London concerts
September 2025 — May 2026
Welcome
Whether you’re a London Philharmonic Orchestra superfan, or you’re hearing about us for the first time, we’re thrilled to share our 2025/26 concerts with you.
The London Philharmonic Orchestra was created in 1932 to redefine London’s orchestral landscape. We’ve called the Royal Festival Hall home since it opened in 1951, and we’re so happy to still be here at the Southbank Centre 75 years later. Bridging tradition and innovation, our mission is to create unrivalled orchestral experiences for audiences everywhere.
This season, we’re putting the spotlight on our planet. As part of our Harmony with Nature series, we’ll present beloved blockbusters alongside brand new works, celebrating the beauty of nature through music that paints pictures of water, forests, mountains and wildlife, whilst exploring humanity’s place in climate change. We’ll be improving the
Elena Dubinets Artistic Director
David Burke Chief Executive
Orchestra’s sustainable practices, whilst using the power of classical music as a call for action at a time when the climate crisis has never felt more urgent.
We’re committed to shaping a future for classical music that is inclusive, inspiring and vital. Our ticket prices start at £16 and we continue to offer discounted tickets for young audiences through LPO Under 30s. We’re delighted to be presenting two family concerts that are sure to put the ‘fun’ in FUNharmonics, and through our thriving Education and Community programme, we look forward to sharing the joy of musicmaking with our local communities, and to showcasing the extraordinary musicians of our Rising Talent programmes.
There are so many exciting moments to come and we can’t wait to share them with you. This is where classical music comes alive.
Edward Gardner Principal Conductor
‘Our wonderful London Philharmonic Orchestra is known for the bravery and range of its programming, and I’m proud to be conducting some wonderful concerts in the 2025/26 season.
From the landmark symphonies of the opening concerts – Tchaikovsky’s Fifth and Mahler’s Fourth – to a celebration of our rich tradition in an evening dedicated to Elgar, and modern classics by George Benjamin and Hans Abrahamsen, this season showcases the Orchestra’s virtuosity and range at its finest.
We begin by celebrating George Benjamin’s tenure as Composer-inResidence with Ringed by the Flat Horizon: his elemental yet mystical portrait of an electric storm in New Mexico. As we grapple with our fractured relationship with nature, composers continue to explore humanity’s place in the world. Robert Laidlow’s Exoplanets gazes even further afield, embracing the sound of
distant worlds, a glimmer of optimism in the possibilities far away, in stark contrast to our struggles here on Earth.
My love for the music of Central Europe runs deep – I write more about this on page 14 – and I’m thrilled that we have two concerts in February dedicated to exploring this rich heritage, and to revelling in the vivid colours and emotional depth of these remarkable composers.
Finally, the London Philharmonic Orchestra is, of course, a great opera orchestra. We close the season with a concert staging of Berg’s Wozzeck, a haunting masterpiece that, for me, thrives just as powerfully – if not more so – on the concert stage as in the opera house. A haunting, damaged fable of misunderstood humanity, Wozzeck is one of the greatest operas, and in the first LPO performance of this work, we’ll let the sheer force of the music and the power of your imaginations run wild!’
Harmony with Nature
Music for a sustainable future
The Vienna of Ludwig van Beethoven was a city enfolded in nature – surrounded by vineyards, spa towns and the wooded hills of the Danube Valley. Beethoven revelled in nature’s closeness: his servant Michael Krenn saw him roaming the fields ‘sketchbook in hand, completely carried away by inspiration’. It’s no wonder that his ‘Pastoral’ Symphony remains one of music’s freshest evocations of humanity in nature. Yet Europe was at war, and less than six months after the Symphony’s premiere in December 1808, Beethoven sheltered in a cellar as explosive shells rained down. ‘I love a tree more than a man’, he’s reported to have said, and that love of nature suddenly sounds a bit more … well, complicated.
But then, humanity’s relationship with nature has rarely been straightforward – even if, in 2025, it’s never felt more urgent. ‘It’s critical at the moment’, says the LPO’s Artistic Director Elena Dubinets. In January 2025, while she was finalising plans for the Orchestra’s Harmony with Nature season, unprecedented wildfires raged through southern California.
‘Obviously the climate has changed to such an extent that we are unable to cope with the consequences anymore’, says Dubinets. ‘Through music, we hope to remind our audience about tragedies like this. Nature surrounds us and inspires amazing images, ideas and memories – but we haven’t done enough to protect it. Many composers of the past featured nature in their music, but today, for many living composers, it’s become absolutely essential.’
Harmony with Nature aims to put music at the centre of this most relevant of debates. ‘We’ve programmed pieces that demonstrate different elements of nature’ says Dubinets ‘– water, forests, caves, mountains, wildlife’. As well as Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral’ Symphony, Harmony with Nature includes works by Sibelius, Mendelssohn, Elgar and Dvořák; masterpieces of an era that saw nature as a mirror of human emotion – but also, perhaps, experienced it more immediately and organically than in our own digital age. Even Saint-Saëns’s playful The Carnival of the Animals has a message to share.
Closer to our own time, voices as diverse as Duke Ellington, John Luther Adams, Gustavo Díaz-Jerez and Anna Thorvaldsdottir have all found an unquenchable source of creative energy in the processes of nature –whether river deltas or volcanic eruptions. For composers such as Anna Korsun, Gabriela Lena Frank and Terence Blanchard (whose powerful meditation on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina receives its UK premiere), humanity enters the picture. As destroyer or protector? Or simply as an organic, inextricable part of nature itself?
That depends upon who you ask – and how you listen. Throughout the season, the LPO will expand its sustainable practices, partnering with local environmental organisations, and presenting speakers, writers, activists and thinkers as we attempt to use the power of classical music to encourage environmental stewardship. ‘We’re inviting our audiences to think very seriously about these issues’, says Dubinets. ‘It’s a call for action’.
SATURDAY 27 SEPTEMBER 2025, 7.30PM
Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto
George Benjamin
Ringed by the Flat Horizon (19’)
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor) (38’)
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 (47’)
Edward Gardner* conductor
Yefim Bronfman piano
If music means anything, it’s about engaging both heart and mind, and letting your imagination soar. Tonight, to launch a new season, Edward Gardner and the LPO set sail for new continents of human emotion, from a modern British masterpiece by LPO Composer-in-Residence Sir George Benjamin to the unchained melodies of Tchaikovsky’s much-loved Fifth Symphony. It’s an incredible journey, and along the way, the great Yefim Bronfman brings his unrivalled experience and insight to Beethoven’s grandest piano concerto – the one they call the ‘Emperor’.
*Edward Gardner’s position in the LPO is generously supported by Aud Jebsen.
ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
Edward Gardner
FRIDAY 3 OCTOBER 2025, 7.30PM
Mahler’s Fourth
Edward Gardner conductor
Jennifer France soprano
A jangle of sleighbells, a flurry of birdsong … in music, sometimes the simplest things are the most powerful. Mahler’s playful Fourth Symphony begins under pure blue skies and ends in a child’s dream of heaven. Hans Abrahamsen’s Let me tell you paints its pictures in the purest shades of light, and this Shakespeare song-cycle with a haunting difference has already become one of the 21st century’s best-loved classics. Edward Gardner unites these wondrous worlds tonight – plus, of course, the pristine voice of soprano Jennifer France.
ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
Jennifer France
Hans Abrahamsen Let me tell you (30’)
Mahler Symphony No. 4 (55’)
The Rite of Spring
Stravinsky Funeral Song (12’)
L Boulanger Faust et Hélène* (32’)
Stravinsky The Rite of Spring (32’)
Karina Canellakis** conductor
Véronique Gens soprano
Andrew Staples tenor
Jean-Sébastien Bou baritone
Karina Canellakis Principal Guest Conductor
‘I’m thrilled to return to the wonderful LPO in October for my favourite Lili Boulanger work: the gorgeous Faust et Hélène, and the firecracker we all crave: The Rite of Spring. We’ll also perform a beautiful programme of Rachmaninov and Mozart, featuring Paul Lewis. In February, I’m excited to present Beethoven’s Seventh alongside Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with my childhood hero, Anne-Sophie Mutter.
I love the LPO and cherish every moment of music-making with them. I’m looking forward to sharing that with you.’
The 1913 premiere of The Rite of Spring changed the course of modern music. It wasn’t just that a riot broke out – the rhythmic power and primal energy of Stravinsky’s volcanic score are so explosive that over a century later, we’re still reeling from the aftershock. But then, things do tend to catch fire when Principal Guest Conductor Karina Canellakis conducts the LPO. Expect grand passions in Lili Boulanger’s sensuous Faust et Hélène, written the same year as The Rite of Spring, and dark emotion in Stravinsky’s Funeral Song.
*With support from the ABO Trust’s Sirens programme.
**Karina Canellakis’s position in the LPO is generously supported by Richard Buxton.
Please note start time.
Karina Canellakis
25 OCTOBER 2025, 7.30PM
Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony
Mozart Overture, Idomeneo, K366 (5’)
Mozart Masonic Funeral Music, K477 (6’)
Mozart Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, K503 (32’)
Rachmaninov Symphony No. 2 (60’)
Karina Canellakis conductor
Paul Lewis piano
Storm-swept vistas, glowing colours, and melodies that sing straight from the heart … if you had to imagine the perfect Romantic orchestral work, it’d probably sound very like Rachmaninov’s epic Second Symphony. The LPO’s Principal Guest Conductor Karina Canellakis never stints on the emotion, and tonight she’s paired Rachmaninov’s evergreen symphony with a multi-sided portrait of Mozart at his darkest, his sunniest, and his most gloriously dramatic. And what better soloist, in the sparkling Piano Concerto No. 25, than our great friend Paul Lewis – a pianist for whom Mozart’s music is always ‘alive with surprises’?
New World Symphony
Chinary Ung Water Rings (6’)
Sibelius Violin Concerto (31’)
Dvořák Symphony No. 9 (From the New World) (40’)
Kahchun Wong conductor
Himari violin
The joy of a classic is that it always has something new to say, and no matter how many times you’ve heard Dvořák’s ‘New World’ Symphony, there’ll be fresh sounds in store when you hear it conducted by Kahchun Wong. Wong is one of the most-talked about conductors in the UK right now, and tonight you’ll hear why, as he joins violinist Himari in Sibelius’s elemental Violin Concerto. Still in her early teens, Himari has been described as a phenomenon: but come and hear for yourself…
FRIDAY 31 OCTOBER 2025, 7.30PM ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
A Sea Symphony
Sibelius Scènes historiques (Suite II) (20’)
Sibelius The Oceanides (10’)
Vaughan Williams A Sea Symphony (64’)
Mark Elder conductor
Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha soprano
David Stout baritone
London Philharmonic Choir
‘Behold, the sea itself!’ With a ringing fanfare, and a mighty shout from the London Philharmonic Choir, Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony unleashes a flood tide of inspiration. The oceans, after all, are the key to life on our blue planet, and as part of our Harmony with Nature theme, Sir Mark Elder explores two very different perspectives on the sea: Vaughan Williams’s epic symphony of the human spirit, and Sibelius’s powerful depiction of the ocean waves. With soloists Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha and David Stout, this should be a true voyage of discovery.
Kahchun Wong
Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha
WEDNESDAY 5 NOVEMBER 2025, 7.30PM
Brahms’s Fourth
ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
Brahms Tragic Overture (13’)
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 (33’)
Brahms Symphony No. 4 (40’)
Edward Gardner conductor
Pavel Kolesnikov piano
When Brahms’s Fourth Symphony was first performed in 1885, one critic said that it was like gazing into a deep well – the darker the sky, the more brightly the stars shine back. 140 years on, it’s just as beautiful, and for our Principal Conductor Edward Gardner, it’s a source of enduring poetry and strength. Tonight he pairs it with another tragic masterpiece by Brahms and welcomes the ‘outstanding’ (The Daily Telegraph) Pavel Kolesnikov in Tchaikovsky’s mighty First Piano Concerto. It’s hugely famous and rightly loved – but believe us, you won’t have heard it played like this.
Concert generously supported by Sir Simon & Lady Robey CBE.
SATURDAY 8 NOVEMBER 2025, 7.30PM ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
Beethoven & John Adams
Beethoven Violin Concerto (42’)
John Adams Harmonium (35’)
Edward Gardner conductor
James Ehnes violin
London Philharmonic Choir
BBC Symphony Chorus
‘Wild Nights! Wild Nights! Done with the compass – done with the chart!’ And so, to the words of Emily Dickinson, John Adams’s choral symphony Harmonium lifts off into realms of pure, pulsing bliss. Conducted by Edward Gardner, this 1980s classic has become something of a speciality for our superb London Philharmonic Choir, and tonight, with the BBC Symphony Chorus joining the fun, it’ll hit new heights of sonic ecstasy. First, though, a different kind of wonder, as the great Canadian violinist James Ehnes brings all his insight (as well as his gleaming, golden sound) to Beethoven’s serene Violin Concerto.
Edward Gardner
James Ehnes
WEDNESDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2025, 7.30PM
Romeo and Juliet
Gabriela Lena Frank Contested Eden (UK premiere) (13’)
Walton Cello Concerto (30’)
Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet (excerpts) (37’)
Elim Chan conductor
Nicolas Altstaedt cello
Sergei Prokofiev was the bad boy of Russian music; Romeo and Juliet is the greatest love story ever told. Not an obvious match – but somehow, they clicked, and Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet drives straight to the raw, tender heart of Shakespeare’s drama. Tonight, it’s one of three very different visions of paradise from guest conductor Elim Chan. Cellist Nicolas Altstaedt plays the sun-kissed concerto that William Walton composed on a Mediterranean island. Meanwhile, with the UK premiere of Contested Eden, composer Gabriela Lena Frank joins our Harmony with Nature debate with a very personal response to California’s wildfires.
WEDNESDAY 26 NOVEMBER 2025, 7.30PM ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
Edward Gardner conducts Elgar
Elgar
In the South (Alassio) (19’)
Sea Pictures (23’)
Sospiri (5’)
Enigma Variations (29’)
Edward Gardner conductor
Beth Taylor mezzo-soprano
Edwardian gentleman, melancholy dreamer, wide-eyed romantic, orchestral showman: Britain’s greatest composer had many moods, and tonight Edward Gardner explores four of Elgar’s most personal (and most loved) masterpieces. From the musical sunburst of In the South to the deep sorrow of Sospiri and the windswept longing of Sea Pictures, this is an Elgar you might not expect. And if all you know of the Enigma Variations is the glorious ‘Nimrod’ – well, you’re about to make some new musical friends.
With support from the Elgar Society.
This concert celebrates The Duke of Kent’s 90th birthday and 45 years of His Royal Highness’s Patronage of the LPO.
Elim Chan
SATURDAY 29 NOVEMBER 2025, 7.30PM
Sheku Kanneh-Mason plays Bloch
Robert Laidlow Exoplanets (world premiere) (23’)*
Bloch Schelomo (20’)
Rachmaninov Symphony No. 3 (38’)
Edward Gardner conductor
Sheku Kanneh-Mason cello
Music can take us to different worlds. For the LPO it’s always an adventure to play with cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, and tonight he summons up Bloch’s sumptuous vision of a Biblical past and a longed-for future. But Edward Gardner also conducts Rachmaninov’s sweeping Third Symphony – music filled with nostalgia, hope, and heartfelt melodies –and travels with the young British composer Robert Laidlow to the outer reaches of our galaxy, where he beams an urgent musical message back home to Earth. A very special moment in our Harmony with Nature season.
Supported by Cockayne Grants for the Arts, a Donor Advised Fund, held at The Prism Charitable Trust.
*Commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Interfinity Festival Basel.
Sheku Kanneh-Mason
SATURDAY 17 JANUARY
The Firebird
Rimsky-Korsakov Russian Easter Festival Overture (14’)
Gustavo Díaz-Jerez Tajogaite (Concerto for Piano and Orchestra) (UK premiere) (17’) Stravinsky The Firebird Suite (1945 version) (30’)
Maxim Emelyanychev conductor
Gustavo Díaz-Jerez piano
Harmony with Nature isn’t always quiet. The music of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Orthodox Easter celebrates the rebirth of spring and light. The enchanted world of Stravinsky’s The Firebird lies trapped in a wintry darkness, until the magic of fire, love and dazzling music restores it to glowing, vibrant life. And with a piano concerto like no other, composerpianist Gustavo Díaz-Jerez takes us to the island of La Palma, where the volcano Tajogaite creates even while it destroys.
Supported by Cockayne Grants for the Arts, a Donor Advised Fund, held at The Prism Charitable Trust. Please note start time.
WEDNESDAY 21 JANUARY 2026, 7.30PM ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Anna Korsun Terricone (15’)
Rachmaninov Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (23’)
Mosolov The Iron Foundry (3’) Prokofiev Symphony No. 2 (36’)
Vladimir Jurowski conductor Anna Vinnitskaya piano
A symphony of iron and steel: that’s how Sergei Prokofiev described his Second Symphony, and it’s right on the nail – this is music from the machine age, forged in the furnace of revolution. For an artist as adventurous as LPO Conductor Emeritus Vladimir Jurowski, it’s an irresistible challenge, as well as a gripping counterpart to Ukrainian composer Anna Korsun’s all-too-contemporary study of an industrial landscape shattered by war. Expect nature music with a serious bite – but poetry, too, as pianist Anna Vinnitskaya embraces both the danger and the romance of Rachmaninov’s glittering Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.
Anna Vinnitskaya
Maxim Emelyanychev
24 JANUARY 2026, 7.30PM
Mahler’s Tenth
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Mahler Symphony No. 10 (ed. Barshai) (75’)
Vladimir Jurowski conductor
It was the musical equivalent of raising the Titanic. When musicologists rescued Mahler’s incomplete Tenth Symphony and brought it back into the concert hall, they salvaged a masterpiece of 20th-century art: a huge, impassioned meditation on life, death and all that lies between. Cries of pain turn into vaulting songs of love, and musical puzzles yield the most intimate of secrets. If you haven’t yet heard the Tenth Symphony, you don’t know Mahler, and Vladimir Jurowski believes that this completion by Rudolf Barshai is as close as we can get to hearing Mahler’s own final thoughts.
Concert supported by a syndicate of donors.
Vladimir Jurowski
Phoenix Lands
‘20th-century music from Central Europe has always held a special fascination for me. In Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland (as they are now), composers wrote with a deep sense of pride in their nations, amid the jeopardy of political turmoil. Pieces are seasoned with the unique rhythm and flavour of each individual language, and speak with both an exoticism and a dramatic immediacy.
From Bartók’s epic fairytale The Wooden Prince to Szymanowski’s exquisite Stabat Mater, alongside lesser-known works by Vítězslava Kaprálová and Grażyna Bacewicz, I’m excited about sharing my passion for the music of these regions, and exploring with you their unique, intoxicating musical languages.’
Edward Gardner, Principal Conductor
WEDNESDAY 4 FEBRUARY 2026, 7.30PM
Bohemian Rhapsodies
Bacewicz Overture* (6’)
ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
Martinů Violin Concerto No. 2 (28’)
Lutosławski Symphony No. 4* (22’)
Janáček Taras Bulba (23’)
Edward Gardner conductor Josef Špaček violin
In the 20th century, the nations of Central Europe experienced both glory and terror –and composers responded with music that blazes with energy and imaginative power.
For LPO Principal Conductor Edward Gardner, it’s a source of pure inspiration, and tonight, in the first of two Phoenix Lands concerts, he shares his passion. Janáček retells bloody folktales, Grażyna Bacewicz strikes a note of defiance, and Lutosławski and Martinů each do their own deliriously imaginative thing. These composers have a thousand tales to tell, and with the aid of the superb young Czech violinist Josef Špaček their story starts here.
*Supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.
SATURDAY 7 FEBRUARY 2026, 7.30PM ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
The Wooden Prince
Kaprálová Rustic Suite (16’)
Szymanowski Stabat Mater* (23’)
Kaprálová Waving Farewell (6’)
Bartók The Wooden Prince (48’)
Edward Gardner conductor
Lucy Crowe soprano
Agnieszka Rehlis mezzo-soprano
Kostas Smoriginas bass-baritone
London Philharmonic Choir
Bartók’s ballet is a fairytale, for sure, but this is 20th-century Hungary, where folklore has a habit of growing teeth and claws. Edward Gardner shares the choral ecstasies of Szymanowski’s gorgeous Stabat Mater, and champions the utterly original music of Vítězslava Kaprálová. Expect surging emotions, burning colours and glorious singing; but above all, prepare to be transported.
*Supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.
Free pre-concert event: LPO Showcase
Foyle Future Firsts and the Royal Academy of Music – 6.00pm
See page 29 for details.
Josef Špaček
Lucy Crowe
‘This concert was a masterclass in orchestral storytelling and an absolute must-see for classical music lovers.’
The Live Review
Strauss’s
Ein Heldenleben at the Royal Festival Hall, 25 October 2024
George Benjamin Composer-in-Residence
‘What a delight it was for me to hear the LPO give a terrific performance of my Sudden Time – which they premiered in 1993 – under Edward Gardner at the Royal Festival Hall a couple of years ago. Now, at the start of my association with the Orchestra, I greatly look forward to conducting Palimpsests – a piece conceived for unusual forces with a mass of brass and wind – alongside three early 20th-century masterpieces for which I have a particular affection.’
WEDNESDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2026, 7.30PM
Mother Goose
Scriabin The Poem of Ecstasy (22’)
George Benjamin Palimpsests (21’) Stravinsky Symphonies of Wind Instruments (9’)
Ravel Mother Goose (complete ballet) (28’)
George Benjamin conductor
A book of fairytales, painted in a thousand subtle and ravishing sounds. A symphony transformed into a multicoloured vortex of desire; and another, split into pieces and rebuilt as a musical monument. Sounds fantastic? You’d expect nothing less when Sir George Benjamin is conducting. The LPO’s new Composer-in-Residence is a sonic alchemist in his own right – a composer who transforms subtle and exquisite sounds into vast emotional landscapes. He’ll conduct his own work Palimpsests, too: music inspired by the many different tales written on medieval manuscripts, and framed tonight by masterpieces that set Benjamin’s own imagination on fire.
ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
George Benjamin
George Benjamin
WEDNESDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2026, 7.30PM ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
Anne-Sophie Mutter plays Tchaikovsky
Anne-Sophie Mutter
WEDNESDAY 4 MARCH 2026, 7.30PM
Tchaikovsky & Sibelius
Sibelius Pohjola’s Daughter (12’)
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto (34’)
Beethoven Symphony No. 7 (36’)
Karina Canellakis conductor
Anne-Sophie Mutter violin
Anne-Sophie Mutter is one of those rare violinists for whom the term ‘living legend’ is entirely justified. It’s always a special occasion when Mutter plays with the LPO; add Principal Guest Conductor Karina Canellakis’s own irrepressible energy and this performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto should be in a class of its own. The celebration continues as Canellakis unleashes the pure life-force of Beethoven’s barnstorming Seventh Symphony.
Concert generously supported by Sir Simon & Lady Robey CBE.
Free pre-concert event: LPO Showcase LPO Junior Artists – 6.00pm See page 29 for details.
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 (49’)
Sibelius Symphony No. 2 (45’)
Paavo Järvi conductor
Alexandre Kantorow piano
Second time’s the charm: Sibelius’s Second Symphony begins in rural quiet but ends as a mighty flood of melody – crowned with trumpets, and sweeping triumphantly onwards to freedom. Tchaikovsky’s Second Piano Concerto isn’t as well-known as his First, but when you hear it played by the sensational young French star Alexandre Kantorow you’ll wonder why: it’s positively bursting with sunshine and big, beautiful Tchaikovsky melodies. An evening of musicmaking on a truly magnificent scale, all brought together by the inspirational conducting of Paavo Järvi – one of the most sought-after conductors in the world today.
Alexandre Kantorow
SATURDAY 21 MARCH 2026, 6.30PM
Four Seasons of Buenos Aires
WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2026, 7.30PM
Voices from Finland
John Luther Adams Become River (16’)
Clarice Assad Terra, Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra (European premiere) (22’)
Piazzolla The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires (arr. Desyatnikov) (with live dance) (26’)
Pablo Rus Broseta conductor
Jonathan Davies* bassoon
Alice Ivy-Pemberton violin
Imagine an orchestra as a river. Or a bassoon becoming one with nature, exploring land, water and air. The latest adventure in our Harmony with Nature season begins with a contemporary classic by John Luther Adams. It embraces Terra, Clarice Assad’s Earth-inspired concerto, and it ends amid the changing seasons of Buenos Aires, with a live dance interpretation of Piazzolla’s intimate portrait of the city of tango.
Supported by Cockayne Grants for the Arts, a Donor Advised Fund, held at The Prism Charitable Trust.
*LPO chair supported by Sir Simon Robey. Please note venue and start time.
Lotta Wennäkoski Zelo (world premiere)* (20’)
Sibelius Kullervo (70’)
Robin Ticciati conductor
Miina-Liisa Värelä soprano
Shenyang bass-baritone
YL Male Voice Choir
Every story has to start somewhere, and in this remarkable choral symphony the young Sibelius retells Finland’s most ancient poem, the Kalevala. This is Sibelius in the raw: the tragedy of a young hero and a love more terrible than war, told in music of operatic power. So gather round as Robin Ticciati, renowned Finnish ensemble YL Male Voice Choir and two star singers retell the story tonight. Lotta Wennäkoski – one of modern Finland’s most original young voices – has something new to add, too.
*Commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Free pre-concert event: LPO Showcase Crisis Creates – 6.00pm
See page 29 for details.
Alice Ivy-Pemberton
ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
Robin Ticciati
Beethoven’s Ninth
Tan Dun Choral Concerto: Nine (UK premiere) (25’)
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 (67’)
Tan Dun conductor
Elizabeth Watts soprano
Hongni Wu mezzo-soprano
John Findon tenor
Dingle Yandell bass-baritone
London Philharmonic Choir
London Chinese Philharmonic Choir
Beethoven wanted his Ninth Symphony to embrace all humanity, so when Tan Dun set out to compose his own tribute to Beethoven, he aimed just as high, combining ancient poetry from China and Europe to create an ‘ode to peace’ worthy of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. His choral concerto Nine is everything you’d expect from the composer of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and tonight Tan Dun joins us to conduct the UK premiere –plus a full performance of Beethoven’s worldchanging symphony. East meets West, and the result transcends both.
Join YolanDa Brown and LPO players in Pitch me Classical, the podcast that tackles classical music’s most-asked questions. Find us on your favourite podcast app.
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Tan Dun
WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL 2026, 7.30PM
Pictures at an Exhibition
Mark-Anthony Turnage
Three Screaming Popes (15’)
Bartók Violin Concerto No. 1 (21’)
Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition (30’)
Edward Gardner conductor
Alina Ibragimova violin
In the dark heart of a continent on the brink of war, a violin catches fire. Three robed priests vent their pain and rage, in molten, tactile paint. And a hut on hen’s legs flies through a fairytale forest. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but music can paint pictures that haven’t even been imagined. Tonight, Edward Gardner is the curator of a sonic picture gallery: presenting powerful 20th-century masterpieces by Mark-Anthony Turnage and Bartók alongside Mussorgsky’s multicoloured, hugely popular Pictures at an Exhibition. Let your ears be your eyes, and hear them come to life.
WEDNESDAY 8 APRIL 2026, 7.30PM ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony
Anna Thorvaldsdottir CATAMORPHOSIS (20’)
Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 (23’)
Beethoven Symphony No. 6 (Pastoral) (40’)
Kirill Karabits conductor
Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider violin
When Beethoven wanted to unwind, he headed for the countryside, and with its birdsong, its mountain streams and its summer storms, there’s still no better example of a composer in harmony with nature than his lovely ‘Pastoral’ Symphony. Add the world’s favourite violin concerto, played by Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, and you could hardly ask for more melody in a single concert. But nature is nothing if not dynamic, and Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s CATAMORPHOSIS is charged with all the brooding, volcanic power of her native Iceland.
Alina Ibragimova
Kirill Karabits
Brahms’s Double
Dvořák In Nature’s Realm (11’)
Brahms Double Concerto for violin and cello (31’)
R Schumann Symphony No. 4 (29’)
Jonathon Heyward conductor
Pieter Schoeman* violin
Kristina Blaumane** cello
To the composers of the Romantic generation, nature was a storybook, where forests, mountains and rivers all echoed the joys and sorrows of the human heart. Antonín Dvořák’s love of the Czech countryside sings and dances through his overture In Nature’s Realm Brahms’s bittersweet Double Concerto and Schumann’s stormy Fourth Symphony are like huge, elemental landscapes in their own right, and with a conductor as inspiring as Jonathon Heyward and two of the LPO’s own Principal players as soloists, there’s no better way to explore them.
*LPO chair supported by Neil Westreich.
**LPO chair supported by Bianca & Stuart Roden.
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Jonathon Heyward
Carnival of the Animals
Dvořák Symphony No. 7 (37’)
Ryan Carter Piano Concerto (world premiere) (18’)
Saint-Saëns The Carnival of the Animals (with film animation by Sandra Albukrek) (22’)
Lidiya Yankovskaya conductor Tomoko Mukaiyama piano
A graceful swan, a waltzing elephant, and a whole chorus-line of high-kicking fossils … Saint-Saëns’s tongue was very firmly in his cheek when he wrote The Carnival of the Animals. But beneath the humour, there’s a wisdom and warmth, and tonight, with Sandra Albukrek’s enchanting animations, it tells a magical story about humanity’s relationship with nature. Lidiya Yankovskaya brings the same energy and imagination to Dvořák’s storm-swept symphony, plus an immersive piano concerto featuring live electronic sound and video.
Supported by Cockayne Grants for the Arts, a Donor Advised Fund, held at The Prism Charitable Trust.
Please note venue.
CDs now available for purchase directly through the LPO website.
Music available to download and stream on all major platforms. lpo.org.uk/recordings
Rachmaninov The Bells/ Symphonic Dances
Edward Gardner conductor
The Carnival of the Animals
FRIDAY 17 APRIL 2026, 7.30PM
Terence Blanchard: A Requiem for Katrina
Duke Ellington The River Suite (30’)
Terence Blanchard A Tale of God’s Will: A Requiem for Katrina (70’)
Daniela Candillari conductor
Terence Blanchard trumpet
The Terence Blanchard Quintet
In 2006 jazz musician Terence Blanchard saw his native New Orleans devastated by Hurricane Katrina. ‘When you’re hurt beyond anything you can imagine, I mean, it causes you to dig deep and try to find some answers’, he says. His creative response was A Tale of God’s Will – an extraordinary, emotionallycharged musical testament in the symphonic jazz tradition of greats like Duke Ellington. As part of our Harmony with Nature season, Blanchard and his quintet join the LPO for a rare UK appearance – paired with Ellington’s own musical tale of man, God and nature, The River Suite.
SATURDAY 25 APRIL 2026, 7.30PM ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
Wozzeck
Berg Wozzeck (semi-staged) (90’)
Edward Gardner conductor
Stéphane Degout Wozzeck
Annette Dasch Marie
Peter Hoare Captain
Brindley Sherratt Doctor
Christopher Ventris Drum Major
Eirik Grøtvedt Andres
Adrian Thompson The Fool
Kitty Whately Margret
London Voices
Wozzeck is an underdog made for kicking, and an easy target for the powerful, the cynical and the cruel. Berg’s devastating opera tells the story of a man pushed to breaking point, in some of the most searching music of the 20th century. Wozzeck simply has to be experienced live, and this one-off concert staging should leave you reeling.
This concert has been especially developed with the Southbank Centre, with further details to be announced.
Concert supported by a syndicate of donors.
Terence Blanchard
Annette Dasch
Education & Community
At the LPO, we love sharing music with the widest possible audience, whether that’s in the concert hall, a care home, a school or in the community. We’re equally passionate about nurturing talent, so that future generations can play, compose, conduct or enjoy music no matter who they are.
Our Education and Community programme reaches over 25,000 people each year, making music with people from all walks of life, from a child experiencing their first concert, to a teenager taking their next steps on their instrument, or from a disabled person using assistive technology to make music, to someone who’s experienced homelessness writing a song with us. Music has the power to connect, inspire, uplift and heal, and you are warmly invited to experience some of our projects in action this season.
For families, don’t miss our exciting FUNharmonics days, where children can hear the LPO in all its glory in specially tailored concerts, with plenty of interaction, imagery and fun, plus hands-on activities outside the concert hall.
Join us too for our LPO Showcase series of free performances and events, which offer a platform for participants of our programmes to share their creativity. In February, come and hear free performances by two of our talented cohorts of emerging musicians, playing alongside the LPO musicians who mentor them: our young professional ensemble of Foyle Future Firsts with Royal Academy of Music students, conducted by Edward Gardner; and our teenage ensemble of LPO Junior Artists who will inspire audiences of all ages through their talent and passion.
We also engage deeply with community groups, offering a space for self-expression and nurturing creativity and wellbeing. You can experience a flavour of this at our Crisis Creates performance and at OrchLab Festival Day, which celebrates music-making with disabled adults.
Beyond these events, our Education and Community programme includes our popular BrightSparks concerts for schools in London and Eastbourne, further work in schools, teacher training and resources, holiday activities for young people with special educational needs and disabilities, inspiring orchestral days for young musicians, and an enormous wealth of community-led projects in London, East Sussex and West Sussex.
Find out more by exploring the LPO website.
FUNharmonics Family Concerts
Our family concerts are the perfect way to introduce the exciting sounds of the orchestra to the youngest music-lovers. During these hour-long concerts, a presenter weaves in audience interaction throughout and images are projected on the big screen above the Orchestra, creating an engaging, multi-sensory experience for the whole family.
The fun doesn’t stop there – check out our array of free activities in the foyer spaces before the concert, including lively interactive music sessions for all the family, and the chance to Have a Go at orchestral instruments under expert instruction.
Free pre-concert activities take place from 10.00am (FUNharmonics ticket-holders only, subject to availability, age restrictions may apply). Check age recommendation for each concert. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
SATURDAY 17 JANUARY 2026, 12.00PM ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
Peter and the Wolf
SUNDAY 17 MAY 2026, 12.00PM
Stan and Mabel and the Race for Space
Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf tells the tale of a boy, a bird, a duck, a cat … and a wolf! Ignoring his grandpa’s warnings, Peter heads out to the meadow, because who’s afraid of a wolf? A classic for a reason, Peter and the Wolf is the perfect example of brilliant music that introduces different instruments of the orchestra through compelling storytelling. This interactive concert is presented by Rachel Leach and conducted by Michael Seal, and also features other music that showcases the many wonderful sounds of the orchestra.
Age recommendation 6+
ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
Stan the dog and Mabel the cat are troubled by the treatment of the animals in their city. After being captured and thrown into the School for Wild and Dangerous Animals, Stan, Mabel and their animal friends embark on an epic escape! Will they find a safe place to call home? Presented by Polly Ives, this lively, interactive story with music by Paul Rissmann and words and illustrations by Jason Chapman will delight young audiences.
Age recommendation 5+
LPO Showcase –Free performances and events
Our LPO Showcase series shines a spotlight on the extraordinary range of musical talent and creativity supported by our Education and Community programme, through a series of free performances and events.
WEDNESDAY 26 NOVEMBER 2025, 11.00AM – 3.00PM CLORE BALLROOM, ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
OrchLab Festival Day
OrchLab Festival Day is the culmination of this year’s OrchLab programme, delivered in collaboration with Drake Music, leaders in music, technology and disability. In celebration of accessible music-making with disabled adults, we welcome our OrchLab community to the Royal Festival Hall for a fun day of live music, accessible instrument demonstrations, interactive workshops and opportunities to highlight the creativity of OrchLab participants.
This free but ticketed event is open to disabled adults, their families and those who support them (over 18s only). For more information visit orchlab.org/open-events
SATURDAY 7 FEBRUARY 2026, 6.00PM
Foyle Future Firsts & the Royal Academy of Music
The LPO’s Foyle Future Firsts programme bridges the transition between education and the music profession for 16 early-career orchestral musicians each year. Our current cohort of Future Firsts joins forces with students from the Royal Academy of Music and members of the LPO for a vibrant performance conducted by our Principal Conductor, Edward Gardner. The programme is part of our ‘Phoenix Lands’ week (see page 14) and features works by two musical titans: Ligeti’s intricate Melodien and the energetic Dance Suite by Bartók.
WEDNESDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2026, 6.00PM ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
LPO Junior Artists
The LPO Junior Artists programme supports the progression of talented teenage musicians from backgrounds currently underrepresented in professional UK orchestras. Junior Artists spend a season with us and become fully immersed in the workings of the LPO. They are each mentored by a member of the Orchestra, and take part in a variety of performances, behind-the-scenes activities and skills workshops, as well as events to inspire future generations of young musicians. In this free performance, the Junior Artists perform alongside LPO musicians, Foyle Future Firsts and Junior Artists alumni in a celebration of exciting young talent.
WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2026, 6.00PM ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
Crisis Creates
Members of Crisis UK – all adults who have experienced homelessness – perform original music they have devised with LPO musicians and a workshop leader during a week-long creative project. Crisis Creates aims to improve participants’ wellbeing and confidence through self-expression, collaboration and developing creative skills. The project offers a channel for participants to express themselves and to combat the isolation that comes hand-in-hand with precarious living situations. Using the music of the Orchestra as their starting point, the group creates new and powerful work which they bring to the Royal Festival Hall stage.
Share
in the joy of music. Be a part of the LPO.
As a registered charity, it is thanks to the vital support we receive from our individual supporters, corporate partners, and trusts and foundations that the LPO can present such vibrant and varied concert programmes of world-class quality.
Such support also enables the LPO to drive lasting social impact through our industry-leading education and community programme, supporting rising talent, those affected by homelessness, and adults and young people with disabilities – designed to build and diversify the talent pipeline and share the unique joy and power of music more widely.
Donate
Whether you make a checkout donation, give to an appeal, or choose to remember the LPO with a gift in your Will, donations of all sizes make an impact. Your support will help us continue to promote diversity and inclusivity in classical music and nurture the next generation of talent.
Join
Joining one of our membership schemes will not only support the Orchestra and our mission, but will also give you access to a host of exclusive benefits designed to enhance your experience and build a closer relationship with the Orchestra and our family of supporters – from private rehearsals, to members’ bars, private events and priority booking. Membership starts at just £6 per month.
Partner
We’re virtuosos of creative collaboration, expertly crafting bespoke partnerships that hit the right notes.
We tailor each bespoke partnership to your strategic business objectives, combining exceptional experiences that deepen client relationships, forge new connections, elevate your brand, and create buzzworthy content that leaves audiences captivated by a compelling brand story.
We’re also passionate about using music and our work to increase social value. By partnering together across a shared purpose and values, we can leave a positive, lasting impact on the communities we engage, deepening your CSR and SDG commitments.
Find out how you can support at lpo.org.uk/support us
How to book
Online
Book your seats for our Southbank Centre events online at lpo.org.uk or southbankcentre.co.uk. Online bookings incur a £3.50 booking fee.
Phone
Call the LPO Ticket Office on 020 7840 4242 (Mon–Fri 10am–5pm) or the Southbank Centre Ticket Office on 020 3879 9555 (Mon–Fri 10am–5pm, weekends 12–5pm). Phone bookings incur a £4 transaction fee.
Please note there are no booking fees for in-person bookings at the Southbank Centre Ticket Office, or for Southbank Centre Members, Supporters Circles or Patrons when booking through the Southbank Centre. There is a £3 exchange fee per ticket for bookings made directly through the Southbank Centre.
Ticket prices
We offer a range of ticket prices, starting at £16, for all our concerts. Our ticket prices include a Southbank Centre restoration levy of £2 per ticket. For more information on this levy, visit lpo.org.uk/tickets-and-discounts. Ticket prices may change according to demand.
Ways to save Series discounts
Book more and pay less when you book through the London Philharmonic Orchestra website or Ticket Office.
Book 3–4 concerts and get 10% off
Book 5–7 concerts and get 15% off Book 8–10 concerts and get 20% off Book 11–14 concerts and get 25% off Book 15+ concerts and get 30% off
Please note all discounts are subject to availability and cannot be combined.
London Philharmonic Orchestra concerts can also be booked as part of the Southbank Centre’s classical music multi-buy offer. Book multiple concerts from the same season (Autumn/Winter or Spring/Summer) in one transaction to receive a discount. Full details can be found at southbankcentre.co.uk/ classicalmusic
Group and school bookings
Groups of 10+ save 20% on ticket prices and pay no booking fee when they book through the London Philharmonic Orchestra Ticket Office. Groups of 20+ also receive two of their tickets free of charge. Reservations are flexible until one month before the concert. School groups receive a 50% discount on ticket prices, plus one in every ten tickets free.
Please note group and school bookings cannot be made online. Call the London Philharmonic Orchestra Ticket Office on 020 7840 4242 or email groups@lpo.org.uk (Mon–Fri 10am–5pm).
LPO Plus
LPO Plus is the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s online reward scheme. Every time you book at lpo.org.uk, you can gain LPO Plus points, which can then be redeemed on future orders.
Under 30s
LPO Under 30s offers anyone aged 30 and under the chance to experience the magic of live orchestral music from some of the best seats in the house for less. Find out more at lpo.org.uk/under-30s
Concessions
A limited number of 50% discount tickets are available to full-time students, benefit recipients (Jobseekers’ Allowance, Income Support, Universal or Pension Credit), and under-18s when booking via the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
The Southbank Centre has a limited allocation of concession tickets with a 25% discount for recipients of Universal or Pension Credit, full-time students and under-16s. ID will be checked on admission.
Exchanges
You can exchange your tickets up to two working days before the concert for another performance in our Southbank Centre season or for a credit voucher (valid for one year). We do not offer refunds unless a concert is cancelled. Artists and programmes are subject to change if necessary.
Age guidance
Evening concerts are suitable for children aged seven and over.
Filming
We will be filming a selection of our Southbank Centre concerts for future streaming. Please note that certain sections of the audience may be captured in the background. If you have any concerns, please contact admin@lpo.org.uk
For more information on how to book and ways to save, visit lpo.org.uk/tickets-anddiscounts
Visiting the Southbank Centre
The Southbank Centre can be accessed by Waterloo, Waterloo East, Embankment and Charing Cross stations and by bus to Waterloo. There is bike parking in Southbank Centre Square. Blue Badge car parking is available.
Visit southbankcentre.co.uk/visit/ getting-here for more information.
Access
The Royal Festival Hall has wheelchair spaces, level access via internal lifts and ramps, and accessible toilets. Sound enhancement systems are available (subject to availability). Assistance dogs are welcome on site.
Visitors with a disability can join the Southbank Centre’s free Access Scheme. You may be eligible for tickets at concessionary prices and to receive information in alternative formats.
For more information, please email accesslist@southbankcentre.co.uk or visit southbankcentre.co.uk/access
Privacy policy
For details of our privacy policy, please visit lpo.org.uk or call to request details.
The London Philharmonic Orchestra gratefully acknowledges the financial support of Arts Council England and the Southbank Centre. Concert texts Richard Bratby
Information in this brochure was correct at the time of going to press. The right is reserved to substitute artists and to vary programmes if necessary.
The London Philharmonic Orchestra is a registered charity No. 238045. The Southbank Centre is a registered charity No. 298909.
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Resident at the Southbank Centre and Glyndebourne Festival Opera
Regional Residencies
Brighton Dome
Congress Theatre, Eastbourne Saffron Hall, Saffron Walden
David Burke
Chief Executive
Elena Dubinets
Artistic Director (Until May 2025)
Jesús Herrera
Artistic Director (From June 2025)
HRH The Duke of Kent KG
Patron
Edward Gardner
Principal Conductor*
Karina Canellakis
Principal Guest Conductor†
Vladimir Jurowski KBE
Conductor Emeritus
Pieter Schoeman Leader‡
George Benjamin CBE Composer-in-Residence
Tickets 020 7840 4242
General enquiries 020 7840 4200 lpo.org.uk
Office address
89 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TP
*Supported by Aud Jebsen
† Supported by Richard Buxton
‡ Supported by Neil Westreich
The paper used for all LPO brochures and concert programmes has been sourced from responsibly managed forests, certified in accordance with the FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council). It is also Carbon Balanced, meaning the carbon impact of its production is offset by the World Land Trust through the purchase and preservation of ecologically important forestry under imminent threat of clearance.
lpo.org.uk
