# Orchestra of the Swan

Orchestra of the Swan is a British professional chamber orchestra based at Warwick Schools Foundation in Warwick. It is Resident Orchestra at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, The Courtyard Hereford, Warwick Hall and the Stratford Play House with regular concert series at Number 8 Pershore and Cheltenham Town Hall.
Founded in 1995 the orchestra has been creatively led by Artistic Director David Le Page since 2018. It gives over 45 concerts annually and is increasing its overseas touring. In 2014 the orchestra undertook its first highly successful tour to China. In 2016 The Swan performed at the Istanbul International Festival, and in 2017-18 toured to Mexico and New York (Carnegie Hall). The Swan has also toured the UK with groups such as Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel and James, with sell-out performances at London's Albert Hall.
Recordings and digital concerts (a strand of digital creativity spurred on by the Covid lockdown in 2020) have been nominated Gramophone Choice awards, Album of the Week on Classic FM and Scala Radio (UK) and Washington Public Radio and live concert recordings are frequently broadcast on USA Performance Today, in Canada and Australia.
A dynamic new touring series – Swan Projects – is gaining momentum. The first of these is Earthcycle, a project, with associated educational resources that focus on the impact of climate change, including a podcast featuring George Monbiot and Madeleine Finlay based on Vivaldi’s Four Seasons alongside a new commission by jazz/baroque composer and Associate Artist David Gordon, interspersed with 4 folk songs arranged for orchestra by David Le Page and sung by Jackie Oates.
Earthcycle: Released on 19 January 2024 , Earthcycle is a 2 CD album, incorporating new compositions by David Gordon, newly arranged folk songs by Le Page and Jackie Oates, and Vivaldi’s four concerti. Vocals from Jackie Oates, harpsichord and piano, David Gordon, and violin David Le Page with Orchestra of the Swan.

## Mixtape Albums

The Swan's extensive discography includes its 2023 mixtape album 'Echoes' conducted by Philip Sheppard featuring 14 tracks including orchestral arrangements of songs by Frank Zappa, Adrian Utley, The Velvet Underground and A Winged Victory for the Sullen alongside classical standards by J.S. Bach, Delius, Max Richter, Philip Glass and Finzi, which reached number 10 in the Specialist Classical Charts. BBC 6 Music's Iggy Pop described The Swan's Venus in Furs arr. David Le Page as "Beautiful". 'Timelapse' (Album of the Week on Classic FM and Scala Radio) and 'Labyrinths' (Album of the Week on Scala Radio) that meld classical repertoire with orchestral arrangements of popular songs which combined have audio streamed nearly 8 million times and reached number 17 in the Official Charts. Further recordings feature repertoire by Barber, Bax, Berlioz, Brahms, Copland, Debussy, Elgar, Finzi, Ireland, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Schumann, Strauss, Vaughan Williams and the world premiere recording of the complete symphonies by Hans Gál (1890-1987) conducted by Kenneth Woods. The latter received outstanding critical acclaim and was featured on BBC Radio 3 ‘Composer of the Week’. In addition, Mendelssohn's D minor Violin Concerto with Tamsin Waley-Cohen, and conducted by David Curtis, was BBC Music Magazine's ‘Recommended Recording’.
Recordings of new work include Philip Sawyers' Symphonies, works for trumpet and orchestra by John McCabe, Robert Saxton and Deborah Pritchard and joint commissions with Kyo-Shin-An Arts of new work for koto, shakuhachi and chamber orchestra.

## Discography

| Title | Album details |
| Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Piano Concertos KV 413, KV 414, KV41 | Released: May 2007 |
| Arnold Bax – Concertino for Piano and Orchestra, John Ireland – Piano Concerto & Legend | Released: October 2009 |
| Copland – Clarinet Concerto, Appalachian Spring Finzi – Clarinet Concerto, Romance for Strings | Released: May 2010 |
| Hans Gal – Symphony No. 3, Schumann – Symphony No. 3 ‘Rhenish’ | Released: March 2011 |
| Gustav Mahler – Das Leid von der Erde & Lieder eins fahrenden Gesellen | Released: May 2011 |
| Gustav Mahler – Symphony No 4, Hector Berlioz – Nuits D’été | Released: October 2011 |
| Hans Gál – Symphony No. 4, op. 105, Robert Schumann – Symphony No. 2, op. 61 | Released: March 2012 |
| Spring Sounds, Spring Seas, James Nyoraku Schlefer – Shakuhachi Concerto & Haru no Umi Redux, Daron Aric Hagen – Koto Concerto “Genji” | Released: Summer 2012 |
| Hans Gal – Symphony No. 2, Schumann – Symphony No. 4 | Released: April 2013 |
| Troy Story – An intergalactic opera [DVD] | Released: July 2013 |
| Felix Mendelssohn – Violin Concerto in D Minor & Concert for Violin, Piano and Strings | Released: September 2013 |
| Aaron Copland – Quiet City & Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson / Samuel Barber – Knoxville: Summer of 1915 & Capricorn Concerto / George Gershwin – Summertime | Released: February 2014 |
| Hans Gal – Symphony No. 1, Schumann – Symphony No. 1 | Released: March 2014 |
| Schönberg – Verklärte Nacht, Brahms – Serenade No. 1 | Released: June 2014 |
| Philip Sawyer – Cello Concerto / Symphony No.2 / Concertante for Violin, Piano & String | Released: June 2014 |
| Ralph Vaughan Williams – The Lark Ascending & Violin Concerto in D minor / Edward Elgar – Introduction and Allegro & Serenade for Strings | Released: September 2014 |
| Paul Spicer – Unfinished Remembering | Released: September 2014 |
| Psalm – Contemporary British Trumpet Concertos (McCabe | Released: November 2014 |
| Hans Gál – The Four Symphonies | Released: January 2015 |
| Antonio Vivaldi – The Four Seasons | Released: December 2015 |
| John Ireland – Music for String Orchestra | Released: April 2016 |
| Shakespeare Live! From The RSC [DVD] | Released: May 2016 – RSC & BBC |
| Shostakovich – Piano concertos and Piano Sonatas | Released: October 2016 |
| Beethoven – Piano trios Vol.1 | Released: October 2019 – Nimbus |
| Not Now, Bernard and other stories | Released: February 2020 |
| Timelapse | Released: January 2021 |
| Vivaldi Sleep | Released: February 2021 |
| Labyrinths | Released: November 2021 |
| Façade by Sir William Walton | Released: January 2022 |
| Echoes | Released: May 2023 |
| Entranced | Released: October 2023 |
| Earthcycle | Released: January 2024 |