Saint Hilda's Festival Orchestra
The St. Hilda's Festival Orchestra under the leadership of Tony Mason, was formed in 1997 to accompany the St. Hilda’s Festival Chorus.
It is drawn from the best professional and amateur players from the Whitby and surrounding area.
It has always had the policy of including talented young musicians so they can experience orchestral playing. In September 2006 the Orchestra performed its first solo orchestral concert in a programme including Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto & Clock Symphony plus Mozart’s Symphony No. 40.
Further orchestral concerts have been performed in subsequent years. These included a very successful concert in Feb 2010 featuring the professional pianist, Daniel Grimwood, as soloist on the recently refurbished Ibach Grand Piano that belongs to St Hilda's Church.
The concert consisted of Edvard Grieg's Holberg Suite, Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor and Dvorak's Symphony No 9 in E Minor (from the New World). The orchestra also had great success with a concert in June 2011 featuring Peer Gynt Suite 1, Madeleine Easton playing Bruch's G minor violin concerto, Guy Hirst's Roundhay Frolic & Beethoven's 5th Symphony.
The Orchestra consists of around 40 musicians.
Tony Mason - Leader
Tony started learning the violin with Harry Chatburn in York at the age of eight, and later continued with Irene Hawkins.
While at school he played with the York Schools Orchestra and the Yorkshire Youth Orchestra. He then virtually stopped playing for twenty years while pursuing his (current) career as a golf professional.
On moving to Whitby in 1989 he joined Scarborough Symphony Orchestra, and has been leader for the last four years.
Tony formed the St Hilda's Festival Orchestra to accompany the St Hilda's Festival Chorus in 1997, and has led the pit orchestra for the Whitby Area Musical Theatre Group's productions for the last thirteen years.
He also plays first violin for the Danesgarth Quartet who perform locally with three other members of this orchestra.