In April 2021, St John’s Smith Square merged with Southbank Sinfonia to become one organisation with a shared administrative staff, Southbank Sinfonia at St John’s Smith Square.

Over the past year, our focus has been to integrate successfully and to develop a shared vision for the combined organisation. And now, with these fundamentals in place, we’ve begun the process of refining our vision, mission, and values, and will be looking to create a new brand which encompasses both sides of our organisation and preserves their unique spirits.

Our aim is to continue the long-established and much-loved favourites of the Southbank Sinfonia programme and the Smith Square concert calendar, to continue to offer an important performance space for schools, universities, and amateur groups at St John’s, but also to embed the Southbank Sinfonia Fellowship at the heart of all our programming.

To date, the orchestral Fellowship has been organised into themed weeks of activity and our intention is to continue in this way, with it providing the bedrock for programming decisions at St John’s Smith Square. Each theme will be explored through Southbank Sinfonia activity, but with external performers and ensembles collaborating each week, intersecting with the Fellowship programme.

For example, during a week dedicated to the exploration of Baroque music, there might be a Baroque-themed lunchtime concert, an orchestral concert with Southbank Sinfonia Baroque, performances by leading period instrument groups, an education project for local schools around Early Music, and the opportunity to partner with exhibitions of Baroque art in the local area.

We’re excited by the opportunity to invite audiences on new cultural journeys with us, to learn, experience and be inspired. And, in time, we plan to build a comprehensive and community-based Learning and Participation strand to our work.

We hope you will enjoy being part of this new chapter for Southbank Sinfonia at St John’s Smith Square: a home for creativity and young talent.