The Pro Arte Orchestra was founded as a limited company chaired by the double-bass player Eugene Cruft; directors also included Archie Camden and Antony English. The first concert was given at the Royal Festival Hall on 21 October 1955 with a Rossini overture, Schubert’s Unfinished, Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole and works by Strauss and Chabrier, conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent. Much of the work of the orchestra, however, was in the recording studio, particularly for the Pye-Nixa label.