- from the 1950's to
the present day
There were
orchestras, bands and choirs supported or employed by the Boots
company since well before the Second World War. However, the
Boots Orchestra in its current form began in the early 1950's.
It was formed by ARTHUR BOWN, who was the first conductor, and
who remained in the position for 43 years. In the early days the
orchestra numbered 13 or so players, and Arthur specially
arranged many popular pieces by hand to suit the instruments
available. Now, the orchestra has over 35 members and a library
of hundreds of pieces of music built up over the years.
The orchestra was
formed for the personal enjoyment of the members and also for
giving concerts to raise money for charitable causes - it once
gave a concert for the Hungarian Refugee Relief Fund at only a
few day's notice. The orchestra continues to give regular
concerts for charity at venues in the Nottingham area.
Membership was originally open only to Boots employees, but we
are now a community orchestra which draws its members from a
wide local area, attracting present and retired Boots employees,
their relatives, friends and other local musicians.
The orchestra
performed in a variety of venues, giving lunchtime concerts,
carol concerts, and often performed with the Boots Ladies and
Mens Choirs. During the 1950's and 1960's it was a regular
feature at the Boots Dramatic Society's twice yearly productions
at the Co-op Arts Theatre, George Street, entertaining the
audience to live music in the intervals. The performance
schedule in those days was quite demanding with 6 to 7 events a
year, and included tackling works such as Faure's Requiem and
Handel's Messiah, performed with the Castle Gate Choir in April
1970.
Sadly, Arthur Bown had
to retire from conducting in 1993; he died the following year.
From 1995 the conductorship passed to GAVIN SPENCER, who was
joined later by GARARD CAWTHORN. The 50th season was celebrated
by a special concert in which many of Arthur's favourites were
included, and his daughter CAROLYN PRITCHETT sang with the
orchestra. The orchestra's first leader NORMAN LEIGHTON, aged
81, travelled from Somerset to play with us on the night. That
concert, in May 2000, also featured the first performance of
"Nottingham Gold", a suite composed for the orchestra by NEIL
BRAMSON, the father of one of the players. From 2002 VLAS
JARUNEK and DON WEST were our conductors. DON WEST took over in
May 2004 and in 2006 JOHN SHEPPARD joined us as principal
conductor.