• Chief Conductor Kirill Karabits’s exploration of ‘Voices from the East’ continues: Chary Nurymov’s Second Symphony; a world premiere by Franghiz Ali-Zadeh; and lesser-known work by Rimsky-Korsakov.
• Newly-appointed Principal Guest Conductor Mark Wigglesworth conducts Mozart, Schubert and Jonathan Dove, and Artist-in-Residence Felix Klieser returns in recital with BSO musicians.
• BSO debuts for conductors Kerem Hasan, Teresa Riveiro Böhm, Case Scaglione, and Chloé van Soeterstède, pianists Federico Colli and Alexander Malofeev, violinist Kristóf Baráti, and cellist Edgar Moreau.
• Returns for conductors Alexander Shelley, Karl-Heinz Steffans and Gergely Madaras, violinists Nikita Boriso-Glebsky, Simone Lamsma and Jack Liebeck, and pianist Imogen Cooper.
• Associate Guest Conductor David Hill reunites the full BSO with Bournemouth Symphony Chorus in a programme of Schumann, Brahms and Beethoven.
• Further help for schools: a new programme to support A Level Music; continued performances for GCSE Music students; and a return to live schools concerts.
• Touring further and deeper into rural areas: BSO On Your Doorstep chamber-scale music, workshops to support wellbeing, dementia-friendly events, and further livestreams.
• 10 concerts from Lighthouse, Poole to be livestreamed for international audiences.

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) today [15 November] announces the second half of its 2021/2022 season, bringing world-class conductors and musicians to the stage at Lighthouse, Poole and other venues around the South West.

The Orchestra’s Chief Executive Dougie Scarfe said “It is with great pride that we launch our Spring Season concerts, continuing a season in which we renew that special bond between orchestra and audience. It has been such a joy to have audiences back in the hall alongside our livestream viewers, enabling us to reach an ever-growing number of people.

Within an outstanding roster of artists, we are particularly excited to welcome a number of musicians making their debuts with the BSO alongside welcome returns for good friends, including our new Principal Guest Conductor, Mark Wigglesworth, and Artist-in-Residence, Felix Klieser.”

Chief Conductor Kirill Karabits
The BSO’s Chief Conductor, Kirill Karabits, returns for 8 performances throughout the spring series, many of which are being livestreamed for audiences around the UK and further afield to enjoy.

A particular highlight of Kirill’s spring programmes include a performance of Nurymov’s Symphony No. 2, a rarely performed work which Kirill introduces to the BSO audiences as part of his ongoing Voices from the East series. Voices from the East is a project spearheaded by Kirill and sees him perform and record forgotten orchestral masterpieces from former Soviet countries.

Kirill also performs Unforged by Carmen Ho in Basingstoke [Fri 28 Jan] and Truro [Fri 18 Mar], a work which he premieres on 24 November at Lighthouse, Poole. The Truro concert takes place at the new Hall for Cornwall. The winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Composition Prize in 2018, Carmen Ho was a recent finalist of the Toru Takemitsu Composition Award. Her work has been performed by the BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble 360, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. She recently completed her PhD at the University of Bristol and is the BSO’s Assistant Librarian.

For the first time, Kirill’s Voices from the East series comes into the present day with a world premiere performance of Cosmology, a new work by Azerbaijani composer Franghiz Ali-Zadeh [Wed 6 Apr — Poole; Thur 7 April — Exeter]. Ali-Zadeh studied with Kara Karayev, a composer who has previously featured in the Voices from the East series. Kara Karayev in turn studied with Shostakovich, and Kirill’s programme in April brings works by all three composers together, allowing audiences to experience the narrative of each teacher and student spanning over 100 years.

Throughout 2021/22, Kirill and the BSO celebrate a triptych of new works written by women: Elizabeth Ogonek’s All These Lighted Things will be performed at Lighthouse, Poole [Wed 16 Mar] alongside works by Bax and Sibelius.

Drawing the season to a close, Kirill conducts a Shakespeare-inspired programme pairing Tchaikovsky’s The Tempest Op. 18 and Walton’s Henry V A Shakespeare Scenario [Wed 11 May — Poole].

Principal Guest Conductor Mark Wigglesworth
The Orchestra’s newly-appointed Principal Guest Conductor, Mark Wigglesworth, returns with a programme of Mozart, Schubert and Jonathan Dove [Wed 2 Mar — Poole; Thurs 3 Mar — Portsmouth].

Wigglesworth’s first performance as Principal Guest Conductor took place in November. Described by the Daily Telegraph as “electrifying”, the concert featured works by Mahler, Shostakovich, and Sibelius.

He conducted the Orchestra several times during its inaugural livestreamed series in 2020/21, giving acclaimed performances of Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Vaughan Williams, Wagner, and Walton.

The celebrated conductor has worked with the Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony, New York Philharmonic and Royal Concertgebouw orchestras, and is known for his work in the world’s most prestigious opera houses.

Artist-in-Residence Felix Klieser
German horn player Felix Klieser returns for his second performance as Artist-in-Residence, this time performing a recital with BSO Principals at Lighthouse, Poole [Wed 16 Feb]. Klieser joins the BSO Principals to perform Mozart’s Quintet for piano and winds K. 452 and Horn Quintet K.407 in addition to Brahms’ Horn Trio Op. 40. It is a tradition for the BSO Artist-in-Residence to perform a recital with BSO Principals and Klieser follows in the footsteps of leading soloists including Benjamin Grosvenor [2020/21 AIR], Gabriela Montero [2019/20 AIR], Johannes Moser [2018/19 AIR] and Andreas Ottensamer [2017/18 AIR].

Felix makes his debut with the Orchestra on 17 November performing Mozart’s Horn Concerto No.4, conducted by Kirill Karabits.

BSO debuts
The BSO prides itself in introducing new names and up-and-coming artists to its audiences, and its spring 2022 season is no different. Kerem Hasan, an exciting young British conductor, makes his BSO debut opening the second half of the season [Wed 12 Jan — Poole] with a programme of Kodály, Bruch and Tchaikovsky.

Federico Colli makes his BSO debut with a performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.4, conducted by Case Scaglione who also makes his debut [Wed 9 Feb — Poole; Thurs 10 Feb — Exeter]. Similarly, Chloé van Soeterstède conducts a concert of Chabrier, Saint-Saens and Franck featuring cellist Edgar Moreau, marking both of their BSO debuts [Wed 9 Mar — Poole].

Teresa Riveiro Böhm conducts BSO for the first time in a concert featuring esteemed violinist Kristóf Baráti who also performs with BSO for the first time [Wed 4 May — Poole].

20-year-old Russian prodigy Alexander Malofeev, who won the Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in 2014, makes his much-anticipated BSO debut [Wed 26 Jan — Poole; Fri 28 Jan — Basingstoke].

Guest artists and conductors
David Hill, the BSO’s Associate Guest Conductor, conducts the BSO and Bournemouth Symphony Chorus in their first full concert together since before the pandemic. The programme includes Brahms’ beautiful Schicksalslied Op. 54 and Alto Rhapsody [Wed 2 Feb — Poole]

Other returning conductors include Gergely Madaras [Wed 23 Feb — Poole; Thurs 24 Feb — Exeter], Karl-Heinz Steffens [Wed 30 Mar — Poole; Thurs 31 Mar — Portsmouth] and Alexander Shelley [Wed 27 Apr —Poole; Thurs 28 Apr — Portsmouth].

Jack Liebeck, who has toured extensively with BSO around the South West, returns to open the series with a performance of Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1, a work he’s recorded recently [Wed 12 Jan — Poole].

Also taking to the stage with the Orchestra in its Spring 2022 season are violinists Simone Lamsma [Wed 23 Feb — Poole; Thurs 24 Feb — Exeter] and Nikita Boriso-Glebsky [Wed 27 Apr — Poole; Thurs 28 Apr — Portsmouth] and pianist Imogen Cooper [Wed 2 Mar — Poole; Thurs 3 Mar — Portsmouth].

The Orchestra’s Spring Series of symphonic concerts is supported by Season Sponsor Investec.

Education and community work
In addition to its busy performance schedule, education and community work is a big priority for the Orchestra.

In May, the BSO relaunches its Schools’ Concerts series, following the success of last year’s digital programme. Explore the Orchestra 2, sees composer James Redwood sharing works to spark curiosity and inspiration for children in a series of interactive concerts. The series is aimed at KS2 children and has been devised in partnership with SoundStorm Music Education Hub. Performances take place in the concert hall and via livestream.

The BSO also continues its valuable work with local music education hubs around the South West, encouraging music in schools all across the area. Its popular GCSE Set Works concert will return in-person [from 7 Feb], with online resources to support learning — and, following a successful pilot in 2019, the Orchestra is offering an A-Level Set Works concert [13 Jan] where A-Level music students can experience an insightful concert featuring works from the syllabus. The A Level performance will be available in-person and online.

Its popular series of dementia-friendly Cake Concerts continues, with BSO musicians performing short chamber music works for those living with dementia and their carers.

In addition to a raft of amateur music-making workshops, two further programmes continue into the spring: a Feel Good Friday Band designed to support mental wellbeing of under-30s through music-making; and Time Together, a group to support the mental wellbeing of new parents. 

[ENDS]