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 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 reputation for adventurous programming, attracting prominent soloists including Felicity Palmer, James Galway, Jack Brymer and Joanna McGregor, and presented a concert at Ely cathedral with the London Philharmonic Choir. WSO worked with several guest conductors at this time. Two concerts presented under the direction of John Wilson included a symphonic suite Wilson compiled from Steiner’s film score Gone With The Wind, and 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. 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, soloist Sally Harrison (soprano).

From 2015 WSO worked with guest conductors, including Andrew Morley who led WSO in several performances featuring world-class soloists such as 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.

In 2026, William Birkbeck was appointed Musical Director, from May 2027