THE founder of a popular orchestra has been remembered for her “energy, tenacity and loving kindness” after losing her battle with cancer.

Caroline Neiman, known professionally as Caroline Brown, died at the Martlets Hospice on February 5, aged 64.

Caroline, who was a talented cellist, was the founder and artistic director of The Hanover Band, which was based in Brighton and formed in 1980.

She lived in Brighton for most of her life with her husband Stephen, after they moved from Hove.

The talented musician worked with her early colleagues in the band to perform and record Beethoven songs on 19th century contemporary instruments.

The group spent time researching and commissioning work that would need to be done to produce URTEXT editions of Beethoven symphonies, which were known as “the earliest version of a text”.

The band, which is now based in Arundel, became very successful.

In 1987, it went on to complete a recording of the Beethoven Symphony cycle.

The band played at a number of iconic venues and festivals over the years, performing a total of more than 750 public shows since the band was formed, including Carnegie Hall, the BBC Proms, Lincoln Centre, Concertgebouw and Edinburgh Festival.

During her younger years, Caroline was educated at Bedford High School, Royal College of Music, as a junior exhibitioner from 1969-71, and played the cello at the college between 1971 and 1975.

She was awarded the Campden Foundation Scholarship to study at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, Austria, before going on to learn in master classes focused on the baroque cello.

She later gained an MA in Music Education at Trinity College of Music, where she studied between 1998 and 1999.

When Caroline was hired as an examiner for Trinity College London, she travelled the world for the job, going as far as Hong Kong and Tasmania.

Nurturing the Next Generation was her own project aiming to encourage students to develop an appreciation for 18th and 19th century orchestral sounds.

Caroline was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, a Krukenberg tumour, in 2012.

Friend Colin Lawson remembered her for having “entrepreneurial skills, ambition and unquenchable optimism” that remained throughout her period of illness.

In a tribute read out at her funeral on Friday, he wrote: “What a privilege it was for all of us to come face-to-face with such dedication to the cause.”

Her daughters Katie and Rachel wrote of their mother’s “energy, positivity, tenacity, strength and loving kindness”.

Caroline’s funeral was held at St Nicholas Church in Arundel.

A memorial concert will be held on June 13 at St Margaret’s Church, Westminster. That is the venue where the band first played.