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.