The catalyst for doing something about it was a stroke of luck. Judith Hendershott, who managed The Academy of Ancient Music, took the very unusual of inviting Sigiswald Kjuiken to conduct the AAM because Christopher Hogwood was unavailable. Catherine Mackintosh, who led that orchestra at the time, had secured funding for the concert from The Bankers Trust Company, and afterwards at the sponsors’ dinner Felix found himself next to Michael Rose, who was head The Trust’s sponsorship. Egged on by probing questions from Rose, Felix found himself expounding on the difficulties of working in the present orchestral system and the positive ideas which were beginning to circulate amongst the best period players in London about the possibility of a player led orchestra. The next morning Rose rang Felix and asked him to bring as many of the players involved as he could find to a meeting with some of the other people at The Bankers Trust. Felix said later that he imagined Rose wanted to see whether there was a consensus or whether he had been talking the night before to a lone eccentric. 

The players summoned included Tim, the violinists Marshall Marcus, Cat [Mackintosh], clarinettist Tony Pay, horn player Tony Halstead, as well as Judith and Felix. It was with some trepidation that they found themselves entering the offices of the Bankers Trust in Liverpool Street, encountering the splendours of the financial world for the first time. It must have been a noisy meeting as none of those excellent musicians were shy about coming forward, but Rose was impressed and moreover eager to push things forward. He suggested the name Age of Enlightenment which was adopted after a vote because the name embodied the spirit of enquiry which was and remains so important to us all. The Bankers Trust was to be the lead sponsor of a summer festival of music on the South Bank in 1986 and, rather surprisingly, considering that their patron was Andre Previn, Rose persuaded them to invite them to invite to give our first concert there. Even more surprisingly the Orchestra was booked before it even existed. 

In amongst Marshall describes as “organised chaos” we had to find a manager, choose and book the players, decide who to invite to direct, achieve charitable status so we could apply for sponsorship and decide what our working principles would be. Rose continued to be a major supporter and went on to fund the start-up concerts, book Judith Hendershott as manager, and fund our first two concerts. 

For the players it was almost too much, but in spite of it we continuing pursuing the dream. The Three Musketters, as I called them – Tim, Marshall and Felix – were by this time the self-appointed leaders of the group, huddling in corners during rehearsal breaks, consulting colleagues, thrashing out a plan of action. It was a time of shared energy and high excitement. It wasn’t just a quest to find the right players and directors, it was the radical intent to break free of control and do things as democratically as possible. We felt like revolutionaries and everyone wanted to be involved. The orchestra would be player led, everyone would be paid the same, there would be at least three leaders, and there would be an elected artistic committee to oversee repertoire and choice of directors. We also set about attracting figures from the “modern world” such as Mackerras, Rattle, Elder and Norrington. 

And so it came about that the Orchestra with general excitement gave our first London concert in the QEH in June 1986 with Sigiswald Kjuiken directing. Fluatist Lisa Besnosiuk, who was involved with others in choosing the programme which foreshadowed OAE’s principle of breadth of repertoire, moving as it did from Rameau to Haydn, remembers that she was nervous in a new way: “I think I cared too much about it.” It was indeed an extraordinary moment in musical history. This was acknowledged by Nicholas Kenyon who wrote in The Observer about the concert, “If the results continue to be as brilliantly virtuosic as this…they will have little to fear from the competition. But such a self-governing orchestra will need large financial backing and a very strong artistic character and neither of these grow on trees.” 

We have certainly worked hard over 40 years to maintain our artistic goals and we have been lucky in our financial backers. Particularly, Sir Martin Smith, our Life President, who has been an avid and much appreciated sponsor since he secured funding for our performance of Idomeneo with Simon Rattle in 1987 which resulted in our ongoing connection with Glyndebourne. 

As I look back over the last 40 years, remembering the first struggles, the wealth of memorable musical experiences I shared as a player, and now listening to the present OAE in all its glory, I am so happy that the basic goals remain the same, that the standard of playing still keeps going up, and that the orchestra is still attracting younger players to its family who understand the importance of continuing to keep enquiring, discussing, enjoying and sharing all the wonderful music at their disposal.