Founded in 1999 with the consent of Mr. H.L.B. Gomez, the principal of Royal College at the time, the Royal College Western Orchestra, since its inception, had had several trainers from the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka (SOSL) as well as the National Youth Orchestra (NYO). The orchestra held its first public performance in 2002, conducted by Prof. Ajit Abeysekera, a conductor at the SOSL. Amal Abeysekera was the concertmaster of the orchestra. Before disbandment, the final performance of the RCWO was at the Launch of a Commemorative Stamp to mark the 125th Anniversary of the Battle of the Blues Cricket Encounter.

After a prolonged hiatus, the RCWO was re-established in 2015, with Srimal Weerasinghe as the Conductor and Mrs. Priyanthi Sudusinghe as the Teacher-in Charge. Nisal Jinadasa was the concertmaster. The violins are tutored by Mr. Dilpahan Prasanna and the brasswinds by Mr. Sugath Weerasekera Its first performance was at the All Island Western Music & Dance Competition 2015, where it competed against some of the best school orchestras of Sri Lanka and secured 1st Place. Soon after the All-Island Competition, the orchestra began to perform at a variety of events. The year after, the RCWO was invited to perform at the 137th Battle of the Blues Media Conference, which was the springboard to our continued success. The orchestra performed Amigos Para Sempre as well as the School Anthems of Royal College and St. Thomas’ College, along with the Orchestra of St. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia, as well as the renowned De Lanerolle Brothers.More performances soon followed, with the orchestra being invited to perform at the Annual Colours Awarding Ceremony 2015 and the Annual Band & Orchestra Concert of Lyceum International School, Nugegoda.

The Orchestra held its first annual concert in 2017 at the Royal College Main Hall with Nisal Jinadasa as the concertmaster, Prof. Ajith Abeysekara and Srimal Weerasinghe as the conductors and Prof. Bernard Wacheux as the guest conductor.

In the year 2019, the RCWO celebrated its victory at the All Island Western Music and Dance Competitions, by successfully being ranked first for five consecutive years. Later that year, the orchestra performed at “A Century of Sound” celebrating 100 years of the Western Music Society and the Royal College Choir at the Lionel Wendt Theatre. This was the first ever concert where the Choir, the Western band and the Orchestra had performed together on the same stage.

Getting to the point where the Orchestra is at present was by no means a cakewalk. The process of reviving a defunct school orchestra: from catching the attention of Western Music students at school to being able to emerge as Champions at the All-Island Western Music and Dance Competitions only a few months after commencing rehearsals was extremely strenuous and yet, after facing all obstacles and shining through, the radical idea of organising an orchestra concert was brought up. The RCWO made the bold decision to take on the task of making this dream a reality in order to add to the success of the Orchestra as well as solidifying its reputation as one of the best of its kind.

The RCWO held it’s ‘Orchestra Concert 2020’ last year, in the MAS arena, becoming the first orchestra to perform in the venue, with the conductor of Royal College Srimal Weerasinghe, and guest conductor, Manilal Weerakon.

Srimal Weerasinghe, who has been integral to the success of the RCWO, is one of the most acclaimed Orchestral Conductors in Sri Lanka. He is the Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Gustav Mahler Orchestra of Colombo, Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra, and Resident Conductor of the Colombo Wind Orchestra.