This is the brainchild of Alastair and Cathy Moseley, who have been putting on concerts at the church for several years. They have now got together with Sue Peters, who has experience of orchestral management; the vicar, Chris Wingfield; and the Director of Music at St John's, Jonathan Kingston, to develop a lively classical music scene based at the church.
Richard Jenkinson, a principal cellist with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), was looking for a conducting opportunity and as soon as he became aware of the plans for the orchestra, he agreed to become involved as its conductor. Richard's enthusiasm and musical ability has already been put to the test in a one-day workshop, which took place in September – this was a great success.
The orchestra is made up of local invited players and the aim is to achieve a high standard of performance, equal to other chamber orchestras in the region.
One of the objectives of the project is to provide opportunities for talented young musicians. This will be achieved in the first concert on Saturday December 3 at 7.30pm in St John's Church.
The Orchestra of St John will perform Corelli's Christmas Concerto and Elgar's Introduction and Allegro for strings. The soloists will be the Amicus Quartet, a group of string players from the CBSO Youth Orchestra. In addition, Paul Charman (the former organist at the church) will perform a Handel Organ Concerto, and the concert will finish with a performance of the Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings.
Looking ahead, on Easter Saturday the orchestra will perform Mozart's Requiem, together with the Church Choir, which will be augmented with other local singing groups. In summer 2012, there are plans for a "Musicfest" at the church – again concentrating on local performers.
There will be a wide variety of quality chamber groups and choirs, individual recitals, a children's concert, celebrity appearances and a gala concert on the final night, featuring Benjamin Frith as soloist in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 3.
Alastair, Cathy and Sue are keen to make this a friendly community-based enterprise. They are encouraging local people to contact them if they would like to be on a mailing list, or would like to help them promote the orchestra and its future events.