BBC PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

ROBERT CHASEY: Principal 2nd Violin  

Robert joined the BBC Philharmonic in 1977. He particularly enjoys playing music by Mozart and Mahler. One of his claims to fame is that he has the largest collection of recordings of Rudolph Kempe and David Oistrakh in existence! He also owns a unique Jaguar XJS.  

ANDREW ORTON: Associate Leader    

Andrew has been a member of the BBC Philharmonic since 1967, and is the longest serving member of the Orchestra. He particularly appreciates the wide range of music the Orchestra performs, especially music written by Slovakian composers, such as the Orchestra's recording of music by Novak.  

HISTORY

The first Manchester radio station was housed in the premises of the Metropolitan Vickers Electrical Company, Manchester. The company secured a licence for a station which officially began transmitting in 1922, with the call-sign 2ZY.

The station manager, Dan Godfrey Junior, created an orchestra of 12 players known as the 2ZY Orchestra, together with a chorus and opera company. There began an impressive variety and range of regular live music broadcasts.

Many works, particularly by British composers, were given their first broadcast performances by the 2ZY Orchestra, such as Elgar's Enigma Variations, Holst's The Planets and Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius.

In 1926 the 2ZY Orchestra was renamed the Northern Wireless Orchestra.  

NORTHERN WIRELESS ORCHESTRA, June 1929

In 1930, the BBC decided to establish a national orchestra, in the form of the London based BBC Symphony Orchestra and reduced its commitment to regional orchestras. As a result, the NWO was disbanded in March 1931 - to much public protest. In its place Manchester maintained a nine-piece ensemble, known as the Northern Studio Orchestra.

In 1933 the BBC realised that the Symphony Orchestra alone could not meet the demand for serious broadcast music and that a solution to this would be to re-expand the regional orchestras. First rate, live orchestral music made a welcome return to Manchester in the form of the BBC Northern Orchestra.

Throughout the war the Orchestra played its part by moving out of the studio to give concerts to members of the forces. It was a strange life for the players during those wartime years; sometimes concerts were accompanied by air-raid sirens and visits to cities such as Huddersfield and Sheffield often meant long journeys over the moors in the blackout.