Sunderland Symphony Orchestra

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Sunderland Symphony Orchestra (or City of Sunderland Millennium Orchestral Society or CoSMOS), presently directed by Rupert Hanson, was founded to mark the turn of the current millennium. It gave its first performance in February 2000, and performed its first full symphony – Dvorak's 9th (The "New World Symphony") – on April 7, 2001. Its most prestigious performance was on June 4, 2006 at The Sage, Gateshead featuring soloists Rachel Orr (soprano), Gregory Pullen (cello), and the East End Sing-a-long Chorus (also under the stewardship of Rupert Hanson).

[edit] History

To celebrate the arrival of the year 2000, the council of the City of Sunderland decided to let each set of ward members (three members per ward) to choose how their ward should celebrate the occasion. The then-councillors for the Thornholme Ward, Mark Greenfield, Winifred Lundgren and John Lennox, opted against a physical monument or one-off party, but for establishment of an orchestral society that would serve as a long-term legacy for not just the ward but the whole city and region.