Leicester Orchestral Union
The Leicester Orchestral Union was Leicester’s first symphony orchestra giving well attended annual concerts for nearly five decades before the Leicester Symphony Orchestra started. It was also an important precursor to the LSO supplying over half its early players. The LOU is almost forgotten today but I was lucky enough to be given access to the family collection of concert programmes held by Cedric Lee. Cedric’s mother, Grace Burrows, uncle Benjamin Burrows and grandfather B H Burrows were all heavily involved in the LOU for many years. Grace led the orchestra in its final years and went on to be a founder member and leader of the LSO. Using the programmes together with press reports from the British Newspaper Archive I was able to piece together the story of the LOU in an article ‘A Feast of Fine Music’ published in the Leicestershire Historian, Volume 60 (2024). The full article will be available to the general public in due course.
Scans of LOU concert programmes which provide valuable background detail on this fascinating story supplement those in the article. Player lists and a complete list of music performed are included. To view all 11 x programmes you can either use the side arrows on the image below or click on the image below and it will open up in a lightbox and you can then use the side arrows. Sam Dobson
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