Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra

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The Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra is a non-professional orchestra based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England.

The orchestra was founded by the Rev J.H. Thomas in 1862, it was originally called Mr Thomas's Band. Subsequently it was known as the Fitzwilliam Street Philharmonic Society and finally adopted its current name shortly after the founder's death in 1884.

The local newspaper, the "Huddersfield Examiner" carried an obituary notice which recorded that: "For the first few years the music of the band was exceedingly crude and often painfully out of tune; but the band was also an improving one...".

The improvements continued over the decades, particularly after the Phil made the decision to engage professional conductors. The first to take up the post was William Rees in 1946. He was followed by conductor and composer Arthur Butterworth MBE who held the post for almost 30 years (from 1964-1993). He, in turn, was succeeded by Rupert D'Cruze, who would often fly in to take rehearsals as he shared with Herbert von Karajan the joint qualifications of conductor and air-pilot.

A tribute to the quality of the latter-day Phil is recorded in the reference work cited below. The author recollects a review from the 1970s in the British national newspaper the "Daily Telegraph". The Phil had performed Mahler's First Symphony and the reviewer commented that he would never have anticipated the day when a non-professional orchestra could play a Mahler symphony.

As the author notes: "He was making the general point, of course, that the standard of amateur orchestral playing had risen by leaps and bounds; but in singling out the Phil he was according it a well-deserved accolade".

Today the orchestra is under the baton of Venzuelan conductor Natalia Luis-Bassa who continues to develop the 19th century vision of the Reverend Thomas.