The Stroud Symphony Orchestra (SSO) has been one of the area’s most popular music groups for nearly 40 years.

With a repertoire ranging from classical composers to ballet and film scores, the orchestra performs three concerts a year, often with guest soloists and sometimes including specially commissioned works.

“My wife and I joined the orchestra in 1995 when we moved to Stroud,” explained Andrew Pemberton, who plays French horn. “So we’ve been playing in SSO for over 20 years now.”

The orchestra is made up of mostly amateur musicians, and Andrew, who is also the group’s treasurer, thinks the social aspect is just as appealing as the music.

He continued: “We’ve got around 50 members who are all local and perform for the love of it. It’s a very friendly group, we’re keen on it being a very sociable thing to do.

“When we have breaks during rehearsals it’s always a struggle to get people back from their conversations!”

The orchestra is self-sustaining, financially speaking, thanks to member subscriptions and ticket sales and so use their concerts to raise funds for good causes.

“It’s traditional for us to hold a retiring collection for charity at our concerts,” said Andrew.

“During the interval a representative from the chosen charity will briefly have the floor to explain what their cause is all about, then following the show the audience has the chance to donate.

“Over the years we’ve raised thousands of pounds for various charities, both locally and further afield.”

One of the driving forces behind the orchestra’s success is its conductor, Jonathan Trim. He has been with the SSO since 1984, initially as a violinist and then as the conductor since 1993.

Andrew added: “Jonathan has been conducting since before I started, and he does a huge amount for classical music in local schools as well as conducting the Gloucestershire Youth Orchestra.

“He really makes it fun, we always have a laugh during rehearsals, and he doesn’t often get annoyed when we play something wrong – which we frequently do whilst we are learning the pieces!”

The SSO begins their 2019 season on Saturday 30th March at Holy Trinity Church in Stroud.

“We’ll be playing pieces by English composers,” continued Andrew. “Including Elgar, whose piece ‘Nimrod’ is quintessentially English music.

“We’ll also be doing ‘The Wasps’ Overture by Vaughan Williams, Butterworth’s ‘The Banks of Green Willow’ and Frederick Delius’ piano concerto.”