Stafford Orchestra History
In December 1964, under the musical directorship of Jack Devenport, the English Electric Orchestra was founded as part of that company’s Sports & Social Organization. It soon prospered, mustering sixty players for its first public concert at the New Theatre Hall, Stychfields, only five months later. One of the items performed was Beethoven’s First Symphony, which is still in the orchestra’s repertoire today, after over 40 years! The players included Andrew Gulley on clarinet; he is still with us (he’s our Treasurer) and plays regularly. Exactly a year later, the orchestra attracted a big audience at its birthday concert. The Stafford Chronicle’s music critic was on hand with some faint praise: “Though young and possessing the usual teething troubles, the orchestra is beginning to find some cohesion in the ensemble passages”. Stychfields Hall was to remain the orchestra’s rehearsal venue for many years, until moving to its present home, St Leonard’s Club, in April 1995.
By 1969, the Orchestra was performing regularly; at one Stychfields concert that year John Dunn played a recorder concerto. John plays with the Stafford Sinfonia now, but he still appears with us from time to time on violin.
An early photo of the orchestra taken in Stychfields Hall.
....and one taken in the late 80's
In 1977, Trevor Stokes took over the reins of Musical Director, being succeeded in 1981 by Leslie Smith, a man well remembered for his later association with Stafford Choral Society. About this time, Gerry Saunders joined as leader. These were great times for the Orchestra, one highlight being a performance of Cherubini’s Requiem at Cotton College in 1986. In approx 1993 Leslie Smith left the Orchestra to concentrate on his work with Stafford Choral Society and his place was taken by Andrew Baker, the well-known Stafford Music Librarian and Composer. Andrew made great efforts to publicise the Orchestra and to recruit new players but, as ever, it proved difficult to attract a sufficient balance of good string players.
By then times were changing; English Electric had been absorbed into Lord Weinstock’s then-mighty and cost-conscious GEC empire in 1968. Still later the company was sold to Alsthom. This resulted in diminishing Company financial support until, in 1995, the company sold Stychfields Hall to Stafford Borough Council. The Orchestra was left to finance itself and to find a new home as an independent organisation at St. Leonard’s Club. At the same time, it was re-titled the Stafford Orchestral Society. The enthusiastic Bob Birchall took over as Musical Director that year at the tender age of 35. Although he remained in the post for only sixteen months, he did much to change the focus of the orchestra away from “company band” to a Stafford town-centred organization.
Our present Musical Director, Tony Preece, took over in August 1996, and through his contacts with Salt Parish Church and Sandon Church (not to mention the late Earl of Harrowby) established these villages as regular concert venues.The popularity of a joint concert with Stafford Concert Band at St Michael’s, Penkridge, which started as a one-off fund-raiser in 2005 for the Asian Tsunami, resulted in it to becoming a repeated venture, and every Christmas the orchestra joins forces with another ex-GEC group, the Alstom Singers, for a concert which is later broadcast on Stafford Hospital Radio. Each year, we enjoy the plush neo-Gothic surroundings of Stafford’s County Buildings and raise money for Macmillan Cancer Relief; this has been a regular feature of the orchestra’s concert year since the early 1990s and has largely been due to the enthusiasm of our old friend and colleague Eileen O’Dempsey.
Tony Preece has injected a note of novelty into the orchestra’s normal light classical repertoire with his skilful parodies of well-known pieces, including the Strauss send-up Tales from the Doxey Marshes and our own Last Night of the Proms number, the Plump and Circumspect March. For the last few years, the orchestra has performed under the name The Stafford Orchestra, to reflect its close association with the town. It still rehearses at the St Leonard’s Club every Wednesday evening at 7.30pm.
Apart from our principal clarinet Andrew Gulley, other long-serving members of the orchestra include Jim Seddon, 1st violin; Bob Foster, principal viola; Russti Taylor, bass; Mary Appleyard, 2nd viola and our leader, Peter Norris. Founding member Bunty Palmer (flute) retired in 2006. The folowing members have notched up over ten years’ service: Gill Baskett, horn; Dave Hawkins, flute; Helena Grealish, violin; Frances Melville, principal flute; Dennis Boon, trumpet and of course, our Musical Director since 1996 Tony Preece.