Manchester is about to be enchanted with a series of captivating concerts, showcasing the legendary Igor Stravinsky’s masterpieces and more. From family-friendly musical myths to the revolutionary 'Firebird' and the electrifying 'Petrushka,' The Bridgewater Hall is the place to be! Join the Hallé for an unforgettable journey through music and magic.

Magical Manchester: Dive into Stravinsky's World with The Hallé

Get ready, Manchester! This season, The Hallé and BBC Philharmonic bring you a spectacular series of concerts featuring the iconic works of Dmitri Shostakovich. From the soul-stirring 'The Gadfly Suite' at 'Top of the Classics', to the thought-provoking 'Ninth Symphony' in 'Rush Hour', and the reflective 'Cello Concerto No. 2' in 'A Hero’s Life', these events promise to leave you spellbound. Don't miss the monumental 'Symphony No. 5', which will be performed in two thrilling concerts. Join us at The Bridgewater Hall for an unforgettable musical journey.

Unveiling Shostakovich: A Series of Mesmerizing Concerts in Manchester

Experience the magical world of Richard Strauss in Manchester at The Bridgewater Hall this season. From the whimsical 'Mischief and Magic' to the reflective 'A Hero’s Life', and the awe-inspiring 'An Alpine Symphony', join us for a series of unforgettable performances featuring the BBC Philharmonic and The Hallé. Don't miss the unique blend of burlesque, orchestral grandeur, and moving stories of the human spirit.

Musical Magic and Heroic Tales: Richard Strauss in Manchester

Manchester is set to host a series of spectacular concerts celebrating the timeless works of Ludwig van Beethoven. Kicking off the festivities is 'The Planets' on September 21, 2024, with the BBC Philharmonic. The Hallé follows up with 'Top of the Classics' on September 28, and Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony on November 28 and December 1. The celebration continues into 2025 with 'Rush Hour: Beethoven’s Fifth' and 'Hallé Rush Hour - Beethoven's Fifth' on April 17, 'Summer Classics' on May 24, and culminating in 'Ode to Joy' on May 29. Join us for an extraordinary musical journey!

Celebrate Beethoven: Unforgettable Concerts in Manchester

This season, Manchester's Bridgewater Hall is the place to be for classical music enthusiasts. With a lineup featuring Brahms’s Symphony No.1 and No.3, Dvořák's Cello Concerto, and Brahms's Piano Concerto No.1 performed by Garrick Ohlsson, the performances promise to be an unforgettable journey through the emotional landscapes of Romantic music.

Johannes Brahms Takes Center Stage at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall

The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2025 concert series promises an exceptional array of musical performances across the UK. With a lineup that includes iconic compositions from Wagner, Rachmaninov, and Beethoven to contemporary pieces celebrating International Women’s Day, each event brings together renowned conductors, soloists, and breathtaking orchestrations. As these concerts unfold at venues like Victoria Hall and The Bridgewater Hall, audiences are set to experience the brilliance of artists like Clemens Schuldt, Simon Callaghan, and Jennifer Pike, making this series a remarkable celebration of orchestral music.

A Symphony of Sounds: BBC Philharmonic's 2025 Musical Showcase

In a remarkable series of orchestral events, the BBC Philharmonic showcases a stunning array of classical masterpieces across the UK. From Beethoven to Mahler, and including the works of revolutionary modernists like Ravel and Gubaidulina, these performances reflect a diverse tapestry of musical genius. Each event, led by world-renowned conductors and performers, promises an unforgettable experience, weaving a narrative that transcends time and culture. Join us as we delve into the highlights and unique contributions that make these concerts a celebration of both music and the human spirit.

A Symphony of Celebrations: BBC Philharmonic's Unforgettable Orchestral Journey

The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra's latest concert season offers a compelling mix of fantasy, folklore, and musical mastery. From honoring French musical legends Maurice Ravel and Pierre Boulez in 'Pictures at an Exhibition' to a poignant celebration of International Women's Day with works by trailblazing female composers, this season is packed with unique experiences. Adding to the excitement is a series of concerts featuring iconic works from composers like Grieg, Saint-Saëns, and Mahler, all performed by renowned conductors and soloists.

BBC Philharmonic's Orchestral Season: A Symphony of Celebrations

The BBC Philharmonic brings a stunning array of orchestral concerts, celebrating diverse cultures and musical mastery. From the spiritual sounds of Sofia Gubaidulina at the International Women’s Day celebration to the Nordic themes of Sibelius and Grieg, and the powerful anti-war sentiments of Britten, this season promises an unforgettable musical journey. Join us as we delve into the stories behind each performance, showcasing the talents of renowned conductors and performers across iconic venues in the UK.

Harmonies of Culture: BBC Philharmonic's Orchestral Marvels

Experience an orchestral voyage with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring celebrated works by Poulenc, Beethoven, and Mahler. From the atmospheric Victoria Hall in Hanley to Manchester's reverberant Bridgewater Hall, join remarkable artists like Anna Lapwood, Elena Schwarz, and Jess Dandy as they bring to life rich symphonies and captivating narratives. These performances promise to resonate deeply, whether through the powerful chords of Poulenc's Organ Concerto or Mahler's soul-stirring Symphony No. 3, creating unforgettable evenings of music that transcend time and space.

BBC Philharmonic's Musical Odyssey: From Beethoven to Mahler

The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra brings together a dazzling array of orchestral performances in 2025, showcasing the genius of composers like Poulenc, Beethoven, and Mahler. With renowned conductors and performers like Adam Hickox, Anna Lapwood, Elena Schwarz, and John Storgårds taking the stage, audiences are set for an unforgettable musical journey. These events, spanning from the evocative notes of Poulenc's Organ Concerto to the elemental power of Mahler's Symphony No. 3, promise to captivate music lovers across Stoke-on-Trent and Manchester.

BBC Philharmonic's 2025 Musical Odyssey: From Beethoven to Mahler

In 2025, the BBC Philharmonic takes center stage with an extraordinary lineup of concerts that span a range of musical genres and stories. From Mahler's introspective symphonies to Shostakovich's operatic tragedies, and an innovative blend of classical and AI in Robert Laidlow's TECHNO-UTOPIA, audiences will experience a musical journey like no other. With performances at iconic venues such as The Bridgewater Hall and the Royal Albert Hall, these events promise to captivate and inspire all who attend.

A Symphony of Storytelling: BBC Philharmonic's Diverse 2025 Concerts

From the enchanting retelling of Three Billy Goats Gruff with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra to the vibrant performances of internationally-acclaimed artists, Manchester echoes with a symphony of diverse musical narratives. The city's venues host an array of extraordinary events, each weaving unique stories through music. Embrace this melodic journey as performers breathe life into classical pieces, explore modern compositions, and celebrate cultural legacies in an unforgettable showcase of talent and creativity.

Sonic Journeys: Unveiling Manchester's Musical Tapestry

The BBC Philharmonic's 2025 season invites music enthusiasts on a captivating journey through a diverse range of orchestral performances. From Mahler's Symphony No. 7 to Angélique Kidjo's African Symphony, and Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique to Rufus Wainwright’s Want Symphonic, this season promises a rich blend of historical classics and contemporary sounds. Join us as we explore the stories behind each event, the composers and performers who bring them to life, and the cultural themes that resonate through these musical expressions.

BBC Philharmonic 2025: A Journey of Orchestral Brilliance and Cultural Narratives

Prepare to be swept away by the BBC Philharmonic's vibrant 2026 event series, a musical exploration of diverse styles and eras. From the opulent baroque sounds of Versailles to the American influences in Dvořák's New World Symphony, this series promises to captivate audiences with its rich tapestry of global music traditions. Featuring renowned soloists and conductors, each performance offers a unique auditory experience that ranges from the classical grandeur of Beethoven's 'Eroica' to the contemporary genius of Julia Wolfe's 'Anthracite Fields'.

A Sonic Journey Through Time: BBC Philharmonic's 2026 Event Series

Experience the profound artistry and evocative storytelling of the BBC Philharmonic's 2026 concert series. Featuring a diverse array of performances, from the heart-stirring Viola Concerto by Cassandra Miller to the powerful oratorio Anthracite Fields by Julia Wolfe, these events promise rich musical journeys. From the timeless drama of Beethoven's Eroica to the vibrant rhythms of Bernstein's On the Town, these concerts showcase the creative talents of renowned conductors and musicians. Join us as we explore the cultural significance and emotional depth of these extraordinary compositions.

A Musical Journey: BBC Philharmonic's 2026 Concert Series

‘Sensational’ 2025 Sibelius Competition-winner Sueye Park makes her Proms debut, joining John Storgårds and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra as soloist in Sibelius’s Violin Concerto. All fire and ice, a love song for the composer’s own instrument, it’s the Romantic concerto par excellence: deeply personal and powerfully expressive. Sibelius’s Nordic lakes meet the choppy ocean waters of Betsy Jolas’s Tales of a Summer Sea, and later the dark forests and tectonic stirrings of Strauss’s Nietzsche-inspired tone-poem Also sprach Zarathustra, its blazing orchestral sunrise made famous by Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.

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Also sprach Zarathustra

Royal Albert Hall

Genre-defying South African cellist Abel Selaocoe returns as soloist in the UK premiere of American composer Jessie Montgomery’s These Righteous Paths – inspired by her late mother, the poet and playwright Robbie McCauley. The concert opens with Bach’s mighty Fantasia and Fugue in G minor in Andrew Davis’s colourful orchestral arrangement. After the interval comes the monumental power of Beethoven’s ‘Choral’ Symphony: a musical cry for freedom and brotherhood that culminates in the radiant ‘Ode to Joy’. This concert marks Gianandrea Noseda’s return to the podium of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra after his final appearance as its Chief Conductor 11 years ago.

Beethoven’s Ninth

Join us for an unforgettable concert in the heart of Yorkshire as we take part in HACS Harrogate Music Festival. Experience the brilliance of BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artist (2024-26) Hana Chang in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. Under the baton of conductor Ben Glassberg, we’ll also be performing Farrenc’s Overture No. 1, and Brahms’s beloved First Symphony.

HACS Harrogate Music Festival presents: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

Royal Hall, Harrogate

We return to Blackpool for the first time in 8 years with an ambitious programme in Blackpool’s historic Opera House.

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra x THE BLACK LIGHTS

Blackpool Opera House

We join RNCM student conductors and International Artist Diploma musicians for an afternoon of extraordinary music making in the BBC Philharmonic Studio.

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and RNCM: International Artist Diploma Performance 2

MediaCityUK

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and RNCM: International Artist Diploma Performance 1

‘The whole thing sounds as though it came to us from some other world. I think there is no one who can resist it. One is battered to the ground and then raised on angel’s wings to the highest heights.’ – Gustav Mahler

Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, ‘Resurrection’

The Bridgewater Hall

The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra returns to Aviva Studios for their next groundbreaking collaboration with Factory International.

Philharmonic Sessions: The Rite of Spring

Aviva Studios

In this striking exploration of Nordic soundscapes, Chief Conductor John Storgårds will flex every Finnish musical muscle as he leads the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra from the icy beauty of the Arctic to a Danish climax that revels in the raw power of human resilience.

Northern Lights

A stormy opening from the 19th century prolific German composer Emilie Mayer – think drama, boldness and romance. Meanwhile, Brahms’s Symphony No.2 is music of bittersweet contrasts. It begins quietly with horns and woodwind, starting a lyrical journey that ends in a jubilant orchestral whirlwind of breathlessness and flourish.

Brahms: Symphony No. 2

Angel’s Bone is a Pulitzer Prize-winning contemporary opera by Chinese American composer Du Yun and librettist Royce Vavrek. A dark fable exploring modern-day slavery and human trafficking, it draws inspiration from a range of musical genres from classical to cabaret and punk. Its UK premiere is the result of a collaboration between English National Opera, Factory International and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, in a new production specifically imagined for the dramatic Warehouse space at Aviva Studios.

Angel's Bone

We continue our thrillingly up-close series at the RNCM with a heavyweight artistic collaboration – our Chief Conductor John Storgårds joins the acclaimed pianist Tamara Stefanovich in this exploration of the pure power of the piano.

Grand Pianola Music

RNCM (Royal Northern College of Music)

Wolfe was two blocks from the Twin Towers when the planes hit on September 11, 2001. Big Beautiful Dark and Scary is the sound of that aftermath: an ominous, awesome wall of sound. When he wrote his Violin Concerto, Tchaikovsky was also recuperating from personal turmoil: after a collapsed marriage and a failed suicide attempt, he escaped to the shores of Lake Geneva. In the company of a violinist muse – Josef Kotek – Tchaikovsky created a concerto of romance, peace and jollity, and a celebrated classic of the repertoire.

Big Beautiful Dark and Scary

Elegant and virtuosic, Haydn’s Cello Concerto in D Major is celebrated for both its charm and technical brilliance, filled lyrical melodies, high-register passages and rapid runs.

Spring Symphony

Joshua Weilerstein makes his triumphant return to the Philharmonic in this musical postcard celebrating the 250th anniversary of American Independence. Three joyous works each cast a different light on the sights and sounds of the USA, culminating in a performance of Antonín Dvořák’s love letter to America – his ‘New World’ Symphony. One of the most beloved and enduring works in the orchestral repertoire, Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 explores themes of identity, belonging, and the emotional pull of home.

New World Symphony

Influenced by Czech folk and expressionism, Haas’s Study for Strings is an energetic, introspective work now seen as a key piece of 20th-century Czech music. Themes of fate, migration and Martinů’s own journey echo through The Rock, reflecting nature, strength, and the enduring human spirit. Dissonance and overlapping melodies define Ives’s Three Places in New England – a bold blend of American folk and modernist experimentation. For our curtain call, Bernstein’s On the Town bursts with energy, fusing classical with popular jazz styles to make a dazzling finale.

Bernstein’s ‘On the Town’

Grit courses through Julia Wolfe’s Anthracite Fields, her Pulitzer Prize-winning oratorio for choir and ensemble that serves as a musical memorial to American miners and their struggle.

Anthracite Fields

Puccini first showcased his operatic voice through the orchestra alone with his Capriccio Sinfonico. Marking the start of his signature musical style, it blends the lyrical and dramatic qualities that later came to define his iconic operas.

The Cunning Little Vixen

Nicholas Carter, one of the leading opera conductors of his generation, makes his Bridgewater Hall debut.

Four Last Songs

Who knew Haydn and hot cross buns might be related? “The Father of the Symphony”, Haydn’s staggering 104 symphonies are a legacy of brilliance. His final work, Symphony No. 104, known as The London Symphony, first dazzled audiences in 1795. Some have linked its finale to London street tunes, but its melodic roots lie in Haydn’s Austro-Croatian heritage, not the bakery aisle. We then descend into darker corners with Schubert’s Symphony No. 8, known as his ‘Unfinished Symphony’, with only two movements, this piece takes the listener on an emotional journey that feels altogether complete.

Schubert’s ‘Unfinished’

When it comes to symphonies, Beethoven's Third symphony was a real game changer and several centuries on has lost none of its sense of drama. Beethoven originally named his work for Napoleon but famously tore out the dedication after Napoleon crowned himself Emperor.

Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’

Violist Lawrence Power returns to perform Cassandra Miller’s acclaimed Viola Concerto, a piece heralded on its 2022 premiere as an instant classic. Miller weaves her personal attachments into music, creating a work that is delicate, emotionally charged, and deeply human.

Romeo & Juliet

Camille Pépin is making waves. A brilliant new voice in contemporary music, her addictive, luxuriant work sits somewhere between the seemingly opposite worlds of French impressionism and American minimalism.

Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances

Music from the court of Versailles begins and ends this sparkling exploration of the baroque. Jonathan Cohen leads a slimmed-down BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and shows just how flexible this group of players can be, as they weave their way through a selection of dances, fugues and concertos.

Music of the Sun King

Bluebeard’s Castle by Béla Bartók sits somewhere between a gothic tale of horror and a psychological dissection of a twisted relationship. Alone in a castle, Judith follows a trail of ever more compelling and grisly clues to unlock the truth about her new husband, horror by horror, door by door.

Bluebeard’s Castle

City Noir is John Adams’s musical tribute to half-lit rooms, venetian blinds, desperate men, dangerous women, secrets, lies, and the City of Angels. A symphony inspired by the iconography of 40s and 50s film noir, it weaves a dark and swaggering jazz sensibility through its three movements.

City Noir

A cold and glassy opener, Saariaho’s Winter Sky emanates the clarity, sense of mystery and ethereal beauty of a clear sky on a winter’s day. Next, to Lili Boulanger’s d’un matin de printemps which effortlessly captures the fresh energy of a spring morning. Representing summer, Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream captures the frivolous nature of the mischievous Puck, causing havoc during a hot summer night. Finally, Grieg’s In Autumn conjures a sweeping storm with bold brass breaking through the clouds.

Four Seasons in a Day

*Laniakea* is Hawaiian for ‘immeasurable celestial paradise’, a term that perfectly describes the music of Camille Pépin.

Debussy’s ‘La Mer’

Step into a winter wonderland as we bring the magic of Christmas to life with a dazzling evening of festive music.

The BBC Philharmonic Christmas Special

The irresistible sway of Johann Strauss’s An der schönen blauen Donau has made it arguably the most famous waltz of all time.

The Blue Danube

Tonight, our string section takes centre stage. Written in 1939 as Europe teetered on the brink of war, Bartók’s Divertimento fuses Hungarian folk-rhythms with his signature spiky harmonies and driving momentum. This is furiously virtuosic music; technically demanding and intense, pulsing with energy.

Serenade for Strings

In Steve Reich’s endlessly tessellating music, shapes emerge, solidify, uncouple, drift away, and begin to emerge anew. Leading the orchestra through this large-scale minimalist exploration is conductor and percussionist Colin Currie, one of the foremost champions of Steve Reich’s music worldwide, and a close collaborator of this American titan.

Steve Reich: The Four Sections

Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto sings with elegance and life. This meticulous yet passionate piece takes you on a heartfelt journey of discovery.

Mendelssohn & Beethoven

This season, we continue our odyssey through Shostakovich’s symphonies with Chief Conductor John Storgårds, who masterfully captures both the tenderness and ferocity of the composer’s music. Tonight’s programme features Symphony No. 10, premiered after Stalin’s death in 1953. Filled with grief, rage, and manic intensity, it feels deeply autobiographical – a feeling reinforced by the composer’s musical signature, the notes D, S, C, and H, that are furiously seared into the final movements of the work.

Storgårds conducts Shostakovich

You’d be hard-pressed to find a programme that is a greater expression of the titanic power of the symphony orchestra. Tonight, more is most certainly more.

Mahler’s ‘Titan’

These startlingly evocative scores defy easy categorisation. Featuring beloved modern classics by Hans Zimmer, Hildur Guðnadóttir, and Max Richter, this all-killer, no-filler set list is a testament to a phenomenally successful new avant-garde in film composition.

Moving Pictures

The rugged coastline of Northern California was the inspiration for this similarly jagged piece for singing cellist and orchestra by American composer Gabriella Smith. A fiveday solo backpacking trip on the Lost Coast Trail found her scrambling up slopes and skipping past huge drops. Smith describes the piece as a ‘raw emotional expression of the grief, loss, rage, and fear experienced as a result of climate change – as well as the joy, beauty, and wonder I have felt in the world’s last wild places.’ Join us for the UK premiere of this extraordinary, vital work.

Lost Coast

Pop idol Rufus Wainwright brings an epic reimagining of his Want One and Want Two albums to Manchester following a premiere performance at the BBC Proms, and tours across Europe and the US. Brand new arrangements, performed live by Rufus and the full forces of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, celebrate Wainwright’s blend of glossy pop, alt-rock, classical, jazz and French chanson.

Rufus Wainwright: Want Symphonic

O2 Apollo Manchester

For our season opener, an assembly of composers who, by embracing pain, find solace, redemption, and clarity.

Fountain of Youth

There’s nothing quite like Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. Join us in the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra Studio in MediaCityUK for this absolute masterpiece.

Beethoven Symphony No.7

‘I want to show the world the richness and beauty of African culture ... and I feel music is the best vehicle to carry that message.’ That mission has sustained the career of five-time Grammy Award-winner Angélique Kidjo for over four decades. Following her Proms debut back in 2019, the Benin-born ‘queen of African music’ returns for a showcase as part of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, paying tribute to her African heritage and taking in iconic tracks from legends such as Miriam Makeba, Fela Kuti, Hugh Masekela and Youssou N’Dour. ‘I wanted to tell a story based on my personal experience and my musical background,’ says Kidjo. ‘I also wanted to speak of the struggles that artists encounter in the pursuit of their music.’

Angélique Kidjo: African Symphony

Bradford Theatres

In Shostakovich’s anniversary year, a chance to hear his blistering operatic tragedy with an ‘innocent murderess’ at its heart. Amanda Majeski stars as Katerina – the defiant Lady Macbeth – with tenor Nicky Spence as her lover Sergey and Brindley Sherratt as the brutal patriarch Boris.

Shostakovich’s ‘Lady Macbeth’

The thrum of urban America – jazz clubs and bustling sidewalks, pulsing Latin rhythms and night-time lights – runs through this Prom given by Joshua Weilerstein and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Rachmaninov’s enigmatic final masterpiece, the Symphonic Dances, blends Russian soul with bold colours from the composer’s adopted homeland. Copland’s Clarinet Concerto draws on the virtuoso skills of jazz legend Benny Goodman, while bandleader Artie Shaw wrote his Clarinet Concerto for his own considerable skills as a player. Elsa Barraine’s tautly lyrical Symphony No. 2 opens the programme.

Rachmaninov and Copland

A concert of larger-than-life sounds, stories and characters has Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique at its heart. Heady, opium-fuelled visions create a kaleidoscopic sequence: a swirling ballroom, a march to the scaffold and a witches’ sabbath, all set to the obsessive pulse of unrequited love. Sci-fi legend Philip K. Dick inspires Mark Simpson’s ZEBRA, a new concerto for maverick guitarist and former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist Sean Shibe. The concert opens with Strauss’s Death and Transfiguration – no less than a musical struggle between life and death, climaxing in a promise of eternal peace.

Berlioz’s ‘Symphonie fantastique’

Night-time darkness and blazing musical sunlight collide in Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 – a musical epic that packs the whole world into five contrasting movements. Vast orchestral forces – including mandolin, cowbells and guitar – conjure a shifting landscape of waltzes, serenades, fanfares, marches and mysterious ‘night-wandering’ – by turns romantic and humorous, sardonic and sincere. To open, John Storgårds conducts the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and tenor Allan Clayton in the world premiere of award-winning composer Tom Coult’s Monologues for the Curious, inspired by the ghost stories of M. R. James.

Mahler’s Seventh

Hear the world premiere of Robert Laidlow’s new work TECHNO-UTOPIA, a genre defining piece for piano, orchestra and new AI live-processed instruments.

TECHNO-UTOPIA – AI and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

Quentin Blake’s Box of Treasures bursts open with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra as they play live accompaniment to two wonderfully animated adventures. Imagine the glorious, multicoloured world of Quentin Blake spring to life as 80 amazing musicians follow Jack, Nancy and Mrs Armitage every step of the way.

Quentin Blake’s Box of Treasures with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

Musicians from Manchester’s ensembles assemble under the baton of Alpesh Chauhan for a spectacular concert of fanfares and flourishes to celebrate the finale of a spectacular weekend of music.

Manchester Classical 2025 – Finale

Sean Chandler presents a live and interactive performance of Three Billy Goats Gruff from the CBeebies series Musical Storyland with musicians from the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.

Musical Storyland LIVE! Three Billy Goats Gruff

Music for beginnings and endings. It’s hard to find a more famous, or iconically flamboyant first few seconds than the clarinet solo at the start of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. ‘Metropolitan madness’ and a ‘musical kaleidoscope of America’ is how Gershwin described this musical montage of the jazz age.

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra: Gershwin, Bernstein and Strauss

‘My music is always the voice of nature.’

A hymn to the natural world, Gustav Mahler takes on the elements in a work like no
other. Writing for huge forces, Mahler was so consumed by his Third Symphony that he was convinced that it had a life of its own. Indeed, it has all the energy of an offshore wind farm – but whilst this is music of the Earth, it is also music of the soul. Here, Mahler is on
a spiritual quest, one of extreme emotional highs and lows. The earthshattering climax is a paean to love.

The Voice of Nature

Children will see, hear and feel the thrill of the whole orchestra and have a chance to join in with the songs. Help Sean find his missing trumpet and get to know the instruments of the orchestra along the way.

Musical Storyland LIVE

Beethoven may be centre stage, but Shakespeare is once more in the wings for an extraordinary programme conducted by Elena Schwarz.

Ophelia, Hamlet’s doomed lover, narrates Hans Abrahamsen’s prize-winning song
cycle Let me tell you. With a vivid and virtuosic role, Jennifer France becomes an empowered and defiant heroine worthy of a Scandi drama. Roman General Coriolanus appears in tonight’s curtain raiser; fortunately, Beethoven’s version is more child friendly than Shakespeare’s. Coriolan is also the starting point of Unsuk Chin’s miniature for orchestra, subito con forza. Powerful and impulsive, Unsuk Chin pulls no punches in her homage to Beethoven, surely something he would have approved of!

Let me tell you

Cursed by the goddess Hera, Echo may only repeat the last words spoken to her. Narcissus, a self-obsessed beautiful young man, rejects Echo and leaves her to waste away, setting the scene Bjarnason’s I Want to be Alive: Echo / Narcissus, an emotionally charged, cinematic reflection of echoing motifs and immersive story telling.

Brahms: Double Concerto

Conductor Adam Hickox joins the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra at Victoria Hall Hanley. A brilliant opportunity to hear rising star Anna Lapwood perform Poulenc's Organ Concerto.

Stravinsky, Poulenc and Beethoven at Victoria Hall, Hanley

Victoria Hall in Stoke-on-Trent

‘I’m going to make it just as anti-war as possible’ – the words of Benjamin Britten about his new work in 1940, a wordless requiem for orchestra. What he created was one of the most taut and direct pacifist artistic statements ever created. Sinfonia da Requiem is as arresting and powerful today as it was at the start of World War II.

Mahler Symphony No. 9

Italy. Land of sun, sea and serious culture – look no further than its great operatic Hall of Fame led by Giuseppe Verdi (that’s Joe Green to you and me). Inspired by Shakespeare’s tragic Othello, soprano Mariangela Sicilia joins us for Desdemona’s poignant soliloquy.

There’s a cameo from Giacomo Puccini, making his mark as a passionate dramatist with his early Symphonic Prelude. The silken Intermezzo from the opera Cavelleria rusticana provides some serenity amidst Pietro Mascagni’s torrid Sicilian drama.

Roman Holiday

The pipes of the Bridgewater Hall organ get a full wash, wax and valet tonight with a performance characterised by Romantic splendour. Saint-Saëns’s spectacular Third Symphony takes us on a dramatic journey from darkness to light, and gave us the theme music to the iconic pig-based classic, Babe.

John Wilson conducts Saint-Saëns’s Organ Symphony

We’re off to the wilds of Scandinavia! Northern Lights, midnight sun and a smorgasbord of Nordic greats. Chief Conductor John Storgårds has a natural affinity with this music and is the dedicatee of tonight’s opener, the thrilling, most recent symphony of Danish composer Per Nørgård, a mind-bending kaleidoscope for large orchestra. Sorgårds has been called a “master architect” of this great symphonist, as revealed in his recorded cycle of all the symphonies with the orchestra.

Grieg’s Piano Concerto

Grieg's beloved 'Peer Gynt Suite No.1' will transport you to the rustic mountainsides of Norway, as you revel in the famous 'In the Hall of the Mountain King'. Then, be swept up in the passion and lyricism of Bruch's soaring 'Violin Concerto No. 1', performed with breath-taking virtuosity by the "simply spectacular” (The Independent) British violinist Jennifer Pike.

The concert closes with two iconic works from Finland's greatest composer, Jean Sibelius. The mighty 'Symphony No.3' conjures visions of vast pine forests and icy northern vistas with its thrilling grandeur. And the stirring 'Karelia Suite' evokes the resilient spirit of the Finnish people through majestic brass chorales and folk-inspired melodies.

Sibelius, Grieg and Bruch in Hull

Hull City Hall

‘I have spent my life trying to create a kind of cathedral of sound’. The words of Sofia Gubaidulina, one of the most significant living composers in the world. Her music, deeply spiritual and dramatic, forms the backbone of tonight’s celebration of International Women’s Day.

In this programme, Anja Bihlmaier makes her Manchester debut as the orchestra’s Principal Guest Conductor and explores this kaleidoscopic programme. There’s the UK premiere of Dreydl by the genre-defying Olga Neuwirth, alongside music from American Sarah Gibson – beyond the beyond is a BBC commission, written as Sarah’s joy at becoming a mother was tempered by a progressive and terminal illness. This performance will see the posthumous premiere of the work.

A Celebration of International Women’s Day

Fantasy and folklore lead the way in our continuing birthday celebrations of French musical royalty, Maurice Ravel and Pierre Boulez.

Notations finds Boulez at his most bold and brilliant, reimagining a series of jewelled piano miniatures for orchestra.

Pianist Betrand Chamayou joins the orchestra for Ravel’s left hand Piano Concerto, whilst Mother Goose carries us off to an enchanting world of make believe. Tom Thumb, Beauty and the Beast and Sleeping Beauty find Ravel at his most sumptuous.

Pictures at an Exhibition

A concert dedicated to the genius of Maurice Ravel, with three of his most popular original compositions and his arrangement of Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

BBC Philharmonic Associate Artist Ludovic Morlot conducts the orchestra tonight with renowned pianist Bertrand Chamayou.

Ravel and Mussorgsky at The Glasshouse, Gateshead

The Glasshouse International Centre for Music

Clemens Schuldt conducts the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra at Hanley this evening with Simon Callaghan as soloist in Rachmaninov's second Piano Concerto.

Wagner, Rachmaninov and Beethoven at Victoria Hall, Hanley

Beethoven’s majestic 'Emperor' Concerto, one of the greatest piano concertos of all time, will be performed by the extraordinarily talented pianist, Paul Lewis, whose cycles of core piano works by Beethoven have received unanimous worldwide critical and public acclaim. After the interval, prepare to be moved by the profound intensity of Shostakovich’s mighty Fifth Symphony. Resonating with the resilience of the human spirit, this promises to be an unforgettable journey through the peaks and valleys of human emotion, expressed through the timeless language of music.

Beethoven and Shostakovich at Sheffield City Hall

Sheffield City Hall

2025 will be a year of spectacular Francophile birthday celebrations for Maurice Ravel,
but first, we pay tribute to 20th century revolutionary Pierre Boulez. rituel – in memoriam Bruno Maderna is a dazzling canvas of sound and colour, raw and muscular.

After our starter of Boulez, we gaze through the soft-focus musical lens of Maurice Ravel. There’s a nod to the past in the Pavane pour une infante défunte, plus a birthday treat world premiere by Kenneth Hesketh, Sites auriculaires, arranged for orchestra. It’s not all soft and serene either; Ravel was a composer of the jazz age, and a sense of energy and pulsating rhythms lie at the beating heart of his G major Piano Concerto.

Daphnis and Chloé

Monumental mysticism radiates in Olivier Messiaen’s Des canyons aux étoiles... Commissioned to write a work which commemorated the bicentenary of the American Declaration of Independence, the French composer visited the United States looking for inspiration. He found it amongst the National Parks of Utah. The wild canyons of the desert state are a perfect partner for Messiaen’s powerful spirituality. Their colourful rock formations glow throughout this unique work. Messiaen faithfully replicates the songs of birds – God’s musicians, he called them – in virtuosic writing for the orchestra.

From the Canyons to the Stars

‘Nimrod’, one of music’s most endearing tributes, lies at the heart of the ‘Enigma’ Variations, and there are many more touching portraits to unveil here. Each movement dedicated to in his own words ‘his friends pictured within’. Edward Elgar loved cryptic codes and he hid one in his most famous work – it is still to be cracked even to this day.

Cracking Elgar’s Enigma Code

Tonight is all about stories of the human spirit. Buddhist writings inspired our Composer in Association, Anna Clyne to write This Moment. This UK premiere is a meditation on the words of Zen Master and peace activist Thích Nhất Hạnh; ‘this moment is full of wonders.’

A Hero’s Life

Big tunes, grand vistas and deep feelings can only mean one thing – an evening in the company of some truly great Romantic composers. It’s high spirits to start, with Carl Maria von Weber’s curtain raiser to his opera Oberon. From the supernatural to the natural world, Weber shows his hand as a master of pure theatre.

Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 with Garrick Ohlsson

Tonight, burlesque comes to The Bridgewater Hall. Petrushka is a puppet brought to life in Igor Stravinsky’s electrifying ballet. Taking centre stage is Mardi Gras with all its carnival atmosphere; there are noisy revellers, curious circus acts and a magician who gives wooden dolls a soul – for just one night.

Mischief and Magic

Gustav Holst takes us on an epic interstellar journey across our solar system, exhilarating and mysterious. From Mars the Warrior to the Ice Giants of Uranus and Neptune, The Planets is a musical vision like no other.

The Planets

When the farmer and her daughter plant their last wrinkly seed, they don't have great expectations of a successful crop. But to their amazement, the seed grows into the most enormous turnip! It's so big that they need help from some passing animals to pull it up.

The Enormous Turnip at CarFest, Hampshire

Laverstoke Park Farm

For Brahms, composing music was a quest to balance head and heart. The composer’s final symphony is the most exquisite example of that mission, a piece as radiant as poetry and as perfect as a mathematical equation. In tonight’s Prom Brahms’s work of Apollonian perfection is balanced by the outpouring of joy that is Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, plus a brand-new work by Sarah Gibson inspired by the hope, pain, fear and joy of new motherhood. Tobias Feldmann makes his Proms debut for this concert with the BBC Philharmonic under Anja Bihlmaier.

Prom 26: Beethoven, Brahms and Sarah Gibson

Few composers captured life’s struggles as vividly as Tchaikovsky. ‘This is Fate,’ wrote the composer in 1877 as he grappled with the opening notes of his Symphony No. 4. ‘It hangs above your head like the sword of Damocles.’ By the symphony’s final pages, Tchaikovsky had wrested hope from despair. John Storgårds conducts his BBC Philharmonic in this full-blooded symphony, after the delicate, white luminosity of Hans Abrahamsen’s Horn Concerto and the brusque drama of Sibelius’s symphonic fantasia Pohjola’s Daughter, based on a tale from Finnish folk epic the Kalevala, in which the ancient bard Väinämöinen attempts to woo the beautiful Daughter of the North. The Prom opens with Schumann’s much-overlooked dramatic overture for his opera on the medieval legend of St Genevieve of Brabant, Genoveva.

Prom 25: Storgårds conducts Tchaikovsky’s Fourth

As their acclaimed Shostakovich recording series continues, the BBC Philharmonic and Chief Conductor John Storgårds bring one of the composer’s boldest symphonies to the Proms. The Fourth, a bleak and ferociously powerful work, was withdrawn before its planned premiere for fear of reprisal from Joseph Stalin, who had recently denounced Shostakovich’s opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. Before the interval we hear Canadian composer Cassandra Miller’s new viola concerto, titled I cannot love without trembling and written for leading player Lawrence Power.

Prom 16: Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 4

The composer and critic Virgil Thomson described Olivier Messiaen’s music as ‘convulsive, ecstatic, cataclysmic, terrifying and unreal’. All converge in the most vibrant and unignorable symphony of the 20th century: Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphony. Nicholas Collon and the BBC Philharmonic perform a work that opens up the heavens even as it brings down the house, after the tantalising prospect of a world premiere by Anna Clyne. The Gorgeous Nothings, written specially for the Proms, is the composer’s response to the ‘spellbinding wordsmithery’ of American poet Emily Dickinson, scored for orchestra, amplified voices and real-time electronic processing.

Prom 15: Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphony

Joshua Weilerstein conducts the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra this afternoon in a concert from MediaCityUK, broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.

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