Bristol Beacon has announced the details of their first full orchestral music season since the reopening of their concert hall in 2023.

Beacon Hall’s world-class acoustic invites performances from the world’s finest orchestras and performers, including London Symphony Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Sinfonia of London, with soloists including Víkingur Ólafsson, Nicola Benedetti, Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Sir Stephen Hough.

The Orchestra in Residence, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra will present six concerts, two to open and close the season. Mark Wigglesworth will take to the podium, with Kirill Karabits joining to present a folklore-inspired programme. The BSO will also be joined by guest conductors Karl-Heinz Steffens, Valentina Peleggi and Gergely Madaras.

Six soloists will take to the stage with BSO, including Paul Lewis with Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3, Nicolas McCarthy with Ravel’s Piano Concerto for Left Hand, Simone Lamsma with Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto and Ksenija Sidorova with Václav Trojan’s Fairy Tales Concerto. Sir Stephen Hough will perform his own Piano Concerto The World of Yesterday, premiered earlier this year, and Louis Schwizgebel will close the season with Grieg’s Piano Concerto.

As Associate Artists of Bristol Beacon, The London Symphony Orchestra will return for two concerts, firstly with a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 and Walton’s Cello Concerto with LSO’s Principal Cellist Rebecca Gilliverits, conduced by the orchestra’s new Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano, and secondly with a presentation of Shostakovich’s Festive Overture and Symphony No. 12 alongside James MacMillan’s Violin Concerto No. 2 with Nicola Benedetti.

In addition to these orchestral engagements, the Bristol Beacon has announced it will be the home of this year’s BBC Young Musician of the Year Grand Final, taking place on 24 September. Three finalists will perform a full concerto with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales which will be broadcast on BBC in the Autumn.

More details on the upcoming programme can be found here.