Classical music can be a dangerous pastime…What with love affairs, their conductor dropping dead, a stolen cello and no money, Stockwell Park Orchestra is having a fraught season.After Mrs Ford-Hughes is squashed and injured by a dying guest conductor mid-concert, she and her husband withdraw their generous financial backing, leaving the orchestra broke and unsure of its future.Cellist Erin suggests a recovery plan, but since it involves their unrel...

Community music projects always spread harmony… don’t they?When players in Stockwell Park Orchestra fear they may be getting out of touch with the community, they invite children from two nearby schools to join them for a season.Supercilious, rich Oakdean College pupils have never mixed with the rough Sunbridge Academy kids, and when things go missing and rumours spread, the situation threatens to turn ugly. DCI Noel Osmar has to tread carefully: after all,...

With a huge reward on the line, the Stockwell Park Orchestra will need to play on a whole new scale to win big...After a brief and disastrous Resident Poet episode, Stockwell Park Orchestra is invited to take part in a TV competition for classical music. For a £50,000 prize some competitors are tempted to stretch the genre to ‘crossover’ and beyond.Can a full concert orchestra compete with jazz bands, horn quartets, harp ensembles, and Mrs Ford-Hughes singi...

A continental tour of Europe doesn’t go quite as planned!When Stockwell Park Orchestra goes on tour to Europe, it proves a challenge for even the most efficient German logistical planner.A teenage stowaway, brass players falling in canals and a sabotaged timpani van are all in a day’s work for Ingrid Bauer of Note Perfect Tours, but even she can’t solve all the problems this week throws at her. Maybe a bit of surprise Bach can calm the muddy Brexit waters.