Rehearsal Day, Saturday 26 September 2026
The orchestra rehearsal will be in the same venue as the concert, St James Sussex Gardens. Nearest Tube stations – Paddington and Lancaster Gate. Details of the day are as follows – please check carefully to see when you are required!
Practice parts and notes from Chris are now available – you should have received password by email.
NOTE – the timings below are different from previous years, and as always, are subject to adjustment
10:00 – 10:30: Setting up
10:30 – 12:30: Strings only
12:30 – 13:30: Woodwind only
13:30 – 13:00: Brass
14:00 – 15:30: Full Orchestra (strings, woodwind, brass – no percussion, timps, harps, keyboards)
15:30 – 16:00: BREAK
16:00 – 17:30: Full Orchestra (as above)
17:30 – 17:45: BREAK
17:45 – 18:30: Full orchestra – William Tell only (players not involved can leave).
18:30: Finish
percussion, timps, harps, piano / celeste are not needed on Sat 26th.
Please stay around afterwards if you can to get the church tidied up and seating back into its usual layout. Don’t leave it all to the committee members!
Concert Day, Saturday 3 October 2026
NOTE – the revised timings below may be subject to last minute adjustment – watch for updates by email. There will of course be short breaks at some points during the afternoon
13:00: Setting up – strings only
14:00: Percuission only
14:30: Full Orchestra
16:00 BREAK
16:15: Full Orchestra
18:00 Finish
19:30: Concert
There is no parking at the St James Sussex Gardens other than for special cases (e.g. delivery of heavy instruments) and parking near the church is limited. If you bring a car, you will not be permitted to park it in the church grounds. Details of local car parks can be found here. The church is very near Lancaster Gate tube (about 3 mins walk) and not far from Paddington (c. 7 min walk) and we would suggest that people use public transport where possible. Please check for planned tube closures.
Donations
As always, we won’t be charging a formal subscription fee, but we do depend on donations from the orchestra to cover the venue, music and equipment hire. We really DO rely on players’ contributions to keep the orchestra afloat. Our suggested donation is £25, but if you can afford more, that would really help the orchestra. If £25 is too much, then any contribution, no matter how small, would be most welcome. If possible, please would you transfer funds electronically to the bank account below, adding a reference including your surname and instrument so that we know where the money has come from:
Barclays – Account Number: 3088 6629
If that’s not possible, we will be collecting cash, cheques or card payments on Saturday too.
Dress Code
All black for concert day. Note that changing facilities at the church are limited – there is no separate green room.
Parts and stands
Please bring a music stand and any parts in your possession. String players should also bring any practice parts they have printed out in case we find ourselves short. If you have not received the link to the parts or cannot access the files on the website, please contact us. Please make sure you only use soft pencils on all the parts.
Cello and Double Bass Spikes / Percussion
All instruments with spikes and any equipment resting on sharp edges must use floor protectors. Please bring these with you.
Refreshments
We will have some refreshments available on a table in the church: tea, coffee, biscuits, … and will have a bowl available on the table for donations (suggested donations £1 each Saturday; feel free to pay this online along with your donation to the orchestra). Please bring your own cups as we do not have any and please do not use any cups belonging to the church or anything in their kitchen other than tap water. Also, no food or drink other than water should be brought onto the altar area. We would welcome offers of help from the string section in setting up the refreshments each day.
I hope that this covers everything, but should you have any queries or note any inaccuracies, please mail me at judith@shostakovich.com. See you all in a few weeks!
Joining the Orchestra
If you’d like to join the orchestra, please complete this form – someone will get back to you as soon as possible, Feel free to email if you don’t receive a reply within a week.