About the Orchestra
Formed in November 1999, the London Shostakovich Orchestra is one of the capital’s most exciting amateur ensembles. The orchestra, conducted by its founding conductor, Christopher Cox, and most recently led by Alex Postlethwaite, is thought to be the only amateur orchestra in Britain (and perhaps beyond) to have performed the full cycle of Shostakovich’s 15 symphonies. The inaugural concert on 13th May 2000, in which the main work was Shostakovich’s 10th Symphony, drew praise from audience and critics alike. One listener commented that he was
“astonished by the extremely high standard of performance and interpretation.”
The orchestra exists to provide serious musicians with the opportunity to rehearse and perform symphonic repertoire to a high standard, with particular emphasis on the works of Dmitri Dmitrovich Shostakovich, his contemporaries and other Russian composers. Drawing its membership mainly but not exclusively from the London amateur and semi-professional musical communities, enthusiastic players of a good standard are warmly invited to apply for membership.
The Symphony Cycle
Although initially founded by a group of friends in order to play the most well known of Shostakovich’s symphonies, the orchestra soon set its sights on completing his entire symphonic cycle, which we achieved with our concert on 8 March 2014 featuring Symphony No 14.
Our most recent performance in September 2025 with the London Shostakovich Choir featured Shostakovich’s 13th Symphony, ‘Babi Yar’
Our next concert will be on Saturday 3 October 2026 and we are planning to perform Shostakovich’s final 15th Symphony.
Shostakovich’s symphonic works are an expensive undertaking for an amateur orchestra, so if you would like to come and hear us play, we would very much appreciate your support! At present, the orchestra is funded only from players’ contributions and ticket sales.
Alternatively, if you would be interested in making a donation towards the costs of our activities, sponsoring a future event or advertising on this website, we’d be more than happy to hear from you!
For all enquiries, please complete the forms on our Contact page, or email info@shostakovich.com
Instagram – @lsho_uk
NOTE – Domain Names
shostakovich.com, shostakovich.uk and lsho.jmea.co.uk are all valid URLS for this site