We are finalists!

We are so honoured to be finalists for the Pride of Essex Awards 2018. The Awards evening will be held in Chelmsford on the evening of 20th November and we have much to be excited about. The Maldon Orchestra has been in existence for nearly 70 years with our platinum anniversary being celebrated next year. During that time, our membership has grown and grown. It is thanks to the endurance of the people who have gone before who have ensured that the Orchestra is still around now.

The Orchestra prides itself on giving local amateur musicians the opportunity to play together in a very relaxed and fun atmosphere. We don't hold auditions as the only qualifying requirement we require is that musicians play orchestral instruments. This means that we have a wide range of abilities from the nervous to the outstanding with everyone helping each other. We have some players returning to the Orchestra from years before, some from outstanding orchestras from around the county, some returning to instruments that they first tried at school and even some who are trying out new instruments while they have fun with their friends.

We aim to play six concerts a year to raise funds for local charities. This gives our players something to work towards and the experience of performing to an audience.

Last year we raised an amazing £4,300. This year with two concerts still left to play,

we have already raised £3,600. We have raised funds this year for the RNLI, the Brent Trust, the churches of St Leonard's in Southminster and Christ Church in Latchingdon, Farleigh Hospice, Hand in Hand (a Witham based charity) and Colchester Hospital Charity Cancer Care Unit. We have performed with a number of choirs in recent years including Southminster Choral Society, the Choir of St Andrew's Church, Boreham and the Essex Police Choir.

This Saturday we will be performing a show at the Plume in Maldon which will be a collaboration with the Maldon Drama Group and the Essex Police Choir to commemorate the centenary of the end of WW1. All proceeds from this concert will be donated to the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal. This event will give our players the experience of providing the music for a show. It is set to be a very moving and thought provoking event which has been sold out for weeks.

In December, we will be performing probably to our biggest ever audience at a Christmas concert alongside the Chelmsford Male Voice Choir at King Edward VI School in Chelmsford. For this concert our nominated charity will be the Salvation Army.

We never charge for our involvement in concerts, request for funding or have any need to fund raise for ourselves. With a growing membership of over 50 players, all our costs are covered by our membership subscriptions which is among the cheapest in the county. We play a vast repertoire of music which caters for all tastes from film and pop to abridged classical and jazz. We have three players who create special arrangements of our music for our mixed abilities and this has been key to our growing success. We can cater for every ability from the virtuoso to the less confident and we believe that we are probably unique in this feature.

The Maldon Orchestra has become more than a local club - we are a community. We have formed friendship groups as everyone helps and supports each other. We meet every week throughout the year incuding the summer and over Christmas because the social aspect of our Orchestra is as important as the music ... probably.

The strength of the Maldon Orchestra lies within its membership and as that grows, so we grow stronger.