Founded in 2002, Southbank Sinfonia is an orchestra of young professionals now established as Britain’s orchestral academy, providing the most talented players with a much needed bridge between conservatoire and the profession. Southbank Sinfonia is based at St John’s Waterloo, just a short distance from the South Bank.

Every year 32 players, each supported by a bursary, undertake an intensive and wide-ranging programme of performance and professional development which comprises concerts across the UK; workshops and performances; orchestral repertoire and chamber music; education and management training; and sessions spanning subjects from improvisation to public speaking.

A distinctive and integral part of the programme is collaboration with leading performing arts organisations. Through workshops and performances with the Royal Opera House, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, BBC Concert Orchestra, London Sinfonietta and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, SbS players receive expert guidance in a comprehensive range of music from opera and ballet to Baroque, contemporary, core classical and light music. The orchestra also enjoys special relationships with British Youth Opera, Samling and the Parliament Choir.

SbS is always looking for opportunities to explore innovative musical collaborations with other art-forms such as the visual arts and theatre. Until February 2009, the full orchestra appeared on stage at the National Theatre in a new production of Tom Stoppard and André Previn’s ‘Every Good Boy Deserves Favour’. This co-production established a new partnership with the National Theatre and typified Southbank Sinfonia’s commitment to extending the boundaries of the orchestral world.

The 2009 season presents over 40 performances in the UK; our first concert in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, family concerts at Cadogan Hall, an annual 10-day festival in Anghiari, Italy and regular informal Thursday Rush Hour concerts in the orchestra’s home at St John’s Waterloo. New projects include the first foray into connecting with the world of jazz, an initiative to inspire musicians in secondary schools, and exploration of the orchestra itself as a visual art.

Southbank Sinfonia receives no public funding and is indebted to its many individual donors, trusts and foundations, and corporate supporters to sustain the unique programme of professional development for talented young musicians.