Come and play!

Whenever we have room the Brunel Sinfonia welcomes new players who want to play great music the best we can and to work together in a friendly, supportive and totally non-competitive way, and for whom the social side is a real draw.

We ask for a minimum standard of Grade 7 for string players and Grade 8 for wind and brass.

Where we have more people waiting than spaces, we offer places first to people who have already played with us, and then use an informal audition to choose the longest-waiting applicant(s) who are at least as good as our prevailing standards – ie we work on a first come first served basis, but we just do a quick check to make sure that you are at a standard where you will enjoy playing with us.

The orchestra is made up of between 80 and 90 players but we reckon we can cope with 100, so if you are interested we would love to hear from you.  There are usually spaces for strings (especially double basses), and we are also looking for trombonists and percussionists.  If you play anything else, do please still get in touch – we never know when a place is about to appear and maintain waiting lists of  oversubscribed instruments.

We usually rehearse on Wednesday evenings from 7.15pm to 9.30pm at Bristol Grammar School for about eight weeks leading up to each concert, but occasionally at different times or places.

Many of the orchestra are young professionals, especially lawyers and medics, but we range from secondary school age to retired. We do our best to accommodate players’ varied life commitments but we normally expect people to commit to "the vast majority" of rehearsals. We do charge subs of £40 per concert (which includes two free tickets) to cover our overheads, or £10 for students (with no free tickets).

To find out more, contact  Justin Hayward, the Orchestra Manager by e-mail on justin_hayward1979@yahoo.co.uk, or on 07736 456675
 

Looking for players for weddings, engagements etc?

We maintain one of the largest lists of amateur players of all instruments in Bristol. If you need a string quartet or a brass band for a special occasion, or just a bass clarinet player for a concert, do feel free to get in touch!

Four Beats in a Bar – the Brunel Sinfonia’s String Quartet

Four Beats in a Bar are available for all events and occasions, at the rate of £120 an hour plus a booking fee of £40. To engage Four Beats in a Bar, please contact the orchestra manager.