Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Announces New Programme of Concerts in November and December

Today, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra announces a new programme of concerts at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall from 5 November to 15 December. These are in addition to the October concerts which successfully launched on Thursday 1 October, with huge demand for tickets and many concerts sold out.

The Orchestra will be conducted by Chief Conductor Vasily Petrenko, Kahchun Wong, and Richard Balcombe. Rebecca Tong (winner at the 2020 La Maestra conducting competition) will conduct the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. Stephanie Childress (second prize winner at the La Maestra competition) makes her debut with the Orchestra as a conductor.

The concerts will present a varied and diverse range of music. Vasily Petrenko brings back some of his signature composers including Stravinsky and Shostakovich and we'll see the return of many other popular favourites. These include Beethoven's Symphony No.7, Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Haydn's 'Surprise' Symphony and Artist in Residence, Jennifer Johnston performs Respighi's Il Tramonto.

Michael Eakin, Chief Executive commented: "It was a delight last week to welcome musicians and audiences back to Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. This next set of concerts is another positive step forwards with an ambitious, diverse programme of music and musicians. We're also incredibly proud to welcome our Youth Orchestra to the stage which will no doubt be a brilliant weekend showcasing some of the Northwest's finest young musical talent."

Recitals by Young Artist in Residence pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason (4 and 17 November) and the hugely talented guitar duo, the Katona Twins (13 and 15 December), will also be performed.

In December, three commemorative concerts John Lennon - A Life in Music mark 40 years since his death and tells the story of his life through music. The evening will feature well-known favourites such as Strawberry Fields Forever and Woman. The concert builds on a series of critically-acclaimed performances of the Beatles music over recent years including And In The End: A Celebration of 50 Years of Abbey Road and Let It Be and It Was 50 Years Ago Today.

On Saturday 21 November, the Discover: Beethoven String Quartets event combines a full performance of Beethoven's String Quartet Op.18, No.1 with a lecture by Gethyn Jones, cellist with the Orchestra.

Also featured is a performance from Equilibrium, an ensemble of musicians from the Orchestra who aim to introduce works by neglected female composers. Their programme includes the world premiere of 2018 Christopher Brooks Composition prize winner Carmel Smickersgill's Ornament for String Quartet. Also being performed is 2016 Christopher Brooks prize winner Grave-Evangeline Mason's work, Into the abyss I throw roses: string trio.

On Saturday 5 December, Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata sees Orchestra violinist Mihkel Kerem present an evening of drama and music exploring Tolstoy's novel The Kreutzer Sonata (read by actor Martin Harris) and Janáček's First String Quartet as well as works by Beethoven.

We'll also welcome back some of our younger performers from Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra who start their 2020/21 70th birthday season with a weekend of performances from the string ensemble (Saturday 21 November) and brass and wind ensembles (Sunday 22 November). The first of these concerts is conducted by Rebecca Tong, winner of the 2020 La Maestra conducting competition along with Simon Emery, Artistic Director of the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Company.

In order to make sure visits to Liverpool Philharmonic Hall are as safe as possible we have introduced some extra measures to help both audiences, musicians and staff. These include social distancing between households seated in the auditorium, additional entrances, one way systems, enhanced our cleaning regimes (including regular fogging of the building and extra cleaning of touch points), have hand sanitizer available and ask all staff and audiences to wear a face covering (unless exempt) whilst they are in the building.

Each concert will last one hour with no interval. Seating will be limited. The Orchestra will also be socially distanced on stage which means the works they will perform are for smaller orchestral forces (up to 30 players).

A selection of concerts are available to purchase (£10) and watch online as part of the new Royal Liverpool Philharmonic On Demand offering. The broad repertoire includes, Mozart's Divertimento in D (14 October), Schubert Symphony No. 5 (21 October), Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 'Emperor' (11 November), Vaughan William's The Lark Ascending and Ravel's Tzigane for Violin and Orchestra (18 November). All concerts will include a pre-concert Zoom talk from Stephen Johnson and post-concert analysis with musicians and conductors. Further details available at www.liverpoolphil.com/ondemand

Tickets for concerts in November and December cost from £15 per person and will go on general sale on Thursday 15 October at 9.30am. Tickets can be purchased online at www.liverpoolphil.com or by telephone: 0151 709 3789.