Ernest Read Symphony Orchestra

15/07/2026

London based musicians - are you looking forward to autumn and getting back to orchestral playing?

The Ernest Read Symphony Orchestra is one of London's leading and longest established amateur orchestras playing to a v high standard with lovely conductor Christopher Stark. We are a very friendly group and share a lot of good cake!

Next season has some great music, starting with a concert that includes Beethoven 1 and a beautiful saxophone piece performed by our winning Soloist of the Year Megan Glover

We are always keen to hear from strings and also brass.

Interested? contact us on [email protected]

erso.london

25/06/2026

Calling strings and brass in or near London
Looking for some high level playing with a friendly group? The Ernest Read Symphony Orchestra is one of London's leading and longest established amateur orchestras. We rehearse in Camden on a few Sundays prior to each of our 3 main concerts at St John's Waterloo and play challenging rep to a really high standard with our lovely conductor Chris Stark. Plus we have a lot of good cake!

Interested? Check us out on https://erso.london/ and email us on [email protected]

24/06/2026

At the Ernest Read Symphony Orchestra some of our sections have so much fun that they take a team selfie at the end of each concert. Started by the cellos and adopted by bass and wind. When will the upper strings and brass get in on the act??

23/06/2026

What an amazing evening we had on Sunday at our Shostakovich, Hummel and Papp concert St John's Waterloo! And our lovely audience clearly enjoyed it as much as we did!

22/06/2026

At the Ernest Read Symphony Orchestra we are committed to providing opportunities for talented early career musicians. Last night's Shostakovich, Hummel and Papp concert was a great example with Joint 2025 Winner of our Soloist competition Emily Ambrose giving a superbly accomplished performance of the Hummel Bassoon concerto, expertly conducted by Assistant Conductor Alice Knight. The evening opened with the UK premiere of a beautiful piece, Frieden, by Alex Papp who was a former winner of our competition for emerging composers.
And our string Section Leaders ensured that the string sections sounded amazing, with some lovely cello solos in Symphony no 1 by Shostakovich from Principal Cellist Alex Lavine

15/06/2026

Join us on Sunday at johns waterloo for the chance to hear the massively talented perform the Hummel Bassoon Concerto. Its a treat not to be missed!

Programme also includes the fantastic 1st Symphony by Shostakovich and a new piece by talented young composer Alex Papp

Find out more about Emily at https://erso.london/blog/

Advance tickets: £12 for adults and £5 for children and students from We Got TIckets

On the door tickets: £15 on the door and £5 children and students

15/06/2026

Emily Ambrose

We are SO excited to be working with the talented young bassoonist Emily Ambrose. Emily is an RCM Scholar in the final year of her BMus, studying with Joost Bosdijk, Emily Hultmark, and Andrea de Flammineis. Prior to joining the RCM, she studied with Joanna Baillie Stark at the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music. An active freelance player in London and further afield, Emily has worked with a variety of ensembles, including the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and the Royal Northern Sinfonia....

We are SO excited to be working with the talented young bassoonist Emily Ambrose. Emily is an RCM Scholar in the final year of her BMus, studying with Joost Bosdijk, Emily Hultmark, and Andrea de F…

09/06/2026

ERSO’s new Assistant Conductor!

The selection process for our new Assistant Conductor was the toughest yest - we had 16 great applicants, we had the pleasure of interviewing 8 conductors and 4 were invited to audition. The orchestra had a great morning working with the shortlisted candidates and there was very positive feedback for all of them, It was a tough choice with four such talented young conductors!...

The selection process for our new Assistant Conductor was the toughest yest – we had 16 great applicants, we had the pleasure of interviewing 8 conductors and 4 were invited to audition. The …

03/06/2026

Exciting rehearsal this Sunday where we'll work with four talented young conductors to determine who will be our next Assistant Conductor. Watch this space!

13/05/2026

Happy 100th Birthday to Shostakovich Symphony no 1!
Find out more about the piece with this article
And hear it played by the Ernest Read Symphony Orchestra with conductor Christopher Stark at St John's Waterloo on June 21 in our Shostakovich, Hummel and Papp concert

The composer himself never matched the joy, optimism and boldness of his first teenage symphony, as the chill of Stalinism settled on his music