The Wimborne Orchestra was founded in 1951 as the Corfe Mullen Orchestra by Arthur Shaft, who was then headmaster of Lockyer’s School, Corfe Mullen.  He conducted the orchestra for many years.

After his retirement, the baton was taken up by several others for short periods, but no permanent conductor could be found and in January 2005 the members met to discuss closing down the orchestra. Quite by chance John Turner – a semiprofessional bass-baritone singer who had, however, also been playing in orchestras since the age of 12 – came along to enquire about joining as a viola player. He agreed to have a go at conducting and has been with the orchestra ever since.

The appointment of a new director of music led to a change in the emphasis of the orchestra: it was decided to make it a true ‘community’ orchestra open to all who wished to play, regardless of their age or experience. This proved to be a popular change. Over the years since 2005 the membership has increased substantially: we now have over 70 members. The rehearsal schedule has also been extended: from meeting in school terms only, we now meet all the year round, with just short breaks at Christmas and Easter, plus certain bank holidays.

In addition to many informal end-of-term concerts in our rehearsal venue, we have played in the Allendale Centre, Wimborne; at Castle Court School, Corfe Mullen; at the Blandford Georgian Fayre; in the United Reformed Church, Skinner Street, Poole; in the Coade Hall, Bryanston; at Colehill Memorial Hall; and, at the Hamworthy Social Club, Canford Magna, as well as a local WI and several retirement homes. A group also took their instruments to a Rainbows meeting and demonstrated them to the young members.