THE APOLLO CHAMBER ORCHESTRA   website   

1. CDE 84396 JIM PARKER POEMS ON THE UNDERGROUND Concerto for Clarinet & Strings Music by Gerswin & Bud Powell

2. CDE 84261 MENDELSSOHN Scottish and Italian Symphonies  
MUSIC RETAILERS ASSOCIATION: Annual Award for Excellence 1994: Symphony. 

The Apollo Chamber Orchestra was founded by David Chernaik in 1989 and is one of London's leading chamber orchestras. Its highly successful association with Poems on the Underground has resulted in several new commissions, two CD recordings and many original and enjoyable concerts. The ACO are currently in the second year of an innovative three-year education programme in Hackney primary schools that includes school visits, workshops and concerts. Recent concert highlights include three performances in the first “Spice Festival” at Hackney Empire, and a London concert with guest soloist cellist Robert Cohen.

The ACO's debut recording of Mendelssohn's “Scottish” and “Italian” Symphonies was voted Best Symphony CD in the 1994 Music Retailer's Association Awards, and was described as "second to none" in the 1997 Penguin Guide to Compact Discs. Their third CD, 'Sempre Amor' - Portuguese Love Songs from the Romantic Age, with soprano Lorna Anderson and the Apollo Chamber Players was released in 2002. Their recording of Saint-Saëns Carnival of the Animals, will be released in December 2005 as part of a children's book+CD, with new poems and illustrations.

The Apollo Chamber Choir was formed to perform the greatest choral works with the ACO, and will be performing Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion this season. Recent performances include Mozart’s Mass in C Minor in a new performing edition by David Chernaik.

The Apollo Chamber Players and Apollo String Quartet form the chamber music arm of the ACO. Recent highlights include a UK tour of Berio’s Folk Songs and Portuguese Modinhas, funded by Arts Council England.