Essex Young People's orchestra rehearsing

Join us for open rehearsal of one of our youth ensembles!

Come and join the students of our wonderful Youth Ensembles and their directors for a free open rehearsal in October in Witham and Chelmsford. Attendees will get to know our conductor, other music students, and play music together!

“This is such a great opportunity for our young people to learn how our ensembles work, play alongside others and get to know our conductors. These sorts of experiences are crucial for any budding musician – we’re better when we make music together!” John Hutchings, Music Strategic Lead Officer

Any young person who plays an orchestral string, woodwind, brass or orchestral percussion instrument and is Grade 4 or above can sample the groups for free – click the links below!

For brass players, join our Youth Brass Ensemble in Witham

For woodwind and brass players, join our Youth Symphonic Wind Orchestra in Chelmsford

For budding orchestral players, join our Young People’s Orchestra in Chelmsford


We are proud to have a number of leading and high-achieving top-level ensembles offering opportunities for young musicians in Essex including:

Essex Youth Orchestra
Essex Youth Choir
Essex Youth Jazz Orchestra
Essex Youth Symphonic Wind Orchestra
Essex Youth Brass Ensemble

This doesn’t happen by accident – we also run a number of starter ensembles in our community music venues as well as intermediate ensembles including our Essex Young People’s Orchestra to bring together young people together in making music with each other.

If you have a young person in your setting who would benefit from joining such an ensemble, please contact Beverley Heard, Music Ensembles Lead Officer, telephone 0333 013 8953 or email: musichub@essex.gov.uk