News

We’re launching the new season with the promise of prize-winning soloists, epic orchestral masterpieces and an operatic journey into the dark heart of one of fairy tale’s most notorious villains.

The new season begins on Thursday 30 September with the Hallé under Principal Conductor Kahchun Wong performing Rachmaninov’s epic Second Symphony.  Kahchun also wields the baton in Beethoven’s revolutionary ‘Eroica’ Symphony on Tuesday 10 February and there’s more Beethoven from the Warsaw Philharmonic on Wednesday 20 May when his propulsive Seventh Symphony features alongside Chopin’s Romantic Second Piano Concerto, performed by the effervescent virtuoso, Alexandra Dariescu.

There’s a wider range of solo instruments featured in the new season, including Dani Howard’s Trombone Concerto performed by the brilliant former BBC Young Musician Winner Peter Moore (Friday 7 November). Mozart’s Flute and Harp Concerto is part of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s concert on Wednesday 15 October, and lovers of the cello can enjoy a trio of contrasting concertos by Elgar, Shostakovich and Anna Clyne across the season. Multiple prize-winning guitarist Thibaut Garcia takes on Rodrigo’s ever-popular Concierto de Aranjuez on Thursday 16 April, joining the Galicia Symphony Orchestra – the first Spanish orchestra to visit us for many a year – for a colourful Spanish and French programme.

Probably the most hotly anticipated concerto performance in the season comes on Saturday 10 January when three members of Nottingham’s famous Kanneh-Mason family – Braimah (violin), Sheku (cello) and Isata (piano) join forces with Sinfonia Viva for Beethoven’s Triple Concerto. That performance includes more local interest with Nottingham Harmonic Choir performing Brahms’s Shicksalslied and Vaughan Williams’ visionary Toward the Unknown Region. Choral music also features on Wednesday 25 March when the combined choirs of the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University perform Verdi’s dramatic Requiem with the BBC Concert Orchestra.

As ever, we’ll be featuring the big orchestral pieces that sound so spectacular in the Royal Concert Hall’s acclaimed acoustic; pieces like Mahler’s First Symphony, Janáček’s Taras Bulba and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition are guaranteed to quicken your pulse.

Towering above the season on Friday 23 January is the brooding presence of Bluebeard’s Castle. Bartók’s bloodstained operatic masterpiece gets a rare performance from the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert hall staging with atmospheric, theatrical lighting.

Other highlights include a return visit on Tuesday 25 November from the Aurora Orchestra, which is celebrating its 20^th anniversary this season. Famed for its animated performances of major orchestral works played entirely from memory, Aurora will be performing Mendelssohn’s breezy Italian Symphony without a note of sheet music on stage, freeing the players to communicate more directly with the audience. Another concert with a difference is the Hallé’s Vive La France performance on Friday 27 March, which mixes classical and film music with opera and popular song in a lively celebration of all things French.

Complementing the Orchestral Series is the Sunday Piano Series which, this season, welcomes back many audience favourites from previous seasons, including Van Cliburn competition prize-winner Rachel Cheung and Leeds International Piano Competition winner Anna Tsybuleva.

View the season here

Booking dates:
From 10 June : Season Ticket booking
From 17 June: 3-11 concert Multibuy booking, Spectacular Six Packages & Concert Coaches
From 23 June: General booking for individuals and groups