Plymouth's own Symphony Orchestra has been central to the musical life of the city for 132 years, and continues to perform challenging music ranging from the traditional to the contemporary.

In 1875 a local teacher of music, Dr Samuel Weekes, brought together a group of musician friends and founded what was then known as an Orchestral Society: their first concert was presented in the graceful Tea Rooms of Plymouth’s old Royal Hotel. The renamed Plymouth Symphony Orchestra can claim to be one of the longest-established orchestras in the country, with an amazing record of continuity: the founding conductor was succeeded by his son; his grandson, John Weekes, was a vice-president until recently! The present conductor, Anne Kimber, is only the sixth in 132 years.

The eighty members of the orchestra travel from as far afield as Beer and Bodmin to attend weekly rehearsals. Many different occupations are represented; a number of members have had professional training but none receive payment for playing in the orchestra.

In its choice of programmes the orchestra aims to achieve a balance between established masterpieces and an adventurous selection of less familiar music. Among the contemporary pieces performed in recent years have been several specially commissioned from local composers, including Judy Whitlock, who leads the double bass section.

Many distinguished soloists have played concertos with the orchestra, including in recent years Kennedy, Peter Donohoe, the late Jack Brymer, Julian Lloyd Webber, Priya Mitchell, Anna Markland, Ralph Kirshbaum and Noriko Ogawa.

In addition to making appearances in Plymouth, an important feature of the orchestra’s work is to present concerts in other centres which professional symphony orchestras rarely, if ever, visit, such as Liskeard, Totnes, Dartington, Christow and Buckland Abbey. But the purpose of Samuel Weekes in founding the orchestra has remained central to all its activities: to bring friends together once a week to make music.

Wednesday 11th June at 7.30pm

The Guildhall, Plymouth

Saturday 14th June at 7.30pm

The Ariel Centre, Totnes
in aid of "Totnes Caring"

Steve Williams trumpet

Tickets are also available at the door or from members of the orchestra

For further information including season tickets for Plymouth concerts, phone 01579 342955

Steve Williams

The  South West is lucky to have a number of excellent musicians whose musical education and development stem from service with the Royal Marine Band Service.  Steve Williams joined the service on leaving school at the age of 15 and during the next 25 years performed with the Marines in many different venues, including America, the West Indies and all over Europe. 

Life after the service has been far from dull!  He obtained a degree in music from Sheffield University, majoring in performance, followed by qualification as a teacher under the Graduate Training Programme.  He is now a freelance musician and peripatetic teacher, teaching trumpet, flute, clarinet and saxophone.

Steve has worked with many local orchestras, including the South West Sinfonietta and the Radio Light Orchestra.  He has made recordings and broadcasts on TV and radio and also plays with dance bands, including a group that includes other Royal Marine bandsmen, known improbably as Gav and the Grim Notes!

In September 2006 he joined the staff of Coombe Dean School, where he teaches music.

Megumi Fujita

She appeared on NBC TV at the following year, and was soloist several times for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at twelve years old. The "Newsweek" magazine made a TV programme introducing her daily life to the USA. In 1978 her family moved to Baghdad, Iraq and Megumi continued her studies with Agnes Bashir, performing with the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra.

She joined the Yehudi Menuhin School in 1979 to study with Simon Nicholls and Louis Kentner. At 19, she was selected as a post-graduate student at the Rubin Academy of Music, Tel-Aviv University and studied with Irina Zaritskaya winning First Prize in the Piano Competition at the Academy the same year.
She continued her post-graduate studies at the Royal College of Music with Irina Zaritskaya, winning the Hopkinson Gold Medal in 1986.

Megumi has since won numerous prizes including 3rd Prize at the International Bosendorfer Competition, Belgium, 4th Prize Montreal International Piano Competition, 2nd Prize PTNA Piano Competition, Japan, Semi-finalist International Queen Elizabeth Competition, Belgium, and diplomas at International Chopin Competition, Poland and International Beethoven Competition, Austria. She has also received a Commemorative Medal from the F.Chopin Scholarship Fund Committee, Poland.

Megumi has performed numerous concertos and recitals throughout the world including Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Israel, Japan, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, Turkey, UK, and USA, at prestigious venues including the Barbican Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, Atheneum Hall (Romania), Place des Arts (Montreal, Canada), Cemal Resit Rey Hall (Istanbul, Turkey), Kioi Hall (Tokyo, Japan), Oji Hall (Tokyo, Japan). And several radio broadcasts including the BBC Radio 3, Japan NHK FM radio, Canadian Radio, Moroccan national radio, and the Romanian national TV and radio.

The conductors Megumi have collaborated with include Sergiu Comissiona, Robert Shaw, Christian Mandeal, I.Ionescu-Galati, David Josefowitz, and Yukio Kitahara.

Recently, she has performed the Beethoven piano concerto No.4 and No.5, Rachmaninov piano concerto No.2, Tchaikovsky piano concerto No.1, a tour of the Beethoven Triple Concerto in the Loire area, France with the Orchestre National de Pays de la Loire, conducted by Issac Karabchevsky, and has recorded the chamber music works by Takemitsu for ASV Records, which was highly acclaimed by critics worldwide, to coincide with the Fujita Trio's Wigmore Hall recital.

Megumi has recorded the Tchaikovsky Piano Trio, Rachmaninov 24 Preludes for piano, Shostakovich/Ravel Trios and Schubert Piano Trios with the Swedish label Intim Musik.

In 2006 Megumi gave a highly acclaimed recital at the Wigmore Hall performing Schumann works to coincide with the 150th Anniversary of Schumann's death.

Future engagements include concerts in Sweden and throughout the UK, and a Solo Piano Recital at the Wigmore Hall on 19th June 2009.

Who are Friends of the PSO?

Decades ago it was realised that certain supporters of the orchestra were willing to augment the money they were already paying regularly to buy tickets for our concerts. These kind people agreed to commit themselves to assisting the orchestra by paying an extra few pounds each year. In return, they would be acknowledged as Friends of the PSO with their names in each programme and would receive by post three special pre-concert newsletters every year. To this has been added an invitation to the orchestra’s party held in the Guildhall after each March concert. But the most valuable reward to our Friends is the awareness that they are helping the City of Plymouth to maintain its own symphony orchestra. The revenue on which the orchestra depends comes from the annual subscription paid by each player for the privilege and joy of playing plus the contributions from the orchestra’s Friends.The Friends’ annual donations contribute significantly towards the expense of music hire, soloists’ fees and publicity. To have survived for 132 years in this way is a tribute to the devotion of a very few people.

How To Join Us

If you are already a Friend of the PSO, please will you tell your neighbours and colleagues about us? Ask them to join too. If you are not a Friend, will you print out and fill in the application form and join today?

Download application form - pdf - Microsoft Word -

Please send the completed form with your cheque (minimum £25)
made out to The Plymouth Symphony Orchestra to:

The Secretary to the PSO Friends,
Cutmere Cottage,
Tideford,
Cornwall PL12 5JU

Ivan Sidgreaves
Denise Hasshill
Robert Kellagher
Julia Allsop
Denise Bowden
Christine Harvey
Mike Hasshill, Ian Kilpatrick
Margaret Sampson, Carolyn Haynes, Judy Whitlock, Tony Jeffs
Ian Banbury

The Musical Director
Anne Kimber
01803 73255