It was November 1992 when the Heart of England Recorder Orchestra first met. Thirty five people attended from as far afield as Basingstoke, Sheffield, Oxford and Worcester. The meeting was conducted by Paul Clark who had agreed to become the orchestra’s permanent conductor. He selected a challenging programme consisting of Werther’s Aria from Act Two of “Werther” by Jules Massenet, Suite in Three Movements by Douglas K. Mews, the Overture Russlan and Ludmila by Glinka, The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (from Handel’s “Solomon”) arranged by Paul, and Colin Touchin’s Showpiece for Recorder Orchestra.

The Orchestra gave its first concert on Saturday 22nd May 1993 with the All Saints Chamber Choir at All Saints Church, Stretton on Dunsmore near Rugby. Since then the Orchestra has performed regularly in concerts often combining with different choirs and younger recorder players throughout the Midlands.

A lottery grant in 2008 from ‘Awards for All’ increased the number of large instruments in the orchestra by enabling us to purchase two Kung Superio Great Basses and one Kung Superio Contra Bass. These were made available to play by HERO members, and greatly enchanced the orchestra’s depth of sound.