Saturday, June 7 at 7:00pm
Appleton North High School| Ballard Road, Appleton
 

---

Fox Valley Sinfonia is an annual fundraiser that benefits the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra and Youth Orchestras. Since 2015, Sinfonia has contributed more than $200,000 to help support the mission of the FVSO and music in our community. We thank our Sinfoniacs, sponsors, committee members, and audience members who make this event a success each year!

The Sinfonia Journey — from 1970s Portsmouth, England to today’s Fox Valley, Wisconsin

It was a novel idea at the Portsmouth (England) School of Art in 1970: create an orchestra of people with little or no experience on the instrument they would play. What started as a one-off, tongue-in-cheek performance ensemble became a cultural phenomenon during the next ten years.

By 1974, the Portsmouth Sinfonia played a sold-out concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Its combination of music and comedy led to international fame, concert tours, and even being featured on surreal comedy group Monty Python’s CD Dead Parrot Society.

In 2014, Jason Henderson of Appleton, Wisconsin heard about the Portsmouth Sinfonia, was intrigued by the idea, and mentioned it to friend, fellow musician, and Fox Valley Symphony board member Mike Kubicki. The two begin to think “What if . . . ?” They described it to fellow board member Renee Boldt, who was further intrigued by the idea and knew that the board was looking for creative ways to expand interest in the Symphony and symphonic music, and to raise funds to put the organization on strong financial footing as it planned for its next 50 years.