The inaugral concert of the Alton Area Orchestra was on the 14th February 1992 a year after its founding by the then Head of Music at Alton College, Martin Read. They applied for grant aid from Hampshire County Council and East Hants District Council to get the orchestra up and running.
It was later that year that the concept of the Alton Concert Orchestra was born. We are proud to say that Sam, one of our bass players, was a college student at that time and Chris, viola, joined not long after.
Martin passed the conductor's post to Graham Cross in 1995 under whose leadership one of the highlights was a partnership concert with Amery Hill School at the Anvil Concert Hall in Basingstoke. This was part of our aim to work with schools in our community including Treloars, Eggars, Chawton and Liss.
Chris Legget joined ACO in 1999 and was long serving Chair from 2001 until 2025. He is also reponsible for setting the orchestra up as a registered charity in 2005.
in 2006 David Budd took over as principal conductor until 2017 when Chris Gardner took over, working together until 2025. Both remain involved in the orchestra today,
Chris, as a composer, has also written for the orchestra including Fantasia Telefonica, The Hampshire Suite, and most recently Clarion Call which showcases 'The Clarion' as a new instrument in a mainstream orchestra in the country, and indeed the world.
We have an exchange with the l'Orchestra Garance from Alton's twin town, Pertuis in Provence, first performing there in 2014. Our 25th anniversary of the orchestra in 2016 was celebrated with a special April concert and a return visit to Pertuis to perform in 2017. Unfortunately their visit to Alton in 2020 was cancelled due to the pandemic.
We have performed annual Proms concerts since 2007 (except 2020), starting in Alton Public Gardens and moving to Bordon in 2022.
With Sam Hairsine, as our new conductor, joining us in 2026 we look forward to building on our legacy of 35 years.
It was later that year that the concept of the Alton Concert Orchestra was born. We are proud to say that Sam, one of our bass players, was a college student at that time and Chris, viola, joined not long after.
Martin passed the conductor's post to Graham Cross in 1995 under whose leadership one of the highlights was a partnership concert with Amery Hill School at the Anvil Concert Hall in Basingstoke. This was part of our aim to work with schools in our community including Treloars, Eggars, Chawton and Liss.
Chris Legget joined ACO in 1999 and was long serving Chair from 2001 until 2025. He is also reponsible for setting the orchestra up as a registered charity in 2005.
in 2006 David Budd took over as principal conductor until 2017 when Chris Gardner took over, working together until 2025. Both remain involved in the orchestra today,
Chris, as a composer, has also written for the orchestra including Fantasia Telefonica, The Hampshire Suite, and most recently Clarion Call which showcases 'The Clarion' as a new instrument in a mainstream orchestra in the country, and indeed the world.
We have an exchange with the l'Orchestra Garance from Alton's twin town, Pertuis in Provence, first performing there in 2014. Our 25th anniversary of the orchestra in 2016 was celebrated with a special April concert and a return visit to Pertuis to perform in 2017. Unfortunately their visit to Alton in 2020 was cancelled due to the pandemic.
We have performed annual Proms concerts since 2007 (except 2020), starting in Alton Public Gardens and moving to Bordon in 2022.
With Sam Hairsine, as our new conductor, joining us in 2026 we look forward to building on our legacy of 35 years.
