Making music in Colchester since 1966
About Us
Learn about our history, the people involved, and how we made St Botolph’s Church our home.
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Join our membership scheme and make use of the benefits of being a Friend of SBMS.
Latest News
11 October 2024Bethany Reynolds is a nine-year-old pianist and composer.She began playing piano at age 5 and is currently studying for her first performance diploma. Bethany studies piano under Siu Chui Li, and composition under Leon Haxby at Saffron Centre for Young Musicians. She is also a member of the National School for Young Chamber Music Players, Pro Corda. Bethany has a passion for performing and has recently played in the Elgar Room at the Royal Albert Hall, at Saffron Hall, and at the 1901 Arts Club. Her concerto debut was made with the Wivenhoe Orchestra in May 2024 and was more recently selected to play a spotlight performance with Ignas Maknickas as part of the Roman River Festival. Bethnay has also participated in masterclasses with Tom Poster and Andrew Quartermain.She enjoys exploring a wide variety of repertoire, expressing different moods through performance and composition, and has a particular love for romantic music. Recent competition entries have gained first place in the Independent School Association Music Composition Competition, gold at the Ad Libitum International Piano Competition, and silver at the London Young Musician Competition. Bethany hopes to one day combine her love for the piano and for composition as a published composer and concert performer.When not making music Bethany enjoys reading, especially fantasy novels, and is also a keen young athlete who particularly enjoys sprinting.Tickets for the Family Concert are on sale now. Planning on attending all the concerts in our season? Consider becoming a Friend of SBMS, save some money, and guarantee a seat at each concert! [...]
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6 September 2024Tickets for the 2024-25 season have gone on sale! Well, mostly!
With our November, May, and July concerts confirmed, tickets for these have gone on sale today! See our What’s On page for more details.
Friend of SBMS membership can now also be purchased online! For just £50 you’ll receive admission into all concerts this season. We’ll reserve you a seat in your name. Also new this year is a VIP invite to one of our Thursday rehearsals. You’ll get to see what goes on behind the scenes, plus meet the orchestra! More details can be found on our Support Us page.
We’ll be releasing details of the February concert very soon! Keep an eye out on our website and socials, or be ahead of the game and join our mailing list. [...]
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23 July 2024We’ve come to the end of another season, and what a year it’s been!
The season opened with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, and closed with Mozart’s Symphony No. 38.
Our soloists have included Essex Young Musician of the Year winner Jamie Cochrane, cellist Rebecca Welham, and local pianist Philip Elwell. Plus our very own cellist, Lucy Barnes, also gave a stunning solo performance during Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto.
There have been four concerts, with four wonderful audiences. We’ve welcomed guest musicians, and of course, our own SBMS musicians who regularly turn up on Thursday evenings to rehearse.
This season has also seen a rebrand, a new website, growth in our mailing list and a new self-hosted ticketing system. It’s safe to say, it’s been a good year!
We’re now looking towards our 2024-25 season, with lots of work going on behind the scenes in preparation. Make sure you sign up to our mailing list to hear the news first! [...]
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28 May 2024We’ve been working in the background to get ticket sales working on our website.
After much testing, we’re happy to announce it’s all now live! You can now buy tickets directly from SBMS. Plus, the fully automated system means you’ll get your tickets straight away!
Our first concert using this new system is An Evening of Mozart. Head over to find out more about this concert and to buy your tickets online. [...]
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4 April 2024A sensitive and versatile pianist, Jamie Cochrane is equally at home as a concert soloist or in more intimate settings as a solo or collaborative pianist. He is keen to bring music to a wide audience, programming less widely-performed works alongside audience favourites.After winning the Essex Young Musician of the Year competition in 2018, Jamie has gone on to perform at venues including the Royal Albert Hall and the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford. He has also been fortunate to receive lessons and masterclasses from pianists such as Steven Osborne, Ivana Gavrić, and Tom Poster.
Having completed his undergraduate studies at Merton College, Oxford, Jamie is currently studying for a Master’s degree at the Royal Academy of Music where he studies with William Fong and Michael Dussek.
Jamie will be performing Clara Schumann’s ‘Piano Concerto in A minor’ with St Botolph’s Music Society. This concert is sponsored by the Hervey Benham Charitable Trust.
For more information on this concert, including tickets, please visit our Schumann & Brahms event page. [...]
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18 March 2024Things are looking a bit different round here now. We’re thrilled to introduce you to the rebrand of St Botolph’s Music Society, including this shiny new logo!
The logo has been designed by Emily Blaxill, who graduated from Norwich University of Arts in 2023 with a first class honours degree in Graphic Design.
It all comes with a fresh looking website, which we hope you’ll enjoy browsing! Further plans are afoot, so keep an eye out for news.
In the meantime, enjoy exploring our website! [...]
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