The London City Orchestra was formed in January 2013. It has performed successful concerts ever since, and has grown the permanent membership to the size of a full symphony orchestra. The orchestra is run by a small committee and the orchestra’s philosophy is to nurture aspiring musicians and help promote music making in general throughout London, the Southeast and UK.

In its first term, the orchestra was conducted by Peter Thomas, the ex-leader of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and is now conducted by Thomas Payne, our permanent conductor and musical director. Please see About - Musical Director section for more details.

LCO is made up of a range of professionals, amateur players and music students, founded by Ben Woodbine-Craft, Jessica Fontaine and Tom Fotheringham. We perform at least 3 concerts per year in venues across London and our inaugural concert was held at the National Musicians’ Church on Saturday 20 April 2013. Full details on all our past concerts, including photos and video footage can be found on our Media page.

LCO is a great way to meet like-minded musicians who love playing music to a high standard. We are also a sociable orchestra and hold a couple of social events each term. We can also be found on Monday evenings after rehearsals in our local pub! We are always on the look-out for Grade 8+ (or equivalent standard) musicians, particularly for our string sections. If you would like to apply for membership, please fill in our form online - we look forward to hearing from you!