TheHeritage Orchestra is a British orchestra founded by Chris Wheeler and Jules Buckley. They perform mainstream, cult, experimental and popular music. The orchestra, which ranges between 25 and 65 members, has performed internationally in venues such as the Sydney Opera House, Emirates Palace, and Hollywood Bowl, and tours throughout the UK to major concert halls and large-scale arenas, including The O2 Arena in London. In 2010, The Heritage Orchestra was nominated in the 9th Independent Music Awards and won the Contemporary Classical Album award for their performance of Gabriel Prokofiev's 'Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra' along with DJ Yoda. In 2017 the orchestra reached Number One in the UK Album Charts with BBC Radio 1 DJ Pete Tong and their album Classic House. The orchestra performs regularly at the BBC Proms.
Directors
Heritage Orchestra was founded in June 2004 by Artistic Director/Producer Christopher Wheeler and Conductor/Composer Jules Buckley. Wheeler was profiled in 2011 as one of the "cultural engineers" of Honda's Dream Factory. Jules Buckley is chief conductor of the Metropole Orkest in the Netherlands winning a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album with Snarky Puppy on their album Sylva. Wheeler and Buckley have worked together since meeting in 2001 at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London.
Past live performances and collaborations
Past live performances and collaborations by the Heritage Orchestra include:
Montreux Jazz Festival appearance for an evening organised by Gilles Peterson in July 2005.
DJ Yoda at Scala, London on 26 July 2007 performing the world premier of Gabriel Prokofiev's Concerto for Turntables, also including a performance with Plaid of Warp Records
The Bays & The Heritage Orchestra – UK Tour – funded by Arts Council England via Music Beyond The Mainstream with subsequent shows at the Tower of London and Womad Festival 2010
Aphex Twin and The Remote Orchestra at the Barbican Hall on 10 October 2012
Sydney Opera House performance of 'Live_Transmission: Joy Division Reworked' with Scanner and visual artist Matt Watkins
The Light Surgeons performing SuperEverything UK Tour
The xx on BBC Radio 1 with Zane LoTim Exile at Village Underground] performing live sampling orchestral electronica, entitled the Bardo EP as part of Will Dutta's event Blank Canvas on 5 September 2013
These New Puritans at the Barbican on 17 April 2014
BBC Radio 1 'Ibiza Prom' on 29 July 2015 as part of the BBC Proms season
Jamie Cullum at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall on 11 August 2016
Pete Tong & The Heritage Orchestra conducted by Jules Buckley perform Ibiza Classics, UK Arena Tour 2016 including: Arena Birmingham ; The O2 Arena, London ; Manchester Arena
The Heritage Orchestra Feat. DJ Yoda – G.Prokofiev Concerto for Turntables & Orchestra – winner of 9th Independent Music Awards and won the Contemporary Classical Album category
