Whitehall

The Whitehall Orchestra was founded in 1978 as the Civil Service Orchestra. Today it is open
to all and it has around 50 members, aged 21 to 91. From 1990, the Orchestra secured the
services of conductor Michael Nebe, with whom it has forged an enduring partnership that has
brought it to today’s high standard. The Whitehall Orchestra performs three concerts per year
featuring classical repertoire for large orchestras from Beethoven to the present day, including
commissioned works. The Orchestra has collaborated with prominent professional musicians
such as Raphael Wallfisch, Idil Biret, Leonid Gorokhov, Nelly Miricioiu and many others. Notable
performances of recent years include Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Mahler Symphony no.6,
both at St. John’s Smith Square, as well as a Russian themed open air concert at the Topkapi
Palace in Istanbul featuring Idil Biret playing the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto to an audience of
2000. The Whitehall Orchestra is friendly, ambitious and achieves high standards in concerts.
It also has an active social scene and as a consequence, the past 40 years have seen a number
of weddings within the orchestra.