County orchestra is still playing on

We were delighted to see the article on the new Spires Youth Orchestra in last week’s Courier, and thrilled that our inaugural concert on Tuesday gave us such a good start. But would you allow me to correct a point made in the article? This said that the Warwickshire Youth Orchestra has been ‘wound up’, which is not the case; it has changed its pattern from weekly rehearsal to vacation/half-term rehearsal, but it is still very much a going concern.

Indeed, the picture accompanying the article was of the WYO at its very successful Bruges tour last year, and in November it gave an outstanding performance at the Schools Prom in the Royal Albert Hall, under Colin Touchin, who also conducts the SYO.

I would not like to give the impression that Spires Music is in any sense in opposition to the Warwickshire County Music Service. Indeed, we are careful to avoid clashes between SYO and CMS rehearsals and events, and the Director of the CMS and I are currently holding discussions to see whether some form of partnership can make use of the new government initiatives on the teaching of music, in order to bring the most benefit to the talented young musicians in the area. - Prof D. Keith Bowen, chairman, Spires Music Ltd.