The Wimbledon Philharmonic Orchestra was formed between the wars, revived after WW2, and until the late 1950s, conducted by an enthusiastic local bank manager, Kenneth Tucker, until he retired and moved to the West country

The Musical Times, Aug 1949

In 1961 composer-conductor Kenneth V Jones announced in the broadsheet Wimbledon Borough News his plan to start a new orchestra, and invited interested players to contact him for auditions. This was the beginning of the Wimbledon Symphony Orchestra, which met for the first time in that year.

In 1971 Kenneth Jones moved from the district and was succeeded by John Alldis, founder of the John Alldis Choir, and conductor, successively, of the London Philharmonic Choir and the London Symphony Chorus. Under his musical direction the orchestra built a solid reputation for adventurous programming and fine performance, attracting prominent soloists including John Lill, Alan Hacker, Felicity Palmer, Rodney Friend, James Galway, Michael Collins, Richard Watkins, Jack Brymer, Joanna McGregor, and Paul Lewis. At Ely Cathedral it presented a concert with the London Philharmonic Choir.

WSO worked with several guest conductors at this time. Two concerts were presented under the direction of John Wilson. In June 2001, an all-American programme, included Gershwin’s An American in Paris and a symphonic suite Wilson compiled from Max Steiner’s film score Gone With The Wind; and in March 2003, a programme of English light music.

In 2005 John Alldis was succeeded by Robin Browning, who directed the orchestra in innovative programming and fine performance for ten years until 2015. Robin grew the orchestra’s abilities, directing many successful concerts including a collaboration with the London-based chamber choir Coro at Cadogan Hall featuring Haydn’s Harmoniemesse. WSO continued to work with prominent soloists such as Adam Walker, Priya Mitchell, Guy Johnston, and Jonathan Cohen.

In May 2007, Nicholas Collon directed a memorable performance of Richard Strauss’ Four Last Songs, with soloist Sally Harrison (soprano).

Since 2015 WSO has chosen to work with a number of conductors. Among these, Andrew Morley has led WSO in several performances featuring world-class soloists including Martin James Bartlett, Jennifer Pike and Ben Goldscheider. WSO collaborated with the Wimbledon-based chamber choir Sonoro in Mozart’s Requiem in March 2019 under BBC Symphony Chorus Director Neil Ferris.