BPO Rehearsal Information
We usually rehearse on Tuesdays 7.30-9.30 pm (please note slightly earlier time than for previous concerts) and Sundays 2.30-5.00 pm with a 15 minute break, plus at 2.00 pm on the concert day at the concert venue. The rehearsal schedule is below. Rehearsals are for full orchestra unless otherwise specified. We have the hall booked for 30 minutes before the rehearsals to set up and 15 minutes afterwards to be out of the hall and the car park.
Please bring a music stand to rehearsals and to the concert.
Hard copies of the music (with string parts bowed) will be distributed at the first rehearsal for the relevant concert if not distributed beforehand. To prepare for the rehearsals you may however wish to download your part (where available and out of copyright) for free from www.imslp.org. This site has scores and separate instrumental parts for thousands of works though you do need to check on the site whether they are out of copyright in the UK (same rules as for the EU). Leonard Bernstein's marked scores and parts for many works are available for study on archives.nyphil.org. Can be useful for string fingerings.
The 2025/26 subscription for players is £30 per concert. No subscription is payable for those under 25, full-time students and those on benefits (we have a minimum age requirement of 18). For UK tax payers, subscriptions are eligible for GiftAid (please complete a GiftAid declaration for BPO if you haven't already done so and give it to our treasurer). New players do not pay for their first BPO concert.
Concert dress for all concerts unless otherwise specified is all black (no jackets or ties).
Saturday 17 October 2026
7.00 pm
St Thomas's Church
St Thomas Road
Brentwood CM14 4DF
| Conductor | Bradley Winand |
| Soloist | Tadasuke Iijima |
| Rossini | Overture to the Barber of Seville 2222; 2230 Timp Bass drum, Strings |
| Paganini | Violin Concerto No 1. 2222+1; 4230; T Bass drum, Cymbals, Strings |
| Sibelius | Symphony No 2 2222; 4331; T Strings |
Rehearsals will (other than on 13 October and the concert day) be in Brentwood Preparatory School CM15 8BD.
Rehearsal dates are:
Sunday 27 September 14.30-17.00
Tuesday 29 September 19.30-21.30
Sunday 4 October 14.30-17.00 (Strings only)
Tuesday 6 October 19.30-21.30 (Strings only)
Sunday 11 October 14.30-17.00
Tuesday 13 October 19.30-21.30 (with soloist). This will be in the Memorial Hall at Brentwood School (figure 17 on the map linked below). The entrance is via the main school entrance from Middleton Hall Lane (the Bayman Gate), then go through the gates by the Sports Centre reception as if going to the Wessex Auditorium. Parking is in the main square by the Memorial Hall.
Brentwood School https://www.brentwoodschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Brentwood-School-Map.pdf
Saturday 17 October 2.00 pm rehearsal in the concert venue and 7.00 pm CONCERT
Saturday 6 February 2027
7.00 pm
Wessex Auditorium
Brentwood School
Middleton Hall Lane
Brentwood CM15 8EE
Conductor Florian Cooper
Violin. Sofia Ştiuca
Florian Cooper will conduct Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No 1 with Brentwood International Music Competition Grand Prize Winner Sofia Ştiuca as soloist followed by a selection of favourite music as used in films and on television
Wieniawski Violin Concerto No 1
R Strauss Sunrise from Als Sprach Zarathustra (2001 A Space Odyssey)
Khachaturian Spartacus Adagio (Onedin Line)
J Strauss Blue Danube Waltz (2001 A Space Odyssey, Titanic, Squid Game, the Simpsons)
Tchaikovsky Nutcracker Dance of the Mirlitons (Cadbury’s Fruit & Nut)
Mahler Adagietto from Symphony No 5 (Death in Venice).
Sibelius Finlandia (die Hard 2)
Also possibly Copland Fanfare for the Common Man to open concert. Maybe also Walton Crown Imperial.
Rehearsals at Brentwood School (precise location there to be decided):
Tuesday 12 January evening
Friday 29 January evening
Saturday 30 January morning and afternoon (precise times to be decided).
Saturday 6 February 2.00-4.30 in the Wessex Auditorium
Saturday 22 May 2027
7.00 p.m.
St Thomas's Church
St Thomas Road
Brentwood CM14 4DF
| Conductor | Julia Wilson-James |
| Soloists | Isobel Liebman & Kerenza Peugniez (flutes) Katherine O'Hanlon (soprano) |
| Cimerosa | Concerto for 2 Flutes 2021; 2000 Strings |
| Mozart | Exsultate Jubilate 0200; 2000 Strings |
| Mozart | Symphony No 40 K550 1222; 2000 Strings |
Saturday 16 October 2027
7.00 pm
St Thomas's Church
St Thomas Road
Brentwood CM14 4DF
| Conductor | Bradley Winand |
| Soloist | Lydia Caines |
| Richard Wagner | Meistersinger Prelude 2 picc 222; 4331; T Triangle Cymbals, Harp, Strings |
| Max Bruch | Violin Concerto No 1. 2 2 2 2; 4 2 0 0; T Str |
| Pyotr Tchaikovsky | Symphony No 4. 2 picc 222; 4231; T Bass drum, Triangle, Cymbals, Strings |
Rehearsals to be arranged nearer the time.
