about LCO
- Kenneth Woods principal conductor
- Anne Heaton leader
about
The Orchestra was founded 41 years ago to give string teachers and other able players the opportunity to perform to a high standard under the guidance of a professional conductor. We now consist of a core of around 35 string players who give concerts around the North West of England, inviting woodwind players to join us as the repertoire demands.
We are very fortunate to have as our Principal Conductor Kenneth Woods (whom you may have heard on BBC Radio 3 conducting the BBC National Orchestra of Wales). Ken lives in Cardiff, but he is also Music Director of the Oregon East Symphony and Chorale and the Surrey Mozart Players, so is often on the road. As a first-class string player (he plays the cello both as a soloist and in chamber music), Ken knows how to bring out the best in us both technically and musically, and since he joined us in 2004 we have enjoyed preparing and performing a varied and challenging series of programmes.
In addition to our own orchestral concerts we have collaborated in many successful and enjoyable choral concerts.
background
The Lancashire Chamber Orchestra was the brainchild of John Ashworth, Head of String Teaching in Lancashire Schools, and Paul Ward, a former cellist in the Hallé and cello professor at the Royal Manchester College of Music. They felt that "teachers need also to play together and require the opportunity to do so to a high standard, under professional direction". The orchestra was created in 1969, and from modest beginnings (under Paul Ward's direction initially and pursuing a string repertoire only) and with few players it has grown into today's ensemble. Following Paul Ward's retirement in the early 1970s, the orchestra has had as its principal conductors Andrew Penny, Richard Vardigans, and, for fifteen years, Robert Chasey. In 2004 we appointed the young American conductor Kenneth Woods. Over the past two years Ken has introduced to us a wealth of new, challenging repertoire, such as Shostakovich's Chamber Symphony, Tchaikovsky's 'Souvenir de Florence' and works of the Entartete Musik period, including Ullmann's String Symphony and Gal's Violin Concerto.
Many of the orchestra members are string teachers and are joined by advanced and enthusiastic non-professional players, all of whom demonstrate a huge commitment to the orchestra's increasingly demanding schedule of concerts. Many concerts require wind, brass and percussion players and our wind and brass colleagues include some of the finest players from across Lancashire and Cheshire.