Sage Gateshead

Can you help our orchestra during this time of crisis and critical adaptation?

Founded in 1958, Royal Northern Sinfonia was born out of a conviction that the people of this region should have an orchestra to call their own. With the opening of Sage Gateshead in 2004 RNS found a new home and today perform to over 95,000 people a year, at Sage Gateshead, across the North, and through international tours.

RNS has built a world-wide reputation for the North East through the quality of its music-making and the immediacy of its connection with audiences. It is loved throughout the region and last year alone gave 64 concerts at Sage Gateshead and 63 across the region including performances in Kendal, Carlisle, Middlesbrough, Darlington, Alnwick, Cullercoats and Sunderland.

RNS regularly flies the flag for the region across the world – including tours to Europe, South America, Asia. Prior to Covid-19, they were about to embark on a major tour of the Far East.

An orchestra with strong community links and a drive to connect people of all kinds with classical music, Royal Northern Sinfonia has a growing programme of relaxed performances for families with young children, those with autism and people living with dementia.

RNS also reaches school-age children through its popular RNS Live! concerts and its close relationship with Sage Gateshead’s Young Musicians and In Harmony programmes.

Without our musicians there would be no music. As the UK’s only full-time chamber orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia supports the professional development of artists at all stages of their career through performance opportunities, premieres, commissions, residencies and special projects such as RNS Moves – a unique, inclusive ensemble featuring disabled and non-disabled musicians.

Due to government advice, our orchestra is currently unable to perform, and even when government advice changes, we may not be able to return to traditional orchestral concerts immediately.

With your help, we will be able to start concerts again, adapting our performance spaces and developing new ways of sharing our music – including online concerts and other digital content.  In all scenarios it will take some time for audience confidence to recover, and during this time we’ll need support.

NEW: Get a digital backstage pass with RNS Inside Story! Learn all about Royal Northern Sinfonia, with a range of videos, articles and even an interactive score to try your hand at conducting the orchestra.

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