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 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, Ballet Vlaanderen, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet. He has been Music Director of the Worthing Philharmonic Orchestra since 2014 and was recently a major prizewinner at both the 2024 Bucharest International Conducting Competition and the 2024 Ionel Perlea International Conducting Competition.
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 was appointed as Music Director of the Angmering Chorale in January 2025. He is a much-respected teacher of conducting, having served on the academic staff at the Royal Academy of Music as Tutor in Undergraduate Conducting and Postgraduate Second Study Conducting since 2016. He is also a Founder and Director of the Girton Conducting Course, Joint Principal Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia at the Junior Royal Academy of Music, and Director of The George Hurst Foundation.
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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. More recently, he conducted a rare performance of 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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On the concert platform and in the theatre, he has worked recently with the Bucharest Symphony Orchestra, Covent Garden Chamber Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, 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 Royal Tunbridge Wells Symphony Orchestra, Salomon Orchestra, Purcell School Symphony 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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Other recent projects include The Nutcracker for The Royal Ballet, Faust and Giselle for Ballet Vlaanderen with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, a new version of Eugene Onegin for Maribor Opera and Ballet in Slovenia, and David Bintley’s acclaimed production of Cinderella for Birmingham Royal Ballet.
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Future engagements include a touring production of The Sleeping Beauty for English National Ballet; concerts in Romania with the Sibiu Philharmonic Orchestra, Bacau Philharmonic Orchestra, Dinu Lipatti Philharmonic Orchestra, Oradea State Philharmonic Orchestra and Arad Philharmonic Orchestra; and performances with the East Anglia Chamber Orchestra and Havant Symphony Orchestra.
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Dominic read music at the University of Cambridge and initially studied conducting with 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. In 2006, Dominic was a major prizewinner in the Alliance Cornhill Conducting Competition.
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