Portobello Orchestra - First Photographs (from 1973)

The protobello orchestra was founded in 1973 by Rachael Fleetcroft. Originally it was called the Wornington Orchestra as it met in Wornington Road School. It was organised by Kensington and Chelsea as part of their adult education programme. The objective of the orchestra was to give individual musicians an introduction to playing in a group. The first memebers were mainly wind players as can been seen from the group photograph.

The orchestra in the 1980s and 1990s

By the middle of the 1980s the orchestra was growing in size. In the group photograph you can see several string players. In the front row center there is Ken Bartlet and conductor Richard Gonsky who directed the orchestra from 1985 to 1995