Wrexham Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1969 by the late Bryn Williams, then senior lecturer of Music at Cartrefle Teacher Training College in Wrexham. He gathered together a small number of local string players, led by Keith Dawber, to put on a concert, and they were billed as the “Clywedog Ensemble”. The Wrexham and District Orchestral Society was formed after the initial concert when they decided to expand the group to include woodwind and brass players. The performing arm of this society came to be known as Wrexham Orchestra. It was not until 1992 that the orchestra obtained its present name of Wrexham Symphony Orchestra, or WSO for short. WSO has grown to a present day membership numbering over sixty players and regularly attracts professional guest conductors and high-profile soloists. This increase in membership has allowed the orchestra to undertake increasingly ambitious programmes of music. Since 1997, the orchestra has been resident at the NEWI William Aston Hall in Wrexham. 1997 also saw the orchestra make a successful bid for funding to the Lottery unit of the Arts Council of Wales. The percussion equipment bought with this grant is now housed at the NEWI William Aston Hall. The orchestra was given charitable status in the early 1990s, which has enabled it to raise money for many other charities. Many local charities have benefited, and over the years many thousands of pounds have been donated. In 1999 the orchestra was presented with a community award for its charity work by British Steel. In 2004 the WSO was inaugurated Orchestra in Residence at the William Aston Hall, NEWI (now Glyndŵr University). The year also saw the orchestra presented with a workshop alongside players from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and to receive a grant towards music hire and expenditure from the Arts Council of Wales. In December 2004, the WSO appeared on CD performing Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride”, part of a charity disc for Children in Need, in conjunction with many local schools and the recording course at the North East Wales Institute. 2006 saw the orchestra receive a second grant through the Welsh Amateur Music Federation (WAMF) which has enabled the orchestra to purchase a greatly needed “Clavinova” keyboard to enhance the orchestra’s repertoire and functionality. 2007 saw the formation of the Wrexham Symphony Chorus, a sister organisation inaugurated to widen the repertoire of the orchestra and to give local singers more opportunity to perform with full Symphony Orchestra.
Orchestral Timeline
30 September 1968: Recent evidence of a letter sent by Anne Edwards, Secretary, to leader Emlyn Evans. Proof that the orchestra may have existed before 1969, meaning the orchestra may be at least a year late in celebrating its anniversary! Since the 21st anniversary was celebrated in 1990, and the 30th in 1999, we will continue to take the starting date from that of its first concert in 1969.
30 October 1969: The first concert, given as the Clywedog Ensemble.
23 October 1970: The first concert with full wind and brass, the first concert conducted by Keith Dawber, and Bryn Williams returns to conduct his own “Suite of Welsh Folk Songs”, which is reprised in the 40th anniversary concert in July 2010.
18 December 1974: Orchestra premieres Dalwyn Henshall’s Concertino for Bassoon, played by Bronia Parry. Probable first concert for a young Ian Balmain on trumpet. Ian would go on to be principal trumpet with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and is now principal trumpet with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. His trumpet sound can be heard in movies such as Gladiator, Shrek and Moulin Rouge.
Mid to late 1970s: On second flute throughout this era is Leslie Osborne, who went on to earn fame and fortune as co-writer of the theme tune to EastEnders.
28 November 1979: Keith Dawber’s last concert with the orchestra before moving to Guernsey. Programme includes Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 4.
19 March 1980: First concert under new conductor Andrew Lansom. John Arran performs Antonio Vivaldi’s Guitar Concerto in D.
13 May 1981: Last concert as a member for Ian Balmain, who, with fellow trumpeter Simon Blore (who also forged a career in music), performs Vivaldi’s concerto for two trumpets and strings.
28 October 1981: First concert for conductor/string player Mark Lansom, aged twelve. Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel Overture falls silent as the first trumpeter is taken ill on the way to the performance.
4 July 1985: First concert as conductor for Eve Armitage, in a programme including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for Oboe, Clarinet, Horn and Bassoon.
14 March 1986: The smallest audience ever at a Wrexham Orchestra concert – about ten people – watch an under-par orchestra perform at the BICC Works Canteen. Probably the orchestra’s lowest point!
14 January 1989: First “Come and Sing Messiah” concert at St. Giles under the baton of Chris Roberts. This became a yearly event for the next five Januarys.
15/16 March 1990: Alan Lees conducts two successive evenings of Gilbert and Sullivan, including a complete semi-staged version of Trial by Jury, in conjunction with St. Margaret’s Singers.
23 March 1992: The orchestra plays the first of many concerts of a lighter variety at Wallasey Town Hall.
4 July 1992: In the last concert conducted by Andrew Lansom, the orchestra is rejoined by trombonist Nige Hughes, nineteen months after losing his sight. Nige continues to play with the orchestra to this day and co-runs its website.
3 July 1994: The orchestra, in its twenty fifth anniversary concert, plays in the William Aston Hall for the very first time, with Laurence Perkins of the Manchester Camerata making his first conducting appearance. Ian Balmain makes a triumphant reappearance, playing Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s Trumpet Concerto to a packed audience.
1 July 1995: A year of concerts conducted by Graham Marshman ends with a concert at St. Giles with the young Llyr Williams as soloist in Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto.
9 November, 7 December 1996: The orchestra plays Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 and Dvořák’s Cello Concerto under the 22-year-old conductor Garry Walker. Garry has gone on to conduct the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hallé, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and BBC NOW, and is at present the principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
4 July 1998: Laurence Perkins conducts a memorable performance of Rimsky Korsakov’s “Scheherezade”.
17 April 1999: Mark Lansom makes his conducting debut, performing Carl Nielsen’s First Symphony, as well as Aram Khachaturian’s Spartacus Suite No. 2, which is reprised for the 40th anniversary concert in July 2010.
7 July 2001: A concert dedicated to the passing of Andrew Lansom, conducted by his son, ends spectacularly in a performance of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, complete with smoke machine as cannon smoke, ably assisted by Wrexham County Wind Band.
5 July 2003: Nige Hughes performs Paul Creston’s Fantasy for Trombone to an appreciative audience.
3 July 2004: The orchestra performs Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony under Laurence Perkins.
27 November 2004: Mark Lansom conducts an all-Welsh composer programme, enhanced by a session with principals from BBC NOW a few weeks earlier.
16 July 2005: The orchestra performs a concert of Music from the Movies, including Gone With the Wind, Psycho, E.T. and Star Wars, to one of the largest audiences to date.
27 January 2007: For the first time since 1994, the orchestra revives “Come and Sing Messiah” at St. Giles, launching in the process the Wrexham Symphony Chorus.
21 April 2007: Kenneth Woods of BBC NOW conducts the orchestra for the first time in a memorable performance of Edward Elgar’s First Symphony.
14 July 2007: The Wrexham Symphony Chorus gives its debut performance. In the same concert Andrew McCaddon’s “Llangollen to Carrog” is premiered to favourable reviews.
23 February, 27 April 2008: WSO gives a pair of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky concerts, featuring his second, fourth and Manfred Symphonies.
2 May 2009: Llyr Williams returns to Wrexham in a performance of Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto, treating the William Aston Hall audience to two further encores.
11 July 2009: The orchestra celebrates its 40th anniversary with a concert that includes a performance of a piece from its founder, Bryn Williams Welsh Folk Song Suite, conducted by his son Greg Williams, with the concert culminating in a rip-roaring performance of Gustav Holst’s The Planets.
8 May 2010: The orchestra is joined by the Cantorion Sirenian Singers for Ludwig van Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, conducted by Laurence Perkins.
3 July 2010: WSO’s challenge of playing all nine of Gustav Mahler’s symphonies begins, starting with Symphony No. 1 “Titan”. Hiroshi Amako also becomes the orchestra's youngest-ever leader at the age of 17.
27 November 2010: Just one concert after Hiroshi Amako becomes the youngest-ever leader of the orchestra, his record is broken by Bethan Allmand, who leads at aged just 15!
26 February 2011: WSO’s Mahler cycle continues with a performance of Symphony No. 6 “Tragic”, conducted by Kenneth Woods, who also presents a lecture about Mahler’s symphonic works in the first half. Woods is to conduct the remaining symphonies in this cycle.