There aren’t many people who wake up one day and think, “Hey, I know, I’ll start a full-size symphony orchestra.” Even fewer actually manage to do it. The Sussex Symphony Orchestra is here today thanks to the courage and enthusiasm of its founder Mark Andrew James.
The SSO was formed in January 1993. Based in Brighton, our members are a mixture of professional musicians and talented amateurs who live or work in Sussex.
Over the last 25 years we’ve performed with local choirs such as the Sussex Chorus and the Brighton Festival Chorus. We’ve also worked with some famous names – cellist Guy Johnston, violinist Magnus Johnston, pianist John Lill and singers Katherine Jenkins, Aled Jones and Lesley Garrett.
The Sussex Symphony Orchestra performs live music in Brighton and in venues around Sussex, but we will occasionally move further afield. In 2012 we surprised the departures lounge at Heathrow Airport while being filmed for a British Airways advert. You can see our pop-up orchestra on YouTube.
In 2019, the Orchestra was conducted by Christopher Braime.
For the 2020 season, the Orchestra will be conducted by our founder, Mark Andrew James.
Find out more about the Sussex Symphony Orchestra’s live classical music concerts this season.