Kirill, who last week made his debut with Zurich Opera conducting a production of Mussorgsky’s opera Boris Godunov said of the news, “I am devastated not to be able to join my colleagues and friends for this historic and important moment for us all at the BSO. To be cut off from my longstanding musical partners for so many months is frustrating — I cannot wait to be reunited again soon”

The opening programme — which opens with Kirill’s own arrangement of a Bach chorale, Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, before works by Ives, Mahler arr. Britten, and Beethoven — will now be conducted by Associate Guest Conductor, David Hill MBE.  The BSO is grateful to David, who directed the Orchestra in its first rehearsal in almost six months earlier this month at its base, Lighthouse, Poole, for stepping in at short notice.

The series of 12 livestreamed symphonic performances runs weekly from 30 September to 16 December at Lighthouse, Poole to a small socially-distanced audience and online to the Orchestra’s thousands of followers in the South West and beyond. Highlights include the UK premiere of a new work by Magnus Lindberg, and solo performances by Anna Devin, Benjamin Grosvenor, Stephen Hough, and Alina Ibragimova.