Aurora has been named as a partner in three new music hubs, including:

- Westminster / Hammersmith and Fulham / Kensington and Chelsea
- Buckinghamshire
- Southwark

Aurora is delighted to be part of these three exciting new partnerships.  We are particularly pleased that the tri-borough hub – involving Westminster City Council, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, as well as the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal College of Music – has been highlighted as an example of collaborative best practice (click here to read the full ACE press release).

Aurora’s close involvement with several of the new hubs means that the orchestra stands poised to take an increasingly active role in the development of music education strategy in these areas, and to contribute to wider discussions on music participation and learning in the UK.

For the fourth year in succession, Aurora has been shortlisted for one of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s annual Awards.   The RPS Awards are the highest recognition for live classical music-making in the UK, with nominations invited annually from leading members of the profession and organisations throughout the country.

Having won last year’s Ensemble Award, Aurora has been jointly nominated this year in the ‘Audiences and Engagement’ category for last year’s collaboration with the CBBC TV series Horrible Histories for the BBC Proms.  The Horrible Histories Prom – which featured songs from the series alongside orchestral works by Strauss, Prokofiev, Berlioz and Wagner – proved to be a smash hit with audiences, and has been reached millions since the performance through broadcasts on BBC 2 and CBBC .

Part of Aurora’s cross-arts New Moves series and the Roundhouse’s 2012 Reverb Festival, Love Song for the City features iconic music by Strauss (Metamorphosen) and Bernstein (West Side Story),  alongside one of the great cross-arts collaborations of the 21st century to date:  Michael Gordon’s Gotham, with film by Bill Morrison.  Click here for full details of the programme and book tickets for an unmissable live performance in a unique space.

The performance will be filmed and streamed digitally – both online via the Guardian website, and to the following venues in the North East:

Gala Theatre and Cinema, Durham (live on 25 February)
Maltings Theatre and Cinema, Berwick (live on 25 February)
Alnwick Playhouse (21 April encore performance)

This streaming project is part of the Digital R&D Fund for Arts and Culture support by Arts Council England (ACE), Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and NESTA.

Aurora launched its debut disc for Decca Classics – a recording of music by the young American composer Nico Muhly – with a performance at Kings Place in May 2011.  The centrepiece of the disc is Muhly’s concerto for six-string electric violin Seeing is Believing, commissioned by Aurora for its leader Thomas Gould.

Marking the start of Aurora’s 2012 London season next week, we’re releasing the live video recording of Seeing is Believing from the Kings Place launch concert. If you enjoy it and would like to get hold of a copy of the disc, do click on the links in the player to purchase through Amazon or iTunes.

Application deadline: 24 February

Aurora Orchestra is recruiting for a Projects Manager to oversee the delivery of its calendar of activities, including concerts, broadcasts and recordings, and a busy Participation and Learning programme.  Based at the orchestra’s office at Kings Place, London, this newly-created position offers an exceptional opportunity to play a key role in shaping the future of one of the UK’s most dynamic and innovative young arts organisations as it continues its rapid ascent.

Working at the heart of Aurora’s small management team, the Projects Manager will bring the orchestra’s artistic planning to life, managing project budgets and junior staff, co-ordinating schedules and production requirements, improving management processes, and liaising with a wide range of partners including creative collaborators, festivals, broadcasters, record labels, venues, and schools.

This full-time role will demand excellent organisational, interpersonal and communication skills, combined with flexibility, creativity and initiative.  The successful candidate will share Aurora’s commitment to artistic excellence and innovation, and will have a strong professional background in project management within the arts (a minimum of three years’ experience, preferably in an orchestral context).  Because of Aurora’s special focus on Participation and Learning, enthusiasm for arts education in schools and other settings beyond the concert hall will also be essential.

A senior post with a high degree of autonomy and management responsibility, this role presents a superb opening for an outstanding candidate to broaden experience across all aspects of concert production at the highest level, expand professional networks, and grow alongside a flourishing young orchestra.

Salary: from £27k depending on experience.

For full job description and details of application process email applications@auroraorchestra.com using the subject line PROJECT MANAGER APPLICATION.

2012 promises even more. In London’s Olympic year we’re bringing great programmes and dazzling performances to some of the capital’s most iconic venues: from our flagship partnerships at Kings Place and LSO St Luke’s to Camden’s Roundhouse, the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Studio Theatre, Wigmore Hall, and the Southbank Centre.   Along the way we’ll be joined by fabulous soloists including Ian Bostridge, Angelika Kirchschlager, Anthony Marwood, Christoph Richter and Maxim Rysanov; and charting a course that takes us through breakdance, klezmer, folk music and the extraordinary film of Bill Morrison.  Many concerts will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 or online, and we’ll be touring again throughout the UK – keep an eye on the website for more details.

We hope you’ll enjoy flicking through the online version of our new season brochure below.  You can click on it to see it in full screen mode, but if you’d like to see one in all its physical glory (trust us, you do!) just drop us a line at info@auroraorchestra.com with your address, and we’ll pop one in the post to you.

Aurora’s latest cross-arts project has been taking the UK media by storm this week, with a feature on BBC 2′s Culture Show and a spread in The Times newspaper. A Halloween concert like not other, Thriller: Automatic Writing is a major new collaboration with award-winning American horror writer Peter Straub and director/theatre-maker Tim Hopkins.

Rehearsals have just started here in London for a spine-tingling programme that ranges from Bach to Kats-Chernin via Dukas, Nancarrow and Michel Legrand, and features guest appearances from mezzo-soprano Catherine Hopper and pianola legend Rex Lawson.

Join us for what promises to be an electrifying show.

Click here for full details of performances in Bristol, Bury St Edmunds, Southampton and London, 30 October-4 November.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The RPS Award crowns a month during which Aurora has for the first time been awarded core funding from Arts Council England as part of the new National Portfolio of arts organisations; announced the release of a debut disc on the Decca Classics label; and presented the first concert ever to be streamed live on The Guardianʼs website. It also follows hard on the heels of Principal Conductor Nicholas Collonʼs shortlisting earlier in the year for the South Bank Sky Arts / The Times Breakthrough Award.

General Manager of the orchestra John Harte commented: “We are thrilled to be presented with an award which over the years has been held by world-class ensembles whose work we hugely admire. Itʼs particularly exciting to have been considered this year alongside the CBSO and the NYO – we are honoured and delighted to be recognised in such company.”

On Saturday 7 May at 7.30pm, Aurora will be live-streaming a landmark concert from Kings Place marking the launch of the orchestra’s debut recording on Decca Classics.   Nico Muhly’s concerto for electric violin, Seeing Is Believing,  commissioned by Aurora in 2008 for its leader Thomas Gould, takes centre stage alongside works by John Adams, Thomas Adès, Paul Hindemith and Charles Ives.

Described by The Daily Telegraph as ‘the hottest composer on the planet’, Muhly has collaborated with Björk, Sigur Rós and Antony and the Johnsons. He also composed the score for The Reader, and has been jointly commissioned by ENO and the Metropolitan Opera in New York to create a new work, Two Boys, which premieres at the Coliseum at the end of June.

Live-streaming begins on this page from 6.30pm on Saturday 7 May 2011, with a pre-concert conversation between Nico and BBC Radio 3′s Sara Mohr-Pietsch.  The concert will be available on this page for on-demand streaming for 48 hours subsequently.

ONLINE Q&A with Nico Muhly
Nico Muhly will be appearing live online during the concert interval to answer questions posted from online viewers .  To send a question, tweet on the hashtag #auroramuhly or email info@auroraorchestra.com.

Publisher Acknowledgments

Charles Ives, The Unanswered Question: music © Peermusic Classical, used by permission of Faber Music Ltd..
Paul Hindemith, Kammermusik No. 1 (Finale): music © Schott Music Ltd., used by permission of the publishers.
Nico Muhly, Seeing is Believing: music © St Rose Music Publishing Co., used by Permission of Chester Music Ltd..
François Couperin (arr. Thomas Adès), Les barricades mystérieuses: music © Faber Music Ltd., used by permission of the publishers.
William Byrd (arr. Nico Muhly), Two Motets: music © St Rose Music Publishing Co., used by Permission of Chester Music Ltd..
John Adams, Chamber Symphony: music © Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd., used by permission of the publishers.