Westbourne's Own Orchestra, since 1930
The Westbourne Orchestra is a society of around 40 keen musicians, amateurs and professionals alike, from the Bournemouth area.
We all love our society for the chance to play great music together, make lasting friendships, and thrill audiences at our concerts.
We also host our own national Concerto Competitions for under-21s and adults, to give upcoming, and outstanding musicians the chance to perform with a full orchestra in concert.
A little more about WOS...
We are a charity orchestra in Bournemouth with an average strength of around 50-60 instrumentalists. We were first formed in 1930 and have given regular concerts ever since, even during World War 2, when we performed 248 concerts for troops stationed in Bournemouth!
Sir Dan Godfrey, then conductor of the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra (now the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra), who lived in Westbourne, was the first President of the Society.
The orchestra continues to flourish and performs all kinds of music from classical to selections from musical shows. We performed around six concerts annually, many in aid of charities and good causes. We rehearse at St. Ambrose Church, 72 West Cliff Road, Westbourne, on Friday evenings from 7.30 to 9.30 pm.
Our objectives as a non-profit orchestra:
Promote and help popularise classical music by the presentation of concerts, normally six per year, and thereby providing education in the art and science of music.
Provide a means by which musicians of various grades of competence can share the joy of making music together.
Form its playing members into a symphony orchestra to encourage musical talent and appreciation.
Raise funds for various charities.
Our Conductor – Lee Marchant
In 2007, Lee took over the baton from long-standing conductor Sam Newgarth as Principal Conductor of the Westbourne Orchestral Society and is only the 5th conductor in the orchestra’s history. As well as a busy freelance career, Lee is also conductor of Bournemouth University Orchestra, Guest Conductor of the National Scout and Guide Symphony Orchestra and Tour Director for Ealing Youth Orchestra, London.
Recent conducting repertoire has included West Side Story Symphonic Dances, Mahler Symphony No. 1 and choral works such as Faure’s Requiem, Carmina Burana, Vaughan Williams ‘Sea Symphony’ and Beethoven 9.
Our Leader – Stefan Defilet
As a school boy in the Bournemouth area, Stefan was very involved in the local music scene, eventually leading the Bournemouth and Dorset Youth Orchestras, and the orchestra of ‘Gli Amici Della Musica’.
Four years at Trinity College of Music in London followed and within two weeks of leaving Trinity, he got a job with the Canadian based violin show ‘Barrage’. Four years later, he had played with them in 16 countries on 4 continents and it was time to move onto new pastures, so he moved to New Zealand for 6 months, where he played with the Auckland Chamber Orchestra and several string quartets.
SUPPORT US
As a nonprofit charity, we cannot do what we do without the generosity of our supporters. Donations we receive are what help us to hire the music, venues and equipment we need to bring the very best repertoire and locations to our audiences. The good is is, there modern age means there are loads of ways you can support us!