2026-2027 Foundation Programme Instrumentalists Announced

The fourth cohort of the Orpheus Sinfonia Foundation Programme has been confirmed, and the first concert is only weeks away.

This year’s Foundationers join us from conservatoires and universities in the UK and internationally, several of them auditioning online from other continents, and cover strings, wind, brass and percussion, with a Foundation Conductor and Foundation Composer appointed alongside them. All are within two years after completing formal study.

Those first two years are what the Foundation Programme was established to support. Across the season, Foundationers are paid to prepare and perform in up to four orchestral concerts in London, sitting in the section alongside Orpheus Principals rather than in a separate ensemble for young musicians. Around the concerts we run advancement sessions on the working knowledge that formal training has less room for: how an orchestra is run, how engagements are won and repeated, and how to manage a freelance career across a full season.

The Foundation concerts announced so far are Mendelssohn and Beethoven on 6 and 8 October, and Wagner’s Die Walküre on 22 November and 6 December, with further performances to be announced for 2027. The season will culminate in a world premiere by Sally Beamish in the Season Finale on 24th June 2027.

For participants, the programme is also a route into the rest of our work. Foundationers are considered for Orpheus engagements throughout the year, including concerts that sit outside the Foundation Programme, and we also consider them for work after their participation is complete, the intention being a working relationship that carries on past the scheme itself.

This year’s musicians are:

Violin: Yuno Akiyama, Rongsi Hu, Kristine Kwok, Kelvin Ng, Samy Okuma-chin, Ray Sun, Flora Yeung, Jiyun Zhang
Viola: Joe Berry, Jasmine Ong, Declan Wicks
Cello: Theodore Baujard, Chian-chian Hsu, Nia Williams
Double Bass: Woon Ngee Ng
Flute: Alex Ho
Oboe: Lucy Keeley
Clarinet: Christian Hoddinott
Bassoon: Maria O’Dea
French Horn: Molly Bielecki, Chloe Chang, Bridget Darby
Trumpet: Nina Noble
Trombone: Ross McDonnell
Bass Trombone: Jose Teixeira
Percussion: Stan Talman
Conductor: Gabriela Opacka-Boccadoro
Composer: Zhenyan Li

Find out more about our Foundation Programme here.

The Orpheus Sinfonia Foundation Programme is supported by the Skyrme Hart Charitable Trust, with additional support from the D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust and the Marchus Trust.