Paraorchestra

Paraorchestra, also known as the British Paraorchestra, is a United Kingdom-based orchestra founded in Bristol in 2011 by conductor Charles Hazlewood. It is an integrated ensemble of professional disabled and non-disabled musicians and is described as the first orchestra of its kind in the United Kingdom. The group remains active from 2011 to the present.

Formation and early work

The orchestra is created as a platform for disabled musicians, with the aim of increasing integration for disabled people in music and the wider performing arts. Its first live performance takes place at Glastonbury Abbey in July 2012, and that performance is the subject of a Channel 4 documentary.

Notable performances and collaborations

Paraorchestra receives wider attention when it performs with Coldplay during the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Summer Paralympics in September 2012. It later works with singer and composer Hannah Peel on the album The Unfolding and performs with Brett Anderson of Suede on the 2024 album Death Songbook.

Style

The ensemble is associated with classical crossover.