St Cecilia Orchestra
Welcome Information Events Diary

Welcome to the St Cecilia web site. I hope it will give a good insight into the workings of our unique organisation.

Forthcoming St Cecilia Orchestra concerts
Title Venue Date
Spring Concert Holy Trinity Church, Ripon 1 May
The St Cecilia Players with Simon Passmore (piano) St Andrew's Church 6 Jun
Special "Gala" Concert Ripon Cathedral 11 Sep
Christmas Spectacular Ripon Cathedral 18 Dec
Ripon’s renowned St Cecilia Orchestra is much more than just an orchestra. At its most spectacular it is an exceptionally fine and very large symphony orchestra, often working with top class international soloists and capable of giving high-quality performances of some of the most demanding large-scale works in the repertoire, such as Bartok Concerto for Orchestra, Elgar Symphony No 1, Holst Planets Suite, Janacek Sinfonietta, Rachmaninov Symphony No 2 and R. Strauss Ein Heldenleben.

St Cecilia Orchestra began life in the early 1990s, when a small group of local instrumentalists got together to accompany Ripon Cathedral Choir at its annual concert to celebrate St Cecilia’s Day. It still relishes this close connection with the Cathedral, performing regularly for services and other special occasions, but it has also developed into a community orchestra par excellence, drawing its players from a wide area and performing in a variety of other guises, in a whole range of sizes, playing all types of music from 1600 to the present day.
The orchestra works regularly with adult choirs and choral societies across the north of England and its commitment to youth is demonstrated not only by the remarkable number of talented younger players in its membership but by its promotion of workshops for young instrumentalists and its championing of Ripon Youth Choirs and other young singers, especially in the annual Christmas Spectacular Concert. The orchestra also promotes educational concerts in schools throughout the region, in collaboration with the UK’s outstanding student ensemble, Vacation Chamber Orchestras.

The work of the orchestra is brought together under an umbrella organisation, the Ripon St Cecilia Society Ltd, which works in collaboration with many other groups to provide a wide range of musical and educational concerts, events and services throughout the region. It is a non-profit-distributing company limited by guarantee and is also a registered charity. Its voluntary board of directors consists of local musicians, business people and professional arts organisers. For its income, the orchestra depends heavily on grants, sponsors and patrons.

Are you, or perhaps your organisation, able to offer this kind of valuable help? For more information, please telephone 01765 602856 or see elsewhere on this website.
The St Cecilia Society also provides, on this website, a comprehensive North Yorkshire Music and Arts Events Diary (including Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate, Richmond & Ryedale Districts) and an anti-clash diary for the region. Any arts organisations wishing to make use of this free service should please contact us via telephone or email us at: mail@st-cecilia.org.uk
If you would like to receive regular information about the orchestra and concerts please complete the email request below.Concerts in Ripon, concerts in harrogate, classical music in ripon, classical music in harrogate
Xenophon Kelsey MBE

Enter 727Y4 in this box:
9 February
Ripon Community Orchestra
10 February
Ripon Film Society
24 February
Ripon Film Society
27 February
Harrogate Philharmonic Orchestra
1 March
Cathedral Concert Society
6 March
Richmondshire Concerts
6 March
NYM Chamber Music Festival
6 March
Vocalis
10 March
Ripon Film Society
13 March
Harrogate Choral Society
20 March
Ripon Choral Society
20 March
Harrogate Symphony Orchestra
6 April
Vacation Chamber Orchestras
7 April
Vacation Chamber Orchestras
8 April
Vacation Chamber Orchestras
9 April
Vacation Chamber Orchestras
10 April
Vacation Chamber Orchestras
17 April
Music in Masham
17 April
Richmondshire Choral Society
24 April
Richmondshire Concerts
1 May
St Cecilia Orchestra
1 May
NYM Chamber Music Festival
7 May
Ripon Young Musicians of the Year
8 May
Ripon Young Musicians of the Year
14 May
Music in Masham
15 May
St Paulinus Singers
22 May
North Yorkshire Chorus
29 May
Swaledale Festival
29 May
Music in Masham
30 May
Swaledale Festival
1 June
Swaledale Festival
2 June
Swaledale Festival
2 June
Swaledale Festival
3 June
Swaledale Festival
3 June
Swaledale Festival
4 June
Swaledale Festival
4 June
Swaledale Festival
5 June
Swaledale Festival
6 June
Swaledale festival
6 June
Swaledale Festival
8 June
Swaledale Festival
9 June
Swaledale Festival
9 June
Swaledale Festival
10 June
Swaledale Festival
10 June
Swaledale Festival
11 June
Swaledale Festival
13 June
Swaledale Festival
19 June
Ripon Choral Society
19 June
Fountains Abbey
25 June
Music in Masham
10 July
Fountains Abbey
10 July
Harrogate Philharmonic Orchestra
28 July
Fountains Abbey
14 August
Fountains Abbey
16 August
NYM Chamber Music Festival
18 August
NYM Chamber Music Festival
20 August
NYM Chamber Music Festival
21 August
Fountains Abbey
21 August
NYM Chamber Music Festival
23 August
NYM Chamber Music Festival
25 August
NYM Chamber Music Festival
27 August
NYM Chamber Music Festival
28 August
NYM Chamber Music Festival
29 August
Fountains Abbey
11 September
St Cecilia Orchestra
2 October
Fountains Abbey
9 October
Fountains Abbey
16 October
Fountains Abbey
22 October
Music in Masham
23 October
Fountains Abbey
20 November
North Yorkshire Chorus
2 December
Fountains Abbey
4 December
North Yorkshire Chorus
4 December
Fountains Abbey
5 December
Fountains Abbey
9 December
Fountains Abbey
11 December
Fountains Abbey
12 December
Fountains Abbey
18 December
St Cecilia Orchestra
18 December
Fountains Abbey
19 December
Fountains Abbey
21 May, 2011
North Yorkshire Chorus