse' (Album of the Week on Classic FM and Scala Radio) and 'Labyrinths' (Album of the Week on Scala Radio) that meld classical repertoire with orchestral arrangements of popular songs which combined have audio streamed nearly 8 million times and reached number 17 in the Official Charts.^[6] Further recordings feature repertoire by Barber, Bax, Berlioz, Brahms, Copland, Debussy, Elgar, Finzi, Ireland, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Schumann, Strauss, Vaughan Williams and the world premiere recording of the complete symphonies by Hans Gál (1890-1987) conducted by Kenneth Woods.^[7] The latter received outstanding critical acclaim and was featured on BBC Radio 3 ‘Composer of the Week’. In addition, Mendelssohn's D minor Violin Concerto with Tamsin Waley-Cohen, and conducted by David Curtis, was BBC Music Magazine's ‘Recommended Recording’.

Recordings of new work include Philip Sawyers' Symphonies, works for trumpet and orchestra by John McCabe, Robert Saxton and Deborah Pritchard and joint commissions with Kyo-Shin-An Arts of new work for koto, shakuhachi and chamber orchestra.

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