Earlier this year Lancashire Music Hub, County Ensembles appointed a new conductor to the Lancashire Schools Symphony Orchestra (LSSO), Paul Swannell.
Paul has a wealth of experience in conducting, music performance and working with young people. Alongside his role with LSSO, he is also runs a thriving school music department as Head of Music at Lancaster Girls’ Grammar School and conducts at the Joint Lancaster Schools Orchestra. He was previously Head of Performing Arts at Garstang Community Academy.
Following his degree in music at the University of Huddersfield specialising in violin and conducting, Paul went on to conduct youth ensembles, choirs and orchestras and has also pursued his keen interest in musical theatre as Musical Director for shows including West Side Story and Les Miserables. As a violinist, Paul has played for various orchestras in the North West including Bolton Symphony Orchestra and Haffner Orchestra and plays for a Lancaster based string quartet.
Paul’s enthusiasm for music and sharing this through education has been the driving force in his career:
“I am unreservedly passionate about the power and importance of music education and remember fondly my own experience playing for my town youth orchestras as a young violinist. I would never have become a musician without those amazing opportunities and one of the reasons I was keen on this post was to be able to offer similar experiences to the next generation of young musicians in Lancashire. The LSSO represents young people at the very beginning of their musical journeys and I look forward to helping guide and develop them to, what we hope, will instill a lifelong passion of music! “
Paul is looking forward to his first concert with LSSO where they will be performing some Haydn, the legendary Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov and Fauré’s beautiful Pavane. He is looking forward to working on some exciting music with the orchestra including a repeat performance of The Finale from Beethoven’s 5th Symphony and a new piece commissioned especially for LSSO.
Paul comments; “There is a fantastic team of professional musicians and tutors involved in both orchestras and I consider it a real honour to have been offered this role. I look forward to watching the young people grow as musicians and amazing themselves at what they can achieve”
The Lancashire Schools Symphony Orchestra (LSSO) acts as a preparatory ensemble for the Lancashire Youth Symphony Orchestra (LYSO), providing young instrumentalists with their first experience of playing larger scale orchestral music.
For more information about the LSSO visit here.
