Dame Evelyn Glennie and Jonathan Dimbleby feature in the first of three weekends that delve into Beethoven’s impact on humankind – in Bristol and Dorset.
Thomas Adès becomes the BSO’s Celebrated Composer, with 8 symphonic performances across the region. Adès conducts a programme which couples his music with works by Sibelius and Rautavaara.
Pianist Boris Giltburg becomes the Orchestra’s Artist-in-Residence, with five appearances across the season.
Digital Concert Sponsor Lark Music supports the Orchestra’s seventh live broadcast series, with 18 concerts from Lighthouse, Poole to homes around the world.
BSO On Your Doorstep concerts return, taking music into the heart of rural and isolated communities – and open-air concerts include Portsmouth Guildhall Square as the city marks its centenary.
Principal Guest Conductor Chloé Van Soeterstède conducts five performances across the season, while Conductors Laureate Kirill Karabits OBE and Andrew Litton return in addition to Associate Guest Conductor David Hill MBE in his 70th birthday year.
Calleva Assistant Conductor Michal Oren joins the Orchestra, conducting the BSO in Barnstaple, Exeter, Portsmouth, Weymouth – and Poole in a programme of festive seasonal classics. She also conducts 8 ‘Explore the Orchestra’ schools’ concerts.
Guest artists visiting the Orchestra for the first time include: conductors Charlotte Corderoy, Andrew Manze, Paul McCreesh, Peter Whelan; clarinettist Carlos Ferreira; pianists Jonathan Biss, Junyan Chen, Yeol Eum Son, Eva Gevorgyan, Isata Kanneh-Mason, Javier Perianes; singers Olivia Boen, Anna Harvey, Tom Walker, Kitty Whately, Nardus Williams; and violinists Stella Chen, Johan Dalene.
Returning guests include: pianists Martin James Bartlett, David Fray, Sunwook Kim; singer Nicky Spence and violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen. BSO Principal Cello Jesper Svedberg and BSO Principal Bassoon Tammy Thorn also appear as soloists during the season.
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra today [13 May] announces its 2026/27 season featuring Chief Conductor Mark Wigglesworth at the helm of a glittering line-up, which includes Celebrated Composer Thomas Adès and Artist-in-Residence Boris Giltburg, with music shared beyond the concert hall through composer workshops, schools’ concerts and more. The season also marks the start of a two-year Beethoven celebration – Road to Joy – which explores the composer’s enduring impact.
Across the season, the Orchestra performs more than 100 symphonic performances in over 20 locations, with dozens more ‘BSO On Your Doorstep’ events and community-based Cake Concerts reaching deeper into towns and villages. The Orchestra’s live broadcast concert series enters its seventh year, with Digital Concert Sponsor Lark Music supporting 18 main season performances from Lighthouse, Poole; each is available to watch live and on demand for 30 days.
Mark Wigglesworth, Chief Conductor of the BSO, said: “Whenever and wherever the BSO plays, the artistry and commitment of its players is loud and clear. The connection music affords us is profound, a connection that is celebrated every time the BSO performs.
“The 26/27 season may be centred around the first part of ‘Beethoven: Road to Joy’, but in between these four symphonic pillars we will be playing a huge range of musical styles. Whatever people’s musical taste, there is something for everyone – opportunities to listen to music that is well-known alongside chances to discover something new. From the elegance of the Baroque to the extravagance of Wagner, the clarity of Sibelius and the intensity of Mahler, the poetry of Elgar and the novelty of Adès, our season is full of symphonic thrills, operatic highlights, and cinematic spectaculars.”
Thomas Adès, the BSO’s 2026/27 Celebrated Composer, said: “I’m delighted that Mark Wigglesworth, Chloé Van Soeterstède, and the wonderful musicians of the Bournemouth Symphony will be showcasing my work in their 26/27 season, alongside two great and talented exponents of my music in Anthony Marwood and Johan Dalene. I am hugely looking forward to making my debut with the Orchestra in May with Johan in Air, my homage to Sibelius (whose works I will also present in Poole) and Rautavaara’s Deux Sérénades.”
Pianist Boris Giltburg, the BSO’s 2026/27 Artist-in-Residence, said: “The BSO have been a constant part of my musical life for the last 20 years, and I am honoured and excited to be returning to the Orchestra as their Artist-in-Residence in the 2026/27 season. It’ll be wonderful to reunite with the BSO’s friendly and passionate musicians and the enthusiastic audiences, as well as to collaborate again with Mark Wigglesworth – our concerts together have been among the highlights of the last years. I’m looking forward to touring the region together, performing concertos by Schumann and Rachmaninov, before I return to Lighthouse, Poole for a solo recital in March.”
Dougie Scarfe OBE DL, Chief Executive of the BSO, said: “We can’t wait to begin this new season, which tours extraordinary music into all corners of the South West. As we look ahead to our two-year Beethoven focus, I’m thrilled that we do so with Chief Conductor Mark Wigglesworth at the helm; the series promises to dive deep into how and why this music came to be and its enduring relevance to our modern lives. Both concert audiences and aspiring young musicians are set to benefit further as we welcome Celebrated Composer Thomas Adès – he is recognised around the globe as an exceptional talent and we’re thrilled to share his music – and pianist Boris Giltburg, whose performances have wowed audiences, as he returns across the year as Artist-in-Residence.
“Bringing music into people’s lives is at the heart of what we do. On top of our continued programmes of work, we’re supporting primary schools in Boscombe (Bournemouth) in creative health, we’re expanding music-making in hospitals through our new programme with Southampton Hospitals Charity, and we welcome Lark Music as Digital Concert Sponsor as we continue to invest in live broadcast concerts to reach those who cannot come to the concert hall. Wherever you are, we’re excited to share our live music with you.”
Chief Conductor Mark Wigglesworth’s third season: Beethoven & Britten anniversaries
Chief Conductor Mark Wigglesworth returns for his third season at the helm, opening the season with Beethoven’s Symphony No.1 and Henk de Vlieger’s arrangement of Wagner’s Ring cycle [30 Sep – 1 Oct]. Throughout the season, Wigglesworth conducts 17 concerts with leading soloists including Artist-in-Residence Boris Giltburg [4-5 Nov and 20-21 Jan], violinist Anthony Marwood in a programme that celebrates the BSO’s close association with composers such as Tippett, Vaughan Williams, Adès and Sibelius [21-22 Oct] and cellist Jesper Svedberg [24-26 Feb].
In March, Wigglesworth celebrates Beethoven’s bicentenary with his mighty Symphony No.3 ‘Eroica’ and Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II [17-18 Mar]. The cantata – written when the composer was 19 but not premiered until 57 years after he died – will be performed with soprano Nardus Williams, mezzo-soprano Kitty Whately, tenor Anthony Gregory, bass Andrew Foster-Williams and Bournemouth Symphony Chorus. He also conducts the final Poole season concert featuring Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with Bournemouth Symphony Chorus [12 May].
Beethoven Series
Beginning in October 2026, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra celebrates Beethoven with a series Beethoven: Road to Joy ahead of his bicentenary in 2027. The series includes three immersive weekends –Beethoven Now – exploring the composer’s universal relevance to who we are today. The first of these takes place 31 October – 1 November 2026 and will focus on the man, the second the music and the third will explore the society in which he lived. The series runs across two concert seasons, until 2028.
Through performance, conversation, and debate, audiences will explore Beethoven beyond the actual music – with the first weekend interrogating how it feels to find it hard to connect to society. Broadcaster Sarah Walker introduces events in Dorset [31 Oct] and Tom Service in Bristol [1 Nov]. Beethoven’s life will be illustrated by readings from his letters accompanied by excerpts from his string quartets; percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie will help us understand more about the musical and social implications of deafness; and the afternoon will end with an audience debate chaired by broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby.
Britten’s 50th anniversary
December 2026 marks 50 years since Benjamin Britten’s death. In celebration of the British composer, Wigglesworth will conduct his Sinfonia da Requiem written when the composer was 26. The programme includes Mahler’s Symphony No.4 with soprano Olivia Boen, which will be Wigglesworth’s first Mahler with the BSO [2-3 Dec]. In the preceding week, the Orchestra features composers who held a special place in Britten’s heart, alongside conductor Andrew Manze and pianist Yeol Eum Son [25 Nov].
Celebrated Composer: Thomas Adès
The Grammy-award winning musician Thomas Adès is Celebrated Composer for the 2026/27 season. Four of his pieces are performed across the season – including: Märchentänze; Dawn – Chacony for Orchestra at any Distance; and Three-piece Suite from Powder Her Face. Adès conducts the programme that includes the final one: Air – Homage to Sibelius for violin and orchestra in the 70th anniversary year of the Finnish composer’s death [5 May].
Adès’ music will feature in the BSO’s schools’ concerts, in Poole in May 2027: around 10,000 primary-aged pupils and their teachers attend the four Poole performances and access the livestreamed concert each year. Young composers in Bristol will also benefit from Adès’ residency when his music features alongside BSO Associate Musician Dr Jon James for a young composers’ workshop at Bristol Beacon in April 2027.
Pianist Boris Giltburg becomes Artist-in-Residence
The Artist-in-Residence for 2026/27 is Gramophone-award winning pianist Boris Giltburg who performs five concerts across the season. Giltburg will perform Schumann’s Piano Concerto [4-5 Nov] and both Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.4 and Variations on a Theme of Paganini [20-21 Jan] – in addition to a recital of Prokofiev’s Visions fugitives, Schumann’s Carnaval and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition [10 Mar]. Young performers will have the opportunity to learn from Giltburg when he unites with fellow pianists for a masterclass at Bristol Beacon.
BSO conductors: Chloé Van Soeterstède, Kirill Karabits OBE, David Hill MBE, Andrew Litton – and new Calleva Assistant Conductor Michal Oren
Principal Guest Conductor Chloé Van Soeterstède leads three programmes including Rachmaninov Symphony No. 1, Dvořák’s Symphony No.9 ‘From the New World’, Lili Boulanger’s D’un Soir Triste and more.
Conductor Laureate & Artistic Director, Voices from the East, Kirill Karabits OBE returns to conduct Khachaturian’s Spartacus Suite and Respighi’s Pines of Rome – with Berio’s Folk Songs in Poole [3 Mar] and Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme in Bristol [16 June]. Associate Guest Conductor David Hill MBE marks his 70th year with a performance of Haydn’s beloved oratorio, The Creation [10 Feb], and Conductor Laureate Andrew Litton returns leading a programme of Walton, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven [18-19 Nov].
Michal Oren embarks on her first season as Calleva Assistant Conductor after winning the musicians’ vote in the biennial competition earlier this spring. She will experience the breadth of the BSO’s work, conducting symphonic performances – including BSO Pops concerts – plus education events and chamber-scale concerts throughout the region.
The BSO’s Digital Concert series continues into a seventh season
Lark Music deepens its relationship with the Orchestra when it becomes Digital Concert Sponsor, supporting 18 live broadcast performances from Lighthouse, Poole. The series, which was viewed more than 19,500 times in the last year, begins its seventh season from October 2026. Broadcasters including Tom Service and Sarah Walker return to introduce audiences from around the globe to the Orchestra’s music.
BSO On Your Doorstep, Open-Air concerts & BSO Resound
The Orchestra’s popular chamber-scale series ‘BSO On Your Doorstep’ continues, touring performances into community spaces across the South West. A mix of family-friendly and Relaxed Concerts complements traditional chamber music performances. This season, pieces by Ruth Gipps sit at the core of a programme of wind music, while the Orchestra’s string players will tour a ‘Serenades and Starbursts’ programme inspired by Jessie Montgomery’s Starburst. Venues span Cornwall, Devon and Dorset and include Wiltshire Music Centre, where a Relaxed Concert with BSO Resound concludes a schools’ tour.
The Orchestra’s popular Open-Air concerts inject energy into the heart of urban centres across the region. Following a popular debut in 2025, two concerts return to Portsmouth Guildhall Square [17-18 July] – in partnership with The Guildhall Trust and supported by Portsmouth City Council – as the city marks its centenary this summer. The BSO also returns to Bournemouth’s Meyrick Park [7-8 Aug], providing a highlight in the town’s summer calendar, sponsored by Lester Aldridge Solicitors and supported by BCP Council.
Creating opportunities for children and young people
The Orchestra’s relationships with music education partners in the South West created almost 400 learning experiences last year, with more than 58,800 participations.
Pupils at primary schools in Boscombe (Bournemouth) will benefit from a new pilot programme to support creative health, from summer 2026. The co-designed project uses creativity as a tool for expression, connection and mental wellbeing. Created to precisely fit each school’s needs, it explores the positive impact of music on the health and wellbeing of both staff and pupils.
Two aspiring community music leaders will become trainee BSO Young Associates in late 2026. The seven-month music leader training programme is designed for 18-26-year-olds currently under-represented in the arts. It provides a career springboard for talented young people to develop skills in music leading through practical experience, training and mentoring.
Pupils at schools in Dorset, and across the South West will experience schools’ concerts with musicians from the Orchestra, BSO Resound (the BSO’s disabled-led ensemble) and National Open Youth Orchestra (NOYO) when they unite to tour mainstream and SEND schools in summer 2026. The tour culminates in a relaxed performance in Bradford-on-Avon.
Further opportunities include a continuation of the BSO’s schools’ tours to support the curriculum at Key Stage 1, GCSE and A Level – and its Explore the Orchestra tour, which reaches thousands of Key Stage 2 pupils and their teachers each year with performances in Bristol, Exeter, Poole and Portsmouth. This season, the concerts are based on the magic of the human voice and are led by composer James Redwood and soprano Felicity Buckland.
Health and Wellbeing to inject music into care
The Orchestra’s partnerships with health and care providers across the South West – which delivered more than 4,100 participations in creative health experiences last year – continue in 2026/27, led by its unique team of dynamic BSO Associate and Young Associate Musicians, based in all corners of the region.
Following a successful pilot programme, the BSO’s partnership with Southampton Hospitals Charity continues into the summer, extending music making to include staff, patients and relatives in wider units and wards across UHS hospital sites. The Orchestra’s weekly music-making at Dorset County Hospital (with Arts in Hospital) continues to support patients and staff in the Dementia, Stroke and Children’s units – and its regular workshops across further Dorset HealthCare sites continue, underpinned by a three-year commitment from Garfield Weston Foundation.
The BSO’s work to support older people – namely its Care Home concerts and community-based Cake Concerts – continue throughout the season. A new partnership with Marjorie House care home in Lilliput, run by leading provider of residential and care at home Care South, will deliver monthly recitals to support residents, staff and families.
The Orchestra’s Community and Wellbeing Orchestras continue – in Bodmin, Boscombe, Bristol, Chard, Exeter, Newquay and Wincanton. The groups support a range of creative health needs and include: Music in Mind Cornwall (in Bodmin and Newquay in partnership with Cornwall Mind); Boscombe Community Orchestra (with BEAF, TOSH, Recreate Dorset); Bristol Recovery Orchestra (with Bristol Drugs Project Creative Communities); Somerset Wellbeing Orchestra (in partnership with Ark at Egwood and Chard Watch); and Exeter Community Family Orchestra (with University of Exeter). Time Together (in partnership with The Octagon, Yeovil and The Balsam Centre, Wincanton) also continues to support new parents reconnect with their babies.
BSO Pops concerts
The Orchestra’s much-loved BSO Pops series returns including leading European Elvis Presley tribute artist, Lee Memphis King [7 Nov] – and Guitar Superstars, which promises a fresh take on beloved hits.
A celebration of film music for all ages includes, How to Train Your Dragon In Concert [15-16 Jan], Julie Andrews: A Celebration [13 Feb], Christmas at the Movies, [29 Nov & 4 Dec], and The Snowman with the BSO performing Howard Blake’s iconic score [22 Dec]. The Orchestra marks 50 years since the release of Star Wars: A New Hope with a performance of John Williams’ music from the entire film saga since 1977 [6 Mar] – and The Best of Bond [21 Mar] shines a light on more memorable hits.
The Orchestra’s ever-popular series of festive classics provide a highlight to end the year. Last Night of the Christmas Proms visits Exeter [18 Dec], Poole [19 Dec] and Portsmouth [21 Dec]. The BSO unites with Bournemouth Symphony Chorus to share in a Celebration of Christmas Carols in two performances in Poole [23 Dec]. Plus, performances of New Year’s Viennese Gala tour the region [1-9 January].
World-class conductors and soloists appearing with the BSO for the first time
Performers joining the BSO on stage for the first time include: conductors Charlotte Corderoy [28-29 Oct], Andrew Manze [25 Nov], Paul McCreesh [16 Dec] and Peter Whelan [14 Oct].
Instrumentalists include pianists: Jonathan Biss [18-19 Nov] to perform Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto; Junyan Chen [28-29 Oct] for Saint-Saëns’ Second Piano Concerto; Eva Gevorgyan [3-4 Feb] in Grieg’s Piano Concerto; Isata Kanneh-Mason [16-24 April] with Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F; Javier Perianes [7-8 Oct] with the Fifth Piano Concerto of Saint-Saëns; and Yeol Eum Son with Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.22, K.482 [25 Nov]. Clarinettist and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Principal Carlos Ferreira performs Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto [27 Jan]; violinist Stella Chen performs Barber’s Violin Concerto [14 Apr] and Johan Dalene performs in a programme of music by Rautavaara and Adès [5 May]. Singers Olivia Boen, Anna Harvey and Tom Walker perform with the Orchestra for the first time – as do Kitty Whately and Nardus Williams, who lead a stellar cast for Beethoven’s Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II [17-18 Mar].
Returning guest conductors and soloists
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s 2026/27 season features many world-class returning musicians. Guest conductors include Jamie Phillips [17-22 Sep], Gavin Carr [23 Dec], Jac van Steen [27 Jan], Alexandre Bloch [17-18 Feb] and Tom Fetherstonhaugh who leads the New Year Viennese Gala concerts [1-9 Jan].
Instrumental soloists this season include Martin James Barlett performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 [17-22 Sep], David Fray with Ravel’s Valses Nobles et Sentimentales [17-18 Feb] and long-time BSO collaborator Sunwook Kim returns to perform Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 [28-29 Apr]. Violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen performs Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto [10, 14 Sep], Anthony Marwood performs Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending and Adès’ Märchentänze [21-22 Oct]. Other instrumental soloists featured in the season are bassoonist Tammy Thorn, cellists Jesper Svedberg and Hugo Svedberg, and violinists Maria Włoszczowska and Nikita Boriso-Glebsky.
The season also sees BSO collaborate with leading singers across their performances of Handel’s Messiah, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, Haydn’s The Creation and more. Soloists include Claudia Boyle, Katie Bray, Matthew Brook, Rihab Chaieb, Anna Dennis, Anna Devin, Marcus Farnsworth, Andrew Foster-Williams, Anthony Gregory, Benjamin Hulett, Christopher Purves, Nicky Spence, and more.