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**Portsmouth Sinfonia Bio**: Founded in 1970 by Gavin Bryars while he was lecturing at the Portsmouth School of Art, the Portsmouth Sinfonia is known as the "world's worst orchestra." Bryars aimed to make classical music accessible to the masses and liberate it from its elitist audience. Open to anyone regardless of skill level, the orchestra included known musicians playing unfamiliar instruments, virtuoso players, and complete novices. Their repertoire featured popular classics and rock songs that could be played by ear, eliminating the need for sight-reading skills. The combination of virtuoso players maintaining a semblance of tune while others missed notes created a unique and atonal sound that some of Bryars' contemporaries found profound. The humorous outcomes of this experiment led the orchestra to be marketed as a comedy act, earning a cult following that culminated in sold-out performances at the Royal Albert Hall by 1974. Although the orchestra ceased performing in 1982, it never formally disbanded, and as of March 2006, there were hints of potential future concerts.

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