NEW BOOKING FACILITIES ONLINE.

Tickets for Sidmouth Parish Church concerts may be obtained online at
www.iscaensemble.org.uk or www.ticketsource.co.uk
and at Paragon Books, 38 High Street, Sidmouth, EX10 8EJ, tel. 01395 514516

Click here to see the full listing of upcoming concerts.

Book now

The Isca Ensemble is a registered charity.  Registered Charity No. 1195253

 

 

Honorary Patron Mike Beville

Former Honorary Patron Gordon Langford

 

 

A very warm welcome to the ISCA ENSEMBLE SOUTH WEST which is a leading orchestra based in the South West of England, U.K.
 

This website contains many details concerning the activities and concerts of the Isca Ensemble, Isca String Quartet and other Isca Chamber Ensembles.

 

The Isca Ensemble is a registered charity.  Registered Charity No. 1195253

 

The full Ensemble comprises of over 65 experienced amateur and some former professional players drawn from the South West of England. The orchestra rehearses in the centre of Exeter on Sunday afternoons leading to the presentation of a series of classical concerts each year. National and international soloists often feature in concerts that frequently take place in Sidmouth Parish Church, Devon. This beautifully renovated church near the famous Victorian seafront has fine acoustics and accommodates a large audience. Concerts raise funds for important national and international charities as well as support for ongoing development projects associated with the church.


The very distinctive ethos of the orchestra is its friendliness and openness to all who are enthusiastic about playing music, including those who are returning to orchestral playing after a break. Social life of the orchestra often extends beyond the rehearsals.

 

The Musical Director is Roger Hendy who has for many years featured in the presentation of orchestral and choral concerts in the South West of England as well as abroad. He is also a viola player in the Isca String Quartet.

 

The leader is Dr. Antony Clements who has worked with Roger for many years to build up the orchestra and quartet to a high level of performance. Thanks to him and the players, the orchestra continues to receive much critical acclaim. 

RECENT NEWS.

The Isca Ensemble has been given a prestigious award by the Oleg Prokofiev Trust.

Recent programmes have featured some works of Sergei Prokofiev.

 

The gallery below shows some of the recent soloists, concerts, venue and personalities of the

Isca Ensemble and String Quartet. 

 

New string players interested in joining the orchestra as vacancies arise are cordially invited to contact the Musical Director or leader. There is special provision for young talented players.

At the present time, there is a full complement in all other sections but enquiries are very welcome.

The names of both the orchestra and string quartet are derived from the Latin name for Exeter.

Isca Dumnoniorum was a town in the Roman province of Britannia and the capital of Dumnonia in the sub-Roman period. Today it is known as Exeter, located in the English county of Devon. Excavations in the 1970s and 1980s established the presence of a Roman military fortress at Exeter (constructed around AD55) almost certainly for the Second Augustan Legion. The town grew up around this fort and became prosperous, but started to decline even before the Romans left Britain in the early 5th century. The city walls of Exeter, of which some 70% survive, still mark the perimeter of the town of Isca Dumnoniorum.

  

Comments relating to the general acitivities of the orchestra and

the presentation of its concerts are most welcome

and can be entered in the comment box below.

Comments

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  • Julia Slingo (Saturday, March 10 18 09:58 pm GMT)

    Congratulations on a wonderful concert in Sidmouth tonight (10 March). Very impressive playing by the orchestra, great ensemble, phrasing and musicality. Julian Rippon's rendering of the Mahler song cycle was also part of a really memorable evening.

  • Dr. K. Orrell (Thursday, December 03 15 02:17 pm GMT)

    Isca Concert with Emmanuel Bach - Sidmouth 28 November 2015.
    Wow! What a talent – it clearly goes with the name! I’m sure you know who I’m referring to. Thanks also for playing my favourite Beethoven symphony. A hugely enjoyable concert.

  • David Jones (Thursday, December 03 15 10:58 am GMT)

    Many thanks for a fantastic concert on 28 November with Emmanuel Bach - thoroughly enjoyed!

  • Jenny Golding (Thursday, December 03 15 10:55 am GMT)

    Fantastic performance last night - the orchestra gets better every time we hear them, and both the Tchaikovsky Concerto and the Beethoven 'Eroica' were brilliantly executed.

  • Mark Baker (Monday, May 19 14 09:23 pm BST)

    Mozart Choral Orchestral Concert
    Sidmouth 17th. May 2014.
    This was a hugely enjoyable and highly professional concert. Thank you. Some lovely singing and very fine playing. We look forward to the next Isca presentation.

  • Keith Orrell (Sunday, March 23 14 11:39 am GMT)

    Sidmouth Mahler 4 concert.
    Brilliant concert! I never expected to hear a live Mahler symphony in Sidmouth! Very well done, all of you. Most impressive.

  • Martyn Daldorph (Thursday, December 05 13 09:11 pm GMT)

    Thank you so much for a great concert on 30th. November in Sidmouth Parish Church - an enormous tribute to you and to all your players, and to your courage in taking on some quite complex music. The
    audience loved the whole concert, as you will know from the reception for each item. Your hard work for these occasions is legendary, but what you achieve is also becoming legendary. Well done
    indeed.

  • Richard Jenkinson - cellist (Thursday, December 05 13 08:45 pm GMT)

    A big thank-you to both yourself Roger and the orchestra for a really memorable Dvorak tonight in Sidmouth. I thought that the orchestra played really splendidly and were so sensitive in those
    special sections in the concerto.