RPO musicians Benn Cunningham and Charlotte Ansbergs – Releasing the power of imagination: hitting the high notes
Episode 17, Jul 10, 2020, 09:01 AM
As it celebrates its 75th anniversary, we also welcome Benn Cunningham and Charlotte Ansbergs of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, to reflect on the role of music in our lives and communities. Chair and double bassist Benn, and director and second violinist Charlotte, are at the heart of the RPO’s work today and talk about how the cultural icon that is the orchestra has evolved in its 75 years, the importance of taking their music to diverse communities, and what the future has in store for the RPO as it continues to wow audiences across the country and the world.
The mission of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is to enrich lives through orchestral experiences that are uncompromising in their excellence and inclusive in their appeal. Performing approximately 200 concerts each season and with a worldwide audience of more than half-a-million people, the Orchestra embraces a broad repertoire that enables it to reach the most diverse audience of any British symphony orchestra. The RPO is unafraid to push boundaries and is equally at home recording video game, film and television soundtracks and working with pop stars, as it is performing the great symphonic repertoire. As a respected cultural ambassador, the RPO enjoys a busy schedule of international touring, performing in the world’s great concerts halls and at prestigious international festivals. The RPO aims to place orchestral music at the heart of contemporary society, collaborating with creative partners to foster a deeper engagement with communities to ensure that live orchestral music is accessible to as inclusive and diverse an audience as possible. In 1986 it was the first UK orchestra to launch its own record label. The RPO has gone on to embrace advances in digital technology and now achieves nearly thirty million downloads of its recorded music each year.