Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra in financial difficulties

[BBMmk2]

A friend of mine, over the weekend pointed out that the Brighton PO are £70,000 in debt and need tyo find this in two9 weeks, otherwise they be going into administration!

This is one of the south's major orchestras, drawn from musicians from Royal opera House and other major orchestras in London, etc.

It would be very sad indeed if this orchestra does shut up shop for good. It would leave quite a vacuum in Brighton's vibrant musical life.

I hear now they need another £37,000.

[Bax-of-Delights]

That's desperate news BBM! As a local to Brighton - like yourself - I have enjoyed the concerts over the years.

Brighton is a great cultural centre and should be able to support an orchestra. If Bournemouth can do it one wonders why Brighton has such difficulties.

[BBMmk2]

indeed, it is BoD! I just cannot imagine Brighton without it's own orchestra!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The Sunday afternoon concerts in the Dome were a highlight of my time down South / South Down: it would indeed be a great loss to the city and its environs if the orchestra were to be folded - and £70k is hardly a huge amount. Is there a "Donations, please" Link anywhere Bbm?

[salymap]

Was that the orchestra that was founded or conducted by Herbert Menges ? I only went to the Dome once to see Du Pre, Barenboim and Zukerman when on holiday ,as I'm too far away to get to concerts but remember them and wish them well.

[BBMmk2]

Was that the orchestra that was founded or conducted by Herbert Menges ? I only went to the Dome once to see Du Pre, Barenboim and Zukerman when on holiday ,as I'm too far away to get to concerts but remember them and wish them well.

Yes it is saly.

I think, from whjat my friend said that is a donations link on their site, Ferney

It was in last Saturday's Brighton Evening Argus. If people would like to go to the site and search for Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra.

[Hornspieler]

A friend of mine, over the weekend pointed out that the Brighton PO are £70,000 in debt and need to find this in two weeks, otherwise they will be going into administration!

This is one of the south's major orchestras, drawn from musicians from Royal Opera House and other major orchestras in London, etc.It would be very sad indeed if this orchestra does shut up shop for good. It would leave quite a vacuum in Brighton's vibrant musical life.

I hear now they need another £37,000.

This is one of the major problems. Just like the Guildford Municipal Orchestra, with whom I used to play sometimes on Sunday afternoons, nobody is in danger of losing their jobs - only their perks, so there will be less of an outcry if the orchestra ceases to exist.
I knew Bertie Menges from way back. Not a bad conductor - he did some good work with the Philharmonia, but he was not a trainer.

A very nice man who presided over the performances, but he was the Brighton Philharmonic and it was only a matter of time before the orchestra would cease to exist in all but name.

Very sad for the music lovers of Brighton, who will be dependent largely upon the occasional visit of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
(We used to make occasional sorties to Brighton on a Sunday and I recall one concert with Jacquie du Pre playing the Elgar concerto in the 1960s.)

HS

[Stanfordian]

A friend of mine, over the weekend pointed out that the Brighton PO are £70,000 in debt and need tyo find this in two9 weeks, otherwise they be going into administration!

This is one of the south's major orchestras, drawn from musicians from Royal opera House and other major orchestras in London, etc.

It would be very sad indeed if this orchestra does shut up shop for good. It would leave quite a vacuum in Brighton's vibrant musical life.

I hear now they need another £37,000.

Hiya Maestro,

Terrible news for the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra. It's such a crying shame but a fact of life I guess that the arts and music in particular always lose out in times of recession. In my 'neck of the woods' prior to last the Lancashire Sinfonietta concert it was announced to the audience that the orchestra's principal financier, the Lancashire County Council, was to slash its funding by over 80% which in turn will necessitate the withdrawal of the orchestra's Arts Council grant.

[BBMmk2]

A Sad Pavane for these Distracted Times.

[Alain Maréchal]

My instinct is to mourn the loss of any orchestra, but perhaps its a question of image and poor publicity: for work reasons I have kept a base on that coast for several years (and in fact I am writing from there now, trying to pack it up and move on) and the impression I had was that it was an amateur orchestra, perhaps with a leavening of professionals. Whenever I have investigated concerts in Brighton the interesting things seemed to be infrequent visits from London orchestras (and even sedate Eastbourne gets the LPO once a month during the winter. I'm told they sell out). Is Brighton really "a great cultural centre"? My occasional visits revealed a rather scruffy town of scruffy people, with a makeshift hall (usually lots of empty seats) and my inclination after a concert at the Dome was to get out of town as soon as possible before the fights started in the pubs over the road.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Some good news about the (professional, "part-time", but no "amateurs" involved) Brighton Phil (together with a brief history of the Orchestra):

http://www.brightonphil.org.uk/

[salymap]

My instinct is to mourn the loss of any orchestra, but perhaps its a question of image and poor publicity: for work reasons I have kept a base on that coast for several years (and in fact I am writing from there now, trying to pack it up and
move on) and the impression I had was that it was an amateur orchestra, perhaps with a leavening of professionals. Whenever I have investigated concerts in Brighton the interesting things seemed to be infrequent visits from London orchestras (and even sedate Eastbourne gets the LPO once a month during the winter. I'm told they sell out). Is Brighton really "a great cultural centre"? My occasional visits revealed a rather scruffy town of scruffy people, with a makeshift hall (usually lots of empty seats) and my inclination after a concert at the Dome was to get out of town as soon as possible before the fights started in the pubs over the road.

I'm surprised and sorry to read that. Brighton, 50 or so years ago was full of residents such as great actors and musicians and the Dome and the parts of Brighton I knew seemed far from scruffy

[BBMmk2]

Ok there are a lot of scruffy people in Brighton but for the most part, it's not too bad.

[Alain Maréchal]

I'm surprised and sorry to read that. Brighton, 50 or so years ago was full of residents such as great actors and musicians and the Dome and the parts of Brighton I knew seemed far from scruffy

apart from these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CukwVOt8-rM

[jean]

And just a bit earlier, these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB1HWgl2fH0