A fitting farewell, this programme journeys through the heart of Central Europe, from the vivid landscapes of Smetana's Má vlast to the nostalgic beauty of Butterworth's Six Songs from A Shropshire Lad, before culminating in Brahms' magnificent Fourth Symphony – a work of profound intensity and breathtaking grandeur.

Fishguard Music Festival – Smetana & Brahms with Welsh National Orchestra

St. Davids Cathedral

'Where other children would have nursery rhymes, I’d go to bed to the sounds of Haydn, Mozart and Schubert,' recalls Sir Simon Keenlyside, whose father and grandfather were both professional violinists. Those priceless formative years continued when he became a boy chorister, then a choral scholar at St John’s College, Cambridge, and set rock-solid foundations for his subsequent career as a wonderfully perceptive concert singer, one of the most exciting operatic performers of modern times.

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Sir Simon Keenlyside baritone; Malcolm Martineau piano

Wigmore Hall

Our season concludes with music that inspires peace and hope in times of upheaval and uncertainty. The tranquility of the English countryside in The Banks of Green Willow, Silvestrov's serene and meditative prayer for Peace in Ukraine, and the sacred a cappella choruses of The Peaceable Kingdom lead us to Haydn's powerful and climactic choral work. Widely acknowledged as a call for peace, the jubilant finale reflects strength and hope.

Symphony Of Peace

Mayo Civic Center

From poignant pastoral visions to stirring choral majesty: SCO Principal Guest Conductor Andrew Manze conducts an evening of rapturous English music and striking new sounds, in the company of exceptional British baritone and composer Roderick Williams and the fine voices of the SCO Chorus.

The Language of Eden

The Queen's Hall

City Halls

Two English folk songs form George Butterworth’s idyllic The Banks of Green Willow, premiered just two years before the promising young composer’s demise in the trenches of World War I. German Max Bruch, captivated by Scottish traditions, wove these melodies into his violin showpiece, Scottish Fantasy. Meanwhile, Brahms’ expressive Symphony No. 1, finely dubbed “Beethoven’s Tenth,” gestated for 22 years due to his remarkable perfectionism.

Brahms & Bruch

Kleinhans Music Hall

The British Isles

Asbury United Methodist Church

Haydn’s Symphony No. 93 with Richard Egarr

Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

Accelerando Strings and Kaiso Steel present their spring concert at the Benito Juarez Community Academy, Auditorium.

Kaiso Steel Orchestra and Accelerando Strings Spring Concert

Benito Juarez Community Academy

With two collections of songs composed by George Butterworth and Gerald Finzi, we move into a British landscape with hedges, rolling hills and small idyllic villages. Butterworth composed “Love Blows as the Wind Blows” with strong inspiration from English folk music, and Finzi sets “Let us Galands Bring” to music for texts by William Shakespeare, which are about death and love and everything in between.

Love Blows

Randers Chamber Orchestra

An English Evening at Grayshott

St Luke's Church

This clutch of British compositions juxtaposes instrumental music by the young Vaughan Williams from 1912 with Elgar’s final chamber piece of 1919. Between them we hear George Butterworth’s atmospheric cycle for voice and string quartet, and folksongs arranged by Roderick Williams for the same forces.

Nash Ensemble; Roderick Williams baritone

Experience an evening of orchestral brilliance with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, led by the esteemed guest conductor JoAnn Falletta. The program opens with George Butterworth’s "The Banks of Green Willow," a poignant piece that evokes the pastoral beauty of the English countryside and serves as a touching reminder of the composer’s unfulfilled potential, having perished in battle at the young age of 31. The evening continues with Behzad Ranjbaran’s mesmerizing "Concerto for Violin and Orchestra," a work that beautifully intertwines the rich musical traditions of his native Persia with contemporary orchestral textures. The concert reaches its zenith with Ottorino Respighi’s "Fountains of Rome," a vivid and thrilling depiction of Rome’s iconic fountains, capturing their splendor and the city’s vibrant atmosphere. Complementing this is Claude Debussy’s "La Mer," a masterful composition that conjures the dynamic and ever-changing nature of the sea, from its serene calm to its powerful, tumultuous waves. This carefully curated selection promises an immersive auditory journey through diverse landscapes and emotions, showcasing the exceptional talents of the orchestra and its soloists.

Fountains of Rome

Eastman Theatre

Sir Mark is joined here, as he was in his first season as the Hallé’s Music Director, by Sir Stephen Hough, an undisputed “keyboard colossus” (The Guardian) who performs Brahms’ monumental First Piano Concerto. One of the best-loved and most frequently performed piano concertos in the world, it is an absolute tour de force.

The Hallé

University of Warwick

The Anvil

Bristol Beacon

Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall

Sheffield City Hall

Join us for an enchanting evening of trombone mastery as Kurt Eide takes the stage at the Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall. This special recital, scheduled for Thursday, May 2, 2024, at 8:30pm CDT, showcases the talents of a Master of Music student under the guidance of esteemed instructors Michael Mulcahy, Reed Capshaw, Randall Hawes, and R. Douglas Wright. Accompanied by the skilled pianist Yoko Yamada-Selvaggio, the program promises a diverse repertoire including David Fetter's Variations on Palestrina’s "Dona nobis pacem," Halsey Stevens' Sonata for Trombone and Piano, George Butterworth's Six Songs from "A Shropshire Lad," and Darius Milhaud's Concertino d’hiver.

This event is a highlight of the Northwestern Bienen School of Music's vibrant concert calendar and is open to the public free of charge. No tickets are required for attendance. Additionally, for those unable to join in person, a live stream will be available, ensuring no one misses out on this musical celebration.

The Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall, located at 70 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston, IL 60208, United States, offers an intimate setting with breathtaking views of Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline. Its acoustically optimized environment, featuring undulating walls covered with African moabi wood, promises an auditory experience as stunning as the visual backdrop.

Don't miss this opportunity to support emerging musical talent and experience the rich musical heritage of the Northwestern Bienen School of Music.

Kurt Eide, trombone

Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall

One of the most beloved works of all time, Tchaikovsky’s concerto will take you on a journey – from the bold and virtuosic, through the lyrical and melancholy, to a grand and cathartic finale. Join us for this unforgettable performance, led by our own Principal Guest Conductor and Norfolk native Maestro Thomas Wilkins.

Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto

Chrysler Hall

Ferguson Center for the Arts

Sandler Center for the Performing Arts

Student Recital: Solomon Onyukwu

Carnegie Mellon University

Study concert with voice students

The Studio Hall

The British Are Coming - Plus an "Oxford" Symphony

St. John's Episcopal Church Barrington

This October marks the centenary of the Turkish Republic. We’re looking forward to performing at a special event organised by the Yunus Emre Institute celebrating the past and the future: 100 Years of Turkish Republic Concert & World Premiere of Yalçın Tura’s Piano Concerto.

100 Years of Turkish Republic Concert

Royal College of Music Museum

The BBC Philharmonic return to Victoria Hall in Stoke-on-Trent with conductor Michael Seal for a programme featuring music from Bax, Butterworth, Elgar and Tippett. Violinist Simone Lamsma joins for Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor.

Victoria Hall | Hanley

Victoria Hall in Stoke-on-Trent

Superstar violinist Stefan Jackiw returns to Boulder to play Bruch’s sparkling Scottish Fantasy. Join the Phil’s diptych Rachmaninoff Festival as we celebrate the composer’s 150th birthday with his tour de force swan song, the Symphonic Dances.

Jackiw Plays Bruch

University of Colorado Boulder

Renowned violinist William Hagen returns to Shreveport to perform Bruch’s achingly beautiful Scottish Fantasy, followed by one of the most beloved symphonies in the repertoire―Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8.

Dvořák and Bruch

Shreveport Riverview Theatre

No country’s music embodies a pastoral spirit quite like England’s, and no piece quite enshrines that idea like Vaughan Williams’s image of countryside serenity rendered in the most lyrical music imaginable, The Lark Ascending. Doyen of English music and former Music Director of English National Opera, Martyn Brabbins opens our symphonic season at the Sheldonian Theatre with works that portray dark clouds above green fields, including deeply moving music by composers killed at the front during the First World War. A concert that speaks of tragedy but also of comradeship includes Roderick Williams’s flute concerto, written for his childhood friend and our own Solo Flute, Anthony Robb.

English Melodies

University of Oxford

From Flanders looking westwards across the Channel, and eastwards to Bohemia’s hills and forests, this is a concert inspired by nature.

Butterworth and Vaughan Williams’ sumptuous works were set in motion by English poetry. But in a richly burnished orchestral tone poem, and in Vaughan Williams’ ever-popular, ravishing violin rhapsody, you can almost smell the warm earth, hear the dawn chorus and imagine yourself bathing in the still, sweet air of the English countryside.

Flanders Symphony Orchestra

Cadogan Hall

The darkness lies heavily on the demon-king Kastchei’s shadow kingdom – so heavily that you can almost hear it and feel the air shimmer. Suddenly, there’s a flash, and with a dazzling cascade of sound, an adventure begins. Stravinsky’s The Firebird is one of the great musical fairytales; a story that Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra are delighted to retell tonight. And there’s a reason why Grieg’s Piano Concerto is one of the world’s favourites, too. Melodies this good always feel fresh, and never fresher than when they’re played by Eric Lu – the multi-award-winning pianist who’s taking the world by storm. First, though, ancient passions burn beneath the tranquillity of the English countryside in Butterworth’s haunting rhapsody. This should be something special.

Stravinsky The Firebird

Royal Albert Hall

The darkness lies heavily on the demon-king Kastchei’s shadow kingdom – so heavily that you can almost hear it and feel the air shimmer.

George Butterworth

Events

Upcoming events

Oct 7, 2026

English Melodies · Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra

Nov 3, 2026

Flanders Symphony Orchestra · Cadogan Hall

Jan 16, 2027

Stravinsky The Firebird · Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Jan 16, 2027

Stravinsky's The Firebird · Southbank Centre

Past events

Jul 17, 2026

Fishguard Music Festival – Smetana & Brahms with Welsh National Orchestra · Welsh National Opera

Jul 5, 2026

Sir Simon Keenlyside baritone; Malcolm Martineau piano · Wigmore Hall

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