News and Press

by Fraser Gordon (Principal Contrabassoon)

It’s quite tricky to not feel smug about a flight to Florida on a cold January day, something we at the RPO are lucky to experience every couple of years. But how to pack for a three week trip which starts with warm weather (Florida), goes cold for a few days (New York), then gets even colder (Indiana), and ends up warm again (California)?

by Matthew Knight (sub-principal trombone)

As the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra spends a sunny bank holiday weekend stuck inside, recording in the artificial light of the famous Abbey Road studio 1, it seems a good time to reflect on the strangeness of a musician’s life. No nine-to-five, or Monday-to-Friday for us, no fixed place of work, in fact no ‘normal’ at all. Life in one of world’s busiest and most musically-diverse orchestras is different every single day. It takes us from the recording studios and concert halls of our London home, to the far-flung regions of the UK and the most prestigious venues around the world, as we perform for over 300,000 people every year.