About us
The Cornwall Chamber Orchestra was formed in the 1980s by the late Joyce Preston, a professional violinist, and who for many years led the Penzance Orchestral Society. The founding of the Chamber Orchestra was chiefly to explore different and earlier repertoires not normally included in symphonic programmes.
Now based in Helston, we perform four concerts a year in local churches, each for a particular charity. Each of the churches chooses, with us, its own charity, and we take a small proportion of the takings to cover the cost of hiring and buying music. The orchestra receives no funding, and those of us who have had professional musical training are happy to give their services free.
Over the years the orchestra has expanded a bit to include a few more wind players on a regular basis.
Judith Bailey became our conductor in 2002 following in the footsteps of the late Dr. Edward Weymouth who taught music at Helston and the late Russell Jory who taught music at Humphry Davy School and was organist at St Mary's Penzance for many years.
Sadly, Judith passed away in March 2025 after a short illness but leaves a strong musical legacy. She was a fine musician and composer and instrumental in broadening the repertoire to include works from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. She always enjoyed discovering what works are available for our current forces, which include a small but flexible wind section with strings.
Alongside well-known composers such as Bach, Brahms, Haydn, Telemann, and Rameau, Judith incorporated several British composers in her programming over the years, including works by Alan Rawsthorne, William Lewarne Harris, Frank Bayford, Paul Carr, Adrian Self, and Richard Arnell. Included in this repertoire were some of Judith's own compositions including 'Hampshire Pictures', 'Cliff Walk Symphony and 'Trecom'.
We are very fortunate to have Stephen Brown as our new conductor who will be taking over the reins from September 2025 and wish him every success in this role. Stephen is also a cellist and composer and his composition ‘Trois Petites Bouchées’ is now part of our repertoire.
Stephen Brown - Conductor
Born in East Ham, London, Stephen first conducted in public aged 13, later having lessons with Sir Adrian Boult. He started composing in his teens and was asked to write incidental music for a play at the local girls’ grammar school. He studied cello at school, performing the Haydn D Major concerto as a teenager, and also played with the London Junior Orchestra at the Royal Academy of Music.
He studied medicine at King's College, Cambridge, and continued his musical pursuits at medical school, both conducting and composing. He later performed in London with ensembles such as Sinfonia Concertante and the Salomon Orchestra, under conductors such as Clive Fairbairn, John Eliot Gardiner and Simon Rattle, with broadcasts from St. John’s Smith Square and favourable notices in the national press. He also contributed to commercial recordings with Hinge & Bracket and the Academy of St. Thomas. Since retiring from medicine, Stephen has been active as a cellist, conductor and composer in the southwest, playing with the Corineus String Quartet and Lyric Chamber Orchestra, and has gained some international recognition for film composition. He is incredibly honoured to be asked to conduct Cornwall Chamber Orchestra and looks forward to a stimulating and rewarding future with them.
Jenny Rapson - Leader
Jenny Rapson has been playing the violin since she was seven years old. She is the leader of the Cornwall Chamber Orchestra and plays with the James Hook Players early music ensemble as well as the Corineus Quartet, In the past she has a been Musical Director of Helston Theatre Company, and credits include Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour Dream Coat, Oliver!, Me and My Girl and Meet Me in St Louis. These days she divides her time between performing and teaching the violin, farming and horse riding.
Jenny took over the leadership of the Chamber Orchestra in 2010 succeeding Joyce Preston, the orchestra's founder.