The first group in the Saxophone Orchestra family was founded in 2021 by professional saxophonist and music educator, Saira Clegg. They met with 25 people in October 2021 in the High Peak village of Chinley. The group, named the Saxophone Orchestra Manchester (SOM), started as a biannual, intensive weekend course. It soon became apparent that there was a greater need for ensemble playing in the amateur saxophone world and so “SOMonthly” was founded as a regular ensemble in June 2022 meeting once a Month in Heald Green, Greater Manchester.

SOM soon out grew its humble beginnings and moved its biannual courses from Chinley to Alderley Edge in October 2022, allowing the group to have more players.

“The main benefits of learning a musical instrument must be the pure enjoyment of playing and the community that the players can forge.” Sydney G. Davies

In 2023, following on from feedback from its members, SOM began creating other workshop days; first the SOM Jazz Day and then a SOM Beginners’ Ensemble Day. Following on from the Beginners’ Day, Saira decided that a specific ensemble should be formed to cater for less experienced players and beginners. Thus, in August 2023 the SOM Training Band was born. The Training Band meet once a month in Heald Green and made their debut performance to a sell out audience in the December.

In 2024 Saira joined forces with AB Workshops to create the BetterSax Level Up Weekend, a special, one off intensive weekend masterclass featuring special guests Jay “BetterSax” Metcalf and Jody “Jody Jazz” Espina. Membership in SOM continued to grow and it was felt that a new ensemble was needed to fill the demand. In the summer of 2024 Saira announced that a new group, based on the SOM model would be founded in Rothwell and would be known as the Saxophone Orchestra Leeds (SOL).

What started as a dream has quickly grown into a wonderful community of players. Why not join us and be a part of our story.