Five questions with… Brixton Chamber Orchestra

1. Tell us about Brixton Chamber Orchestra (BCO). 

BCO is a fairly new charitable organisation established in 2018, designed to provide free orchestral concerts for the local community and paid performance opportunities for young professional musicians. We love to play all kinds of music – from classical to grime, disco to drum and bass, and everything in between. 

Every summer and Christmas, we embark on a tour of local housing estates in Lambeth, bringing a 22-piece orchestra to people’s doorsteps. As well as our singers and rappers, the tours offer lots of opportunities for audience members and local talent who live on the estates to perform backed by a live orchestra. It’s something uniquely special!

2. Thanks to National Lottery players, the Arts Council has been able to support your work. What has this support enabled BCO to do? 

The Arts Council’s support has enabled us to make these Estates Tours possible – full stop! This project has become our flagship event that people in Lambeth look forward to all year round, and this year we’ve managed to develop the project to even greater heights, with plans to record the set and releasing as an album, offering merchandise for the first time, and reaching an even wider audience, all because of the support received from the Arts Council thanks to National Lottery players.  

3. We know the local community of Lambeth is central to your work with musicians and performing - but we understand you’re also partnering with local businesses, tell us more.

We’ve been embedded in our community since we began, but since the pandemic we’ve really pulled together to help each other out and this year we’ve got some really exciting additions:

• We’ve partnered with local gelato shop Minus 12 Degrees to develop an ice cream flavour inspired by our first single Cornflake (cereal milk ice cream with choc cornflake crunch!); 
• We’ve collaborated with local independent, multi award winning hot sauce maker The Lazy Scientist to make our very own hot sauce (pineapple and smoked salt – perfect with pizza and pretty much anything if you like hot sauce!); 
• and we’ve produced a limited edition beer with Brixton Brewery – called Conductor Session IPA – that’s in such high demand they’re making another run! 
• Not forgetting Brixton Streetwear, a local business run by born and bred Brixton brothers who are making our t-shirts and hats for the Summer Estates Tour! 
  
   

The best thing about all of these collaborations is they’re designed to drive more awareness of BCO, encourage donations and sign ups to our BCO Supporters Scheme, the profits go towards our charitable aims, and we get to use our platform to shout about these awesome local independent businesses! 

4. Do you have any top tips for other organisations wanting to build relationships with local businesses? 

Just get out there and meet people. Networking is so important. 

Always keep an eye open for creative opportunities to collaborate and don’t be scared to reach out to new people, as they’re almost always very receptive to new ideas! Instagram has been a big help for discovery, but equally we went after local businesses that we believed had a common audience and an affinity with the community. We planned our pitch, made contact and started building relationships. When the hard work pays off it’s so rewarding.

5. What are you working on next, and what are you looking forward to in the future? 

The Summer Estates Tour runs from 22 - 31 July, with 12 shows across 12 estates. The exact times and locations are all on our website. Then, in August, we have two Opera Galas taking place in Brixton (Trinity Gardens) and Clapham Common on 20/21 August. 

Looking further ahead, our most exciting project is in development for 2023 which is an original album of grime instrumentals in collaboration with emerging artists, entitled Grime Orchestrated. We’re very excited about that! 

To keep up to date with Brixton Chamber Orchestra’s work, follow them on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.