London Vegetable Orchestra | |
|---|---|
| Genres | Cover versions |
| Instrument(s) | Carrot recorder, courgette trumpets, butternut squash trombones, pumpkin drums and aubergine castanets, amongst others |
| Years active | 2009-present |
| Website | londonvegetableorchestra |
The London Vegetable Orchestra is a British musical ensemble that fabricates and subsequently plays musical instruments made out of vegetables. [1] [2] [3] It is the only vegetable orchestra in the United Kingdom. [4]
The orchestra was founded circa 2009 by recorder-maker Tim Cranmore, who took a bet on that he could not carve a recorder from a carrot; he did create one, and insodoing founded the ensemble. [1] Many of the original members were students at the Royal Academy of Music at the time. [5] As of 2016, members of the orchestra were also professional musicians with either the London Symphony Orchestra or the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. [1] Like the Long Island Vegetable Orchestra, the group was inspired by The Vegetable Orchestra. [6] [7]
Instruments created by the group include courgette trumpets, butternut squash trombones, pumpkin drums and aubergine castanets. [1] Other vegetables played include bell peppers, potatoes and parsnips. [8] The group must use fresh vegetables, created on the day of performance, to ensure the best sound quality. [9] In 2017 the ensemble collaborated with LG, who demonstrated the strength of their prodcuts by refrigerating vegetable for a week before the orchestra used them to make instruments. [10] The group has performed on Countryfile, Russell Howards Good News, [11] This Morning, [12] Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, [4] Room 101, [13] amongst others.
The group plays a wide range of music from Greensleeves to Billie Jean (punning on both names: 'Greens-leaves' and 'Billie Auber-jean'). [1] In October 2024, the group undertook a one-off performance entitled 'The 'Farmonic' Orchestra' at the Other Palace Theatre in London, sponsored by Ginsters and raising money for The Trussell Trust. [14] In December 2024 a video of the group performing Jingle Bells on Radio 3 went viral on instagram. [15] The performance quickly gained over 11 million views. [4] In April 2025 the group performed at Windsor Castle and Charles III joined them in an impromtu, informal perfomance of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star on a carrot recorder. [8] [16] [17]
