Who are we?

A chamber orchestra of about 25 players, based in Bridport, Dorset, in a beautiful region of the south coast of England. We normally put on two concerts each year, one in Autumn and one near Easter.

Our players come from a wide area of West Dorset, East Devon and Somerset, mostly within 25 miles of Bridport itself.

Our Musical Director is Robert Jacoby ...     

Having made his first solo appearance at the age of seven and his concerto debut at ten, Robert Jacoby was an experienced performer by the time he was twelve.  His subsequent career as a solo violinist has brought him first prizes at the Royal  College of Music (awarded by Sir Arthur Bliss) and at the Cardiff International  Violin Competition (awarded by Yehudi Menuhin) as well as leaderships of the  Westphalian Symphony Orchestra and the resident String Quartet at the  University of Wales. He gained MA and PhD degrees for research in the field of violin playing, style and interpretation. His book Violin Technique was published  by Novello in 1985.

Robert Jacoby studied conducting at the Royal College of Music where he was  much influenced by the teaching of Sir Adrian Boult, with whom he also appeared as soloist in the Sibelius Concerto. He has been founder/conductor of a number  of orchestras, notably the Oakwood Symphony Orchestra and Philomusica of Aberystwyth - which he conducted in performances of more than 100 major  works with many soloists of international renown. He has also held conducting appointments at various institutions including Trinity College of Music London and  has been musical director of the Dorset Chamber Orchestra since its inaugural  concert in 1987. He appears frequently as conductor/soloist/director with other orchestras in the South-West.

Robert is interested in performing with young artists on their way up. Some are  his pupils. In our autumn 2001 concert we managed to have four young violinists  playing Vivaldi's concerto in B minor for four violins.

The orchestra was formed in 1976 by the conductor Bruce Christianson.  A group was invited to get together with baroque music in mind. Bruce used to conduct the Elizabethan Singers in Bridport, and the new group was to accompany the choir. There are still two or three founder members playing with the orchestra, which has been known as the Bridport Chamber Orchestra since  Robert Jacoby started conducting it in 1998. At its instigation there were three concerts a year, not two, and Jean Channon was the soloist. Other people  conducted its players including Reg Pocock and Roger Stalman. The usual repertoire is primarily classical and gallant, with other composers  representing any good music written for a string orchestra.

Why not also visit the Dorset Chamber Orchestra -  http://www.dorsetchamberorchestra.org