RLPO unveils new 2024/25 season programme

Sir Bryn Terfel, superstar pianist Paul Lewis, trumpet virtuoso Pacho Flores and baritone Roderick Williams are among favourites returning as part of the new Royal Liverpool Philharmonic season.

Liverpool mezzo Jennifer Johnston, pianists Kathryn Stott, Simon Trpčeski and Víkingur Ólafsson, and violinists Chloë Hanslip and Michael Barenboim will also appear as part of the Phil’s 2024/25 concert series.

Meanwhile German baritone and conductor Benjamin Appl is the new artist in residence at Philharmonic Hall where he will conduct the RLPO’s annual Messiah concert in January among other engagements.

There are premieres of pieces by Grace-Evangeline Mason and Robin Haigh in the main season programme, while Ensemble 10:10 will premiere pieces by Phoenix Rousiamanis, Sam Kane and Nneka Cummins.

The RLPO will mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Gustav Holst this year, along with the 50th anniversary of the death of Dmitri Shostakovich in 2025, and the new season will also celebrate music for the voice.

It opens on October 17 with chief conductor Domingo Hindoyan joined by soprano Sarah Wegener for a concert that features music by Juan Bautista Plaza along with Strauss’s Four Last Songs and Mahler’s First Symphony.

Sir Bryn Terfel returns to Liverpool after appearing in Gianni Schicchi in March 2023 to sing in Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast on November 9 alongside the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir.

Above: Sir Bryn Terfel, pianist Kathryn Stott and baritone Benjamin Appl are all appearing during the new season.

Other appearances by the Choir include Handel’s Messiah on January 11, Mahler’s Symphony No 3 with Jennifer Johnston on March 29, Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass on April 12 – which will feature three Czech soloists, and the Verdi Requiem on July 12, while Opera North will visit the hall on May 11 to perform Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra.

Roderick Williams will present and perform at the popular Spirit of Christmas concerts – this year conducted by the director of choirs and singing Matthew Hamilton.

Andrew Manze conducts Holst’s popular Planets Suite in an all-British concert on October 26, while conductor laureate Vasily Petrenko returns for his for many years traditional White Nights concert on July 3.

Simon Trpčeski, who formed a special ‘dream team’ with Petrenko during his tenure at Hope Street, will join Domingo Hindoyan for Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto on December 5, while Víkingur Ólafsson takes on Brahm’s Second Piano Concerto on February 9.

Above: Some concerts will take place at the Tung Auditorium

In between, Kathryn Stott – who made her professional debut in Liverpool in 1978 – returns to the city for a final recital before retiring, with Musical Postcards taking place on December 11 not at Hope Street but at the University of Liverpool’s Tung Auditorium.

Paul Lewis also plays at the Tung Auditorium on February 16, while artist in residence Appl will appear there on June 18 to celebrate the late German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.

Meanwhile back at Philharmonic Hall, January 26 will see a concert with the winner of the 2024 Leeds International Piano Competition.

The RLPO says ‘Thank You for the Music’ with an ABBA-filled New Year’s Eve, and on February 14 there’s a trip back in time to the Symphonic 90s. Richard Balcombe conducts Douze Points: Eurovision Classics on May 9, while A Night at the Musicals beckons on June 14.

Above: The Liverpool Songbook concert will celebrate the city's musical heritage.

And music by bands and soloists including Frankie Goes to Hollywood, OMD, Cilla, Elvis Costello and The Beatles will be performed in The Liverpool Songbook on June 28 which will feature West End singers with Liverpool stage star Graham Bickley as presenter.

There will also be a full programme of chamber, family, close-up, lunchtime and youth orchestra concerts during the season.

Domingo Hindoyan said: “This season is one of real joy for me as it’s now my fourth year with this wonderful Orchestra. The way our artistic relationship has grown over this time has created a strong creative partnership and I can’t wait to continue to work together and make more beautiful music.

“I’m particularly looking forward to bringing music from South America to the hall and continuing our journey of Bruckner, this time with the Ninth Symphony. This season we will also focus on repertoire surrounding my love of music for the voice.”

Full programme details and tickets HERE.