About Spires Music

The Midlands region centred on Coventry, Warwickshire and Solihull has a wealth of musically talented individuals nurtured through our youth music and amateur orchestras but who currently have to seek opportunities to become career musicians in other cities such as London and Manchester.

Spires Music provides opportunities for our regional musicians to perform at professional level in their home towns, for amateur and young musicians to grow alongside them and for audiences to enjoy musical excellence in the finest historic venues in Coventry and Warwickshire.

Since leaving his role at Warwick University as Director of Music in 2003, Colin Touchin has further developed a successful career as an international conductor and composer. But he has also established in our region an organisation to share with the community a high quality of classical music. He founded Spires Music in 2005, and has been joined by a team with experience in business, finance and management who are all enthusiastic musicians and share his vision for the renaissance and growth of classical music in the region.

The Spires Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) comprises a core of professional musicians who play alongside talented non-professionals. The professional section leaders coach, mentor and inspire their non-professional colleagues, ensuring a very high standard of performance. Thus the SPO provides a pool of professional and advanced amateur players for events throughout the region. We believe that this "pro-am" model is unique in the country. As one amateur player remarked: "It's like having a free violin lesson at every rehearsal".

The Spires Philharmonic Chorus (SPC) has also been created, to join with the SPO to perform large choral works. The Spires Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus made their debuts at the Coventry Godiva Festival in July 2005 with a stirring performance of the Finale of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony to an audience of over 2,000 people.

The Spires Youth Orchestra (SYO) was founded in 2011 to provide an opportunity for young musicians to perform at the highest level possible. With no local authority affiliation, the SYO can draw on the best players from Coventry, Warwickshire, Solihull and neighbouring regions. Conductors and coaches for the SYO are drawn from the professional and advanced amateur ranks of the SPO, and the best SYO members are selected to play regularly in the SPO. In this way we can provide continuity of musical experience and training in our community from the age of 11 upwards.

Spires Music Limited is a private, not-for-profit limited company with its roots in the community. We would like to thank our corporate and personal sponsors for their support, enthusiasm and encouragement. We are also supported by the Friends of Spires Music a Charitable Association whose sole aim is to raise funds for all the divisions of Spires Music.