Nicky Thomas Media Consultancy » Orchestra of the Swan

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Formed in 1995, Orchestra of the Swan is a British chamber orchestra which, under the artistic direction of David Le Page, is passionate about audience inclusivity and blurring the lines between genres, through its adventurous and accessible programming.

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"Another brilliant genre-busting album from Orchestra of the Swan"

"Echoes is a vibrant journey, its contents perfectly considered..." - Classical Explorer

Orchestra of the Swan release second single from upcoming album Echoes - The Strad

Orchestra of the Swan releases first single from its upcoming album Echoes

Leamington and Warwick music leaflet lists more than 60 concerts taking place across towns in early 2023

Orchestra of the Swan's Labyrinths listed on Gramophone Classical Music Awards Shortlist

Orchestra of the Swan perform in COVENTRY CATHEDRAL's ORGAN APPEAL fundraising concert

Orchestra of the Swan to perform at The Amphitheatre at Berrybank Park

Sir William Walton: A Centenary Celebration 4-STAR CD Review in Limelight Magazine

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Orchestra of the Swan release the first single from their third pioneering mixtape album

Orchestra of the Swan’s third mixtape album Echoes follows on from the success of Timelapse and Labyrinths (7.5 million audio streams since January 2021 and shortlisted for a Gramophone Award) and features an eclectic mix of contemporary reworkings from Bach all the way to the present day.

Featuring 14 tracks including orchestral arrangements of songs by Frank Zappa, The Velvet Underground and A Winged Victory for the Sullen alongside classical standards by J.S. Bach, Delius, Max Richter, Philip Glass and Finzi, the album will be preceded by the release of four singles.

Orchestra of the Swan moves to a full-time residency at Warwick Hall

In an unique example of a public-private partnership, Orchestra of the Swan moves its centre of operations from Stratford-upon-Avon to Warwick to take up a full-time residency at Warwick Hall.

The Cotswolds Amphitheatre at Berrybank Park – celebrates writer Laurie Lee with Orchestra of the Swan

On Friday 22 July, the orchestra brings to life a musical programme woven around the writing of Laurie Lee, from the lush Gloucestershire countryside Lee made famous in Cider with Rosie, to the dry landscapes of Spain, via the music of Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Britten, Albeniz, De Falla and Turina. The performance has been adapted by Deirdre Shields from Lee’s much-loved books, Cider with Rosie, As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, and A Moment of War.

Coventry Cathedral launches £1 million Diamond Jubilee Organ Appeal at a concert of remembrance with Orchestra of the Swan, Michael Collins and Rachel Mahon

This Jubilee concert on Saturday 11 June, will be raising money for the Coventry Cathedral
Diamond Jubilee Organ Appeal, featuring Canadian organist Rachel Mahon and the
Orchestra of the Swan, conducted by Michael Collins.

Kevin Whately, Roderick Williams and Tamsin Dalley appear in William Walton’s Henry V and Façade with Orchestra of the Swan

In a new recording to be released on Somm Records in January 2022, Orchestra of the Swan shows the two sides of British composer William Walton, from his stirring score to Laurence Olivier’s 1944 adaption of Henry V, to his youthful and scandalous Façade, which sets the extraordinary poetry of Edith Sitwell. The recording is released 100 years since the first private performance of Façade on 24 January 1922, and 600 years since the death of Henry V in 1422. Kevin Whately, Roderick Williams and Tamsin Dalley join Orchestra of the Swan in the spoken roles of both works.

Orchestra of the Swan records Walton’s heroic incidental music from Henry V in Edward Watson’s intriguing arrangement for chamber ensemble: flute, oboe, two clarinets, bassoon, horn, trumpet, two cellos, percussion, piano and harpsichord. Henry V is narrated by English actor Kevin Whately, best known for his character in the crime dramas Inspector Morse and Lewis.

With two million streams of new album Timelapse, Orchestra of the Swan presents Timelapse 2.0 digital concert free to view on 26 April 2021

In a new digital concert to be released on Monday 26 April 2021, the Orchestra of the Swan stream Timelapse 2.0, taking inspiration from the Swan’s latest album Timelapse, which has been streamed over 2 million times since its release in January.

The new digital concert intertwines music by Bach, Rameau (arr. David Gordon), Couperin, Trish Clowes and the Swan’s own David Le Page, and will be available as a free stream.

In Timelapse, sounds of the past and present collide to form a unique musical landscape where notions of time and style become irrelevant, performed in bespoke orchestral arrangements by the Swan’s Artistic Director David Le Page.

Orchestra of the Swan explores the surreal nature of dreams through dance, music and literature in new streamed concert on Monday 29 March

In a new multidisciplinary digital concert to be released on Monday 29 March 2021, Orchestra of the Swan explore the surreal and highly personal nature of dreaming in The Interpretation of Dreams.

The Interpretation of Dreams showcases visionary music including Arvo Pärt’s Fratres, Monti’s Csárdás, Tartini’s Devil’s Trill Sonata and Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, intertwined with more unusual selections including Angelo Badalamenti’s Audrey’s Dance (from Twin Peaks), the Cuban composer Ignacio Cervantes and even The Chordettes’ Mr Sandman, including arrangements by the Swan’s Artistic Director David Le Page.

Free broadcast of Orchestra of the Swan’s Luna concert for Random Acts of Kindness Day, Wednesday 17 February 2021

Orchestra of the Swan are marking Random Acts of Kindness Day on Wednesday 17 February 2021 by streaming Luna: Night Owl Digital Concert for free, as a gesture of kindness to celebrate the day.

Normally £10 to stream, Luna will be available to audiences for free from 17-19 February 2021. This act of kindness is even more timely with the challenges the nation has faced over the last year, particularly with lockdown seeing many music venues being temporarily closed to the public.

Luna is part of the Swan’s straight-to-streaming Night Owl Digital concerts series, taking audiences to ethereal worlds in innovative late-night sets. Exploring the moon as an object of longing, mystery, and romanticism, it tells the story of the unprecedented scientific leap that captured the world’s imagination, as man took to the moon half a century ago, intertwining words by Sylvia Plath, Tehereh Mafi, James Joyce, John F. Kennedy, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong with music by Philip Glass, Haydn, Beethoven, Paul Simon, Schönberg and including works from the Swan’s Artistic Director, David Le Page.

Craig Ogden and Miloš Milivojević duet in Piazzolla’s Concerto for Guitar and Bandoneon in Doubles, a new digital concert from Orchestra of the Swan

Following the release of their latest album Timelapse, which received over 1.3m streams within the first week of release, Orchestra of the Swan are back with a new digital offering, Doubles.

Featuring acclaimed classical guitarist Craig Ogden and accordionist Miloš Milivojević, Doubles, which is available to stream from Friday 12 February 2021, explores duets from the double concertos of J. S. Bach and Astor Piazzolla.

Directed by the Swan’s Artistic Director David Le Page, the programme was filmed at Stratford Play House, following its postponement during the November lockdown.

Rameau to Radiohead in new album Timelapse, released by Orchestra of the Swan this January

On Friday 22 January 2021, Orchestra of the Swan releases a new mixtape album on Signum; Timelapse sets canonical composers alongside contemporaries, with Rameau meeting Reich and Radiohead, and Schubert against Satie and The Smiths. Timelapse will be released on film on 19 April 2021.

Championed in orchestral arrangements by Artistic Director David Le Page, Timelapse brings together diverse musicians past and present, from the Baroque finesse of Rameau and Couperin and the Romantic writing of Grieg and Schubert to contemporary composers Thomas Adès and Errollyn Wallen, and popular stars including Radiohead, The Smiths and David Bowie.

Daring aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry takes flight once more in Wind, Sand and Stars, a new digital concert from Orchestra of the Swan

In the second of their straight-to-streaming Night Owl digital concerts, Orchestra of the Swan with Artistic Director David Le Page, capture the daring days of early aviation when to be a pilot was a thing of wonder, in an intrepid voyage with the daring French aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of Le Petit Prince.

Extracts from the autobiography of the great aviator, Wind, Sand and Stars, narrated by Graham Padden, interweave with a soundscape from twentieth-century France, from the velvet minimalist chords of Satie, to the brightly polished and exquisite whirring world of Ravel, from the exotic flavours of Debussy to the grit and pathos of Montmartre Chanson, with Charles Trenet’s iconic La Mer in an arrangement by David Le Page.

Rameau to Richter as the Orchestra of the Swan returns to live music-making in Stratford ahead of Timelapse CD release

The Orchestra of the Swan (OOTS) and Artistic Director David Le Page announce an eclectic new season which sees them return to music-making with an audience in the Play House, Stratford-upon-Avon this Autumn. The new season also sees the online launch of OOTS’s innovative Night Owl series and the release of a new Timelapse album on Signum in January 2021 accompanied by the Vivaldi Sleep Project.

Artistic Director David Le Page said:
"This autumn OOTS returns to the stage with a renewed and joyful purpose. These are strange times and the world has changed, but we need the nourishment of live music more than ever."