Bristol Beacon 2025/26 Orchestral Season
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra – Mark Wigglesworth (conductor) – Sir Stephen Hough (piano) – 2 October
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra – Vasily Petrenko (conductor) – 16 October
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra – Mark Wigglesworth (conductor) – Jess Gillam (saxophone) – 6 November
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra – Osmo Vänskä (conductor) – Helena Juntunen (soprano) – 20 November
Manchester Collective & The Marian Consort – 5 December
London Symphony Orchestra – Sir Antonio Pappano (conductor) – Antoine Tamestit (viola) – 13 December
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra – Mark Wigglesworth (conductor) – Elizabeth Watts (soprano) – 3 January
Bristol Beacon welcomes leading orchestras from around the UK to perform as part of its orchestral season which begins this week. Following its major renovation, the venue offers world-class acoustics for audiences around the South West.
The orchestral season begins with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, who return as Bristol Beacon’s Orchestra in Residence, alongside their Chief Conductor Mark Wigglesworth and soloist Sir Stephen Hough (2 Oct). The BSO later returns with Wigglesworth conducting Jess Gillam in a performance of the saxophone concerto by the orchestra’s Celebrated Composer, Dani Howard (6 Nov).
The London Symphony Orchestra returns as the Associate Orchestra under Sir Antonio Pappano who conducts Antoine Tamestit in Walton’s Viola Concerto in a programme including Thea Musgrave’s 1997 work Phoenix Rising and Vaughan Williams’s London Symphony (13 Dec).
Other highlights this autumn include the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Vasily Petrenko conducting Liadov’s Baba Yaga and Shostakovich’s mighty Symphony No.7 (16 Oct) and Osmo Vänskä leading the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in music by Sibelius with soprano Helena Juntunen and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 15 [20 Nov]. Manchester Collective makes its debut at Bristol Beacon, joining forces with the Marian Consort in the Lantern Hall to perform Wintering, a new programme of music offering a balm for the soul ahead of the winter solstice (5 Dec).
As well as its main orchestral season, Bristol Beacon hosts a series of Christmas concerts to get audiences in the festive spirit. These include a performance of John Williams’s acclaimed score for Home Alone (16 Dec), the Mozart Symphony Orchestra performing The Gruffalo and The Snowman (22 Dec) and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra presenting its New Year’s Viennese Gala featuring classics by Johann Strauss II (3 Jan).
For more about what’s on at Bristol Beacon click here.