The Westminster
Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1972 by Joseph
Pilbury for musicians of the highest standard to perform
large-scale works including the symphonies of Mahler and
Shostakovich. We have built an impressive reputation as
one of London’s leading amateur orchestras, bringing
together players from a wide geographical area for
music-making, covering a broad range of music from the
19th century onwards.
Major milestones in the WPO’s repertoire include
Bartok’s
Miraculous Mandarin, Ravel's
Daphnis & Chloé,
the full cycle of Mahler
symphonies,
Rachmaninoff’s three symphonies,
Stravinsky’s The Rite
of Spring and
Firebird, Tippett's
Ritual Dances,
Maxwell Davis'
Five Klee Pictures and
Reel with
Northern Lights, Shostakovich Symphonies 5, 6, 8,
10, 11 and 12, the Elgar/Payne
Symphony no.3,
Nielsen's 5th Symphony, Strauss’
Also Sprach
Zarathustra
and Vaughan Williams’
6th Symphony.
Our Silver Anniversary in 1998 was celebrated with
Bartok’s Duke
Bluebeard’s Castle and a commissioned work - Howard
Jones’ Thamesside
Variations. Our 30th Anniversary included
Bernstein’s SongFest
- a vocal extravaganza for six soloists and large
orchestra - and our 40th, Delius’s
Paris and
Debussy’s complete
Images, marking the joint 150th
Anniversary of both composers.
Under the direction of our principal Conductor, Jonathan
Butcher, we have worked with many distinguished
soloists, in particular Raphael Wallfisch for the Finzi
Concerto and
Prokofiev’s
Sinfonia Concertante, and, in collaboration with
music trusts, have offered concerto opportunities to
several outstanding young soloists at the start of their
international careers.
The WPO is keen to promote rarely heard and new works:
in 2012 we celebrated the centenary of Samuel
Coleridge-Taylor with his
Violin Concerto
and Hiawatha’s
Wedding Feast; and marked the 2013 centenary of
George Lloyd with his
Cello Concerto. In 2018 we gave the public premiere
of David Hackbridge Johnson’s
9th
Symphony,
previously recorded to considerable critical acclaim,
and in March 2019, the
Concerto for
violin & cello by Percy Sherwood.
In 2018 we celebrated Leonard Bernstein’s centenary
presenting a complete programme of his music including
The Age of
Anxiety (Symphony No.2), Serenade on Plato’s Symposium
and a WPO favourite, the
Symphonic Dances
from West
Side Story.
The WPO has enjoyed collaborating with major choral
societies including Elgar
The Dream of
Gerontius and
Elijah, Poulenc
Gloria,
Puccini Missa di Gloria,
Porgy & Bess
and Bach St.
Matthew Passion. We have given concert performances
of Verdi's Nabucco
and appeared at the Royal Albert Hall with the
Joint Hertfordshire Choirs in aid of the British Council
for the Prevention of Blindness: Britten
War Requiem
in 1994; Mahler
Symphony No.8 (Symphony
of a Thousand) in 1999; Verdi Requiem in
2003; and Berlioz' spectacular Grande Messe des Morts
in 2007.
In addition to appearing in all the major concert halls
of London we have toured abroad to destinations
including Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus, France, Spain,
Italy, the Czech Republic and Nova Scotia. Our annual
“Party in the Park” Concert at Langtons Gardens,
Hornchurch continues to attract audiences of over 3,000
people.
The WPO has released 4 CDs of film music on the
Silva Screen
label: Franz Waxman’s ‘The
Bride of Frankenstein’ (often aired on BBC Radio 3);
Max Steiner’s
Gone With The Wind, ‘Horror’
and ‘The Devil
Rides Out’ and
The
Great British
Film Music Album. In 2002 we recorded Scott Benzie’s
music for the film Room 36 directed by Jim Groom.
More unusually, in 2017 we recorded a BT Sport ad of the
UEFA Champions’ League Anthem “conducted” by Gary
Lineker.
The first morning of
Scala Radio,
4th March 2019, included the WPO’s recording
of Elmer Bernstein’s
The Great Escape.
