Stoneleigh’s annual tour is a tradition that was instituted in 1977, when the orchestra went to the International Music Festival in Aberdeen during Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee Year. Former Prime Minister Edward Heath was one of the dignitaries who came to listen to the orchestra. Contacts made at the Festival led to an invitation to go on the first foreign tour in 1978 to Sweden.
Nowadays tour venues are carefully chosen and the schedules are planned to provide a balance between work and play, ensuring that there is also time for sightseeing, shopping and relaxing.
