Works by the Orchestra’s Celebrated Composer, Dani Howard, feature in 15 performances. Jess Gillam performs the UK premiere of Howard’s Saxophone Concerto in Bristol and Poole.
Roderick Williams OBE becomes the Orchestra’s Artist-in-Residence, with four appearances across the season. The superstar baritone also joins the BSO’s Participate work beyond the stage during his residency.
Principal Guest Conductor Chloé Van Soeterstède conducts music by Lili Boulanger, Dvořák, Saint-Saens and Poulenc. Conductor Laureate Kirill Karabits OBE marks Shostakovich’s 50th anniversary, and Associate Guest Conductor David Hill MBE returns with Duruflé’s Requiem.
Calleva Assistant Conductor Enyi Okpara’s second year includes a main season concert of Bax, Beethoven and Vaughan Williams, plus a series of symphonic Schools’ Concerts, and a tour with BSO Resound across Bristol, Dorset and Hampshire.
The BSO extends its support for 7 regular Community and Wellbeing Orchestras in Bodmin, Boscombe, Bristol, Chard, Exeter, Southampton and Wincanton, following successful pilots in recent seasons. Plus, its programme with Arts in Hospital at Dorset County Hospital extends to Dorset HealthCare sites across the county.
The Orchestra broadcasts 19 livestreamed Digital Concerts from Lighthouse, Poole – and its ‘BSO On Your Doorstep’ chamber-scale concerts continue, taking music into rural and isolated communities.
A major part of the Orchestra’s work, BSO Pops shares 28 orchestral performances spanning film music favourites of John Williams and Hans Zimmer to symphonic specials of music by ELO, Led Zeppelin and more. Including, Fareham Live, and, for the first time Plymouth’s Theatre Royal.
Main season debuts, include: conductors David Bates, Ludovic Morlot, Anna Rakitina; cellists Julian Steckel, Hugo Svedberg; guitarist Plínio Fernandes; organist Anna Lapwood; pianists Alim Beisembayev, Alexandre Tharaud; saxophonist Jess Gillam; singers Claudia Boyle, Anna Dennis, Bethany Horak-Hallet, Anita Monserrat, Joshua Stewart, William Thomas, Talis Trevigne; viola player Timothy Ridout; violinist Stephen Waarts
Returning guests include: conductors Tom Fetherstonhaugh, Thierry Fischer, Marta Gardolińska, Sunwook Kim, Gergely Madaras, Karl-Heinz Steffens; cellists Johannes Moser, Daniel Müller-Schott; pianists Yulianna Avdeeva, Martin James Bartlett, Elisabeth Brauß, Boris Giltburg, Sir Stephen Hough, Vadym Kholodenko, Paul Lewis, Steven Osborne, Cédric Tiberghien; singers Anthony Gregory, Jennifer Johnston, Ashley Riches, Elizabeth Watts; violinists Nikita Boriso-Glebsky, Ning Feng, Clara-Jumi Kang.
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra today [7 May] announces its 2025/26 season, featuring Chief Conductor Mark Wigglesworth at the helm of an extraordinary line-up, including Artist-in-Residence Roderick Williams OBE and Celebrated Composer Dani Howard. With regular Community and Wellbeing Orchestras reaching throughout the South West, and music expanding into healthcare sites across the region, the season – supported by Poole Season Sponsor, Rathbones – is set to ignite the senses.
Across the year, the BSO performs 106 symphonic performances in 24 venues, plus dozens more chamber-scale Cake Concerts and ‘BSO On Your Doorstep’ events reaching into towns and villages. The Orchestra’s livestreamed Digital Concert series enters its sixth year, with 19 main season performances broadcast live from Lighthouse, Poole and available to watch online for 30 days.
Mark Wigglesworth, Chief Conductor of the BSO, said:
“I am so proud to be part of this amazing orchestra, and next season promises a huge number of unforgettable performances. I am thrilled by the enormous breadth of music we will be playing for the vast number of people who choose to share in the experiences the BSO offers. Our communities are richer because of the concerts the BSO gives and in turn we at the BSO receive immeasurable inspiration and fulfilment from those who hear us play. It is a real privilege to be part of such strong musical and social connections.”
Dani Howard, the BSO’s 2025/26 Celebrated Composer, said:
“It’s a privilege to become the BSO’s first Celebrated Composer, and I’m thrilled that audiences in the South West will experience my music under the baton of Mark Wigglesworth. The season opens with The Butterfly Effect, a work that explores the consequences of seemingly small actions, before the brilliant Jess Gillam gives the UK premiere of my Saxophone Concerto in early November. Coalescence is a work that explores the interplay between humanity and nature, and I’m eager for audiences in Exeter and Poole to hear it next spring.”
Baritone Roderick Williams OBE, the BSO’s 2025/26 Artist-in-Residence, said:
“I’m really looking forward to my forthcoming residency with the BSO this year, both working with the Orchestra in the concert hall and also taking part in the essential work they do elsewhere. It will be a personal pleasure to work with Mark Wigglesworth again and to join soprano Claudia Boyle in Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony – a work that has featured on my wish list for a long time – and joining the solo quartet team for Tippett’s A Child of Our Time, a piece very close to my heart. On a smaller scale, I shall welcome audiences to my song recital – An English Winterreise, with pianist Christopher Glynn – which features 24 English language songs which are each inspired by the 24 individual songs from Schubert’s great masterpiece: I look forward to bringing all this to Poole next season and to meeting fellow music-lovers from across the region.”
Dougie Scarfe OBE DL, Chief Executive of the BSO, said:
“We can’t wait for audiences to experience our upcoming season with Chief Conductor Mark Wigglesworth firmly embedded in the role. Among many highlights, we’ll welcome superstar baritone Roderick Williams as Artist-in-Residence and share the music of Dani Howard, who becomes our first Celebrated Composer – a new series that builds on the Orchestra’s heritage of supporting new British music.“We’re also proud to extend support for seven regular Community and Wellbeing Orchestras and to create a performance pathway for members of the National Open Youth Orchestra who unite with BSO Resound and musicians from the Orchestra to tour the region. Experiencing music together has a deep impact on people’s lives, and we’re proud to continue our series of ‘BSO on Your Doorstep’ chamber-scale concerts, reaching people in rural and community centres. Brilliant, live music is awe-inspiring and it’s for everyone: wherever you are in the South West – or beyond, via our 19 livestreamed Digital Concerts – we’re excited to share this extraordinary season with you.”
Chief Conductor Mark Wigglesworth’s second season at the helm
Mark Wigglesworth leads his second season as Chief Conductor of Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra with 9 programmes across 22 performances, including a series of New Year’s Viennese Gala concerts (1-10 Jan). Wigglesworth opens the season with a programme including Shostakovich Symphony No.10 and Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.1 (1-3 Oct). He then leads a programme including Schubert’s Symphony in B minor ‘Unfinished’ and Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony with Artist-in-Residence Roderick Williams and soprano Claudia Boyle (8 & 9 Oct). Wagner’s overture to his rarely performed second opera, Forbidden Love, appears in a programme conducted by Wigglesworth that includes Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique (5 & 6 Nov).
Wigglesworth joins Yulianna Avdeeva in Brahms’ Piano Concerto No.1 alongside music by Mozart and Kernis (10 & 11 Dec) – and Clara-Jumi Kang, in a performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto (25 & 26 Feb). Rachmaninov’s Symphony No.3 is included in a programme that features music by Bridge and Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G with soloist Alexandre Tharaud (11 & 12 Mar), before Wigglesworth teams up with Boris Giltburg for a performance of Bartók’s Piano Concerto No.2 (25 & 26 Mar). A programme in April includes Dvořák’s Symphony No.8 and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with violinist Stephen Waarts and violist Timothy Ridout (15 & 16 Apr). The final concert of the main season features Copland’s Appalachian Spring and Tippett’s A Child of our Time with soprano Talise Trevigne, mezzo Anita Monserrat, tenor Joshua Stewart and Artist-in-Residence baritone Roderick Williams (13 May).
Celebrated Composer: Dani Howard
The 2025/26 season marks the start of the new Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Celebrated Composer initiative – a programme supporting living British composers. The inaugural composer is Dani Howard whose music is regularly performed across Europe, the US and Asia, and the forthcoming season sees three of her works performed. Her piece The Butterfly Effect opens the season: it will be conducted by Mark Wigglesworth in Poole (1 Oct), Bristol (2 Oct) and Basingstoke (3 Oct). The BSO’s performance of Howard’s The Butterfly Effect is supported by Resonate, a PRS Foundation initiative in partnership with Association of British Orchestras and BBC Radio 3. In November, the Orchestra performs the UK premiere of Howard’s Saxophone Concerto – a BSO co-commission – with Jess Gillam making her BSO debut (5 & 6 Nov). And Howard’s piece, Coalescence, receives two performances under Mark Wigglesworth (15 & 16 Apr).
Dani Howard’s music also features in eight BSO ‘Explore the Orchestra’ Schools’ Concerts, in Bristol, Exeter, Poole and Portsmouth throughout the year.
Baritone Roderick Williams OBE becomes Artist-in-Residence
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s new Artist-in-Residence is the legendary baritone Roderick Williams. He appears in three programmes throughout the 2025/26 season, including singing the solo part in Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony for the first time (8 & 9 Oct). In spring 2026, he performs ‘An English Winterreise’ – inspired by Schubert’s masterpiece, it takes listeners through a cycle of 24 songs written by British composers, including, Bridge, Britten, Vaughan Williams, Errollyn Wallen and Judith Weir (25 & 29 Apr). And in May, Williams performs in Tippett’s A Child of our Time conducted by Mark Wigglesworth (13 May). Williams also works with the BSO’s Participate team across the season – and the Orchestra’s symphonic Schools’ Concerts take inspiration from his residency, with a programme inspired by the relationship between voice and orchestra.
BSO conductors: Chloé Van Soeterstède, David Hill MBE, Enyi Okpara
Principal Guest Conductor Chloé Van Soeterstède performs 3 programmes in the 2025/26 season including Korngold’s Violin Concerto with soloist Ning Feng (26 & 27 Nov). She then conducts a programme in April including Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No.3 ‘Organ’ with soloist Cédric Tiberghien who performs Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 as part of the same programme (22 & 23 Apr). Van Soeterstède then directs a performance of Poulenc’s Organ Concerto with soloist Anna Lapwood (17 Jun). These April and June concerts include performances of Lili Boulanger’s D’un matin de printemps, made possible with funding from the ABO Trust’s Sirens programme, a ten-year initiative to support the performance and promotion of music by historical women composers..
Associate Guest Conductor David Hill returns to lead a programme of Ravel’s Tombeau de Couperin, Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder and Duruflé’s Requiem with mezzo Jennifer Johnston and bass-baritone Ashley Riches (12 Nov). He then conducts a programme including Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme with cellist Hugo Svedberg (13 Nov).
Enyi Okpara returns for his second year as Calleva Assistant Conductor after selection by BSO musicians in a challenging audition process last summer and a successful debut year. He performs a programme in Exeter, Barnstaple and Truro including Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with soloist Johannes Moser (9, 11 & 14 Sep). Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.21 features in Okpara’s second programme with pianist Clare Hammond (18 Sep). In December, he leads a programme including Bruch’s Violin Concerto No.1 with soloist Nikita Boriso-Glebsky (3 & 5 Dec). And in spring 2026, Okpara conducts a programme including Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.1 with soloist Martin James Bartlett (6 May).
Okpara unites with musicians from the Orchestra, BSO Resound and members of the National Open Youth Orchestra – the pioneering inclusive orchestra for 11–25-year-old disabled and non-disabled musicians – in a tour of SEND and mainstream schools in 2026. The group also performs a ‘BSO On Your Doorstep’ concert at Wiltshire Music Centre (23 July).
Shostakovich’s 50th anniversary – with Kirill Karabits OBE
Conductor Laureate and Artistic Director, Voices from the East, Kirill Karabits, directs a Shostakovich programme including Theme and Variations, The Bolt Suite, Moscow, Cheryomushki Suite and Piano Concerto No.2 with 2021 Leeds Competition champion Alim Beisembayev (11 & 12 Feb). The concert will be in memory of Dmitri Shostakovich marking 50 years since his death in 1975.
Chichester Cathedral’s 950th anniversary – with Gergely Madaras
The Orchestra returns to Chichester in the autumn [22 Oct], to celebrate the 950th anniversary of the formation of the Diocese of Chichester and Chichester Cathedral. Under the baton of Gergely Madaras the BSO performs Elgar’s arrangement of JS Bach’s Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, Suk’s Meditation on St Wenceslas, and Respighi’s Church Windows. Kristīne Balanas joins to perform Sibelius’s Violin Concerto.
Community and Wellbeing Orchestras – and Dorset HealthCare expansion
Seven Community and Wellbeing Orchestras continue regular music-making across the South West, following successful pilots in recent seasons – in Bodmin, Boscombe, Bristol, Chard, Exeter, Southampton and Wincanton. The Orchestras are led by the BSO’s team of experienced BSO Associate Musicians – who live and work throughout the South West – and add to the Associates’ dynamic portfolio of local, community-based music-making.
Bodmin Wellbeing Orchestra continues in partnership with Mind Cornwall, and Boscombe Community Orchestra launches with BEAF, as part of BSO’s ongoing Boscombe projects with a collective of charities supporting excluded groups including Dorset Safe and Sound, Vita Nova, NHS Access and Wellbeing Hubs.
Bristol Recovery Orchestra continues into its eighth year with partners Bristol Drugs Project – and two groups continue further south into Somerset in partnership with the Octagon Theatre in Yeovil: the Somerset Wellbeing Orchestra, in Chard, in partnership with Ark at Egwood and Watch; and Time Together – a Wincanton-based group supporting postnatal mental wellbeing for parents and their babies.
The Exeter Community Family Orchestra, in partnership with the University of Exeter, brings music-making into people’s lives with a multi-generational group providing accessible and inclusive sessions – and new initiative, the Southampton-based Maggies’s Family Orchestra makes music with cancer patients and families, in partnership with Maggie’s Southampton.
The Orchestra’s ongoing partnership with Dorset County Hospital and Arts in Hospital continues with weekly music-making on the wards in Dorchester, plus a new pilot programme with Dorset HealthCare to include an expansion of the work into the Alderney Hospital, Poole. The specialist programme is supporting the care and experiences of patients and staff from early intervention with young people through to people living with dementia and those at end of life.
BSO Resound creates development pathway for young performers
Formed in 2018, BSO Resound is the world’s first disabled-led ensemble as part of a professional orchestra’s core activities. In 2025, it welcomes members of the National Open Youth Orchestra (NOYO) – the pioneering inclusive orchestra for 11–25-year-old disabled and non-disabled musicians.
A 14-strong group, which also features musicians from Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and BSO Resound, will tour three SEND schools and a mainstream primary school, across Bristol, Dorset and Hampshire. The tour concludes with a public performance at Wiltshire Music Centre (23 July), conducted by Calleva Assistant Conductor Enyi Okpara. Sam Mason, a BSO Associate Musician and Music Leader of the Bournemouth NOYO Ensemble, presents the series.
Creating opportunities for children and young people to experience live music
The Orchestra’s popular series of symphonic Schools’ Concerts, ‘Explore the Orchestra’, returns to introduce thousands of Key Stage 2 pupils to live music. The BSO welcomes pupils to Lighthouse, Poole, the University of Exeter, Bristol Beacon and Portsmouth Guildhall. Inspired by the Orchestra’s partnership with Artist-in-Residence, Roderick Williams, the series explores the relationship between the voice and orchestra, celebrating the myriad ways of telling stories together on stage.
Performances and workshops continue for Key Stage 1 pupils in Somerset (in partnership with The Octagon, Yeovil), including CPD training to support classroom teaching. GCSE Set Works concerts continue in schools and community centres across the region (in partnership with regional Music Hubs). The Orchestra also partners with regional Music Hubs to pilot new activity to support music in schools – plus, specific work to encourage SEND pupils to access more music making. Cross-genre music-making opportunities will also be available to young people based in Portsmouth – plus, a new series to support care-experienced young people in Bath and North East Somerset.
The BSO’s Young Associates programme – which supports aspiring community music leaders traditionally underrepresented in the sector – extends to offer legacy training to its graduates, deepening their skills and supporting their further career development. The programme has supported eight Young Associates since 2022.
Reaching audiences beyond the concert hall
The BSO’s livestreamed Digital Concerts continue into a sixth season in 2025/26, as 19 main season Digital Concerts are livestreamed from the Orchestra’s home at Lighthouse, Poole – each is available live and for 30 days. The series has reached over 150,000 people since 2020, when the concerts were first broadcast to global audiences. Chief Conductor Mark Wigglesworth opens the digital season and leading music broadcasters such as Catherine Bott, Katie Derham, Martin Handley, Tom Service and Sarah Walker join the Orchestra to present concerts to online audiences. Presenter Helen Arney joins the line-up in 2025/26.
The popular chamber-scale series ‘BSO on your Doorstep’ returns in 2025/26, with dozens of events across the region, spanning Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and the Isle of Wight. The series combats rural isolation, delivering music directly into the heart of communities, and features family-friendly Relaxed Concerts. The series is delivered in partnership with Rural Touring Agencies Artsreach (Dorset) Carn to Cove (Cornwall), and Villages in Action (Devon), and direct with local promotors across the South West.
World-class conductors and soloists making their BSO debut
Main season debuts in the 2025/26 season include conductor David Bates who leads Handel’s Messiah with soprano Anna Dennis, mezzo Bethany Horak-Hallet, tenor Anthony Gregory and bass William Thomas (17 Dec). Music Director of the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Ludovic Morlot, makes his BSO debut with Turina, de Falla, Debussy and Ravel (14 & 15 Jan). And conductor Anna Rakitina leads the BSO in a February programme (4 Feb).
Renowned cellist Julian Steckel performs Haydn’s Cello Concerto in D (18 & 19 Mar). Bournemouth local, cellist Hugo Svedberg, shares Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme (13 Nov) with audiences in Exeter.
Classical guitarist Plínio Fernandes debuts with Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez (5, 6 & 7 Mar). Star organist Anna Lapwood performs Poulenc’s Organ Concerto (17 Jun).
Pianist Alim Beisembayev debuts in a performance of Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No.2 (11 & 12 Feb). Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G is performed by Alexandre Tharaud (11 & 12 Mar).
Jess Gillam performs the UK premiere of Dani Howard’s Saxophone Concerto – a BSO co-commission (5 & 6 Nov). Soprano Claudia Boyle makes her BSO debut in Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony (8 & 9 Oct). Mezzo Anita Monserrat debuts in Tippett’s A Child of our Time alongside tenor Joshua Stewart and soprano Talise Trevigne, also making their BSO debuts (13 May).
Violinist Stephen Waarts and violist Timothy Ridout make their BSO debuts in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante (15 & 16 Apr).
Returning guest conductors and soloists
The 2025/26 season sees some remarkable artists returning to perform with the BSO. Former BSO Assistant Conductor, Tom Fetherstonhaugh, leads a programme in March (5, 6 & 7 Mar). Swiss conductor, Thierry Fischer, directs a programme including Mozart and Tchaikovsky (29 Oct). Former BSO Leverhulme Young Conductor in Association, Marta Gardolińska, continues her relationship with the Orchestra (21 & 22 Jan). Conductor, Sunwook Kim, directs a programme of Stravinsky, Beethoven and Mozart (28 & 29 Jan). Gergely Madaras returns to conduct Elgar’s arrangement of Bach’s Fantasia and Fugue in C minor as well as music by Sibelius, Suk and Respighi (15 & 22 Oct). And Karl-Heinz Steffens returns with Haydn and Mahler (18 & 19 Mar).
The revered cellist, Johannes Moser, returns with performances of Dvořák’s Cello Concerto (9, 11 & 14 Sep). Daniel Müller-Schott joins audiences in Poole to perform Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme (4 Feb).
The 2025/26 season features many returning pianists such as Yulianna Avdeeva (10 & 11 Dec), Martin James Bartlett (6 May), Elisabeth Brauß (28 & 29 Jan), Boris Giltburg (25 & 26 Mar), Sir Stephen Hough (1, 2 & 3 Oct), Vadym Kholodenko (21 & 22 Jan), Paul Lewis (29 Oct), Steven Osborne (14 & 15 Jan), and Cédric Tiberghien (22 & 23 Apr).
Virtuoso singers also return, such as mezzo Jennifer Johnston and bass-baritone Ashley Riches who perform solo parts in Duruflé’s Requiem (12 Nov). Johnston also performs Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder in the same concert. And soprano Elizabeth Watts returns to sing in the New Year Viennese Gala (1, 2, 3, 9 & 10 Jan).
Star violinist Nikita Boriso-Glebsky returns with Bruch (3 & 5 Dec), Ning Feng with Korngold (26 & 27 Nov) and Clara-Jumi Kang with Beethoven (25 & 26 Feb).
BSO Pops concerts
The Orchestra’s much-loved BSO Pops series unites music lovers across the region with concerts celebrating some of the most enduring popular music in venues throughout the region. A major part of the Orchestra’s work, BSO Pops shares 28 symphonic performances including, for the first time, Plymouth’s Theatre Royal – and a return to Fareham Live, following success last year.
Highlights include symphonic celebrations of music from ELO [18 Oct and 26 Jan], Williams and Zimmer [25 Oct], The Beatles [9 Nov], Valentines Classics [14 Feb], Classic FM Hall of Fame [7 Mar], John Williams Blockbusters [29 Mar] and Led Zeppelin [2 May]. Further highlights include the BSO’s festive celebrations, which include Messiah [17 Dec], Last Night of the Christmas Proms [20 Dec], Celebration of Christmas Carols [23 Dec] and New Year’s Viennese Gala [1 Jan].
The BSO’s 2025/26 main season is supported by Poole Season Sponsor, Rathbones.
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