Paradox Orchestra

At Cause UK, we support a number of arts organisations and groups. We were proud to tell the story behind Paradox Orchestra in the Yorkshire Post this week. Read the full story below…

As the classical music sector faces unprecedented funding cuts, a graduate from the Leeds College of Music has overcome not just the challenges against the sector, but his own personal battles.

Michael Sluman, 32, founded Paradox Orchestra in 2020. The graduate of Leeds Conservatoire is now halfway through a PHD at the Royal Academy of Music.

Growing up in a mining town near Sheffield in a working-class family, he is a relative rarity in classical music. His dad was a porter and mum a health-care assistant.

Michael

As such, he’s all too aware how funding-cuts will impact on future young talent from backgrounds like his.

Michael says, “I think I may have been part of the last generation to receive music lessons in the ‘70s and ‘80s when any child was able to access instrumental tuition through their local council.”

Without that access, which is now no longer widely available for free in state schools, Michael said he’d have ‘no idea’ where his life would be now.

As it is, he’s forging new opportunities for classically-trained musicians in the city, while keeping alive ‘extinct’ classical instruments.

The 30-piece Paradox Orchestra offers a vibrant platform for trained classical musicians, finding new audiences, playing packed gigs with renditions of RnB tunes, iconic rock tracks, and pop classics.

Formed mainly of graduates from Leeds Conservatoire, its musicians have played with some of the biggest acts in pop, including Ed Sheeran, Marc Almond, Little Mix, Craig David, Sugarbabes, and Louis Tomlinson.

Entirely self-funded by Michael, it has found innovative ways to become commercially viable. The orchestra has an inhouse team of orchestrators, DJ’s, musical arrangers, and tech staff, so are open to a range of collaborative projects.

2023 sees an expansion within Paradox Orchestra with future plants to scale up to a symphonic 60-piece ensemble, which is currently in pre-production stage.

It also sees the string section launch a new avenue for the orchestra, as in the autumn it embarks on a series of acoustic classical concerts, starting with the music of Pink Floyd by candlelight at Manchester Cathedral on the 10 November and Leeds Minster on the 11 November.

Michael spent his twenties playing guest principal oboe in professional orchestras all over the world, performing in major concert Halls at locations such as Sydney, Tokyo, Seoul, Berlin, Dallas, Los Angeles, Granada, and New York.

A BBC Next Generation Artist, he’s also worked in jazz, with projects at the Barbican for the London Jazz Festival and North Sea Jazz Festival, performing with a hip hop orchestra with LA session composer, Miguel Atwood-Fergason. He’s also recorded Rob Keeley’s Triple Concerto for two oboe and cor anglais (English horn) with the Malaga Philharmonic, which is available from Toccata Records.

Michael also works with Leeds based DJ, Angel Lee. The pair collaborated in writing Angie’s Disco Orchestra for sold out shows at Escape to Freight Island and Victoria Gate’s East59th.

He says: “I find curating and writing shows incredibly stimulating. I believe we shouldn’t limit our creativity and we should intuitively follow what is a forever changing landscape.”

Michael’s tenacity is perhaps tied into his own personal challenges. He almost left music as a student after struggling with anxiety and depression, dropping out in his second year at the Royal Northern College of Music, before transferring to Leeds College of Music.

“It was a really tough and a very internal struggle. I took a couple of years out, leaving music behind me for what seemed to be forever. I was struggling with a number of things – self-confidence, not feeling good enough, having panic attacks when performing in front of my peers, feeling constantly judged and just generally being very anxious.”

He was recently diagnosed with ADHD, Dyslexia and Dyspraxia.

“Being diagnosed on the neurodivergent spectrum completely transformed my perspective and explained the struggles I have felt. I put all my focus into Paradox Orchestra to ensure every aspect of the production has been meticulously over thought and analysed; I think of it as a kind of superpower now.”

Michael is also exploring projects using the orchestra to work with young offenders in the wider community, using music as a form of rehabilitation.

“I am able to draw on all my experiences from my classical training, but also be open minded to new sounds, collaborations and opportunities, whilst not being scared to take risks.”

Part of his PhD is exploring this history of the bass oboe – his chosen instrument, that is largely considered ‘extinct.’

Michael says, “I take inspiration from masterpieces such as Holst’s The Planets, which feature an array of instruments which are now considered extinct, such as the Bass oboe. Including these rarer symphonic instruments is I feel important to the orchestra’s identity. Our orchestrator, Laurence Mason, also has a passion for obscure instruments, so the collaboration works really well.”

The orchestra is currently in pre-production for a new large-scale show, which will feature the contra-bass clarinet, bass oboe, bass saxophone, bass trumpet and various other ‘extinct’ instruments.

Mixing the high-brow world of classical with popular music may be seen as dumbing down by some, but Michael feels it offers audiences a way to enjoy music, while supporting the classical profession.

“If you come to one of our shows, you’ll experience a high-level of musicianship on stage. There’s a level of craftsmanship, professionalism, and showmanship with a large-scale orchestra and a world-class production. You can enjoy yourself, let loose and dance to music you enjoy listening to whilst experiencing a unique concert perspective.”

Leeds, he said, could be a vibrant city for classical talent.

“Leeds should be proud of the Paradox Orchestra and its home-grown talent; everyone within the creative practice has a connection to Leeds and it’s important to celebrate this. There has always been what feels like a lack of opportunity of scale in Leeds for orchestra players, as opposed to Manchester and Birmingham, and I want to be the proactive change that everyone speaks about needing. We have employed over a hundred local musicians in the last three years whilst promoting inclusiveness, diversity, accessibility, and equal opportunity. Here we are!”

Paradox Orchestra performs Pink Floyd by candlelight at Manchester Cathedral 10 November and Leeds Minster on 11 November, from 7.30pm. Tickets are available from Eventbrite and Skiddle from September 1st. Sign up for presale tickets paradoxorchestra@gmail.com