Foundation - the 'Nelson' Seasons
In early December 2005 the idea of a Marlborough based orchestra was discussed at a pre-Christmas drinks and nibbles event attended by several of the orchestra's founder members. The mco.org.uk domain was acquired on the 15th December 2005 and the rest was inevitable (so says the webmaster). We were fortunate to pick up our short domain name as the Internet Archive's WayBackMachine shows it was previously owned by the, by then, defunct Marylebone Chamber Orchestra.
Rehearsals began at St John's School in Marlborough on the 10th January 2006. The MCO's Inaugural Concert was held on the 17th June 2006 in St Mary's Church. Gordon Nelson was the orchestra's first conductor and Edward Judge the first leader. The church is still the MCO's concert venue.
The 'Irby' Seasons - June 2008 - December 2013
By 2008 the orchestra had a new conductor. Christoper Irby who picked up the baton having, before retirement, played the cello with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Through his contacts we engaged our first external soloist from the Menuhin School, a cellist Irene Enzlin. Irene performed with us four times between 2009 and 2016.
The beginning of the 2011 season saw the orchestra move its rehearsal venue to Christchurch, the then Methodist / URC Church in New Road in Marlborough,
Andrew Baatz was a guest conductor in December 2012. Following Christoper's decision to retire the baton David Price was our guest conductor in December 2014.
The 'Gentile' Seasons - March 2015 - December 2021
The MCO chose Roselise Gentile to become its next conductor.
We lost two concerts in the 2019-2020 and the whole of the 2020-2021 season during the Covid pandemic. We restarted, well socially distanced, for the Roselise's last concert in December 2021. The orchestra's founding leader Edward Judge also retired at this concert.
During this period Andrew Baatz reappeared as a guest conductor in June 2014. Alexander Webb was our guest conductor in December 2016 when we played the Brahms Double Concerto for Violin and Cello, to date our only work with two soloists.
The 'Singleton' Seasons - July 2022 to date
During the transition period while the orchestra selected a new conductor Malcolm Webb stepped in as a guest conductor for March 2022. This was founder member Karen Sancto's first concert as the orchestra's leader.
For the summer concert in June 2022 the orchestra was playing under its new conductor Philip Singleton. We also moved rehearsal venue again, this time to The Marlburian in Marlborough College.
January 2024 saw the orchestra hold its first playday working on Mahler's 4th Symphony with soprano soloist in the final movement. The orchestra then went on to perform this work in its December 2024 concert. January 2025's playday features Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique.
In March 2004 we broke new ground with four soloists, all from within the MCO, collaborating to perform Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for Four Winds.
Finally it's worthy of note that, as the orchestra plays towards its 20th season in 2025-2026, six founder members are still playing in the orchestra.
