Applications are now open for the Orpheus Sinfonia Foundation Programme, which will offer paid orchestral work as well as assistance for musicians entering the profession

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Orpheus Sinfonia members at the world premiere of Avatar: The Way of Water | orpheusfoundation.com

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The London-based Orpheus Sinfonia has launched a new programme to give recent music graduates the first steps into professional careers.

The five-year Orpheus Sinfonia Foundation Programme aims to support music graduates who are entering the music industry, in response to the current state of arts funding, and to support musicians without prior connections or financial support who are at risk of giving up their passion. The programme is supported by Skyrme Hart Charitable Trust.

Each year the scheme will give opportunities to 36 instrumentalists, three soloists, one conductor, four singers and one composer, who have completed full-time study in the previous two years.

As well as paid work preparing for and performing four orchestral concerts, participants will be supported by wraparound sessions each season, with mentoring from core Orpheus members and support from eminent industry professionals. It aims to establish a lasting space in which emerging professionals can explore and develop future livelihoods.

’Orpheus has created this programme to fulfil need to create access channels into the industry, especially for those that may not have pre-existing connections,’ said Rosie Taylor, Orpheus Sinfonia CEO. ’We have come to realise leadership skills of how to work in an orchestra and the industry as a whole remain largely untaught. Multiple avenues in music are paramount to career success yet opportunity to explore how is sparsely available. Numerous connections need to be forged to break into the profession, and spaces to create these are vital.’

Established in 2009, Orpheus Sinfonia is a London-based orchestra that has performed at concerts and events nationally, including the world premiere of Avatar: The Way of Water and the Platinum Jubilee Concert in Windsor Castle.

Applications are now open for musicians who have completed full-time study in the last two years. The deadline for instrumentalists is 16 June 2023. More information can be found here: https://www.orpheusfoundation.com/about/auditions/

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