Worthing Symphony Orchestra - bold programming key to success

The concert, in the Assembly Hall, Worthing, features Sibelius – Finlandia; Bernard Stevens – Symphony of Liberation; Dvorak – Violin Concerto; and Sibelius – Symphony No 2 in D major. It will be conducted by John Gibbons as part of his 25th anniversary season with the orchestra, an anniversary which comes a year late because of Covid.

Tougher times are now behind the orchestra, John is confident: “We are stable. We have got a five-year plan for the orchestra and we've got two new treasurers and we have got the finances in hand and that means that we can plan. We're not living hand to mouth concert by concert fearing annihilation as we have done before. Covid was a really massive problem for professional orchestras. The challenge for us now is just to get everybody to come out and to enjoy a real live concert. It's so easy to sit at home and switch channels and have a glass of wine and think that you've been somewhere but nothing can really match the atmosphere of actually being in the hall with a live professional orchestra and just hearing the proper sound a real professional orchestra can make.”

Most recently the orchestra played with saxophonist Jess Gillam and the buzz was huge, John says: “There is a brilliant picture that was taken showing me and Jess and you can just see the exhilaration. I have known her since she was 14 but I haven't had the chance to work with her for four or five years and it was just fantastic to be rekindling that and just sparking off.”

The point is that being in the room with the music coming from live musicians live in front of you makes an incalculable difference: “We started the last concert with Star Wars and the whole place just erupted in applause.”

But alongside the crowd-pleasers, it's crucial to challenge and to be bold. And the programming is an area where John is convinced the orchestra has found a key to survival: “What really comes through from my players is that it is the boldness of the programme that attracts the top players. So many other orchestras are playing safe but if you are prepared to be bold then you are going to attract so many more people.”

As for that 25th anniversary, John is delighted at the orchestra’s achievements: “I think we have transformed lives. I think we've given people in Sussex the chance to explore repertoire and to enjoy music at a very very high level. But really I think the biggest achievement is that we are still here. When I took over we were funded by the borough. We were part of the whole cultural programme presented by Worthing.”

And a number of orchestras have disappeared with the withdrawal of local government funding: “But we are still here. It's a battle. But we are still going strong.”