Alan Grant on the London Phoenix Orchestra as it begins centenary year

London market and Lloyd’s veteran Alan Grant’s near-50-year insurance career has seen him lead some of the industry’s most iconic names.

But outside his professional career within EC3, one of Grant’s most cherished passions is music.

One avenue Grant has expressed this through is his long-standing membership of the Insurance Orchestral Society’s London Phoenix Orchestra.

With the orchestra entering its centenary in 2024, The Insurer sat down with Grant to learn more about its history, Grant’s role within it, and why it and music are such an important element of the London market…

Could you give a brief history of the orchestra?

The Insurance Orchestral Society was founded in 1924 by Harold Rawlinson “to provide the hard-working men and women of the insurance industry with an opportunity to meet regularly and enjoy playing music together”. This fundamental enthusiasm for music and friendly ethos remain at the heart of the orchestra’s purpose to this day. While the orchestra may have grown and changed over the years, we are proud to retain strong links to the insurance profession and provide its many workers with the chance to further their love of music.

The Insurance Orchestral Society reaches its centenary in 2024. Not many institutions last that long, especially an amateur orchestra which nonetheless survived a few wars, several financial crises, endless hard and soft market cycles – and the odd pandemic.

How did you become part of the orchestra? Do you think the factors that motivated you to join are still present today?

I joined in 1975 when I started in the Lloyd’s market. It was a way of continuing my playing post school and at a higher standard. Little did I know that I would still be playing, as principal French horn, 50 years into the orchestra’s 100 years – sometimes it feels like even longer!

Rehearsing for and playing a concert with a finite life ended by the final swish of the conductor’s baton gave me the certainty of completion which an expiry date doesn’t necessarily provide an underwriter of specialty long-tail lines! This contrast gave me the life-balance one needs in high pressure careers – music is the balm which soothes us in difficult times.

So yes, nothing changes, we all need a way to release pressure and music has that enduring ability to help us do that.

What role does the orchestra play in the London market? How would you like this to change, if at all, in the coming years?

As the orchestra of the insurance industry, indeed the only one in the whole financial services sector, we are regarded as one of London’s finest amateur orchestras. We give regular concerts at some of the capital’s top venues including St John’s, Smith Square and Cadogan Hall and work with prestigious soloists whilst also showcasing young musicians and contemporary composers.

I would love the London market to give wider support, to swell our audiences via more companies joining as corporate members and also help us recruit new players.

Why should the London market support the orchestra? How can they?

As a company in the London market you will have a CSR strategy and commitment to provide community support as well as work-life balance opportunities to staff. Well, look no further. Here we are!

You can become a corporate member through annual subscriptions starting at £1,500 pa. which provide you up to eight free seats for every concert.

You can also help drive player recruitment by letting your staff know, “we have our own orchestra”!

We are also able to schedule your own concert in support of your company’s own charitable causes – we successfully raised thousands of pounds from concerts for Help Refugees, The Insurance Charities, The Insurance Supper Club, Switch180 and Hemihelp, amongst others.

You can contact Alan Grant at alangrant1000@gmail.com with all enquiries.

How important is music to the insurance industry?

Music. Rhythm. Sound. Maths. All right-side brain activities. We are related!

All arts need people and people need the arts, to nourish the soul, provide recreation, life-balance and contrast to the routine. Classical music may seem out-of-range in some people’s musical spectrum – until you hear it performed live. It draws you in, makes one marvel at the talents of composers to have imagined such complex themes – and the skill of the musicians who bring them to life.

Give us a go – find two hours after work to come to one of our concerts.

Plus, you get a glass of wine in the interval too. Musicians and insurers have more in common than you might think!