UK Premiere Of Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s Cello Concerto BEFORE WE FALL To Be Performed At BBC Proms

The BBC Proms will present the UK premiere of Before we fall, a new cello concerto by acclaimed Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir, on Wednesday, August 13, 2025, at 7:30 p.m. at Royal Albert Hall. The work will be performed by celebrated cellist Johannes Moser alongside the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Eva Ollikainen, and broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds.

Co-commissioned by the BBC Proms, San Francisco Symphony, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, and Odense Symphony Orchestra, Before we fall was written for Moser and received its world premiere in San Francisco earlier this year. The San Francisco Chronicle praised the work as “a banger, sonically and intellectually,” noting Thorvaldsdottir’s “sound world, both delicate and massive, is like no other.”

This performance marks Thorvaldsdottir’s third premiere at the Proms, following METACOSMOS (2019) and ARCHORA (2022). The BBC Proms program will also include Varèse’s Intégrales, Ravel’s Boléro, and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.

Ticketing and Broadcast Info:

• Tickets: bbc.co.uk/events/ewxd2m

• Broadcast: bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002gr8h

Thorvaldsdottir continues to be recognized for her immersive orchestral works, which combine sweeping textures with intimate lyricism. A cellist herself, she explains that the inspiration behind Before we fall “centres around the notion of teetering on the edge… balancing on the verge of a multitude of opposites,” creating a dialogue between structure and entropy, grounded harmony and distorted sound.

Before we fall will next be performed by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra in Reykjavík on September 4, followed by its Finnish premiere with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra in January 2026, where Thorvaldsdottir is Composer-in-Residence for the 2025–2026 season.