Founded in 2005 by its conductor Nicholas Collon, the Aurora Orchestra has garnered worldwide attention thanks to its innovative programming and crossover projects and has since revitalised the classical music scene in the UK and beyond. It has been honoured with several prestigious awards, including three Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards, an ECHO Klassik and a Classical:NEXT Innovation Award. Above all, the ensemble causes a sensation by playing even large-scale symphonic works standing and from memory, creating a completely new musical experience both for each other and for the audience. In 2014, the Aurora orchestra was the first professional orchestra ever to present Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 without sheet music as part of the BBC Proms. Over the years, the musicians have continuously expanded the repertoire they perform in this way.

The orchestra has collaborated with a wide range of artists from different disciplines, including Ian Bostridge, Brett Dean, Anthony Marwood, Sarah Connolly, Edmund de Waal, Wayne McGregor and Björk.

Aurora is based in London and is Resident Orchestra at Kings Place and the Southbank Centre. The orchestra also undertakes UK and international tours every season and has been invited to perform at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Cologne Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Rheingau Musik Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Gstaad Menuhin Festival and this year for the fourth time at the Musikfest Bremen. By challenging notions of what an orchestra can and should do on stage, Aurora inspires audiences of all ages and backgrounds to develop a passion for orchestral music. Aurora has been running its »Orchestral Theatre« concert series since 2016, in which they present a wide range of musical genres and art forms. The orchestral productions they create revolutionise the concert format and open up exciting new ways to engage with orchestral music for both seasoned and new audiences.

In 2022, the ensemble launched »Aurora Classroom«, a pioneering online learning platform for primary schools that includes their first feature film for young children, a wide range of resources to help teachers deliver music activities in the classroom and bespoke activities for SEND settings.