LSO Pathways
Mentoring musicians aged 18 and over who aim to play in a professional orchestra.
LSO Pathways is a two-year programme of support and activity designed for emerging orchestral musicians, who face barriers which may have hindered their progress and development.
Participants are invited to three residential weekends in London each year. All expenses including travel to and from London will be covered by the LSO. Each participant is also matched with a mentor from the LSO, with whom they will have a monthly meeting, either online or in person if feasible. The LSO player will carefully nurture their personal and professional development over the two years.
The residential weekends are designed around LSO activity taking place at that time, with opportunities to attend rehearsals and concerts. Training is provided in areas of orchestral life including education work, creative opportunities, audition workshops and career guidance. Scheme participants also have a lesson with their mentor during the weekend. Alongside group activities, the aim is to offer a bespoke experience to each participant focusing on their own musical development.
Who Is It For?
The scheme welcomes applications from players with a range of musical backgrounds and experiences. You may be self-taught or you may have never played in an orchestra. You may be studying at university or conservatoire, you may have graduated, you may be working as a freelance player, or you may have taken a different route. You will be around Grade 8 standard or higher, although you may have never taken any music exams.
You will be a keen and committed player but believe that factors outside of your control have hindered your progress or that there may have been opportunities you were unable to take.
We are also keen to receive applications from female-identifying musicians who play instruments which are traditionally male-dominated in orchestras, namely double bass, horn, brass and percussion players.
Apply to Take Part
Applications are invited by the closing date of Friday 22 November 2024.
To be considered for the scheme there are two things you need to do:
- Complete the application form
- Record a video of approximately five minutes of you performing a piece/s of your choice. It can be either a complete piece or an extract of something longer. This will be a piece or pieces that you enjoy playing and you feel demonstrates your musical ability. This can be recorded on a phone, iPad or other device – professional recordings are not required. Your piece can be accompanied or not. It’s completely fine to perform a piece without the accompaniment part if you are unable to access a pianist. Once you have recorded your video, please upload it to YouTube or another video sharing platform and include the link on your application form.
As well as watching and hearing you play, we would like you to tell us about yourself and explain the barriers that you have faced which may have hindered your musical progress. These might relate to disability, ethnicity, socio-economic status, neurodiversity, gender identity or spending time in care. This list is not exhaustive and there may be other barriers that you want to tell us about.
We would also like you to tell us why you would like to participate in LSO Pathways and what you think you would gain from it. We would be delighted if you could talk about this at the end of your video. Or if you prefer, you can share this information on the application form instead.
All applications will be considered by a panel including LSO players. We will let you know the result of your application by Friday 20 December.
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must be aged 18 or over and no longer attend school. Please note there is no upper age limit.
You must play one of the following instruments: violin, viola, cello, double bass, harp, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, contra bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, bass trombone, tuba or percussion. Unfortunately we are unable to accept applications from players of other instruments including piano.
All applicants must be available to attend the three residential weekends in 2025, which take place on:
- Friday 31 January – Sunday 2 February
- Friday 2 May – Sunday 4 May
- Friday 7 November – Sunday 9 November
Applicants must be based in the UK and remain so until at least December 2026. Travel costs will be from your usual address to and from London.
If you have any questions about the scheme, please email pathways@lso.co.uk and we will get back to you as quickly as we can.
LSO Pathways is generously supported by The Thistle Trust.
Header image © Paul Cochrane
