Founded in 1961, English Sinfonia is one of the earliest established chamber orchestras in the United Kingdom; in its earlier years Sir Charles Groves was the name most closely associated with the orchestra, a relationship which produced recorded cycles of all the main canons of the chamber orchestra repertoire which are still available commercially. English Sinfonia’s operational basis is as a chamber orchestra with a membership of 28 players drawn mainly from the major London orchestras, all performing on modern instruments, an ensemble expanded to include percussion, trombones, and keyboard in order to perform music from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century. The orchestra is based in Hertfordshire, thereby enabling it to take full commercial and artistic advantage of its proximity to London and the availability of many of the best freelance musicians nationally. In 2005 the distinguished violinst Janice Graham was appointed Artistic Director.