The Hanover Band has been acclaimed by music critics as one of the finest period-instrument orchestras in the world -- a reputation gained from twenty years of outstanding performances. Founded by Caroline Brown, the orchestra is well known for its powerful, 'even raucous', interpretation of the music of the 18th and 19th centuries which has thrilled concertgoers in some of the great auditoriums, including the London's Royal Albert Hall, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and New York's Carnegie Hall. Anthony Halstead and Richard Egarr regularly direct the orchestra.
The group appears on the Sony Classical Label in a recording of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor (S2K 63174), conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras and with soprano Andrea Rost.
The orchestra has made ten tours of the United States and has performed in thirteen other countries, including Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, Switzerland and Spain. Recent highlights have included concerts in the Dieppe Early Music Festival, Haydn Festspiele, Eisenstadt, Austria, Schwetzinger Festspiele, Germany, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester and the Wigmore Hall, London. Other appearances in the United Kingdom include th Purcell Room at the South Bank, London, and Brighton and Exeter Festivals.
European engagements include Festival Internacional de Musica de Povoa de Varzim, Portugal and Besancon International Music Festival (France).
Chamber music is an important activity in the Band's busy concert-giving schedule. Principal Players from The Hanover Band have appeared in many festivals in this country and have also toured the United States. The orchestra's specialist woodwind and brass players were formed into The Hanover Wind Band in 1995 to explore Victorian and Ragtime music on period instruments. Its repertoire is based on typical wind-playing from the era between 1860 and 1920.
The Hanover Band has recently completed a one-year Brighton and Hove based community project entitled No Beethoven, No Beat! centred around Beethoven's symphonies. This project involved schoolchildren (aged 7-18 years), youth orchestras and amateur musicians and provided access at open rehearsals in The Old Market, Hove, for music lovers and groups of all ages for whom access is usually restricted (see Education page).
The Hanover Band is the resident orchestra at The Old Market, Upper Market Street, Hove. The Old Market, a Grade II Listed building, was officially opened by HRH The Duke of Kent, KG, Patron of The Hanover Band, in May 1990 after a three-year restoration programme by The Old Market Trust. It is now a centre for the arts, education and community as well as a home for The Hanover Band.
