BBC Symphony Orchestra
Associate Orchestra
The backbone of the BBC Proms and one of the UK's finest orchestras, the BBC SO performs a thrilling, distinctive range of music, from works at the heart of classical music to contemporary premieres.
Events
![Black and white photo of Jean Sibelius](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2022-03/03%20SIBELIUS.jpg?h=e4d7c85a&itok=JRP_6pJ2)
BBC SO Total Immersion: Stories, Quests and Secret Sagas
Sibelius the Storyteller: Sakari Oramo conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra in four vivid musical mini-epics, accompanied by readings from the ancient stories that inspired them.
![Black and white photo of Jean Sibelius](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2022-03/02%20SIBELIUS.jpg?h=e4d7c85a&itok=WKEHWWzA)
BBC SO Total Immersion: Phantoms, Visions, Siren Voices
Poetry and music merge in readings and songs: an atmospheric starting point for the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s day of Total Immersion in the world of Sibelius the Storyteller.
![Sakari Oramo conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2022-03/20221005%20SAKARI.jpg?h=e4d7c85a&itok=icFRtdTj)
BBC Symphony Orchestra/Oramo
Boris Giltburg plays Rachmaninov and Sakari Oramo conjures sounds of pure enchantment as the BBC Symphony Orchestra opens its new season with a glittering programme.
![Photo of conductor Alpesh Chauhan](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2021-10/220527%20Alpesh%20Chauhan%20%28CR%29%20Patrick%20Allen%201920%20x%201080.jpg?h=3159c1cf&itok=XstsmKLc)
BBC SO/Chauhan & Stephen Hough
Star pianist Stephen Hough plays Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini while Alphesh Chauhan conducts Bruckner’s unfinished final symphony.
![Photo of conductor Nathalie Stutzmann](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2021-10/220518%20Nathalie%20Stutzmann%20%28CR%29%20Stephanie%20Slama%201920%20x%201080.jpg?h=3159c1cf&itok=s_LLopro)
BBC SO/Stutzmann: Tchaikovsky's Symphony No 6
Nathalie Stutzmann makes her BBC Symphony Orchestra podium debut in Tchaikovsky’s most emotional symphony, while orchestra and chorus are united for Brahms at his most hushed.
![Photo of conductor Ryan Wigglesworth](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2021-10/220513%20Ryan%20Wigglesworth%20%28CR%29%20Benjamin%20Ealovega%20portrait%201920%20x%201080.jpg?h=3159c1cf&itok=VSfjrQsk)
BBC SO/Wigglesworth: The Other Vaughan Williams
The composer who brought us gentle, pastoral music like The Lark Ascending processes the aftermath of war, in a concert featuring the modern premiere of a lost work by César Franck.
![Photo of conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2021-10/220506%20Jukka-Pekka%20Saraste%20%28C%29%20Felix%20Broede%201920%20x%201080.jpg?h=3159c1cf&itok=ktrRpZa3)
BBC SO/Saraste: Kidane, Prokofiev and Nielsen
Jukka-Pekka Saraste conducts three works that respond in different ways to the pandemic, to a personal loss and to the devastation of war.
![Black and white portrait photo of Zadie Smith](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2021-10/220422%20Zadie%20Smith%20%28c%29%20Dominique%20Nobokov%201920%20x%201080.jpg?h=3159c1cf&itok=b3wIPkM4)
Zadie Smith and the BBC Symphony Orchestra
Zadie Smith, one of the most influential cultural figures in Britain joins the BBC Symphony Orchestra for a concert blurring boundaries between music and words.
![Photo of Nicola Benedetti playing the violin](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2021-10/220408%20Nicola%20Benedetti%20%28c%29%20Simon%20Fowler%201920%20x%201080.jpg?h=3159c1cf&itok=p5Gu2lNR)
BBC SO/Oramo & Benedetti: Romantics in Exile
Sakari Oramo conducts a forgotten symphony overflowing with passion and Nicola Benedetti plays the violin concerto that stole the movies’ greatest tunes.
![Photo of conductor Jordan De Souza](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2021-10/220401%20De%20Souza%20%201920%20x%201080.jpg?h=3159c1cf&itok=NkEc9_YK)
BBC SO/de Souza: Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique
Much talked-about Canadian conductor Jordan de Souza makes his UK concert debut in music devilishly enjoyable, wickedly entertaining and frantically unpredictable.
![John Storgårds is in the centre of a BBC SO branded image, holding his baton across his left shoulder](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2022-02/01%20JOHN%20STORGARDS_1920x1080_turquoise.jpg?h=eba629ac&itok=UHvniCCl)
BBC SO/Storgårds: Gubaidulina, Mussorgsky and Shostakovich
John Storgårds joins the BBC Symphony Orchestra to conduct Dmitri Shostakovich’s dramatic Fifth Symphony, a journey through life by Modest Mussorgsky and a fantastical work from Sofia Gubaidulina.
![A digital image of a french horn sits in the middle of a blue circle, with pink, yellow, and blue sun rays coming out of the blue circle](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2021-11/220319%201930%20TI%20zappa%20landscape%20clean.jpg?h=eba629ac&itok=5dm6SEXI)
BBC SO Total Immersion: Zappa Goes Large
For Frank Zappa, the symphony orchestra was the consummate vehicle for musical storytelling. Brad Lubman leads this live streamed evening culminating in Zappa’s acknowledged orchestral masterpieces.
![A big yellow circle with Sharks circling in it. Out of the circle come blue, yellow and pink sun rays.](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2021-11/220319%201430%20TI%20zappa%20landscape%20clean.jpg?h=eba629ac&itok=MXrDP5zu)
BBC SO Total Immersion: Frank Zappa – The Yellow Shark
Guildhall’s Ubu Ensemble pay homage to Frank Zappa’s iconic last album The Yellow Shark, harvested from his appearance at the 1992 Frankfurt Festival.
![Black and white photo of Captain Scott in the Antarctic](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2021-10/220311%20Scott%20of%20the%20Antarctic%20%201920%20x%201080.jpg?h=3159c1cf&itok=KVIe9vnO)
BBC SO/Brabbins: Scott of the Antarctic
A compelling synthesis of film and music as the BBC SO perform Vaughan Williams’s ground-breaking orchestral score live to accompany a screening of Charles Frend’s landmark movie.
![Black and white photo of actor Jamie Parker surrounded by a colourful border](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2022-02/02%20Jamie_Parker_1920x1080_orange.jpg?itok=sPukLTWB)
BBC SO/Oramo: Elgar's Cello Concerto
Brutalism meets orchestral beauty as we mark 40 years of the Barbican Centre with music as idealistic, integral and provocative as the building itself.
![Photo of Sir Andrew Davis conducting](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2021-10/220218%20Andrew%20Davis%20%28CR%29%20Chris%20Christodoulou%201920%20x%201080.jpg?h=3159c1cf&itok=o4-eG6e4)
BBC SO: Sir Andrew Davis's Half Century
Due to travel disruption caused by Storm Eunice affecting many of its musicians, the BBC SO has taken the difficult and disappointing decision to cancel tonight’s concert.
![Photo of Semyon Bychkov conducting](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2021-10/220211%20Bychkov%20%28CR%29%20Chris%20Christodoulou%201920%20x%201080.jpg?h=3159c1cf&itok=cbC4G6_V)
BBC SO/Bychkov: Pictures at an Exhibition
In a concert marking 100 years of the BBC, conductor Semyon Bychkov and the BBC Symphony Orchestra look back to the year of the Corporation’s founding – and present a new piece by Bryce Dessner.
Discover
![architecture detail of the barbican hall](/sites/default/files/styles/discover_small/public/images/2018-12/DSC_6059_0_0.jpg?itok=6PHs6Ol8)
Composer Focus – Episode 5: Jean Sibelius with Sakari Oramo
In the final episode, host Edward Seckerson is joined by BBC Symphony Orchestra conductor Sakari Oramo to discuss his fellow countryman Jean Sibelius, and the themes of nature and Finnish national identity woven throughout his music.