Who are the Friends of Worthing Philharmonic Orchestra?
Any person or organisation who wishes to show their support of the Worthing Philharmonic Orchestra can become a Friend. Many of our Friends have supported us over many years, and their continuing contribution is particularly appreciated.
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Why become a Friend?
Worthing Philharmonic Orchestra is self-funding through membership subscriptions, concert income and support from the Friends. We do not receive any support from local authorities. Support from the Friends is therefore vital in enabling us to perform classical music to a high standard.
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Benefits
A WPO Friend receives the following benefits:
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Newsletters and information updates from the Orchestra
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The option of being named in the concert programmes as a Friend
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£1 discount on a single ticket for each concert when purchased at the Box Office
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Invitations to occasional special functions
How do I become a Friend?
Membership of the Friends is an annually renewable subscription for the October-June concert season.
The suggested contribution is £20 for an individual, a couple or a household, or £40 for a business or commercial enterprise. However, we welcome any contribution from Friends, and these amounts are for guidance only.
Download a membership form here.
​
Who are the Friends of Worthing Philharmonic Orchestra?
Any person or organisation who wishes to show their support of the Worthing Philharmonic Orchestra can become a Friend. Many of our Friends have supported us over many years, and their continuing contribution is particularly appreciated.
​
Why become a Friend?
Worthing Philharmonic Orchestra is self-funding through membership subscriptions, concert income and support from the Friends. We do not receive any support from local authorities. Support from the Friends is therefore vital in enabling us to perform classical music to a high standard.
​
Benefits
A WPO Friend receives the following benefits:
-
Newsletters and information updates from the Orchestra
-
The option of being named in the concert programmes as a Friend
-
£1 discount on a single ticket for each concert when purchased at the Box Office
-
Invitations to occasional special functions
How do I become a Friend?
Membership of the Friends is an annually renewable subscription for the October-June concert season.
The suggested contribution is £20 for an individual, a couple or a household, or £40 for a business or commercial enterprise. However, we welcome any contribution from Friends, and these amounts are for guidance only.
Download a membership form here.
​
High quality music making since 1948
Founder Music Director Herbert Lodge
President Alissa Firsova
Music Director Dominic Grier
Assistant Conductor Peter Lewis
Composer in Residence Ansel Chaloner-Hughes
Chorus Master Aedan Kerney MBE
DOMINIC GRIER
WPO MUSIC DIRECTOR
Dominic Grier is widely acknowledged as a young conductor of distinction, equally at home in opera, ballet and symphonic work as well as contemporary music and orchestral training.
He was a permanent staff conductor at the Royal Opera House from 2008-10, affiliated with the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme, and has since served as a regular guest conductor with many of the foremost ballet companies in the UK and Europe including The Royal Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Flanders Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet. He enjoys a particularly strong connection with Birmingham Royal Ballet, where he has conducted a wide repertoire every season since 2012.
In the field of opera, he made a critically acclaimed guest conducting début at the Opéra National de Lyon in March 2010, with the French premiere of Copland’s The Tender Land, and had formerly worked as an Assistant Conductor there, where his repertoire included Siegfried (2007), Porgy and Bess (2008 and 2010) and Death in Venice (2009). He has also assisted on Peter Grimes at the Aldeburgh Festival, and has served as rehearsal conductor to the Britten-Pears Orchestra. Most recently, he conducted Malcolm Arnold’s opera The Open Window with the Berkeley Ensemble. He is a regular coach and pianist for the Royal Opera House, working with many of the current and former singers of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme.
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He has served as Music Director of the Ashover Festival Orchestra (2007-9) and of the King's College London Symphony Orchestra (2009-12), Principal Conductor of the London International Orchestra of Academia (2006-8) and Assistant Conductor for British Youth Opera (2007). He is increasingly active as a teacher of conducting, and is on the academic staff at the Royal Academy of Music as Tutor in Undergraduate Conducting.
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On the concert platform, he has worked recently with the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Orchestre Symphonique et Lyrique de Nancy, the Orchestre de Limoges et du Limousin, the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera, the Tokyo City Philharmonic, the Orquestra do Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, the Salomon Orchestra and the Chandos Symphony Orchestra, among others. His performances have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, France Musique, and throughout the UK as part of the Royal Opera House’s live screenings, as well as having been released on DVD for the Opus Arte label.
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Recent engagements include The Nutcracker for The Royal Ballet, Scheherazade for Ballet Vlaanderen a new version of Eugene Onegin for Maribor Opera and Ballet in Slovenia, David Bintley’s acclaimed production of Cinderella for Birmingham Royal Ballet, and concerts with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia and the Purcell School Symphony Orchestra.
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Dominic read music at the University of Cambridge and initially studied conducting with the late George Hurst, then subsequently at the Royal Academy of Music under the tuition of Colin Metters, Sir Colin Davis and Mark Shanahan. He graduated with distinction and was awarded the prestigious DipRAM for outstanding final performances and the Fred Southall Memorial Prize. He was a major prizewinner in the 2006 Alliance Cornhill Conducting Competition.
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