The Haffner Orchestra was founded in 1976 and since then has grown in strength and numbers to a full symphony orchestra, rehearsing and performing in Lancaster.
The orchestra is made up of amateur and local professionals from across the north west. We perform 3 concerts a year, together with some one off performances in the community.
2026-27 Season
28 Nov 2026 : Martin Roscoe
We're really excited to welcome back renowned pianist Martin Roscoe to open our 50th anniversary year. In addition the orchestra will be performing Brahms 3rd symphony (supposedly beloved by Basil Fawlty) and Rossini's William Tell Overture.
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6 Mar 2027 : Sophie Rosa
We welcome back Sophie Rosa to perform Bruch violin concerto #1. Many of your will remember Sophie performed Barber's violin concerto in 2025. This concert will combine with Bruckner's 4th symphony and hopefully welcome in the start of spring.
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19 Jun 2027 : Raphael Wallfisch
To close our 50th year season we will welcome the Haffner Orchestra President Raphael Wallfisch to perform Dvorak's cello concerto. Raphael is one of Britain's most celebrated cellists and this will be a wonderful way to celebrate our anniversary. In addition we will perform a special anniversary commission from Henry Page named Intrada. Don't miss it!
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Join our Mailing list
Keep up to date with our concerts with occasional emails from our enthusiastic team. Follow us on Instagram too for more informal communication.The little button below should take you directly to the subscribe page.
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Past Events & INFO
20 June - Saint Saens
With 14 movements this is a masterpiece. Originally written in 1886, it is now recognised as inspiration for John Williams' scores and Harry Potter films. A concert for all the family and a great start to the summer holidays.
Our 2 Saint Saens pianists
We're really excited to welcome Tsukushi Mitsuda and Minsung Park, both from the Royal Northern College of Music, to perform at our June concert. More information on their backgrounds later but don't miss these accomplished young talents. Names above link to their Instragrams so be sure to take a look and follow!
Instagram & Facebook
Keep up to date with concert prep and other orchestra news by following us on Instagram and Facebook. More followers really do give us better reach locally. People are still hearing about us for the first time. Spread the word!
INSTAGRAM
14 March - La Traviata // PAST EVENT
Verdi's master piece. An audience of more than 450 people delighted in our concert performance of La Traviata at the Ashton Hall. haffner performed with 5 nationally regarded soloists as well as members of the Furness Choir to create an unforgettable evening.
Our Traviata soloists
A big shout out to Mattina Tsaroucha who to great acclaim, stepped in at the last minute to perform the role of Violetta, coming all the way from Athens where was rehearsing with the Greek National Opera. Other soloists did not have to come quite so far but were also excelent; Tim Nelson, Dominick Felix, Dani Sicari and Henry Page.
Carnival of the Animals Narrator
Delighted to welcome back Graeme Kirk. Many of you will remember Graeme from our previous performance of Peter and the Wolf. For those who don't know Graeme, he is an accomplished actor who received wider recognition in TV & radio, in particular as the original voice of Kenton Archer in the Archers.
Become a Patron
If you regularly attend our concerts we would love you to become a Patron. Put simply, the more Patrons we have the better the concerts we can put on. Just a small donation makes a huge difference. Find out more by clicking the link below.
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FROM 2025
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29 November - Mahler & Strauss // PAST EVENT
We had a superb evening full of Mahler and Strauss, together with our soloist Clara Orif. A delightful preconcert Talk allowed us to get to know Clara. See review of the concert in past events.
Clara Orif : Our Mahler Soloist // PAST EVENT
Award-winning soprano Clara Orif joined us for our autumn concert. Currently a member of the Académie Musicale Philippe Jaroussky (Paris) Clara is an alumni of Royal Academy of Music Opera (London) and many other prestigious venues.
Help us enhance our audience
People are still coming to concerts for the first time and are delighted with what they hear. Spread the word to your friends and neighbours so they too can enjoy a wonderful concert close to home.
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Volunteer
Our concerts are powered by volunteers. Even a small amount of time can help us tremendously.
In addition we are interested in people to develop short videos and stories for instagram. It could even be a project for pre-university students wanting to enhance their CV.
Contact; haffnersec@haffnerorchestra.org
ABOUT US
Who We Are
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Tickets & Patrons
Our symphony orchestra typically perform three major concerts each year. Information on each of these concerts is towards the top of this page with links to booking information for each concert
Alternatively, click the button below to reach the Trybooking site to buy tickets for upcoming concerts as well as joining our popular Patron programme.
Perform With Us
We are always interested in hearing from people who might like to play with us.
Even if there isn’t a vacancy straight away, it’s very useful to know of potential players so that if a regular player leaves, or is unavailable, we can make contact.
We generally look for players of Grade 8 standard or higher and we audition.
Upcoming Season Events
Upcoming events are on this page as well as under Concerts/Events dropdown.
Extra information can often be found on our Instagram and Facebook social media channels.
Extra information can often be found on our Instagram and Facebook social media channels.
