“Literally the nicest place on earth.”

— Sami, age 17 (French Horn)

The Lydian Orchestra is the premier independent youth ensemble in the South East, formed of young musicians (aged 13–24) from Kent and the neighbouring counties.

Founded in 1976 by June Clements, Lydian provides fantastic performance opportunities to students in the local area, as well as touring around the UK and Europe on a regular basis. Our most recent trip was to the Peak District in July 2022, and we have also visited France, Belgium and Germany in the last few years.

2022 Summer Concert, back home after our Peak District tour with Musical Director, Brynly Clarke — 30th July 2022

“This has been one of the most amazing weeks of my life.”

— Minna, age 16 (Flute)

Lydian has a long-standing relationship with the Sevenoaks Young Musician of the Year competition, offering a concerto performance opportunity to its winner every year. We also hold an annual concerto workshop weekend, which provides our members a chance to play alongside the orchestra as a soloist.

The orchestra at its 40th Anniversary Concert with conductor Nils Schweckendiek — 7th July 2016

For enthusiastic younger players, we also offer the Lydian Training Orchestra. LTO meets three times a year for a fun-packed weekend of music-making, aimed at players of around Grade 3 to 6 standard.

“Honestly the kindest and most supportive group of people ever – I felt so welcome on my first tour and had literally the best week.”

— Alice, age 16 (Violin)

RECENT NEWS

  • Lydian has once again brought back the popular weekend concerto workshop format, where conductors and soloists have the chance to rehearse and possibly perform a piece/concerto movement and composers can showcase a work that they have composed. The 2024 Easter Concert was on the 1st of April 2024 at The Judd School, with Elizabeth Worth conducting – thank you to all the amazing soloists!

  • The orchestra delivered a spectacular performance alongside talented solo pianist Xinge (Grace) Dong and conductor Brynly Clarke at their Winter Concert on the 20th of December 2023 at Pamoja Hall, Sevenoaks School. Many thanks to Xinge; to our string quartet (John Britton, Danny Meyer, Ben Knowles and Ethan Merrick); and all of the past and present members of Lydian who contributed to the success of the evening.

  • A standing ovation for our 2023 Spring Concert! The performance took place on Monday 10th April at 5pm at the Judd School in Tonbridge. The concert, conducted by Brynly Clarke, included a selection of pieces from the preceding Concerto Workshop Weekend, which involved a number of works featuring players as soloists, as well as two pieces conducted by current members.

  • Our 2022 Winter Concert was a rousing success – soloist Stefan Bulyha played Weber’s Clarinet Concerto No. 1 beautifully! The concert was on Wednesday 21st December at the Pamoja Hall in Sevenoaks, and was conducted by new conductor Naomi Butcher who the orchestra enjoyed working with greatly.

For previous news items, view the archive.