About the New Edinburgh Orchestra

The NEO was formed in 1994 by Alexander Acland, then an undergraduate at the University of Edinburgh. Daniel Monek, then a PhD student in the music department at the University of Edinburgh, was the orchestra's first conductor. He remained with the orchestra until the summer of 1997, when he returned to his native United States, having just married the orchestra's principal flute player, Jay. In the meantime, Alex had moved to London, and James Leather took over the running of the orchestra. The next conductor was Steve King, who joined us for the 1997-98 season.

Our present principal conductor, Tim Paxton, has conducted many succesful seasons since taking over in 1998. The orchestra is now run by a committee of members. We are a registered Scottish Charity (no. SC023729).

The New Edinburgh Orchestra was heard on Radio 3, as part of the BBC Listen Up! Festival Amateur Orchestras Showcase!
The NEO performance of Martin Suckling's “Mosaic”, recorded at our concert on June 10 2006 was broadcast on 3 October 2006. The piece was composed for the NEO as part of Making Music's Adopt-a-composer scheme.