Now That’s What I Call Symphonic Music! highlighted leading composers and movies

Symphonic Smash Hits – the ‘9Os! celebrated the decade’s top pop artistes

Calleva Assistant Conductor Enyi Okpara concluded two-year stint with BSO

 

 

Thousands of revellers enjoyed a weekend of extraordinary music as Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s Summer Pops open air concerts in Meyrick Park proved to be a resounding success.

 

The two-night al fresco event, sponsored by Lester Aldridge Solicitors and featuring symphonic and movie classics and 1990s smash hits, attracted huge audiences who enjoyed sumptuous picnics and watched spectacular pyrotechnics finales.

 

BSO Proms in the Park 2026, supported by BCP Council, features some of the UK’s best musicians and has once again proved to an outstanding highlight of the summer season, made even more enjoyable by the glorious weather

 

Friday’s Now That’s What I Call Symphonic Music! celebrated big name composers from Stravinsky and Johann Strauss to Mussorgsky and Vaughan Williams as well as blockbuster movie soundtrack champions John Williams, Hans Zimmer and Howard Shore. The evening also marked the conclusion of Calleva Assistant Conductor Enyi Okpara’s two-year tenure with the BSO.

 

On Saturday it was the turn of the BSO Pops Orchestra and four guest singers under the baton of popular conductor Pete Harrison to perform Symphonic Smash Hits – the 9Os! which included tracks by the likes of Robbie Williams, The Spice Girls, Blur, Oasis and Wet Wet Wet.

 

 

Anthony Brown, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s Head of Marketing and Digital, said:

“Our wonderful musicians proved yet again just how brilliantly versatile they are over two fantastic evenings of unforgettable music as we once again turned Bournemouth’s Meyrick Park into a fully functioning venue to accommodate top quality musicians and thousands of revellers.

 

“We’re grateful to our sponsors Lester Aldridge Solicitors and supporters at BCP Council for their belief in the power of live music – and to our extraordinary audiences. It was a real buzz to see people come to the events laden with picnic baskets full of food and drink, tables, chairs and rugs – which was no mean feat in this heat – as they took time out the everyday to create lasting memories together.”

 

 

The Orchestra performs weekly at Lighthouse, Poole from 30 September through until spring – and many of its symphonic concerts are also available to watch live and on-demand as Digital Concerts.

Highlights of Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s upcoming 2026/27 season include the launch of a two-year Beethoven series, the arrival of Grammy-award winning Thomas Adès as Celebrated Composer and Gramophone award-winning pianist Boris Giltburg as Artist-in-Residence – plus, the arrival of new Calleva Assistant Conductor, Michal Oren.

See bsolive.com for full details.

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