Composer

Johannes Moser, known for performances seasoned by his capacious imagination and poetic artistry, is joined by his regular duo partner Andrei Korobeinikov in a programme hallmarked by two fascinating pairings of works. Nadia Boulanger’s 3 pieces, composed in 1914, provide a playful introduction to the five contrasting movements of the Cello Sonata Britten wrote for Mstislav Rostropovich in 1961, while Rachaminov’s Vocalise makes a charming companion to the cello version of César Franck’s weighty Violin Sonata.

EPSG:4326

Johannes Moser cello; Andrei Korobeinikov piano

Wigmore Hall

The Heath Quartet, formed at the Royal Northern College of Music in 2002, has enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with Wigmore Hall and built a devoted following thanks to performances that make creative sparks fly. Its latest programme takes wing with Britten’s 3 Divertimenti, conceived in 1936 as part of Go play, boy, play, a projected suite of character portraits depicting old school chums, and flourishes in two contrasting quartets by Mozart and Robert Schumann.

Heath Quartet

When a young sailor is unjustly accused of mutiny, it triggers a tragic sequence of events. Good and evil, innocence and corruption come together in this heartbreaking opera, a seafaring epic brought to vivid life in Michael Grandage’s evocative, claustrophobic production.

Billy Budd

Glyndebourne

Broken Branches takes its title from Karim Sulayman and Sean Shibe’s eponymous album, a cornucopia of musical and literary treasures drawn from East and West. Their programme touches on the mystical nature of being, something innate that connects different cultures, religions and regions with deep bonds of common kinship, and the universal stories and emotions that bring people together in union.

Karim Sulayman tenor; Sean Shibe guitar

Pieter Wispelwey, acclaimed by Gramophone as ‘a daring interpreter with thought-provoking ideas’, has twice recorded Britten’s First Cello Suite, testimony to his deep affinity for one of the greatest of works for solo cello, a rich 20th-century counterpart to the cello suites of JS Bach. The Dutch cellist is joined by his duo partner Paolo Giacometti in Dmitri Kabalevsky’s Cello Sonata, another majestic work inspired by and written for Mstislav Rostropovich.

Pieter Wispelwey cello; Paolo Giacometti piano

Thomas Larcher’s Still, originally composed in 2002, plays with the concept of the ‘video still’, a ‘frozen’ image from a video film, and the process of transforming it or leaving it unchanged. Timothy Ridout prefaces the piece as soloist in Britten’s string arrangement of his Lachrymae, leaving the Britten Sinfonia and Larcher to occupy the programme’s second half with Shaker Loops, a quintessential masterwork of American minimalism.

Britten Sinfonia; Timothy Ridout viola; Thomas Larcher conductor

Britten Sinfonia With Thomas Larcher

Wigmore Hall, London

9.  Chamber Concert

Hoghehus Lübeck

Led by William Long, and featuring acting and narration by the creative team “Really Inventive Stuff”, this family concert offers the perfect introduction to the orchestra and it’s many parts, preceded by an interactive instrument exploration station at 10 AM.

Family Concert: The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra

Lobero Theatre

Britten’s gripping psychological drama returns in this award-winning staging.

When a young sailor is unjustly accused of mutiny, it triggers a tragic sequence of events. Good and evil, innocence and corruption come together in this heartbreaking opera, a seafaring epic brought to vivid life in Michael Grandage’s evocative, claustrophobic production.

Michael Grandage returns to direct Britten’s opera, not seen at Glyndebourne for a over decade. Nicholas Carter will conduct the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Thomas Mole will play in the title role, Olivier Award-winner Allan Clayton and Sam Carl make their role debuts playing Captain Vere and John Claggart. See full cast and creative team details here.

Concert with Ensemble MidtVest and this year's star soloist Sebastian Klinger. Look forward to experiencing an absolutely world-class cellist.

Nørre Vosborg: EMV and soloist Sebastian Klinger

Nørre Vosborg

Jazz meets classical as pianist Makoto Ozone joins conductor Jun Märkl for Rachmaninoff’s spirited Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Ozone’s own O’Berek, and Schumann’s “Spring” Symphony complete a concert that features vivacity and charm.

Season Finale: Makoto Ozone plays Rachmaninoff

Hilbert Circle Theatre

The soap opera of Greek gods, heroes and heroines has been a rich source of inspiration for writers, painters and musicians for centuries. In this concert we hear tales of men and women behaving very badly indeed, set to extraordinary music.

Aldeburgh Festival Ii: Phaedra

Snape Maltings

For the first time, the Czech Philharmonic is opening the doors of its own subscription series to the London Symphony Orchestra symbolically on the 50th anniversary of the death of Benjamin Britten. His Sinfonia da Requiem will be heard alongside Gustav Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, a work that the conductor Antonio Pappano calls a celebration of the beauty of life.

London Symphony Orchestra • Antonio Pappano

Rudolfinum

The cellist Rostropovich brought something out in Britten. The famously reserved composer responded to the cellist’s ebullience and demonstrative nature across a series of full-blooded works. Discussing whether Britten would write him a concerto, Rostropovich declared “Write for the cello everything that your heart tells you, never mind how difficult it is; my love for you will help me to master every note, even the most impossible ones”. Britten followed these instructions to the letter: difficult, at times, but full of heart, the Symphony for Cello is a bold, brave and sometimes boisterous encounter between cello and orchestra.

Aldeburgh Festival I: Cello Symphony

Archduke Rudolph of Austria was the pianist for the premiere of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto—and he also happened to be one of the composer’s most important patrons. To make him shine, Beethoven brought in two of the best players of the day. We’ve got our own trio of all-stars on tap for this program, which includes Schumann’s reflection of life in the Rhineland.

Beethoven Triple Concerto

Orchestra Room

Thomas Adès’ Alchymia has been hailed as ‘simply one of the best chamber music compositions of our time’ (Guardian). Inspired by the music of Shakespearean England, but with a voice all of its own, this major work for string quartet and basset clarinet was premiered in 2021 and has become an instant classic. Musica Viva Australia is excited to present the London-based Doric String Quartet performing this ‘magical and arresting’ (The Times) work with the ‘brilliance, charisma and sensitivity’ (The Mercury) of Australian clarinettist Lloyd Van’t Hoff.

Musica Viva Australia presents Doric String Quartet & Lloyd Van’t Hoff

Queensland Conservatorium

A rip-roaring tour of the orchestra and a Welcome to Ipswich: two of Britten’s most joyful and energetic works.

In the last two years of his life, Britten experienced an astonishing burst of creativity. From chamber pieces to songs to a full-blown cantata, he wrote some of his most enduringly popular and vigorous works while seriously weakened by illness. Welcome Ode was his final work, composed for the Queen’s visit to Ipswich in her Jubilee Year in 1977. Scored for children’s voices and orchestra, it is one of his most uninhibitedly upbeat works, with a delightfully outdoorsy spirit.

Another work for young people is Britten’s dazzling Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, which is what it says on the tin: a comprehensive look at every participant in a symphony orchestra. Each instrument gets a go at the tune by Purcell on which the piece is based, sometimes solo, sometimes in intriguing combinations. Britten was reportedly so thrilled with the first recording of this work that he bounced up and down with excitement. You may find yourself doing the same – especially at the prospect of a new narration for the work, from eminent actor Rory Kinnear.

This performance will welcome an audience of young people from local schools and communities, with limited tickets available on general sale.

Aldeburgh Festival 2026: Welcome to the Orchestra

Benjamin Britten / The Golden Vanity

Cité de la Musique

[PIZZICATO] It all begins with sad news: the composer is dead, murdered! An inspector leads the investigation and questions the suspects, the orchestra's instrument families: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. They all seem to have a solid alibi. So who is the culprit? Through this thrilling search and thanks to Nathaniel Stookey's original music, discover the orchestra's instruments and learn the most astonishing secrets of classical music.

Investigation at the orchestra: The composer is dead

Philharmonic Hall of Liege

6. Chamber Concert: Depths of Passion

Allerheiligen-Hofkirche

Chamber Concert “In memoriam”

Evangelische Akademie Tutzing

Munich Residence

Tchaikovsky never held back. He asked for his Fifth Symphony to be performed con desiderio e passione – with desire and passion – and when guest conductor Cornelius Meister joins the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Cadogan Hall we can promise exactly that. With its heartfelt melodies and blazing colours, we love playing Tchaikovsky’s Fifth as much as you love hearing it, and there’s no more stirring way to finish a season packed with music at its most uninhibited.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5

Cadogan Hall 

Tchaikovsky never held back. He asked for his Fifth Symphony to be performed con desiderio e passione –‘with desire and passion’ – and when guest conductor Cornelius Meister joins the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Cadogan Hall, we can promise exactly that. With its heartfelt melodies and blazing colours, we love playing Tchaikovsky’s Fifth as much as you love hearing it, and there’s no more stirring way to finish a season packed with music at its most uninhibited. But that’s not all: the evening opens with a delightful new miniature from Composer-in-Association Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away). And Clara-Jumi Kang brings all her world-class insight to Britten’s powerful Violin Concerto, written on the eve of World War II. Strong emotions, stunningly played.

Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.5

There’s a good reason why Elgar’s Cello Concerto is a classic: deep emotions surge beneath its haunted surface and if anyone can uncover them it’s our soloist, the remarkable Kian Soltani. Today, it’s just one stage on an emotional odyssey devised by our Principal Guest Conductor Patrick Hahn: a voyage that embraces the infinite longing of George Crumb and Richard Wagner, the volcanic grief of Benjamin Britten, and Scriabin’s final, multicoloured starburst of pure sonic bliss. Join us and be transported. 

Elgar’s Cello Concerto

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

Usher Hall, Edinburgh

Britten’s delightful retelling of the Noah’s Ark story is specially composed for children’s voices and performance in a church. The Tulsa Youth Opera will not only sing the roles, but will help create the set, props, and costumes for this charming, family-friendly show.

Noah’s Flood (Noye’s Fludde)

First Methodist Church Tulsa

There’s a good reason why Elgar’s Cello Concerto is a classic: deep emotions surge beneath its haunted surface and if anyone can uncover them it’s our soloist, the remarkable Kian Soltani. Today, it’s just one stage on an emotional odyssey devised by our Principal Guest Conductor Patrick Hahn: a voyage that embraces the infinite longing of George Crumb and Richard Wagner, the volcanic grief of Benjamin Britten, and Scriabin’s final, multicoloured starburst of pure sonic bliss. Join us and be transported.

Usher Hall

In "Elements," Nina Šenk explores the balance between our everyday lives and elemental nature, each embodied by different groups of instruments. Benjamin Britten began work on his Violin Concerto in 1938, bringing the unfinished score with him when he emigrated to New York by ship with his partner, Peter Pears. The shock of two wars, the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War, found its way into the work, as did the American popular music that Britten encountered during his stay in the USA. Béla Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra was also written in exile, commissioned by the conductor Sergei Koussevitzky and his Boston Symphony Orchestra. Dietmar Holland described this last major orchestral work by Bartók, who, while seriously ill and almost penniless, had to wrest it from himself as a response to the horrors of the Second World War, as a "utopia of brotherhood between nations."

7th Symphony Concert

Eurogress Aachen

Sit back and enjoy a journey through the stars with music from Interstellar and Star Wars. Acclaimed organist and music profile Anna Lapwood makes her debut in Gothenburg with an imaginative organ programme from the world of film.

Anna Lapwood: Music of the Stars

Göteborgs Symfoniker

In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the death of Benjamin Britten in 1976, we open with arguably his best-loved orchestral work, the “Four Sea Interludes” from his opera Peter Grimes. This will be followed by Richard Strauss’s finest and final vocal composition, his Four Last Songs, performed tonight by one of the world’s greatest Strauss interpreters, British soprano Elizabeth Watts. Elizabeth is a former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist and is much in demand across the world; we are delighted to welcome her back to the Festival.

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

St Nicolas Church

What does musical progress sound like? And what happens when composers consciously look back? Under the motto "BACKWARDS is also FORWARDS," Christopher Lichtenstein explores the complex relationship between past and present in this program.

BACKWARDS is also FORWARDS

Schloss Osnabrück

Britten's Young Apollo and Les Illuminations were written in Canada and America. Here, his setting of Rimbaud’s surrealist poetry is sung by acclaimed UK soprano, Elizabeth Watts. We also hear the sound of 1940s America in the works of Britten’s “very dear friend” and mentor in his bohemian New York circle, Aaron Copland.

Britten In America With Elizabeth Watts And Oleg Shebeta-dragan

The Halls

arc Shopping Centre

Kings Place

Here Gavrylyuk tackles Rachmaninov’s notoriously difficult Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. These 24 variations take you on a wild ride, from stormy to mischievous to tender; but in the 18th, Rachmaninov flips the melody upside down to reveal one of classical music’s biggest and best-loved tunes.

Alexander Gavrylyuk performs Rachmaninov

Sydney Opera House

This program draws inspiration from the ocean: Britten’s Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes present an unforgiving antagonist; Debussy’s La Mer depicts a world of enchantment, and in its Australian premiere Poème by Jeanne Demessieux plumbs the still depths of the sea.

For Schools: Open Rehearsal with Nicholas Carter

Bach - Britten - Pärt - MacMillan: On the "Day of Liberation" on May 8th, we musically bridge to Great Britain with our Philharmonic Choirs and present a program that illuminates different musical approaches to themes such as peace, remembrance, and spirituality. In his "Sinfonia da Requiem," Benjamin Britten combines liturgical elements with his personal musical language. Created against the backdrop of World War II, the composition stands as a monument and plea for peace and humanity. Arvo Pärt's "Da pacem Domine" combines meditative calmness and a clear, simple aesthetic. Pärt's minimalist musical language elevates the Latin plea for peace into a timeless, universal dimension. However, the musical core of the concert consists of two works by our Composer in Residence, who also conducts. Particularly poignant are his "Cantos Sagrados." "When composing this piece, I wanted to create something that is both timeless and contemporary, both sacred and secular," he says. The result is a moving work for choir and orchestra that is particularly touching under his direction.

MacMillan and Choir

Palace of Culture

In Richard Strauss’ opera Capriccio, characters debate whether art, poetry or music is more important; this exquisite Sextet makes a persuasive argument for the latter.

Cocktail Hour with Euan Harvey

DramaturgMette Borginstructs us in how we can convey music in a much more convincing way with great knowledge and only small means.

Dramaturgy

Unitarisk Kirkesamfund

On May 3, the Miami Symphony Orchestra concludes its 2025-26 season with a spectacular Grand Season Finale at the Knight Concert Hall. The evening shines a spotlight on Tatiana Guiribitey, whose narration will guide audiences through a captivating musical journey. Under the direction of Maestro Eduardo Marturet and featuring double bass soloist Luis Gómez-Imbert, this powerful closing concert blends beloved classics with bold new creations, bringing the season to an unforgettable close.

Miami Symphony Orchestra: Grand Season Finale

Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts

On May 3, the Miami Symphony Orchestra concludes its 2025–2026 season with a spectacular Grand Season Finale at the Knight Concert Hall. The evening shines a special spotlight on Tatiana Guiribitey, whose narration will guide audiences through a captivating musical journey. Under the direction of Maestro Eduardo Marturet and featuring double bass soloist Luis Gomez-Imbert, this powerful closing concert blends beloved classics with bold new creations, bringing the season to an unforgettable close.

Grand Season Finale

Katherine Fisfis, soprano

Northwestern Bienen School of Music

Scarcely any other work of world literature breathes music in the same manner as William Shakespeare's “A Midsummer Night's Dream”. Elves dance through the night in the summery enchanted forest and sing the fairy queen Titania to sleep. Music accompanies the wedding celebration of the royal couple Hippolyta and Theseus, as well as the young lovers Hermia and Lysander, and Helena and Demetrius – when they have finally found each other in the midsummer's night after an erotic cycle of desire and disappointment, of confusion and disarray. And music rings out in the crassly humourous game in the play “Pyramus and Thisbe”, performed by six "highly skilled" craftsmen.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Emmeline Murphy, oboe

Magic and mischief intertwine in Benjamin Britten’s enchanting adaptation of William Shakespeare’s romantic comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Critically acclaimed director Sarah Ina Meyers and dynamic international conductor Vinay Parameswaran lead a dazzling cast of young opera stars and members of Curtis Symphony Orchestra in this spellbinding production. Prepare to be transported to a twilight world where feuding fairies meddle with mortals, hearts are led astray, and the surreal world of dreams blurs the edges of reality.

Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

Beatrice Rana is expecting a baby and has therefore cancelled her concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Antonio Pappano in spring 2026. We are delighted that Denis Kozhukhin will be taking over the piano part in her place.

London Symphony Orchestra

Alte Oper

Join Gothenburg’s most classic after work! Hear music by J.S. Bach and Britten in a breathtaking performance by tenor Andrew Staples, the Baroque Academy Gothenburg Symphony and choir. The evening continues in the foyer bars after the concert.

Classical AW with Bach

A beautiful afternoon of music with Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb and Poulenc's Organ Concerto.

Join us for a mesmerizing musical experience with the chorus and orchestra featuring Chichester Psalms by Leonard Bernstein and Rejoice in the Lamb by Benjamin Britten, with Francis Poulenc's Organ Concerto performed by Alistair Reid. This in person event will take place at the Church of the Heavenly Rest. Immerse yourself in the beautiful harmonies and powerful melodies of these iconic choral works, with soloists, chorus and full orchestra. Don't miss this opportunity to be uplifted by this seldom-performed, transcendent music!

Bernstein, Britten and Poulenc Concert

Church of the Heavenly Rest

Boston Civic Symphony season finale

New England Conservatory of Music

The violin soars melodiously above the rest of the quartet in the gorgeous arrangement of Vaughan Williams’ most popular work The Lark Ascending, which concludes this concert of English music.

The Lark Ascending

Cast

One of the most sought-after pianists of her generation, Michelle Cann joins your Colorado Symphony to deliver a double-header piano showcase of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue – a uniquely American standard occupying the intersection between classical music, jazz, and Broadway – and Florence Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement. Price’s Late Romantic background and her deep understanding of African-American spiritual combine for stop-in-your-tracks-beautiful moments, which Cann brings to life in a work that was almost lost to time before being reconstructed from manuscripts just fifteen years ago.

Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue with Michelle Cann

Denver Performing Arts Complex

Having played together since the age of five, Russian-born identical twins Julia and Irina Elkina are praised for their “truly remarkable oneness” by critics who also recognize that “each is a formidable pianist in her own right.”

FREE Lunchtime Concert: Julia and Irina Elkina, piano duo

Westminster Presbyterian Church

This year’s Featured Artist, baritone Roderick Williams OBE, will perform a unique recital in the round with pianist Christopher Glynn at Westminster Hall. For his program, entitled An English Song Winterreise, Williams has chosen English songs which reflect each of the 24 individual songs that make up Franz Schubert’s Winterreise to craft a unique musical journey. This curated song cycle will include works by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Benjamin Britten, and Gerald Finzi, as well as more modern works by Judith Weir and Errollyn Wallen.

Roderick Williams OBE, baritone and Christopher Glynn, piano: Recital in the Round

Jacks Pollard, Oboe

The Juilliard School

One of the 20th century’s grandest and most moving calls for peace is taken up by The Cleveland Orchestra, two of TCO’s choruses, and three preeminent vocalists, all under the baton of Daniel Harding. Born from the horrors of two world wars, Britten’s searing War Requiem intersperses the Latin Requiem text with haunting antiwar poems by British poet and soldier Wilfred Owen. It’s a powerfully emotional experience that you will not soon forget.

Britten’s War Requiem

Severance Music Center

“Simply dazzling” is the way the American Record Guide has described the Elkina Piano Duo.

FREE Courtroom Concert: Julia and Irina Elkina, piano duo

Landmark Center

Monday at Last is the concert series where Cecilia Zilliacus and Kati Raitinen invite guest artists to join them in performing both new and older music. This time, the guest is Scottish pianist Alasdair Beatson.

Monday at Last with Strings and Piano

Stockholm Concert Hall

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Hōkūleʻa's maiden voyage to Tahiti, the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra joins forces with conductor Anthony Parnther, the Oʻahu Choral Society and the Polynesian Voyaging Society to present, for the first time, Michael-Thomas Foumai’s complete choral symphony, Raise Hawaiki. Inspired by the legendary voyages of Hōkūleʻa and the powerful words of Eddie Aikau and Nainoa Thompson, experience the trials and triumphs of Polynesian voyaging with captivating visual projections of historical photos alongside video from the current Moananuiākea voyage.  The performance opens with Britten’s seaworthy Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes.

HōkūleʻA 50

Blaisdell Concert Hall

Attending a concert by the Quatuor Ébène is a musical and sensual happening. For the past two decades the quartet has set standards by making familiar repertoire accessible in new ways, and by constantly seeking interaction with the audience.

 Quatuor Ébène

California Institute of Technology

Shakespeare’s most magical play comes to musical life through the genius of Benjamin Britten. Deep in an enchanted forest, Fairies, Nobles, and Rustics play games of love and illusion. Pocket Opera brings this rare gem to the stage in a world-premiere orchestral reduction, commissioned especially for our season.

Hillside Club

Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts

Legion of Honor

This event marks the start of Toby Anderson, Amy Bryce and Jonathan Woolgar's journey as 2026 Magnum Opus composers. In this short concert we hear their new chamber works, written especially for this evening and performed by Britten Sinfonia musicians, alongside Benjamin Britten's Sinfonietta, written when he was just 18.

Magnum Opus 2026 Launch Concert

Milton Court Concert Hall

“In wars outside the blood runs red / Here is something far more deadly, ladies and gentlemen”. Duke Bluebeard’s castle has seven doors, and his new wife Judith is determined to open them all. But some questions are best left unanswered, and in Bartók’s gripping psychological thriller even the darkest secrets possess a terrible beauty.

Bartók’s Bluebeard's Castle

Music Hall, Aberdeen

City Halls

Alec Fore, tenor

Concert For Families With Children

Imperial Baths

The Philharmonia welcomes outstanding pianist Bruce Liu back to London.  

Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G was inspired by the jazz he heard on a tour of the United States. Ravel frames a serenely beautiful Adagio with outer movements of carefree, effervescent energy. It’s the perfect showcase for the ‘magician’s fingers’ (Le Monde) of Bruce Liu, winner of the 2021 International Chopin Piano Competition.   

Tchaikovsky himself said that his Fifth Symphony represented ‘a complete resignation before Fate’, but that hasn’t stopped it becoming a firm audience favourite. It opens with the sound of funereal footsteps on the clarinet. A singing horn melody gives the second movement a more hopeful mood, but the fateful ‘footsteps’ theme returns in the third movement waltz, and triumphs in the stormy finale. 

Bruce Liu plays Ravel

Southbank Centre

Concert Chorale & University Chorus

Music Building and Recital Hall

Step into a world of calm and quiet beauty with an evening of music that soothes the soul and sparks the imagination. Britten’s Sinfonietta offers clarity and poise in a finely crafted chamber setting. Juan Pablo Contreras’s Ángel Mestizo blends Mexican folk spirit with lyrical serenity, creating a heartfelt tribute to cultural harmony. Finally, Copland’s Appalachian Spring Suite brings it all home with openhearted simplicity and peaceful Americana charm. This concert invites you to pause, breathe, and experience the power of music to bring stillness and grace.

Finding Tranquility

University of Redlands

The Philharmonia welcomes outstanding pianist Bruce Liu to Leicester.  

Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G was inspired by the jazz he heard on a tour of the United States. Ravel frames a serenly beautiful Adagio with outer movements of carefree, effervescent energy. It’s the perfect showcase for the “magician’s fingers” (Le Monde) of Bruce Liu, winner of the 2021 International Chopin Piano Competition.  

Tchaikovsky himself said that his Fifth Symphoy represented “a complete resignation before Fate”, but that hasn’t stopped it becoming a firm audience favourite. It opens with the sound of footsteps on the clarinet. A singing horn melody gives the second movement a more hopeful mood, but the fateful ‘footsteps’ theme returns in the third movement waltz, and triumphs in the stormy finale.  

Leicester: Bruce Liu plays Ravel

De Montfort Hall

A young woman is given a job as a governess at a country house, Bly, where she will be looking after two orphan children, Flora and Miles. She has been hired by the children’s uncle and guardian, who doesn’t want to be bothered by anything and who makes the young woman swear to absolute secrecy about the goings-on at his estate. Mysterious things do indeed start to happen at the house, including strange behaviour by the children. She also finds something inscrutable about the housekeeper Mrs Grose, who has apparently spent half her life at Bly. Later, the governess believes she sees hazy apparitions of a man and a woman gliding through the rooms of the house, and she identifies them as the spirits of former employees Peter Quint and Miss Jessel. Demonic forces appear to be running rampant and plaguing the characters. At the end, one thing is certain: one of the characters lies dead. Everything else remains unanswered …

The Turn of the Screw

Bebelplatz

The Philharmonia welcomes outstanding pianist Bruce Liu to Bedford.  

Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G was inspired by the jazz he heard on a tour of the United States. Ravel frames a serenely beautiful Adagio with outer movements of carefree, effervescent energy. It’s the perfect showcase for the “magician’s fingers” (Le Monde) of Bruce Liu, winner of the 2021 International Chopin Piano Competition.  

Tchaikovsky himself said that his Fifth Symphony represented “a complete resignation before Fate”, but that hasn’t stopped it becoming a firm audience favourite. It opens with the sound of funereal footsteps on the clarinet. A singing horn melody gives the second movement a more hopeful mood, but the fateful ‘footsteps’ theme returns in the third movement waltz, and triumphs in the stormy finale.  

Bedford: Bruce Liu plays Ravel

Bedford Corn Exchange

New York-based Harlem Quartet has been praised for its “panache” by The New York Times and hailed in the Cincinnati Enquirer for “bringing a new attitude to classical music, one that is fresh, bracing and intelligent.” Harlem Quartet advances diversity in classical music while engaging new audiences with varied repertoire that includes works by minority composers. Their mission to share their passion with a wider audience has taken them around the world, including a 2009 performance at The White House and a successful tour of South Africa.

Guest Artists: Harlem Quartet, Visiting Quartet, 'Folk Inspirations'

Arizona State University Tempe Campus

When Benjamin Britten presented his official Opus 1, he was just eighteen years old – and already a seasoned composer. Before he was ten, he had already written several sonatas and a full-fledged symphony. With the Sinfonietta, he was now introducing himself to the public for the first time – a masterpiece that is far too rarely heard. In complete contrast to Wagner's popular Siegfried Idyll, a musical gift to his wife on the birth of their first child.

Siegfried-Idyll

The Baden-Baden Casino

Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem is based on Latin texts and poems by the English poet Wilfred Owen, who died in the war in 1918. At the work’s premiere in 1962 in the rebuilt Coventry Cathedral, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau sang alongside British artists: a statement of reconciliation by the composer. The oratorio features a mixed choir, a boys' choir, a symphony orchestra, a chamber orchestra, and vocal soloists. These large forces underline the composer's desire to mobilize all efforts towards overcoming war and violence.

War Requiem

Festspielhaus Baden-Baden

“Perpetual motion” in musical terms is just that: the relentless rapidity of the notes builds enormous excitement, and in the crystal-clear timbre of chamber ensembles, every note can be easily heard. This one-of-a-kind concert is united by musical finales that hit the ground running and just can’t seem to stop.

Beethoven and Britten

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

The great composer Benjamin Britten introduces us to the different instruments of the orchestra in his brilliant and virtuosic variations for orchestra. Fun for the whole family!

Family Concert: Joy of the Symphony

Lesher Center for the Arts

Guest performance in Arnstadt »Do you speak English?«

Theater in the castle garden

With the United States nearing its 250th anniversary, Summit, Myths & Music honors the landscapes and myths that have defined the country’s spirit. Carl Nielsen’s Helios Overture traces the sun’s grand ascent over the Aegean, filling the orchestra with brilliance. Britten’s Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes follows—an evocative seascape of shimmering blues, stark silences, and surging waves. The mystery of Mount Rainier unfolds in Stephen Lias’s It Stands Alone, a powerful multimedia tribute commissioned in partnership with the National Park Service to honor Mount Rainier National Park’s 125th anniversary. The evening concludes with Dvořák’s American Suite, where dance-like melodies and rustic harmonies celebrate the composer’s love for the New World.

Composer

Benjamin Britten

Events

Upcoming events

3 - 4 Sep, 2026

Sea Music and Symphonic Dances · Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Sep 8, 2026

Mared Pugh-Evans · Lucerne Festival

Sep 11, 2026

Les Illuminations · Scottish Opera

25 - 26 Sep, 2026

Rite of Spring with the Orchestra · Kungliga Operan

Sep 26, 2026

Britten’s War Requiem · Southbank Centre

Past events

Jul 29, 2026

Johannes Moser cello; Andrei Korobeinikov piano · Wigmore Hall

Jul 26, 2026

Heath Quartet · Wigmore Hall

About

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