Southbank Centre Reveals Classical Music Season Lineup

The Southbank Centre's six Resident Orchestras and three Resident Artists – violinist Pekka Kuusisto, harpsichordist Jean Rondeau and Manchester Collective – are at the heart of a Spring/Summer 2027 Classical Music Programme that embraces classical music in all its forms: from the grandeur of the orchestral and operatic canon, to improvisation, concert-theatre, folk traditions, new music and collaboration with filmmakers and choreographers. In 2025, 40% of classical music tickets were sold to first-time Southbank Centre bookers, bringing new audiences into close contact with the programme's extraordinary roster of resident performers, International Artists, and the immense scale of music-making the Southbank Centre's stages make possible.

Resident Artists Pekka Kuusisto, Jean Rondeau and Manchester Collective use their residencies to develop distinctive new projects that extend beyond the conventional concert format. Kuusisto concludes his residency with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and the world premiere of Nadia B Was Here (1 & 2 May); Rondeau takes the structure of Bach's Goldberg Variations as the bedrock for an improvisatory reimagining in UNDR (7 Mar); and Manchester Collective celebrates its tenth year including Night Works, bringing together music by Steve Reich and Hannah Peel, alongside film and choreography (30 Apr).

Opera North's new production of Wagner's monumental Tristan und Isolde (6 Jun) brings the company's characteristic passion and technical brilliance to one of the most significant works in Western music history. Directed by Peter Mumford and conducted by Antony Hermus, the production uses scene projections, costumed soloists and an orchestra centre-stage to create a concentrated, immersive realisation of Wagner's revolutionary work.

The Southbank Centre's landmark celebration of John Williams at 95 and Star Wars at 50 is performed by Resident Orchestra Philharmonia Orchestra and conducted by Caleb Young, marking the composer's indelible impact on cinematic history (9 Feb). Opening with excerpts from classic films E.T. and Hook, the evening segues into a new viola concerto by the legendary composer, performed by Antoine Tamestit for its UK premiere. The triumphant fanfare of the Star Wars Suite heralds in the concert's second half, raising goosebumps with the saga's unforgettable themes and Imperial March.

Toks Dada, the Southbank Centre's Head of Classical Music, said: “Classical music has an extraordinary capacity to move, challenge and connect us, and the Southbank Centre is a place where audiences can experience the art form in all its richness and in all its forms – from the scale and intensity of a great symphony or opera to the intimacy of chamber music, and from repertoire we know and love to ideas that take us somewhere unexpected.

“Our Resident Orchestras bring world-class musicianship at scale to our stages, bringing audiences close to the unrivalled power of orchestral music, while our Resident Artists – Pekka Kuusisto, Jean Rondeau and Manchester Collective – weave their inventiveness through programmes that elevate our experience of this extraordinary music. Through fresh perspectives, unexpected collaborations and new ways of presenting and interpreting music, these original thinkers of the classical music world invite us to hear familiar music differently and discover something new. That breadth is what makes classical music at the Southbank Centre so unique and so exciting.”

HIGHLIGHTS

Resident Orchestras – world-class performance at scale

Central to the classical music programme are the Southbank Centre's six Resident Orchestras – Aurora Orchestra, Chineke! Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Philharmonia Orchestra. Each brings its own identity and musical perspective to the Southbank Centre programme, together spanning the depth and breadth of classical music – from landmark symphonic repertoire and historically informed performance to contemporary commissions and distinctive concert formats.

Highlights include the Philharmonia Orchestra's season-long Beethoven 200 series, marking the 200th anniversary of the composer's death: across nine concerts, nine internationally acclaimed conductors – including Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Marin Alsop, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Manfred Honeck – pair each of Beethoven's nine symphonies with a contemporary work they believe has the power to stand the test of time. Concerts include Beethoven's Symphony No.1 alongside Steve Reich's The Desert Music (11 Feb), Symphony No.6 alongside Michael Tippett's The Rose Lake (18 Mar) and the exhilarating Symphony No.7 paired with James MacMillan's percussion concerto Veni, Veni, Emmanuel. The London Philharmonic Orchestra marks the end of Edward Gardner's tenure as Principal Conductor, performing Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius, with the London Philharmonic Choir and London Symphony Chorus (24 Apr), while the incomparable Renée Fleming leads their concert featuring the European premiere of new work from Kevin Puts and Dvořák's New World Symphony (10 Mar). Chineke! Orchestra brings music from Mozart and Bologne into conversation with a world premiere from their inaugural Composer-in-Residence, Nneka Cummins (13 Mar), led by conductor Anthony Parnther, while London Sinfonietta offers its signature flair to a season of new work including a world premiere from Lisa Illean (12 Mar), and is joined by young musicians from the North London Music Hub for the UK premiere of Toshio Hosokawa's chamber opera The Maiden from the Sea, conducted by Christian Karlsen (9 May). The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment present an all-Vivaldi programme exploring a selection of the 500 concertos he composed during his lifetime (16 Apr), in a season that also features Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring (18 Feb) and a concert centred on Poulenc's Concert champêtre with Southbank Centre Resident Artist Jean Rondeau (27 Jun). Further information about the Resident Orchestras can be found here.

Artist Residencies

The Southbank Centre's 2026/27 Resident Artists – violinist Pekka Kuusisto, harpsichordist Jean Rondeau and Manchester Collective – continue to develop distinctive artistic projects across the Spring/Summer programme, with the Southbank Centre providing a platform for collaborations that extend beyond conventional concert formats. The ever-inventive violinist Pekka Kuusisto brings his creativity to a concert centred around Sibelius's Violin Concerto with Southbank Centre Resident Orchestra the London Philharmonic Orchestra (24 Feb), before concluding his residency alongside the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra with the world premiere of a brand new concert-theatre production Nadia B Was Here, celebrating the life and legacy of the acclaimed composer and music teacher Nadia Boulanger (1 & 2 May). Harpsichordist Jean Rondeau continues his residency with a double bill, opening with Sisyphus, exploring works for harpsichord that blur the boundaries between written music and improvisation. In part two, UNDR, Rondeau deconstructs Bach's Goldberg Variations with percussionist Tancrede Kummer (7 Mar). Rondeau closes his residency alongside Southbank Centre Resident Orchestra the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in a concert that features Poulenc's playful Concert champêtre (27 Jun). Now in its fifth year as a Resident Artist, Manchester Collective brings its trademark experimental nature to a concert that places Steve Reich's hypnotic Double Sextet alongside music by Hannah Peel and a Jacob Samuel premiere (30 Apr). Later in the season, music by Michael Gordon, field recordings by Chris Watson and a panoramic film by Carlos Casas combine in a Manchester Collective concert that highlights the threat of climate change to treasured landscapes (28 May).

Multitudes, the multi-arts festival powered by orchestral music, returns (22 Apr – 3 May)

Multitudes, the Southbank Centre's multi-arts festival powered by orchestral music, returns for a show-stopping third edition (22 Apr – 3 May). Underpinned by boundary-pushing collaboration and innovative staging of orchestral performance, the festival's full programme will be announced in January 2027 featuring bold new artistic undertakings from the Southbank Centre's Resident Orchestras and widely-acclaimed International Artists.

Resident Artists Manchester Collective perform Night Works, which unites Steve Reich's Double Sextet alongside Hannah Peel's Neon and a new commission by Jacob Samuel, in an evening that propels audiences into the heart of heady 90s club culture. Viewed through the lens of Manchester filmmaker Graham Hector, whose archival film brings the spirit of the club alive, the evening will include choreography and live dance, alongside projection and lighting design – placing movement, music and visual art in dialogue. A landmark international project in the festival, violinist Pekka Kuusisto concludes his boundary-pushing residency with the world premiere of Nadia B was Here, a vivid concert-theatre portrait of the revered composer, teacher and conductor Nadia Boulanger. Presented with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, of which Kuusisto is the Artistic Director, the concert-theatre production illuminates Boulanger's fascinating life and legacy, reflecting on the lasting impact she left on 20th-century music (1 & 2 May).

The Philharmonia Orchestra concludes its season-long journey through Beethoven's symphonies with an exhilarating reimagining of Beethoven's Symphony No.9. An Ode to Joy for the future, the Philharmonia's concert, conducted by Principal Guest Conductor Marin Alsop, introduces new choral work and replaces its eponymous verse with a poetically reimagined version of the libretto for the 21st century (22 Apr). The London Philharmonic Orchestra will present its performance of Edward Elgar's sincere and heartbreaking choral masterpiece The Dream of Gerontius, paired with a breathtaking light installation.

Further Multitudes programming will be announced on 10 November 2026. The festival will include the full cohort of Southbank Centre Resident Orchestras, including Aurora Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Chineke! Orchestra.

Mark Ball, the Southbank Centre's Artistic Director, said: “The Southbank Centre's classical music programme is underpinned by a commitment to innovation and a sense of curiosity about the wider artistic world around it. Across more than 200 concerts each year, our Resident Orchestras and Resident Artists bring extraordinary musicianship to our stages and strive to find new contexts and ways for audiences to encounter great music. Curiosity runs through the heart of this season: alongside an abundance of great canonical repertoire are new commissions, improvisation, concert-theatre, film and folk traditions. It's a programme that celebrates the restless evolution of classical music – its rich history and tradition alongside revelatory experiences from the visionary artists of our time.”

---

Keyboard Music – welcoming the greatest in piano and organ performance

Keyboard Music brings internationally acclaimed pianists and organists to the Southbank Centre for recitals spanning centuries of repertoire and a range of distinctive artistic voices. Highlights include the ineffable Mitsuko Uchida's programme of Haydn, Mozart & Schubert (16 Feb), Víkingur Ólafsson's performance of Debussy, Glass & Rameau (12 Mar), and Lucas Debargue's concert of Beethoven, Gershwin & Liszt (18 Apr). Elisabeth Leonskaja performs Schubert (7 May), while the season's closing month sees two of Phillip Glass' close collaborators, organist James McVinnie and pianist Maki Namekawa, unite to celebrate the composer's 90th birthday, with a concert featuring a programme of the minimalist icon's compositions for piano and organ (24 Jun).

Alternative Experiences – shifting perceptions of the classical music experience

An established Southbank Centre-devised series, Alternative Experiences reimagine the concert-hall experience, inviting artists to respond with bold, new approaches to the presentation and performance of classical music. All three Southbank Centre Resident Artists present projects that offer an insight into their ingenious perspectives on the classical music experience. Harpsichordist Jean Rondeau and percussionist Tancrède Kummer unite for UNDR, an ever-evolving listening experience inspired by the structure of Bach's seminal Goldberg Variations (7 Mar). Manchester Collective revisit a selection of their favourite works including Steve Reich and Hannah Peel in a 10th anniversary celebration that also sees the premiere of a new commission from Jacob Samuel (30 Apr), while violinist-director Pekka Kuusisto leads the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra in the world premiere of a visionary concert-theatre work inspired by the influential musical personality Nadia Boulanger (1 & 2 May). Bjarte Eike and his ensemble Barokksollistene lead a raucous night of Nordic and Celtic folk music, including a ceilidh the Nordic way, where all are invited to dance – serving music alongside the anecdotes from weddings, funerals, theatres and beerhouses (25 Jun).

Contemporary Edit – showcasing boundary-pushing new music and innovation

Contemporary Edit places new commissions alongside defining works from the greatest composers of the modern age, creating original programmes that celebrate the genre's ongoing evolution. The Hermes Experiment weaves the words and images of artist Peter Holden and his son, ornithologist Andy Holden, with a newly composed score to explore the migration of birds (6 Feb). In Sisyphus + UNDR, Resident Artist Jean Rondeau presents a double-bill opening with harpsichord improvisation before a reimagining of Bach with percussionist Tancrède Kummer (7 Mar), and the United Strings of Europe and soprano Ruby Hughes pay tribute to the beauty of our planet in a concert for voice and strings (14 Mar). The Solem Quartet evoke the sounds of Britain's industrial past through new work from William Marsey, alongside Britten and Julia Wolfe (14 May), Resident Artist Manchester Collective embark on a musical and visual expedition through four landscapes, underpinned by Michael Gordon's Weather and field recordings by Chris Watson, to highlight landscapes threatened by climate change (28 May), and former Resident Artist, guitarist Sean Shibe returns with Scottish fiddler and composer Aidan O'Rourke for Lùban – a folk-inspired programme that weaves traditional influences into contemporary sound worlds, including a Southbank Centre commissioned piece by O'Rourke (9 Jun). Pioneering ensemble Barokksolistene unite with all-woman dance company Mamelukk for the first half of a double bill exploring Nordic and British traditional music, which brings the two together for an exuberant mix of musical twists and turns and dance virtuosity (25 Jun). London Sinfonietta presents three distinctive programmes of contemporary repertoire: Across Generations (5 Feb), featuring a UK premiere by Zygmunt Krauze and a world premiere by Andrzej Ojczenasz; Patterns in Time (12 Mar), pairing music by Ligeti, Grisey and Laure M Hiendl with a world premiere by Lisa Illean; and Knussen & Hosokawa (9 May), including the UK premiere of The Maiden from the Sea.

Chamber Music – intimate tableaux of traditional repertoire

Chamber Music's intimate concerts showcase the creativity and brilliance of small ensembles, demonstrating the intricate relationships between musicians and their unmatched skill and artistry. Violinist Nemanja Radulović and his ensemble, Devil's Trills, cross musical boundaries in a colourful concert spanning Bach to Morricone's Cinema Paradiso (25 Feb), while violinist Julia Fischer is joined by her regular piano partner, Yulianna Avdeeva in an exploration of the expressive power of the violin sonata, from Handel to Beethoven (14 Mar). Musikfest sees Alexandre Kantorow and Liya Petrova joined by close musical friends and collaborators for an expansive concert featuring Bach, Liszt, Debussy and Franck (15 Apr), and the Brodsky Quartet present a journey through Beethoven's quartets, touching on Bach and contemporary work (26 Jun).

Family experiences – classical music for all ages

Family Experiences introduce younger audiences and their adults to orchestral music through playful, participatory and accessible formats. The Spring/Summer programme sees the return of the LPO FUNharmonics including an inspiring concert based on Alexis Deacon's enchanting book Beegu (13 Mar), and a lively, participatory concert celebrating Ludwig van Beethoven, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Ethel Smyth and other inspiring musical heroes (5 Jun). Alongside these concerts, the OAE TOTS present a pair of workshops, encouraging young people to get creative and write their own music with players from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (13 Mar & 5 Jun). Later in the programme, the OAE TOTS return to uncover the surprises that Haydn has hidden in his symphonies in a special, interactive concert (26 Jun).