In April 2006, a group of caring orchestral players performed in The Learners Chorus’ charity concert “A Tribute to Mozart – Requiem and other works”, to commemorate the 250th birthday of Mozart. In September 2007, the Friends of Learners Orchestra (FLO) was officially founded and made its debut in Learners’ annual concert at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, featuring Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky cantata. FLO has since performed with the Chorus in her major concerts – “Magnificat through the Ages” in September 2008, “Celebrating Thirty Years of Harmony, Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 8 – Symphony of a Thousand” in September 2009, “Rossini Messa di Gloria and Brahms Schicksalslied” in December 2010, “Verdi Requiem” in September 2012, and “Celebrating Great Masters for the Voice” in Sep 2013, when the orchestra was renamed The Learners Orchestra (TLO), making it the official orchestral partner of the Learners Chorus. To celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the Learners Chorus, TLO held its inauguration concert with the Chorus in May 2014, performing “Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 2 – Resurrection”, followed by “Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem” in August 2014.
In July 2015, TLO was invited to be the collaborative orchestra of SliderAsia 2015 in their SliderAsia Open Winner’s Feature & Learners Orchestra Concert, performing Grøndhal Trombone Concerto, Ewazen Bass Trombone Concerto, and Beethoven Symphony No.2. Later that month, the orchestra performed in Learners own “ La Musica Sacra Italiana” concert.
Members of TLO are recruited from various local colleges, community and professional orchestras. All members strongly dedicate themselves to supporting Learners’ charitable performances without receiving any honorarium. Their selfless and benevolent effort, and consistently high performance standards have been much appreciated by the Chorus, the audience, and all beneficiaries. TLO also hopes to play a vital role in promoting music education in providing opportunities for music students to work alongside their teachers, amateurs alongside professional musicians, and in expanding their concert repertoire beyond standard orchestral music.