1950s/60s Reunion (12th June 2010)

The inaugural MYO reunion took place on Saturday 12th June 2010 at the Copthorne Hotel, Birmingham, for former members from the 1950s and 1960s.

Almost 80 former players attended and a wonderful time was had by all; friendships were renewed and much news was exchanged.

Brief speeches were given by Stephen Williams, Anthony Bradbury and David Gregory. Stephen WIlliams introduced a television programme about the 1973 International Festival of Youth Orchestras (IFYO), the brainchild of the MYO’s founder Blyth Major, and Tim Pegg showed photographs from the first IFYO held during 1969 in St Moritz, Switzerland, in which the MYO had participated (see the Tours page for further details).

Jenni Bradbury was on hand to interview players about their MYO experiences; these audio recordings will form part of the MYO archives and may be featured on this website at a later date. There was also much MYO memorabilia on display including assorted photographs, programmes and newspaper articles.

This event would not have been possible without the hours of hard work put in by Lesley Leigh (née Stormont), Colin Butterworth & Stephen Williams. Our sincere thanks go to them all.

A selection of photos are shown below, but to see a much more comprehensive gallery of the day, please click here (photos courtesy of Colin Butterworth).

We hope that it may be possible to organise further reunions for other decades of membership in the future, so please ensure you keep us up to date with your contact details by completing the form on the Alumni page.

MYO Woodwind Alumni
Pictured from left to right: John Franklin, Tim Pegg, Rosalind Woolley (née Ludlow), Dave Whatley, Sue Peters (née Cotterill),
Simon Ballard (Michael Stride), Martin Cook, Beryl Langley (née Skidmore), David Whitehouse, Anthony Bradbury.


MYO Violin Alumni
Pictured back row left to right: Eric Orgill, Jayne de Leysin (née Taylor), Jonathan Taylor, David Gregory, Martyn Coxhill,
Ros Groves (née Weaving), David Bradley.
Pictured front row left to right: Angela Orgill (née Smith), Sue Waggett (née Brown), Lesley Leigh (née Stormont), Sue Gregory (née Nunn), Roger Dillon,
Sally Jones (née Walker), Ceinwen Silverbrooke (née Penny), Stella Tinley.


MYO Violas, Cellos and Basses
Pictured back row left to right: Stephen Williams, David Walker, TBC.
Pictured front row left to right: Derek Slack, Karin Newton (née Brock), Andrew Burn, Janet Thomas (née Scaife), Ian Ludford,
Bryan Burdett, Sid Hartsilver, Barbara Osborn, Ron Large.