An exciting 2022/23 season ahead from the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra

Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra is working its way up to its centenary in 2025, and their coming 2022/23 promises to be one of their most varied programmes for some years. They also venture out of their traditional Sunday afternoon slot into Saturday evenings for some concerts, and head out to some new venues too. In a further bid to reach new audiences, they are also offering a limited number of £10 'LoveMusic' tickets for three of their concerts, available to those who have never been to a classical concert or heard the BPO before (check out the details for this here).

Joanna MacGregor CBE

There is some familiar repertoire on offer - Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Elgar and Mahler, amongst others. However, notable is the inclusion of a broader range of repertoire, as well as some (albeit a few) works composed by women. So in their opening concert (2.45pm, Sunday 2 October, Brighton Dome), alongside Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, is Joan Tower's Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman, composed some 40 years after Copland's piece. This concert includes Copland's Appalachian Spring Suite, and Quiet City, featuring soloists John Ellwood (trumpet) and Clare Hoskins (cor anglais). This packed programme also includes Gershwin - the Rhapsody in Blue (with the BPO's Music Director, Joanna MacGregor the piano soloist), and his Symphonic Suite from Porgy and Bess, all under the direction of conductor Sian Edwards.

 

The BPO Chamber Ensemble also pop up at the popular Strings Attached Coffee Concerts at the Attenborough Centre at the University of Sussex, with Rebecca Clarke's Two Pieces for String Quartet, along with Fauré's Piano Quartet No. 1, and Elgar's Piano Quintet (11am, 

Sunday 19 March, ACCA). MacGregor and the ensemble also venture over to the University of Kent in Canterbury for a concert of chamber works by Shostakovich, Brahms and Frank Martin (7.30pm, Friday 18 November, Gulbenkian Arts Centre).

 

Sian Edwards

The orchestra also collaborate with visual artist Kathy Hinde for Beautiful World, incorporating birdsong and Hinde's audio-visual work into a programme celebrating winter landscapes, with music by Philip Glass, John Luther Adams, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood and Norwegian composer Rolf Wallin. Once again Sian Edwards takes the baton, with Joanna MacGregor on piano and keyboards (7.30pm, Saturday 21 January, Brighton Dome).

 

Barry Wordsworth

Former principal conductor, now Conductor Laureate, Barry Wordsworth returns for Transfiguration, with Haydn's Symphony No. 88 paired with Mahler's Symphony No. 4. Carolyn Sampson (soprano) is the soloist, and she will also offer a couple of Mozart concert arias to complete the programme (2.45pm, Sunday 27 November, Brighton Dome). 

 

The BPO join voices with Brighton Festival Chorus for two concerts in the season. The first sees the BPO Brass Ensemble join the chorus for a concert of music by Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli, as well as The Farthest Shore, an oratorio by Paul Mealor (7.30pm, Saturday 19 November, All Saints Church, Hove). Then the orchestra and chorus team up for a performance of Bach's St Matthew Passion, conducted by Robert Howarth, with soloists including James Oxley as the Evangelist (2.45pm, Sunday 19 February, Brighton Dome).

 

Ailish Tynan

For Christmas, the BPO Brass Quintet are joined by actor Roger Allam for performances of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (3pm & 6.30pm, Saturday 10 December, St Luke's Church, Brighton). And they celebrate the New Year with their traditional Viennese Gala. Conductor Stephen Bell is joined by Ailish Tynan (soprano) for classics from the Strauss family and the world of operetta, as well as seasonal music by Rimsky-Korsakov, Korngold and film composer Christine Hals (2.45pm, Saturday 31 December, Brighton Dome). 

 

They end this packed season with Towards the Light, with two Beethoven concertos (the Triple Concerto, Op. 56 and the Piano Concerto No. 5, Op. 73 'Emperor') preceded by Barber's Adagio for Strings. Joanna MacGregor conducts from the piano, and is joined by Ruth Rogers (violin) and Peter Adams (cello) in the Triple Concerto (2.45pm, Sunday 26 March, Brighton Dome). 

 

Visit the BPO website here for details of all the concerts, the full season brochure and links to book tickets.