About Us

Now in its 50th year, the National Scout and Guide Symphony Orchestra is made up of up to 90 members of Scouting and Girlguiding aged between 12 and 25 who are proficient to grade 5 or above in at least one orchestral instrument. The Orchestra meets once a year for an intense week of music making alongside Scouting and Guiding activities, culminating in two concerts at prestigious venues in the Birmingham area.

Rehearsals

The week is made up of intense rehearsals, workshops, master-classes and sectional tuition. You’ll be working with our team of professional conductors and tutors to ensure you develop your creative talents and have fun along the way. Most days are divided between full orchestra rehearsals and smaller sectional workshops, helping you to enhance your skills and technique in a more focussed setting. Our team of dedicated tutors are all professional instrumental teachers and musicians, helping you to get the most out of your instrument on the course. Their enjoyment of the unique setting offered by the NSGSO is plain to see, and a number of tutors have been with us every summer for more than 10 years!

For more details and a ‘Behind the Scenes Video’ see The Course page.

Music

During the week, the NSGSO usually undertakes a symphony or extended orchestral work, most recently Howard Hanson’s Symphony Number 2, Brittens’ Soirees Musicals and the Karelia Suite by Sibelius in 2024. Prio to that they played Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony in 2023, Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov in 2022, Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8 in 2019 and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 in D Minor in 2018. This is complemented by a selection of other works, including Strauss Waltzes, Holst’s Planet Suite, Tintagel by Arnold Bax, Elgar’s In the South and even the Star Wars suite. The NSGCB also joins with the NSGSO for a grand finale to their concerts, performing Flash, Bang Wallop and in the Hall of the Mountain King in 2024, New York New York and The Magnificent Seven in 2023, Cornish Dances by Malcolm Arnold and The Big Country by Jerome Moross in 2022, Finlandia by Sibelius in 2019 and Peter Lawson’s Tunes from the Trenches in 2018, commemorating the centenary of the end of the First World War.

In 2020 when the course was cancelled due to Covid19 the NSGSO and NSGCB members produced a lock-down video. In 2021, when the course was cancelled yet again, we were able to offer a one day playing event for some of our members.

Concerts

The NSGSO course usually concludes with two concerts on the Friday and Saturday evening in prestigious concert venues in the Birmingham area. Each concert concludes with a joint piece involving all the members of both the NSGSO and NSGCB – a truly spectacular moment showcasing the musical talents of Scouting and Girlguiding, with over 160 musicians on stage!

Information about upcoming performances can be found under Concerts.

Additional Information

However we also have space during the day for rest and chat. You can find out more under Social Activities.

You can find out more information about the 48 years of the NSGSO under History and information about upcoming performances under Concerts.

Leon Gee, NSGSO Conductor

Following formative musical training as a violinist, Leon studied conducting at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire under Jonathan Del Mar, with further studies in the Czech Republic, at Dartington with Diego Masson, and British Youth Opera with Peter Robinson. Leon was appointed British Arts Council Young Conductor with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, 1991-94, receiving mentoring from Franz Welser-Möst during this time.

Guest engagements have included orchestras as diverse as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. Leon has recorded for the BBC, performed at many of the UK’s leading venues, and he has worked with distinguished soloists including Tasmin Little, Artur Pizarro, Lars Vogt, Freddy Kempf, Tom Poster, David Juritz, Anthony Marwood, Alena Baeva and Martin Bartlett amongst others.

Leon has conducted many of the UK’s leading non-professional orchestras, serving as Music Director for the Oxford Symphony Orchestra, the British Police Symphony Orchestra, Northampton Symphony Orchestra, and as Guest Conductor with the Ernest Read Symphony Orchestra, Salomon Orchestra, and Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra amongst others. Leon is currently Music Director for the Windsor & Maidenhead Symphony Orchestra and the Slough Philharmonic Society.

With a notable reputation as one of the UK’s foremost trainers of younger orchestras, Leon is much in demand within this field. He was founder Music Director for the London Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, while further guest work includes orchestras at the Birmingham Conservatoire, the Guildhall and Royal Welsh College Junior Departments, Oxford University Orchestra, Pro Corda, and the Scottish Schools Orchestra Trust. Leon has served as Music Director for Worcestershire Youth Orchestra and Berkshire Youth Orchestra; he currently holds conductorship of Ealing Youth Orchestra and the National Scout & Guide Symphony Orchestra and Chiltern Youth Chamber Orchestra. Recent work also includes conductorship of Dorset Youth Orchestra, the London College of Music LCM Sinfonia and the National Youth Wind Orchestra of Wales.