Pro Arte Orchestra

The Pro Arte Orchestra was a British symphony orchestra founded in 1955.
Background.
The Pro Arte Orchestra was founded as a limited company chaired by the double-bass player Eugene Cruft; directors also included Archie Camden and Antony English. The initial aim was to perform "the finest of the lighter classics in orchestral music". The first concert was given at the Royal Festival Hall on 21 October 1955 with a Rossini overture, Schubert's Unfinished, Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole and works by Strauss and Chabrier, conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent. Much of the work of the orchestra, however, was in the recording studio, particularly for the Pye-Nixa label. Among others, the orchestra recorded in the studio between 1956–62 8 Gilbert and Sullivan operas (complete), as well as overtures for several others, all under the baton of Malcolm Sargent, all for the EMI label.
In the early years other players in the orchestra included Cecil Aronowitz, Francisco Gabarró, Richard Adeney, Peter Graeme, Gervase de Peyer, Raymond Cohen and Alan Civil. The last London performance advertised by the orchestra was in 1970.