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LONDON GAY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
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The London Gay Symphony Orchestra was founded in May 1996 by a group of friends led by Robin Gordon-Powell, who was the Orchestra’s first conductor. The Orchestra rapidly grew in size and in October 1996 gave its first performances as a full symphony orchestra at London’s Drill Hall. Sixteen years on and the LGSO now performs five full concerts per year, plus a variety of regular and ad-hoc extras. Concerts are now regularly held at St Sepulchre Without Newgate, in the City, as well as occasional outings to major London venues such as Cadogan Hall or the Southbank Centre for special occasions. Currently the orchestra plays mostly in London, with an occasional outing to Brighton. In 2008 we collaborated with the French Rainbow Symphony Orchestra, performing concerts in both London and Paris over two weekends; we hope to repeat this model with other LGBT Orchestras in coming years. During the past sixteen years, the LGSO has taken part in a wide range of activities and events, including performances at various festivals in the UK as well as Queer Zagreb in 2004 and of course at various Pride events in London. Some of our collaborations include being conducted by winner of BBC 2’s The Maestro, Sue Perkins, recording the score to the cult film Pervirella, and performing with Jimmy Somerville, Simon Callow and Rosalind Plowright.
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