About

Welcome to Skipton Community Orchestra.

The orchestra was set up in January 2012 to provide an opportunity for people to come along and play music together and hopefully make a reasonable sound!
More than ten years on, we are going from strength to strength…regularly welcoming over 30 musicians to each rehearsal.

We are open to all abilities and all instruments; some people are just learning a musical instrument while others are experienced players who may have not picked up their instruments for a long while…
The emphasis, however, is on having fun – we just want everyone to enjoy the sessions and maybe learn something new along the way.

Our conductor, Jess Mahler, is hugely inspiring, making rehearsals fun and entertaining, while managing to bring out the best in everyone.

Don’t worry if you’re a bit rusty – blow off the dust and cobwebs and come and have a go!

The orchestra meets twice a month in the evening. There is no need to commit to coming to every rehearsal – it is “pay as you play”.

We play a variety of well-known classical pieces as well as music from musicals, TV and films, etc.

 

Rehearsals

Rehearsals are usually held twice a month at Skipton Holy Trinity Church from 7.30pm to 9.30pm.

Rehearsal dates for 2024:

Tue 9th January

Tue 30th January

Tue 6th February

Tue 27th February

Tue 12th March

Tue 19th March

Tue 16th April

Tue 30th April

Tue 14th May

Tue 21st May

Tue 11th June

Tue 18th June

 

 

 

 

It costs just £4 per rehearsal. Please bring your own refreshments for break time as we will not have use of the kitchen for the time being.

Events

MAKE MUSIC DAY 

SUMMER CONCERT

FRIDAY 21ST JUNE 2024, 7.30PM

HOLY TRINITY CHURCH, SKIPTON

The orchestra will be joined by The Skipton Choir to celebrate Make Music Day 2024. The programme will include a selection of rock and pop classics, from Abba to Queen, Adele to Bob Dylan, there will be something for everyone.

This will be a free event and there will plenty of opportunities for the audience to join in.

https://makemusicday.co.uk/

We have performed at a range of local venues and events over the years, including Grassington Dickensian Festival, Grassington Festival in the Square, Buckden Gala, Celebrate Craven, Skipton Library, Christ Church School, Holy Trinity Church, Cliffe Castle, Keighley, Aireville Park Community Picnic.

We never charge for our performances as we strongly believe that everyone should have the opportunity to listen to live, orchestral music. Our performances are very informal and are particularly suitable for young children, often with percussion instruments to join in with and an opportunity to try out instruments afterwards.

If you would like us to play at a community event, please do get in touch. We usually need a few months’ notice to make sure that sufficient players are available and to give us some time to practise!

News

Covid-19

Like all music ensembles up and down the country, Skipton Community Orchestra was put on hold for a while during 2020 and 2021. Thankfully, as restrictions eased, rehearsals resumed in September 2021 and we are so pleased to see so many faces, old and new, turning up on a Tuesday evening at Holy Trinity Church. …