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"Necessity is the mother of invention." - Frank Zappa

Formed in 1995, Orchestra of the Swan is a British chamber orchestra which, under the artistic direction of David Le Page, is passionate about audience inclusivity and blurring the lines between genres, through its adventurous and accessible programming.
he Swan presents over 45 concerts a year – both live and digital with a catalogue of over 20 recordings. We are passionate about new music and has premiered more than 70 new works by composers including Joe Cutler, Tansy Davies, Joe Duddell, Alexander Goehr, Roxanna Panufnik, Joseph Phibbs, Dobrinka Tabakova, Errollyn Wallen, Huw Watkins, John Woolrich and many others. Our album ‘Timelapse’ creates a space where sounds of the past and present collide to form a unique musical landscape. Although the pieces were written, in some cases, centuries apart and in culturally disparate eras, it is striking how much these contrasting works inhabit such similar emotional territory. Intriguing pairings of works by Rameau and Radiohead’s Pyramid Song, Schubert, and The Smiths, Adés and Grieg, Satie and Reich, complement each other beautifully and style have become irrelevant.
The Swan has been enormously successful in making a positive and effective contribution to the communities at the heart of its ‘immersive residencies’ in Herefordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Birmingham with an ambitious programme of work in care homes, schools and rural areas growing year by year. Based at the Stratford Play House, in Stratford-upon-Avon, the Swan is proof that an orchestra really can be an indispensable and relevant part of the community with its aim to entertain, educate and engage in a way that truly makes it a living orchestra.

Featured on

Antonio Vivaldi, David Gordon
Earthcycle
Orchestra of the Swan
Johann Sebastian Bach
Music from the Ghetto Ailenberg, Braun, Bruch, Shalit
London Chamber Orchestra
Various composers
Echoes
Orchestra of the Swan
Various composers
Labyrinths
Orchestra of the Swan
Various composers
Timelapse
Orchestra of the Swan
Dmitri Shostakovich
Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 2; Piano Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2
Peter Donohoe
Deborah Pritchard, Robert Saxton, John McCabe
PSALM - Contemporary British Trumpet Concertos
Simon Desbruslais / Orchestra of the Swan / Kenneth Woods / David Curtis
Vaughan Williams, Edward Elgar
The Lark Ascending / Introduction and Allegro
Tamsin Waley-Cohen / Orchestra of the Swan / David Curtis
Felix Mendelssohn
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in D minor / Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Orchestra
Tamsin Waley-Cohen / Huw Watkins