Bristol’s flagship orchestra, the Bristol Ensemble, is today launching their new season which they hope will engage with a more diverse and younger audience. It is a bold plan for the orchestra formally known as the Emerald Ensemble, who hope that more people will support them and keep classical music in Bristol and the south west alive.

One of the key components in this new approach is that the audience will be guided through each piece during concerts.

Artistic director Roger Huckle and conductor Jonathan James will explain the music from stage before playing the pieces. There will also be the introduction of programme notes and pre-concert talks to further give the audience some idea of what they are experiencing.

This new season will see the Bristol Ensemble appear at the Colston Hall and St George’s in Bristol, as well as performing further afield inWeston-Super-Mare, Stroud, Sherborne, Bruton, and Buxton.

There will be evenings of Gypsy Baroque music, to Verdi celebrations and Latin American classics. The popular Elektrostatic evenings, which sees two concerts looking at Graphic Scores and Blues, are returning. And in the Christmas concerts, the Ensemble will perform by candlelight in Bristol Cathedral.

Hannah Brown from the Bristol Ensemble said: “Our main aim is to engage a younger and more diverse audience with classical music. Our conductors will be giving mid-concert talks which will enhance understanding and enjoyment of the music, moving the genre away from its traditional, conservative roots. We want to succeed where all other orchestras in Bristol have failed: prove that classical music in the city is not dead.”

For more information, visit www.bristolensemble.com