Royal Ballet Sinfonia

Under Music Director Paul Murphy, the Royal Ballet Sinfonia is Britain's busiest ballet orchestra, playing for Birmingham Royal Ballet's wide-ranging programme in the UK and abroad.

In addition to playing for Birmingham Royal Ballet, the Sinfonia plays regularly for The Royal Ballet and has a long tradition of playing for tours by the world’s leading ballet companies, including Australian Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Queensland Ballet, Paris Opéra Ballet, and New York City Ballet. They have also performed with Carlos Acosta’s acclaimed ballet company Acosta Danza.

The Sinfonia enjoy collaborating with a variety of other artists and festivals, most recently performing the Legend and Legacy Nureyev Gala in both Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and Dubai Opera, as well as working with the Pet Shop Boys on their ballet The Most Incredible Thing. On the concert platform, the Sinfonia has accompanied the National Opera Studio, the Voice of Black Opera competition and Opera North’s production of Carousel.

The orchestra has an extensive library of recordings, including most recently Interlinked by Luke Howard, Regards from Rochester with BBC Singers composed by Thomas Hewitt-Jones, and Howard Blake’s The Snowman alongside four works by British composers, conducted by Barry Wordsworth.

Alongside their busy performing schedule, the Sinfonia works closely with multiple music colleges across the country. They have developed training scheme programmes with Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music. The training schemes support the development of young orchestral musicians, allowing the students the ability to attend and play alongside our musicians at rehearsals, as well as being invited to observe main stage dress rehearsals.

The Sinfonia are very keen to support the development of young conductors in the dance world, so in partnership with the Royal Ballet and Opera, together we have established the Constant Lambert Conducting Fellowship. This Fellowship is a two-year post which provides invaluable experience, from conducting rehearsals and performances, alongside providing cover for specific productions, and receiving mentoring from Music Director of the Royal Ballet, Koen Kessels and BRB Music Director, Paul Murphy. Yi Wei | Birmingham Royal Ballet

Paul Murphy

Paul Murphy has been a member of Birmingham Royal Ballet for 31 years since he joined the company in 1992. He was appointed Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Principal Conductor in 1997 and has been instrumental to developing exceptionally talented young ballet conductors through the Constant Lambert Conducting Fellowship.

Paul Murphy is a regular guest conductor for the Royal Ballet, Covent Garden since 1994, working with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. He has also been the conductor for the Royal Ballet School’s annual performance since 2005. He has conducted many of the UK’s finest ensembles including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hallé, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Ulster Orchestra, the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Orchestra of Opera North, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Manchester Camerata. Abroad, he has worked with such orchestras as the Bergen Philharmonic, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Osaka Symphony, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Washington National Opera Orchestra, the Virginia Symphony, the Sofia Opera Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Teatro Massimo in Sicily.

Paul has also been a guest conductor for New York City Ballet, Ballet du Rhin, the Royal Ballet of Flanders, Dutch National Ballet, The Australian Ballet, BalletBoyz, NDT 1, Acosta Danza, Finnish National Ballet, Sarasota Ballet and the Tokyo Ballet, with whom he conducted performances of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring at La Scala, Milan in July 2019. He has been a frequent guest conductor with the National Ballet of Japan since 2008..

He has made numerous recordings for BBC Radio 3, BBC Television, Channel 4, and released CDs with the Hallé, the New Queen’s Hall Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

He has also recorded DVDs of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf with the Orchestra of The Royal Opera House, The Tales of Beatrix Potter and Les Patineurs with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Aladdin and Sylvia with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and NHK broadcasts of Coppelia with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and Swan Lake with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.

Paul studied conducting at the Royal Academy of Music with Colin Metters, John Carewe, George Hurst and Sir Colin Davis. He was made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in 1997.

Conductors

Musicians

Leader
Robert Gibbs

First Violins
Joana Valentinaviciute Co-Leader
Vanessa David
Amanda Brown
Deborah Schlenther
Philip Aird
Caroline Ferriman
Vacancy (tutti)

Second Violins
Principal vacancy
Sub-Principal vacancy
Mary Martin
Fiona Robertson
Robert Simmons
Vacancy (tutti)

Violas
Errika Collins (Principal)
Vacancy (Sub-Principal)
Vacancy (tutti)
Vacancy (tutti)

Cellos
António Novais (Principal)
Abi Hyde-Smith (Sub-Principal)
Jane Rainey
Vacancy (tutti)

Double Basses
Vera Pereira (Principal)
Vacancy (Sub-Principal)

Flutes
Anna Wolstenholme (Principal)
Sandra Skipper Piccolo

Oboes
Vacancy (Principal)
Maxwell Spiers Cor anglais

Clarinets
Ian Scott (Principal)
Harry Penny Bass Clarinet

Bassoons
Luke Tucker (Principal)
Vacancy (Contrabassoon)

Horns
Andrew Littlemore (Section Principal)
Neil Mitchell (Sub-Principal)
Chris Pointon (Principal)
Vacancy (Sub-Principal)

Trumpets
Michael Allen (Section Principal)
Christopher Deacon (Principal)

Trombones
Amos Miller (Principal)
Andrew White (Sub Principal)
Vacancy (Bass Trombone)

Tuba
David Gordon Shute (Principal)

Harp
Vacancy (Principal)

Timpani
Grahame King (Principal)

Percussion
Kevin Earley (Principal)
Paul Parker (Sub-Principal)

Orchestra Management

Pianists