We know nothing about most of the music-making that happens in this country. There are hundreds of thousands of people whose musical lives go almost completely unreported, but whose talents, energy and concerts are the lifeblood of our musical scene.
In London alone, there are nearly 150 amateur and youth orchestras and ensembles. This weekend I heard the Fulham Symphony Orchestra play its winter concert at St John's, Smith Square. A friend has been conducting them since 2001, and I wanted to hear them live, as well as find out more about their relationship with their audience. They are an orchestra of mostly young professionals – doctors, lawyers, as well as music students – supplemented last Saturday by a handful of professionals to fill out the harp and percussion parts in music by Gerald Finzi, Frank Bridge, Thomas Adès and Benjamin Britten.
There is the odd veteran player, including first violinist Herman Scott. Scott played in Finzi's own amateur orchestra, the Newbury String Players, between 1941 and 1945. Finzi's son, Kiffer, was in the audience, to hear his father's cello concerto. The soloist was a young Scottish cellist called Philip Higham (this is another service amateur orchestras provide: giving young soloists the chance to try out concerto repertoire). Afterwards, Finzi Jr told him his was the best performance of the concerto he'd ever heard, and I could see what he meant: Higham's passionate connection with the piece, his total technical command of its virtuosic demands, were outstanding.
Not everything was perfect; you can't expect the same warmth or precision from an amateur orchestra's string section as you can from the pros. But they played the Four Sea Interludes and the Passacaglia from Britten's Peter Grimes with as much commitment as any performance I've heard. And along the way, 800 or so friends, family and followers were treated to a programme of real imagination – all for a tenner.
There is more to amateur music-making than the annual Messiah. This Christmas, get out there and support your local amateur orchestra and its winter concerts. You'll be as surprised, and impressed, as I was.
