Orchestral Performance - Eton College Hall, July 18 1999

Letter from course director

We seem some way from the decisions of seven years ago, 'do we have enough people to start a course, and how are we to choose a programme based on very little knowledge of the participants?'

NSSO is now finding acclaim as a truly national orchestra for young musicians and the demand for places is putting taxing demands on the team of auditioners who this year auditioned all new members in 11 centres around Britain. For the second year running we have had to turn significant numbers away and in some sections there are seven people auditioning for one place.

As an educationalist and musician I feel NSSO should be able to accommodate the majority of those who wish to join us, but as the years go by it is inevitable that this is not happening with only one course. It has been the intention to look into the possibilities of running two orchestras and NSSO will be running a course at Easter.

One thing which is now very obvious is the need to audition all students in future. If we can find the finance and master the logistics, this is the only way to achieve our aims. Please help us find a major sponsor.

Jonathan Evans at John Catt Educational Ltd., would be delighted to hear from anyone who could give us a lead to a sponsor. We need to audition properly on a large scale. Finances allowing we can continue to evolve and develop as we should.

If you have any further thoughts or ideas I would be delighted if you could contact me.

Sincere thanks

David R. Evans