City of London Sinfonia

City of London Sinfonia (CLS) creates dynamic and engaging musical experiences for people of all ages and backgrounds. They perform throughout London and the UK in venues ranging from traditional concert halls, to schools and hospitals, alternative venue spaces and diverse community settings. Led by Artistic Director, Stephen Layton, and Principal Conductor, Michael Collins, they regularly work with world class artists as well as up and coming talent, including in the last year: Gwilym Simcock, Mara Carlyle, Polyphony, Hugh Brunt, Roderick Williams and Elin Manahan Thomas. CLS perform across London at all the major concert halls and venues, as well as St Paul’s Cathedral and other venues in the City of London and on the fringes. They are resident orchestra at the capital’s popular Opera Holland Park and regular guests at major UK festivals, performing at the BBC Proms, Brighton, Spitalfields Music and Cheltenham Festivals last year. City of London Sinfonia’s education and outreach programme, Meet the Music, was one of the first established by a UK orchestra. Last year CLS musicians spent over 100 days making music with a wide range of groups throughout the country, reaching over 10,000 people. Recent projects include a Lullaby concert tour for young children in rural and isolated parts of England, First Time Live – a touring programme for 10-14 year olds, both in partnership with Orchestras Live, as well as ongoing work with 5-7 year olds in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and Harrow. CLS also regularly work with Great Ormond Street Hospital, Evelina Children’s Hospital, the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability, Jewish Care homes, St Joseph’s Hospice and the Dementia Research Centre. The Orchestra has an extensive discography of over one hundred recordings, which includes the award-winning recording of Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes. Current recordings include Instrumation with Gwilym Simcock on ACT, Weber’s Clarinet and Horn Concertos with Michael Collins and Stephen Stirling on CHANDOS, and Britten’s St Nicolas with the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, Holst Singers and Stephen Layton, on Hyperion. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.