The Bournemouth Sinfonietta

Established in 1968, the Bournemouth Sinfonietta began as a chamber ensemble of roughly 35 musicians intended to support the larger Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Kenneth Montgomery served as its first conductor, after which the podium passed to Maurice Gendron, Norman Del Mar, Roger Norrington, Tamás Vásáry, and Alexander Polianichko; Ronald Thomas and Richard Studt also directed the group while appearing as violinists. The Sinfonietta performed at the BBC Proms, with Glyndebourne Touring Opera and the National Opera Studio, at leading British festivals, on tours throughout Europe and Brazil, and on more than seventy recordings, many of which featured contemporary British composers. In 1985 the Bournemouth orchestras—the Sinfonietta together with the Symphony Orchestra—moved to a new arts center in Poole that became the site of an innovative educational program. The ensemble pioneered community music residencies, placing its players in localities that professional classical musicians rarely reached. Individually and in smaller formations such as the Sinfonietta Winds, Sinfonietta Strings, and the Silvestri Ensemble, members appeared in schools, hospitals, private homes, village halls, community centers, prisons, hotels, and supermarkets. In 1995 the Sinfonietta received a Sainsbury's Art for All Award for expanding public involvement in the arts. That same year the orchestra lost its salaried status and was fully disbanded in 2000 after a restructuring imposed by the Arts Council of England.