0038
One-Day Course

Maconchy: Proud Thames;
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No 6

21 June 2026

Henry Wood Hall
Trinity Church Square
London SE1 4HU

Cost
  • Non student
    £44
  • Student
    £25

Vaughan Williams’ Sixth Symphony was his first major post-war work, and its sometimes violent mood inevitably led to it being known as his ‘War Symphony’ – to which he replied “it never seems to occur to people that a man might just want to write a piece of music.” It is paired with his pupil Maconchy’s prize-winning overture, written in celebration of the Thames, depicting “its rapid growth from small beginnings to a great river of sound.”

Applications are invited for all sections of the orchestra from players at Grade 8-plus, or equivalent.

The nearest stations to Henry Wood Hall are Borough, Elephant and Castle, and London Bridge. There is free parking in the surrounding streets on Sundays (and parking on the forecourt for large instruments).

Please note that while the hall is in the central London congestion charge zone (fee £15, payable online), it only operates on Sundays only if you’re driving through the zone between 12.00 and 18.00, which should mean players are not affected.

(The London Ultra Low Emission Zone applies all day, every day. Check here to see if your vehicle is affected.)

Repertoire:

Overture: Proud Thames

Maconchy

Symphony No. 6

Vaughan Williams

Conductor:

Roger Coull

Schedule

10.30-13.30

14.30-17.15

Open Rehearsal

17.45

All course fees are subsidised by our fundraising activities and fees are further reduced for students. Some bursary funding is available: please enquire when applying for courses. In addition to the general full and part bursaries we offer, we have two specific bursary schemes:

  • Co-Principal Strings Student Bursary scheme

    If you are currently studying full-time at a UK conservatoire and would appreciate the opportunity to work intensively on large-scale symphonic repertoire with professional conductors, without the pressure of public performance, at the same time as benefiting directly from the experience of our professional string principals, why not apply for the Co-Principal Strings Student bursary scheme? Successful applicants will be offered a bursary-funded place on one of our London weekend courses as co-principal first or second violin, viola, cello or double bass. A modest contribution to travel costs is available to participants studying outside London.

  • Play ON bursary programme

    Our newest bursary programme, Play ON, initiated in 2022 by a grant from the Victoria Wood Foundation, enables us to offer a number of bursary-funded places on London weekend courses to current conservatoire students and recent graduates across all sections of the orchestra, particularly those who studied and/or graduated during the Covid pandemic. A contribution to travel costs is available to all participants.

To apply for these schemes, please email admin@rehearsal-orchestra.org with your CV.