New London Orchestra

New London Orchestra (NLO)
Orchestra
New London Orchestra logo
Founded	1988
Principal conductor	Ronald Corp
Website	www.nlo.co.uk

The New London Orchestra began as a body of players regularly assembled by Ronald Corp to accompany concerts given by Highgate Choral Society, and was formally founded in 1988. It developed into an orchestra specialising in rarely heard late 19th and 20th century repertoire. It is based in London. With Corp as Artistic Director, the Orchestra has helped to bring the music of Martinů to a wider audience and to re-establish the popularity of British Light Music through a series of recordings on the independent label Hyperion Records. In the field of education, the Orchestra has devised projects which use music as a tool to enhance learning in the key curriculum subjects of maths, literacy and science. Following its 'Newham Welcomes the World' community project, the NLO has focused its concert-giving and outreach work in the local community in the London Borough of Newham. The orchestra is independent of public funding, being reliant on private sponsorship and donations.

A characteristic of the New London Orchestra (NLO) has been its programming of unusual repertoire, including lesser-known works by famous composers and pieces by little-known composers. Composers who have been featured include Martinů, a piece of whose music was programmed in every concert from the Orchestra's launch until his centenary in 1990, as well as Ibert, Milhaud, Kabalevsky, Honegger, Roussel and Sibelius.

The NLO played at four Proms in the 1990s: the first was in 1991 at an all-Prokofiev 'Children's Prom' (8 September); the second in 1995 for a 'Young Person's Concert' with music from six countries (27 August); a Prom of Russian and American music in 1998 (31 August); and an all-French programme the following year (29 August).

On 23 November 1991 the Orchestra presented the London première of the Swiss composer, Frank Martin's Requiem at the Royal Festival Hall as part of 'Swiss Fest 700'.

In 1995 at St. John's, Smith Square it gave a series of concerts called 'London Firsts', each of which included London premières of works such as Rodrigo's Tres Viejos Aires de Danza (16 March), Antonín Tučapský's Violin Concerto, Roger Steptoe's Flute Concerto (18 May), Naji Hakim's Saul of Tarsus (29 June), Malcolm Arnold's Recorder Concerto (2 December) and the world concert première of Delius' Idylle de Printemps (2 November).