Aurora Orchestra aims to inspire, challenge and astonish new audiences with great music, brilliantly performed. It seeks to be the UK’s most versatile orchestra, combining world-class performance with eclectic and innovative programming, a commitment to adventurous collaboration across perceived frontiers of musical genre and artistic form, and a refusal to be bound by convention.

Since 2010, the Jerwood Commissions have been a central part of Aurora's New Moves series; a residency in the Jerwood Hall at LSO St Luke’s which re-invents the orchestral concert with an adventurous and convention-defying approach to artistic content and presentation. 

Each Jerwood Commission is a collaboration with an outstanding emerging artist or ensemble operating in a different artistic sphere and/or musical genre, with an underpinning theme used to thread together eclectic music and ignite dialogue across artforms.  The series has attracted both critical acclaim and capacity crowds, quickly developing a reputation for pushing the boundaries of the concert experience, reaching new audiences for classical music and offering fresh perspectives on a thrilling variety of repertoire.

Projects have placed unusual demands on instrumentalists, including performing from memory, working with directors and choreographers, and exploring unfamiliar musical genres with collaborators. New Moves programmes have also fearlessly arranged, adapted and experimented with music, questioning the perceived sacrosanct nature of canonical repertoire and ensuring that orchestral music remains alive and current.

Read an article on Nicholas Collon, Aurora's Founder and Principle Conductor, in the Guardian. 

The 2011 Jerwood Commissions are:

Jealous Guy 
Music and dance inspired by the darker side of desire. The Jerwood Commission for this project brought Aurora together with singer/songwriter Sam Swallow and dancers David and Kim Benitez, two of London’s most fêted tango dancers. 

When Doves Cry 
Part of a programme of work that brings together the natural world, birdsong, and the Antipodes offering three contrasting visions of the pastoral idyll. Our support has enabled the commissioning of a major visual art installation in the Jerwood Hall, LSO St Luke’s, from Gareth Cadwallader and Rob Sherwood, inspired by Klimt’s Beethoven Frieze.

Thriller
Celebrated American horror writer Peter Straub has been terrifying his legions of readers throughout the world for more than thirty years with works including Ghost Story,The Talisman and Shadowland. For this theatrical Jerwood Commission, Straub has worked with Aurora to create a tapestry of narrative and music quite unlike any orchestral concert previously staged.

www.auroraorchestra.com