Welcome!

The Kingston Chamber Orchestra is an amateur orchestra of high standard, based in Kingston, Surrey, UK. Our members are a mixture of professionals, teachers, semi-professionals and keen amateurs.

We have a tradition of innovative concert programming that encompasses many areas of the repertoire, such as:

• classical overtures, concertos and symphonies;
• works for smaller orchestra from the 19th and 20th centuries;
• neglected works by well known composers;
• new works specially commissioned by the orchestra.

In recent years we have accompanied performances by Simon Callaghan, Lesley Shrigley Jones, Jeanine Thorpe and and Jane Wilkinson, and performed works narrated by Penny Smith and James Naughtie.

“The Kingston performance [of Gordon Jacob's Oboe Concerto No 2] was impressive; it was a mature reading, excellently accomplished by both soloist and the KCO and it received a most warm response from the audience.”

-- Dr Geoff Ogram

We rehearse weekly during term-time and perform at least three concerts per year. Click on a button to the left for more information.

News

• Our June 2013 concert will premiere a short new work by up-and-coming composer Freddie Meyers. Details to follow!
• The orchestra played at the International Composers Festival in Hastings on Sunday 26th August 2012.
• Our recent concert tour to Antwerp in November 2012 was a gret success.
• We performed a charity concert is on December 3rd in aid of the Down's Syndrome Association. It included Schubert's Rondo for Violin and Strings performed by our leader, Helena Ruinard. It was at the Langdon Down Centre in Teddington.

• You can now sign up as a Friend of the KCO through Kingston Council's online booking system. Please see the concerts page for more details.
• Why not show your support for the KCO by becoming a Friend of the Orchestra? Friends receive two free tickets to each concert, their name in the programme, and receive a press release before each concert.
• We are delighted to welcome Sir Francis Jacobs as our patron and thank him for his generous support.
• Our conductor Andy Meyers is taking part in Movember in aid of The Prostate Cancer Charity. The money raised as a result of Movember is channelled by their men's health partner into a number of world class and innovative education, support, research and awareness initiatives. Please sponsor Andy for this worthwhile cause, if for nothing else tan to see how his facial hair could look any more ridiculous than it does currently...
• We had another very successful music tour to Paris. We performed works by Haydn, Danzi and CPE Bach at the Basilique Sainte Clotilde.

• The KCO celebrated its 25th birthday in 2099 with a Thames River Cruise.
• Our charity concert on Sunday 6 December 2009 sold out. We raised over £2000 for The Friends of Thomas Coram. The concert included works by Purcell, Handel, Britten and Bach.
• Our next orchestra tour is provisionally scheduled for 22-25 October 2010 in Paris. More details soon!
• You can now share any KCO web page with social networking sites such as Digg or Facebook. Click the share this page link which you can find at the top right of every page. Please contact the KCO webmaster for more information.
• We had another fantastic trip to Lille where we performed works by Roman, Crusell and Grieg.

more news ...