£500,000 funding guarantee and free use of the Ulster Hall. On 23 November 2014, the orchestra held a flash mob in St George's market to raise awareness of their funding problem and to ask for support. In late November, Belfast City Council offered £100,000 as a conditional pledge to the orchestra, if additional funding can be raised from other sources and the orchestra offers a plan for addressing a projected 2015 deficit of £850,000. Education and community outreach The Ulster Orchestra undertakes a number of outreach projects, including workshops in schools throughout Northern Ireland, pre-concert talks and instrument master-classes. The Orchestra received the Royal Philharmonic Society's first award for an education project (in West Belfast). Recent major cross-community projects involving Belfast schools in areas of social deprivation have included Gulliver in 2005, A Marvellous Medicine in 2007 and The Pied Piper in 2009. Brian Irvine, then the Orchestra's Associate Composer, composed the music for these last two projects. The Pied Piper project was awarded the Inspire Mark of the 2012 London Cultural Olympiad. Principal Conductors Maurice Miles (1966–1967) Sergiu Comissiona (1967–1969) Edgar Cosma (1969–1974) Alun Francis (1974–1976) Bryden Thomson (1977–1985) Vernon Handley (1985–1989) Yan Pascal Tortelier (1989–1992) En Shao (1992–1995) Dmitry Sitkovetsky (1996–2001) Thierry Fischer (2001–2006) Kenneth Montgomery (2007–2010) JoAnn Falletta (2011–2014) Rafael Payare (2014–2019) Daniele Rustioni (2019–present) Commissions Through its BBC work and/or with help from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland Lottery Fund, there have been many commissions for composers in Ireland and Northern Ireland, including Greg Caffrey, Ciarán Farrell, Elaine Agnew, Gerald Barry, Michael McGlynn, Derek Bell, David Byers, Bill Campbell, Donnacha Dennehy, Stephen Gardner, Deirdre Gribbin, Philip Hammond, Piers Hellawell, Rachel Holstead, Marion Ingoldsby, Brian Irvine, Frank Lloyd, Neil Martin, Kevin O'Connell, Ian Wilson and Paul Wilson. Commissioned GB composers include Mark Bowden, Edward McGuire, Stephen McNeff, John Tavener, Adrian Thomas and Malcolm Williamson. Commissioned composers from outside the UK and Ireland include Lyell Cresswell, Rodion Shchedrin, Pawel Szymanski and Kevin Volans. See also Culture of Northern Ireland European classical music References External links Ulster Orchestra official website A History of the Ulster Orchestra (in progress) Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Orchestras British symphony orchestras Musical groups established in 1966 Musical groups from Belfast Radio and television orchestras 1966 establishments in Northern Ireland