Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

Liverpool's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is the country's longest surviving professional orchestra and can trace its origins back to 1840. It operates under the auspices of The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society, an organisation founded by the great and the good of Liverpool's upper classes who started the orchestra with the objective of promoting "the science and practice of music" for the "pleasure of the moneyed merchant class in the town". A concert hall was duly built which opened its doors in 1849. The fortunes of the orchestra varied throughout the remaining half of the 19th century and were dependant on the quality and style of the conductors employed by the society. As the orchestra moved into the 20th century there were concerns raised about dwindling audiences and the society's slowly deteriorating financial situation. In 1933 disaster struck when the Philharmonic Hall was burnt down. The hall took six years to rebuild and shortly afterwards the outbreak of war prompted calls for concerts to be suspended. In what was to prove pivotal in the future success of the orchestra one of the society's officers, David Webster, strongly resisted closure on the grounds the orchestra could provide a valuable boost for wartime morale. An enlightened man, Webster promoted low-cost concerts for factory workers and the armed forces, abolished the formal dress code and appointed Malcolm Sargent as chief conductor. Webster's guidance dramatically altered the fortunes of the orchestra and his influences carried on well into the post-war years. The orchestra is a fundamental part of Liverpool life and performs around 60 concerts a year actively promoting and encouraging classical music to families and young people, and in 2015 they celebrated their 175th anniversary.

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