About Us
Ampthill Orchestra was created to provide an opportunity for the wealth of musical talent in and around Ampthill. Founded in 2004, we gave our first performance in May 2005 and since have had the pleasure of performing with some amazing soloists including Tim Gill, Daniel Shao, John Ryan, Diana Cummings, Daniel O’Brien and Bonaventura Bottone to name but a few!
Ampthill Orchestra Classical Evening 8th November
The performance is held at St, Andrew's Church in Ampthill
at 7.30pm on Saturday 8th November.
Beethoven's Egmont Overture,
Bruch's Violin Concerto, soloist will be Stuart McDonald
Dvorak's 8th Symphony.
Stuart McDonald
Bedfordshire-born violinist Stuart McDonald began playing the violin at the age of three. At age 16 he was offered a place at the Purcell School of Music, before continuing his studies with an undergraduate degree at the Royal Academy of Music. He later moved to the United States to complete a master’s degree at Boston University’s College of Fine Arts.
After graduating, Stuart began his orchestral career as Joint Leader of The Orchestra Now, based in upstate New York and performed regularly at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. He subsequently returned to the UK to join the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and is now a member of the first violin section of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, performing regularly at the BBC Proms and on tours across Europe.
As a freelance player, Stuart works regularly with orchestras around the UK and has performed as Co-Leader with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
Alongside his orchestral work, Stuart is a committed educator. He was recently a mentor on the BBC SO Pathway Scheme, working with students from the Royal College of Music to help them pursue an orchestral career.
We love to play!
Our goal is to enjoy making music together and we love sharing that enthusiasm with an audience. We perform a range of concerts at different venues, including Ampthill Proms, family concerts and a more traditional concert format with soloists performing a concerto.
As well as performing these more traditional concerts, we regularly perform concerts aimed at families so they can experience a live orchestra without the traditional restrictions that might put some people off…..including the orchestra fully clad in fancy dress. Lots of fun, great music and no pressure for anyone to sit still and keep quiet!