Principal Conductor Edward Gardner supported by Aud Jebsen
Principal Guest Conductor Karina Canellakis supported by Richard Buxton
Conductor Emeritus Vladimir Jurowski KBE Patron HRH The Duke of Kent KG
Artistic Director Jesús Herrera Chief Executive David Burke
Leader Pieter Schoeman supported by Neil Westreich
Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall
Friday 10 April 2026 | 7.30pm
Brahms’s Double
Dvořák
In Nature’s Realm (11’)
Brahms
Double Concerto for violin and cello (31’)
Interval (20’)
R Schumann
Symphony No. 4 (29’)
Jonathon Heyward
conductor
Pieter Schoeman violin
LPO chair supported by Neil Westreich
Kristina Blaumane cello
LPO chair supported by Bianca & Stuart Roden
Part of
Tonight in 2 minutes
New to classical? Short on time? Your quick guide to tonight’s concert.
The vibe
Brahms’s Double
Tonight’s programme features three great composers from the 19th-century Romantic era, when music was all about imagination and expression. We begin with Dvořák’s overture In Nature’s Realm, full of tuneful melodies and woodland charm. Brahms’s Double Concerto follows, featuring a solo violin and cello in an intimate dialogue with the orchestra. After the interval, Schumann’s Fourth Symphony takes us on a dramatic and lyrical musical adventure.
Who’s on stage?
Jonathon Heyward – conductor
Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, American conductor Jonathon is our guest conductor tonight. Known for his energy and insight, he brings a fresh and exciting perspective to every performance.
Pieter Schoeman – violin
Kristina Blaumane – cello
Pieter and Kristina are both full-time members of the LPO – Pieter is our Leader and Kristina our Principal Cello –so they are used to playing as part of the Orchestra alongside their colleagues. But tonight both of them step into the spotlight as the soloists in Brahms’s Double Concerto – a real showcase for their solo talents.
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Tonight there are over 70 LPO musicians on stage. All at the very top of their game, they’ve studied and practised for years to perfect their craft. Our talented musicians represent over 14 different nationalities, and many enjoy busy solo, chamber and teaching careers alongside their orchestral roles.
Turn to page 6 for tonight’s full player list.
What to expect
Take your seats...
The Orchestra tune up their instruments, then the conductor, Jonathon, enters the stage. Once the applause dies down, sit back and enjoy the music ...
3
Antonín Dvořák In Nature’s Realm
Czech composer Antonín Dvořák, writing in the late 19th century, takes us straight into the heart of the natural world in this overture. We’ll hear sparkling melodies that suggest flowing streams, rustling forests, and the playful energy of wildlife.
Johannes Brahms Double Concerto for violin and cello
A concerto usually spotlights a single solo instrument with orchestral accompaniment – but this one features two soloists. The violin and cello engage in an intimate conversation, with moments of fiery brilliance, tender lyricism and Romantic warmth as the soloists and orchestra weave together.
Interval 20 min
Longer classical pieces are often made up of movements, or shorter sections. Applause is usually saved for after the final movement.
Robert Schumann Symphony No. 4
German composer Robert Schumann, one of the great figures of the Romantic era, composed his Fourth Symphony as a seamless journey through four connected movements. Rather than separate sections, the music flows continuously, with each idea leading naturally into the next. We’ll hear soaring melodies, dramatic moments and quiet tenderness, together highlighting Schumann’s emotional depth and imagination.
After the final piece, we applaud the performers. The conductor will acknowledge tonight’s Leader (chief First Violin), Alice, and might highlight other players for particular appreciation and applause, with several bows bringing the evening to a celebratory close.
Want to read more? Turn to page 11 for a deeper dive into this evening’s pieces.
Welcome LPO news
Welcome to the Southbank Centre
We’re the UK’s largest centre for the arts and one of the nation’s top five visitor attractions, showcasing the world’s most exciting artists at our venues in the heart of London. As a charity, we bring millions of people together by opening up the unique art spaces that we care for.
The Southbank Centre is made up of the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, Hayward Gallery, National Poetry Library and Arts Council Collection. We’re one of London’s favourite meeting spots, with lots of free events and places to relax, eat and shop next to the Thames.
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The paper used for LPO concert programmes has been sourced from well-managed FSC®-certified forests, recycled materials, and other controlled sources. It is also Carbon Balanced, meaning the carbon impact of its production is offset by the World Land Trust. If you don’t want to take your programme home, please use the recycling bins in the Royal Festival Hall foyers.
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Behind the scenes with LPO Friends
Earlier today, LPO Friends enjoyed exclusive behindthe-scenes access to a Private Members’ Rehearsal with the Orchestra, conductor Jonathon Heyward and soloists Pieter and Kristina ahead of tonight’s concert.
If you’d like to see for yourself what goes into putting on an LPO concert – plus enjoy a host of other amazing benefits, like a private bar space and meeting our musicians – join our family of LPO Friends today, from just £6 per month!
Our new 2026/27 concert season will be announced on Tuesday 21 April. LPO Friends receive our new season brochure ahead of the general public, and priority booking for Friends will open on Wednesday 22 April, before general booking from Tuesday 28 April.
Interested in finding out more? Scan the QR code or visit lpo.org.uk/friends
Future Firsts –Applications open for 2026/27
Our annual Future Firsts programme bridges the transition between education and the professional platform for outstanding early-career orchestral musicians. The year-long programme offers a unique opportunity to play alongside and receive mentorship from LPO musicians, hone your audition technique, and develop the skills needed to be a professional orchestral musician.
We are now welcoming applications for the 2026/27 Future Firsts programme, from UK-based musicians who play an orchestral instrument and who will have completed an undergraduate or postgraduate performance degree by September 2026 (or are at an equivalent playing standard).
Applications close on 6 May 2026
For more information – including details of the video audition process and the financial support offered (increased since previous years) – scan the QR code or visit lpo.org.uk/futurefirsts
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Uniquely groundbreaking and exhilarating to watch and hear, the London Philharmonic Orchestra has been celebrated as one of the world’s great orchestras since Sir Thomas Beecham founded it in 1932. Our mission is to create unrivalled orchestral experiences on stage and cultivate human connections beyond it, which we accomplish through live performances, online, and an extensive education and community programme, cementing our position as a leading orchestra for the 21st century.
Our home is at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, where we’re at the beating heart of London’s cultural life. You’ll also find us at our resident venues in Brighton, Eastbourne and Saffron Walden, and on tour worldwide. In 2024 we celebrated 60 years as Resident Symphony Orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, combining the magic of opera with Glyndebourne’s glorious setting in the Sussex countryside.
Soundtrack to key moments
Everyone will have heard the Grammy-nominated London Philharmonic Orchestra, whether it’s playing the world’s National Anthems for every medal ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, our iconic recording with Pavarotti that made Nessun Dorma a global football anthem, or closing the flotilla at The Queen’s Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant. And you’ll almost certainly have heard us on the soundtracks for major films including The Lord of the Rings
Sharing the wonder worldwide
We’re one of the world’s most-streamed orchestras, with over 15 million plays of our content each month. We’re the most followed UK orchestra on Instagram, the most followed orchestra globally on TikTok, and overall the third most followed globally across all social platforms. In 2024 we featured in a TV documentary series on Sky Arts: ‘Backstage with the London Philharmonic Orchestra’, which was nominated for a 2025 BAFTA. During 2025/26 we’re once again working with Marquee TV to broadcast selected live concerts to enjoy at home.
Our conductors
Our Principal Conductors have included great historic names like Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. In 2021 Edward Gardner became our 13th Principal Conductor, and Vladimir Jurowski became Conductor Emeritus. Karina Canellakis is our current Principal Guest Conductor, and Sir George Benjamin our Composer-in-Residence.
Next generations
We’re committed to nurturing the next generation of musicians and music-lovers: we love seeing the joy of children and families experiencing their first musical moments, and we’re passionate about inspiring schools and teachers through dedicated concerts, workshops, resources and training. Reflecting our values of
collaboration and inclusivity, our OrchLab and Open Sound Ensemble projects offer music-making opportunities for adults and young people with disabilities and special educational needs.
Today’s young instrumentalists are the orchestra members of the future, and we have a number of opportunities to support their progression. Our LPO Junior Artists programme leads the way in creating pathways into the profession for young artists from under-represented communities, and our LPO Young Composers and Foyle Future Firsts schemes support the next generation of professional musicians, bridging the transition from education to professional careers. We also recently launched the LPO Conducting Fellowship, supporting the development of outstanding early-career conductors from backgrounds underrepresented in the profession.
2025/26 season
This season’s theme, Harmony with Nature, explores humanity’s bond with the natural world through works by Beethoven, Sibelius, Mendelssohn, Elgar and Dvořák; masterpieces of an era that saw nature as a mirror of human emotion. Closer to our own time, we’ll hear from composers as diverse as Duke Ellington, John Luther Adams and Anna Thorvaldsdottir, who have all found a source of creative energy in the processes of nature.
Highlights with Principal Conductor Edward Gardner include symphonies by Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Brahms and Rachmaninov; a pair of concerts spotlighting 20th-century Central European composers; an evening dedicated to Elgar; and a performance of Berg’s Wozzeck to end the season. We also welcome back Karina Canellakis and Vladimir Jurowski, as well as guest conductors including Robin Ticciati, Kirill Karabits, Mark Elder and Kahchun Wong. Our lineup of soloists this season includes violinists Anne-Sophie Mutter, Alina Ibragimova, James Ehnes and Himari; cellist Nicolas Altstaedt; and pianists Yefim Bronfman, Alexandre Kantorow and Tomoko Mukaiyama. The season features nine world and UK premieres, including Tan Dun’s choral ‘Ode to Peace’ Nine, and A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina) by jazz icon Terence Blanchard.
This season also sees tours to South Korea and across Europe, as well as a wide range of performances and community events in our Brighton, Eastbourne and Saffron Walden residencies.
lpo.org.uk
Alice Ivy-Pemberton Leader
Alice Ivy-Pemberton joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra as Co-Leader in February 2023.
Praised by The New York Times for her ‘sweet-toned playing’, Alice has performed as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician to international acclaim. While growing up in New York City and studying with Nurit Pacht, Alice made a nationally televised Carnegie Hall debut aged ten, and was a finalist at the Menuhin International Competition at the age of 12.
Alice earned her Bachelors and Masters degrees at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Itzhak Perlman and Catherine Cho as a fully-funded recipient of the Kovner Fellowship. During her studies she won Juilliard’s Violin Concerto Competition, performed extensively with the New York Philharmonic and The Philadelphia Orchestra, and led orchestras under the baton of Barbara Hannigan, Xian Zhang and Matthias Pintscher. Upon graduating in 2022 she was awarded the Polisi Prize and a Benzaquen Career Advancement Grant in recognition of ‘tremendous talent, promise, creativity, and potential to make a significant impact in the performing arts’.
An avid chamber musician, Alice has collaborated with Itzhak Perlman, Anthony Marwood, Gil Shaham and members of the Belcea, Doric, Juilliard and Brentano string quartets, and performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Festival appearances include Music@Menlo, Moritzburg and Yellow Barn. Also a passionate advocate for new music and its social relevance, Alice created Drowning Monuments, a noted multimedia project on climate change that brought together five world premieres for solo violin.
First Violins
Alice Ivy-Pemberton Leader
Vesselin Gellev Sub-Leader
Kate Oswin
Chair supported by Eric Tomsett
Lasma Taimina
Chair supported by Irina Gofman & Mr Rodrik V. G. Cave
Minn Majoe
Chair supported by Dr Alex & Maria
Chan
Yang Zhang
Katalin Varnagy
Thomas Eisner
Sylvain Vasseur
Nilufar Alimaksumova
Daniel Pukach
Alison Strange
Will Hillman
Camille Buitenhuis
Second Violins
Tania Mazzetti Principal
Chair supported by The Candide Trust
Emma Oldfield Co-Principal
Claudia Tarrant-Matthews
Kate Birchall
Marie-Anne Mairesse
Joseph Maher
Sophie Phillips
Chair supported by Friends of the Orchestra
Sioni Williams
Ricky Gore
Kate Cole
Lyrit Milgram
Paula Clifton-Everest
Violas
Benjamin Roskams
Guest Principal
Benedetto Pollani
Lucia Ortiz Sauco
Laura Vallejo
Martin Wray
Chair supported by David & Bettina
Harden
Michelle Bruil
Alistair Scahill
Terry Nettle
Charles Cross
Anita Kurowska
On stage tonight
Cellos
Henry Shapard Principal
Waynne Kwon
Chair supported by an anonymous donor
David Lale
Francis Bucknall
Tom Roff
Helen Thomas
Victoria Harrild
Andrea Kim
Double Basses
Hugh Kluger Principal
George Peniston
Tom Walley
Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton
Laura Murphy
Chair supported by Ian Ferguson & Susan Tranter
Adam Wynter
Catherine Ricketts
Flutes
Juliette Bausor Principal
Chair supported by Malcolm & Alison Thwaites
Stewart McIlwham*
Chair supported by The Thompson Family Charitable Trust
Oboes
Ian Hardwick* Principal
Alice Munday
Chair supported by David & Yi Buckley
Cor Anglais
Sue Böhling* Principal
Chair supported by Dr Barry Grimaldi
Clarinets
Thomas Watmough Principal
Chair supported by Roger Greenwood
Emily Crook
Bass Clarinet
Paul Richards* Principal
Bassoons
Simon Estell* Principal Helen Storey*
Horns
John Ryan* Principal
Martin Hobbs
Mark Vines Co-Principal
Gareth Mollison
Duncan Fuller
Trumpets
Tom Nielsen* Principal Anne McAneney*
Trombones
David Whitehouse Principal Andrew Cole
Bass Trombone
Lyndon Meredith Principal Tuba
Lee Tsarmaklis* Principal
Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton
Timpani
Jonathan Phillips Guest Principal
Percussion
Andrew Barclay* Principal Chair supported by Gill & Garf Collins
*Professor at a London conservatoire
The LPO also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose players are not present:
Sir Nigel Boardman & Prof. Lynda Gratton
Sir Simon Robey
Victoria Robey CBE
Joe Topley & Tracey Countryman
The Williams family in memory of Grenville Williams
Video series: Humans of the Orchestra
Our YouTube video series ‘Humans of the Orchestra’ gives LPO audiences a chance to get to know the people behind the music – the personalities, stories and passions of our players.
So far, we’ve featured Leader Pieter Schoeman, Principal Cello Kristina Blaumane, Principal
Trumpet Paul Beniston, Principal Tuba Lee Tsarmaklis, Principal
Bass Trombone Lyndon Meredith and Principal
Bassoon Jonathan Davies – with more to come soon!
Watch on our YouTube channel by scanning the QR code, or visit youtube.com/ londonphilharmonic orchestra
Jonathon Heyward conductor
American conductor Jonathon Heyward became Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 2023/24, recently extending his contract to 2030/31. He also holds the Artistic & Music Director positions with the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center.
Jonathon made his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in January 2024, when he conducted a programme of works by John Williams at the Royal Festival Hall, including the UK premiere of his Violin Concerto No. 2 with soloist Anne-Sophie Mutter. This season, as well as concerts with the LPO tonight in London and tomorrow at Saffron Hall, Jonathon returns to the Danish National and Detroit symphony orchestras, and makes his debut with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
Recent highlights include concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Castilla y León Symphony Orchestra, Galicia Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, and at the BBC Proms with Chineke! In the US, he has appeared with The Cleveland Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, among others.
Jonathan made his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 2020, conducting Hannah Kendall’s The Knife of Dawn, and led the world premiere of Giorgio Battistelli’s Wake, in a production by Graham Vick for the Birmingham Opera Company, in 2018. He also conducted Weill’s Lost in the Stars with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in 2017 and, last season, launched a four-year ‘Verdi Opera Initiative’ with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, commencing with performances of Aida; he returns next summer to lead Rigoletto
Jonathon is a passionate advocate for music education and community outreach. He has been recognised among TIME magazine’s ‘Next Generation Leaders’ and Bloomberg’s ‘Ones to Watch’.
Pieter Schoeman was appointed Leader of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2008, having previously been Co-Leader since 2002. He is also a Professor of Violin at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance.
Pieter has performed worldwide as a soloist and recitalist in such famous halls as the Amsterdam
Concertgebouw, Moscow’s Rachmaninoff Hall, Capella Hall in St Petersburg, Staatsbibliothek in Berlin, Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, and the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall. He has also appeared as Guest Leader with many prestigious orchestras across the world. As a chamber musician, he regularly appears at London’s prestigious Wigmore Hall. His chamber music partners have included Anne-Sophie Mutter, Veronika Eberle, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Boris Garlitsky, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Martin Helmchen and Julia Fischer.
Pieter has performed numerous times as a soloist with the LPO. Highlights have included an appearance as both conductor and soloist in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, the Brahms Double Concerto with Kristina Blaumane, Florence Price’s Violin Concerto No. 2, and the Britten Double Concerto with Alexander Zemtsov, which was released on the LPO Label to great critical acclaim.
Pieter’s chair in the LPO is generously supported by Neil Westreich.
Both Pieter and Kristina feature in our ‘Humans of the Orchestra’ YouTube series, giving you a chance to get to know the people behind the music! Scan the QR code to watch.
Kristina Blaumane
cello Kristina Blaumane has been Principal Cello of the London Philharmonic Orchestra since 2007.
Kristina was born in Riga and graduated from the Latvian Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. She has performed as soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Chicago Civic Orchestra, Kremerata Baltica, Britten Sinfonia, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Sofia Soloists, Netherlands Wind Ensemble and Dalarna Sinfonietta, as well as all the main orchestras in Latvia.
As a chamber musician, Kristina has worked in partnership with such renowned artists as Isaac Stern, Gidon Kremer, Yo-Yo Ma, Yuri Bashmet, Leif Ove Andsnes, Janine Jansen, Julian Rachlin, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Bruno Giuranna, Misha Maisky, Nikolaj Znaider, Tatyana Grindenko and Oleg Maisenberg, among others, and has performed at festivals such as Lockenhaus, Gstaad, Salzburg, Verbier, Basel, Jerusalem, Utrecht, Spitalfields, Cheltenham, Aldeburgh, Homecoming and Crescendo.
Kristina is a keen promoter of new music. She has given a number of world premieres and several works are dedicated to her, among them concertos by Dobrinka Tabakova, Kristaps Pētersons, Pēteris Plakidis and Artem Vassiliev. In March 2023 she was the soloist in the world premiere of Elena Langer’s The Dong with a Luminous Nose with the LPO, which was later released on the LPO Label. Kristina appears as a soloist on the ECM debut disc of composer Dobrinka Tabakova, which reached No. 2 in the UK classical charts and received a Grammy nomination.
Kristina’s chair in the LPO is generously supported by Bianca & Stuart Roden.
This season, we invite audiences to join us in exploring one of the most urgent conversations of our time –our relationship with the natural world – through the power of music. We’ll marvel at oceans, forests, caves, mountains and wildlife through works by Beethoven, Sibelius, Mendelssohn, Elgar and Dvořák; masterpieces of an era that saw nature as a mirror of human emotion –but also, perhaps, experienced it more immediately and organically than in the digital age.
Closer to our own time, voices as diverse as Duke Ellington, John Luther Adams, Gustavo Díaz-Jerez and Anna Thorvaldsdottir have all found an unquenchable source of creative energy in the processes of nature, from river deltas to volcanic eruptions. For composers such as Anna Korsun, Gabriela Lena Frank and Terence Blanchard (whose powerful meditation on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina receives its UK premiere), humanity enters the picture. As destroyer or protector? Or simply as an organic, inextricable part of nature itself?
Throughout the season, we’ll also be partnering with local environmental organisations, and welcoming pre-concert speakers, as we attempt to use the power of classical music to encourage environmental stewardship. We hope you’ll join us!
Check out the full season at lpo.org.uk/harmony-with-nature
Nature’s voice in tonight’s programme
For the composers of the Romantic generation, nature was a kind of storybook, where forests, mountains and rivers echoed the joys and sorrows of the human heart. In In Nature’s Realm, Antonín Dvořák’s love of the Czech countryside sings and dances through music that feels openair, radiant, and full of life. Later in tonight’s programme, works by Johannes Brahms and Robert Schumann unfold like vast, elemental landscapes, rich in contrast and emotional depth. Together, they reflect a shared Romantic impulse – to find meaning, balance and connection through the natural world and the emotions it stirs.
The Nature Dialogues
Our final pre-concert talk exploring the season’s theme of Harmony with Nature Book free tickets online at lpo.org.uk
Harmony with our Changing Planet
Friday 17 April 2026, 6pm, Royal Festival Hall
As extreme weather events grow more destructive, how can societies adapt –and how can art help us face loss and find hope?
Terence Blanchard’s deeply personal response to Hurricane Katrina, A Tale of God’s Will, transformed grief into powerful symphonic jazz, capturing both the devastation of his native New Orleans and the enduring strength of its people. This pre-concert talk with Professor Gail Whiteman – head of the Nature & Climate Impact Team at the University of Exeter – explores what it means to live, and make music, in harmony with a changing planet.
Programme notes
Antonín Dvořák
1841–1904
Overture: In Nature’s Realm
1891
At the beginning of the 1890s, Dvořák was still committed to the ‘Classical-Romanticism’ of his friend, mentor and champion Johannes Brahms, with its preference for abstract musical forms – symphonies, concertos, string quartets, etc. But he was beginning to feel the pull of the radical romantic symphonic poem, espoused by the arch-progressive Liszt, with its stress on the evocation of mood or the illustration of stories.
Dvořák’s joyous, refreshingly out-of-doors In Nature’s Realm is usually performed on its own, but it was conceived as the first part of an orchestral trilogy, the other two pieces being the tone-poems Carnival and Othello – informally he called the whole cycle ‘Nature, Life and Love’. All three are labelled ‘Overture’, but in character they are closer to symphonic poems. In the words of Dvořák’s pioneering biographer, Otakar Šourek, these three pieces portray ‘the impression of the solitary, wrapped about by the exalted stillness of the summer night; the impression of a man seized into the joyous vortex of life, and finally the feeling of a man in the power of a violent love poisoned by jealousy.’
When the three ‘overtures’ are performed together, the idea of nature wearing three very different faces can emerge powerfully, especially given Dvořák’s telling use of a linking ‘nature’ theme, first heard on violas and bassoons at the start of In Nature’s Realm. But, perhaps understandably, audiences have tended to prefer the uplifting pastoral poetry of In Nature’s Realm for its own sake, without the baleful reminder (Othello) that joy and love can go terribly wrong. It emerges in a kind of arch form, beginning more or less as it ended, its second theme recalling a Czech hymn, ‘Let us sing joyfully’, a reminder that for the devout Dvořák, nature was a direct revelation of God. For many Romantics, products of cities or towns, nature was something that had to be discovered. For the village born-and-bred Dvořák, it was more of a given. There is no yearning to belong here, only joy in belonging.
Double Concerto in A minor for violin, cello and orchestra 1887
Pieter Schoeman violin
Kristina Blaumane cello
1. Allegro
2. Andante
3. Vivace non troppo
The concerto was one of the most popular of all musical forms in the 19th century. This was the era of the Romantic virtuoso soloist: audiences loved the idea of the superhuman individual taking on the might of the full symphony orchestra and emerging victorious. What a perfect vehicle for an age intoxicated with dashing, sensational figures like the poet Byron, the violinist Niccolò Paganini and the pianist-composer Franz Liszt. Something of this Romantic spirit – the suffering, striving, intensely charismatic soloist pitted against the elemental force of the orchestra – can be felt in Brahms’s First Piano Concerto, composed during 1854–58.
But Brahms was a paradoxical figure – it’s one of the things that makes him so fascinating. Part of him was Romantic to the core: a lonely misfit, sustained by an impossible love, laying bare his wounded heart in song after song (especially in the wonderful Alto Rhapsody). Yet there was another part of him that longed for something else: the contained formal strength and subtlety of great Classical and Baroque masters like Haydn and Mozart, Bach and Handel, and for the emotional ‘objectivity’ that they offered.
The Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra, composed in 1887, embodies this paradox magnificently. It contains some of Brahms’s most romantically expressive music: strikingly the almost operatic ‘love duet’ for violin and cello at the heart of
Programme notes
the slow central movement. The first cello solo, only a few seconds into the first movement, is marked ‘in modo d’un recitativo’ – ‘ the style of a recitative’ – a direct acknowledgement of the music’s operatic character by a composer who never wrote an opera.
And yet this is a concerto with two soloists. Concertos with more than one star in the spotlight were common in Baroque times (think of Bach’s glorious Double Concerto in D minor for two violins). Brahms also knew and valued Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante, with solo violin and viola, and Beethoven’s Triple Concerto for piano trio and orchestra. But in the Romantic era, the solo concerto had apparently conquered all – there’s no room for more than one hero in the Byronic universe. In reverting to what would have been considered a strange, outmoded form at the time, Brahms showed that he was also not of his time.
Structurally, it is more compact than any of the solo concertos. In the first movement particularly, the solo violin and cello writing can be stirringly theatrical (visually as well as aurally), but Brahms is also careful to keep the solo contributions on an equal footing, as in chamber music. Soon after the cello’s opening ‘recitative’ solo, the violin has its turn in the spotlight, only now with comments from the cello, with the two instruments finally fusing in rich fortissimo (very loud) chords. Later, in the lyrical second theme, the conversation between the two turns subtler, more confidential, and the orchestra tactfully restrains its power to allow the soloists to speak more clearly.
This relationship issue is also crucial in the central slow movement. After a short horn and woodwind introduction, violin and cello launch out together in one of those wonderful long-breathed tunes that are such a signature of Brahms’s style. Yet in the middle section, violin and cello now enact an almost operatic ‘love duet’, passing ideas to each other now tenderly, now with impassioned urgency. The folk-coloured finale offers a refreshing contrast, but the dialogue element remains important, until at last both players join in a bravura display guaranteed to bring the house down.
There may be a personal element in all this. In 1880 Brahms had a serious falling-out with his close friend and collaborator, the virtuoso violinist and composer Joseph Joachim. The Double Concerto seems to have been conceived partly as a peace offering to Joachim. Yet it’s striking that Brahms did not offer his old friend another violin concerto, but a work in which the violin must come to an accommodation with the cello – an instrument Brahms loved and wrote for with great feeling. Hearing the Double Concerto for the first time, Brahms’s friend, confidante and ‘ideal’ love Clara Schumann wrote that ‘This Concerto is in a way a work of reconciliation’, adding that ‘Joachim and Brahms have spoken to one another again after years of silence’ –a comment that could be applied just as readily to the music itself.
An announcement will be made five minutes before the end of the interval.
Programme notes
Robert Schumann
1810–56
Symphony No. 4 in D minor 1841
1.
2.
Ziemlich langsam – Lebhaft –
Romanze: Ziemlich langsam –
3.
Scherzo: Lebhaft
–
4. Langsam – Lebhaft –
At the age of 30, Schumann was a composer who had concentrated almost entirely on the small-scale forms of piano music and song. His only serious attempt at working on the broader canvas provided by the orchestra had been two movements of a symphony composed in 1832 and quickly withdrawn. But his desire to write symphonic music was strong, fed by persistent encouragement from his future wife Clara Wieck, and it received another important stimulus in 1839 when he played a major part in bringing to light Schubert’s forgotten ‘Great C major’ Symphony (No. 9): ‘Oh, that I could write such symphonies myself’, he wrote to Clara in his excitement. At last, in 1841, the dam burst in a flood of orchestral music: two completed symphonies, an abortive third, the Overture, Scherzo and Finale, Op. 52, and a piece that was later to become the first movement of the Piano Concerto. The creative surge was so great, indeed, that the First Symphony, with spring as its fitting inspiration, was composed in draft in just four days.
The First Symphony was premiered in Leipzig on 31 March under the direction of Mendelssohn, and the success of it meant that Schumann was soon enthusiastically at work on another. ‘Robert’s spirit is very active’, wrote Clara in her diary. ‘I hear the D minor wildly sounding in the distance, so that I know already in advance, it is once again a work emerging from the bottom of his heart.’ For his own part, Robert had written in his own diary that ‘My next symphony will be called “Clara”.’ Composed between May and September, it was performed for the first time on
Programme notes
6 December, but this time the reception was a cool one. Disheartened, Schumann withdrew the work, and when he finally revised it ten years later as his ‘Fourth’ Symphony, it was only after making a number of revisions. Some of these were structural, but most involved a thickening of the scoring – tonight’s performance follows the customary modern-day practice of presenting the 1851 revision, the version for which Schumann himself expressed preference.
Perhaps this symphony’s initial failure with the public can be put down to its formal innovations. Although it was not until he revised it that Schumann actually marked the four movements to be played without a break, the sense of a single ‘symphonic fantasy’ (as he initially thought of renaming it) is present even in the original version. And whereas the First Symphony had relied for unity on references to a single, easily recognised motto, the Fourth went several steps further, employing a complex web of interrelated themes derived from the work’s slow introduction. Thus, for example, material from the first movement’s central development section resurfaces as the main theme of the finale, and the slow movement’s middle section is clearly related to the introduction’s sinuous
string lines, while also forming the basis of the following movement’s Trio. Similar examples are too numerous to catalogue here, but the variety and life which Schumann extracts from them, and the wholly convincing symphonic shape he achieves – exuberant allegro, poetic slow movement, sturdy Scherzo and climactic finale – are testimony to his compositional skill and invention.
We hope you enjoyed tonight’s concert. Could you spare a few moments afterwards to complete a short survey about your experience? Your feedback is invaluable to us and will help to shape our future plans.
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Join us for our 2026 Gala –Stellar – at HERE at Outernet on Monday 29 June.
This exceptional night will feature world-class performances and exquisite dining in a venue like no other. Prepare to be captivated and immersed in an evening with the LPO. Our Gala will raise vital funds to support the LPO's artistic and social impact work; supporting the next generation –of musicians, of audiences and of communities – ensuring a creative, confident and flourishing society.
For more information, including ticket and table prices, scan the QR code or visit lpo.org.uk/gala
Our next Southbank Centre
concerts
Carnival of the Animals
Wed 15 Apr 2026, 7.30pm
Queen Elizabeth Hall
Dvořák Symphony No. 7
Ryan Carter Piano Concerto (world premiere)*
Saint-Saëns The Carnival of the Animals (with film animation by Sandra Albukrek)
Lidiya Yankovskaya conductor
Tomoko Mukaiyama piano
Bizjak Piano Duo
*This project is supported by the Daniel W. Dietrich ’64 Fund for Innovation in the Arts, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY, USA.
Supported by Cockayne Grants for the Arts, a Donor Advised Fund, held at The Prism Charitable Trust.
Post-concert event
9.30pm | Queen Elizabeth Hall
Foyer
LPO After Dark: 200 Years of ZSL
Celebrate ZSL’s 200th anniversary with a lively late-night performance by the Orchestra’s brass and percussion players. Visit lpo.org.uk to find out more.
Terence Blanchard
Fri 17 Apr 2026, 7.30pm
Royal Festival Hall
Duke Ellington The River Suite
Terence Blanchard A Tale of God’s Will: A Requiem for Katrina
2026/27 season
Our 2026/27 concert season will be announced on Tuesday 21 April 2026. Priority booking for LPO Friends opens on Wednesday 22 April, before general booking from Tuesday 28 April.
To receive all the details as soon as the season is announced, sign up to our e-news list now at lpo.org.uk/signup or scan the QR code.
Daniela Candillari conductor
Terence Blanchard trumpet
The Terence Blanchard Quintet
Free pre-concert talk
6.00pm | Royal Festival Hall
Harmony with our Changing Planet
Professor Gail Whiteman discusses resilience, creativity and climate change: see page 9.
Terence Blanchard
Annual Appeal 2026:
Beyond the Concert Hall
Building communities. Creating connections. Enriching lives.
We believe that music is powerful, and we are committed to harnessing its extraordinary ability to break down barriers and forge shared, meaningful human experiences.
Donate to Beyond the Concert Hall and your gift will support impactful, co-created projects. Stand beside us as we use music and music-making to raise confidence and aspirations, boost wellbeing and creativity, and share joy with those who have limited access.
‘I
am going through a very hard time. This project has healed my heart.’ Crisis Creates participant
Donate online at lpo.org.uk/beyondthehall, scan the QR code, or call the LPO Individual Giving Team on 020 7840 4212 or 020 7840 4225.
Sound Futures donors
We are grateful to the following donors for their generous contributions to our Sound Futures campaign. Thanks to their support, we successfully raised £1 million by 30 April 2015 which has now been matched pound for pound by Arts Council England through a Catalyst Endowment grant. This has enabled us to create a £2 million endowment fund supporting special artistic projects, creative programming and education work with key venue partners including our Southbank Centre home. Supporters listed below donated £500 or over. For a full list of those who have given to this campaign please visit lpo.org.uk/soundfutures
Masur Circle
Arts Council England
Dunard Fund
Victoria Robey CBE
Emmanuel & Barrie Roman
The Underwood Trust
Welser-Möst Circle
William & Alex de Winton
John Ireland Charitable Trust
The Tsukanov Family Foundation
Neil Westreich
Tennstedt Circle
Valentina & Dmitry Aksenov
Richard Buxton
The Candide Trust
Michael & Elena Kroupeev
Kirby Laing Foundation
Mr & Mrs Makharinsky
Alexey & Anastasia Reznikovich
Sir Simon Robey
Bianca & Stuart Roden
Simon & Vero Turner
The late Mr K Twyman
Solti Patrons
Ageas
John & Manon Antoniazzi
Gabor Beyer, through BTO
Management Consulting AG
Jon Claydon
Mrs Mina Goodman & Miss Suzanne
Goodman
Roddy & April Gow
The Jeniffer & Jonathan Harris
Charitable Trust
Mr James R.D. Korner OBE
Christoph Ladanyi & Dr Sophia Ladanyi-Czernin
Robert Markwick & Kasia Robinski
The Maurice Marks Charitable Trust
Mr Paris Natar
The Rothschild Foundation
Tom & Phillis Sharpe
The Viney Family
Haitink Patrons
Mark & Elizabeth Adams
Dr Christopher Aldren
Mrs Pauline Baumgartner
Lady Jane Berrill
Mr Frederick Brittenden
David & Yi Yao Buckley
Mr Clive Butler
Gill & Garf Collins
Mr John H Cook
Mr Alistair Corbett
Bruno De Kegel
Georgy Djaparidze
David Ellen
Christopher Fraser OBE
David & Victoria Graham Fuller
Goldman Sachs International
Mr Gavin Graham
Moya Greene
Mrs Dorothy Hambleton
Tony & Susie Hayes
Malcolm Herring
Catherine Høgel & Ben Mardle
Mrs Philip Kan
Rehmet Kassim-Lakha de Morixe
Rose & Dudley Leigh
Lady Roslyn Marion Lyons
Miss Jeanette Martin
Duncan Matthews KC
Diana & Allan Morgenthau
Charitable Trust
Dr Karen Morton
Mr Roger Phillimore
Ruth Rattenbury
The Reed Foundation
The Rind Foundation
Sir Bernard Rix
David Ross & Line Forestier (Canada)
Carolina & Martin Schwab
Dr Brian Smith
Lady Valerie Solti
Mr & Mrs G Stein
Dr Peter Stephenson
Miss Anne Stoddart
TFS Loans Limited
Marina Vaizey
Jenny Watson
Guy & Utti Whittaker
Pritchard Donors
Ralph & Elizabeth Aldwinckle
Mrs Arlene Beare
Mr Patrick & Mrs Joan Benner
Mr Conrad Blakey
Dr Anthony Buckland
Paul Collins
Alastair Crawford
Mr Derek B. Gray
Mr Roger Greenwood
The HA.SH Foundation
Darren & Jennifer Holmes
Honeymead Arts Trust
Mr Geoffrey Kirkham
Drs Frank & Gek Lim
Peter Mace
Mr & Mrs David Malpas
Dr David McGibney
Michael & Patricia McLaren-Turner
Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill
Mr Christopher Querée
The Rosalyn & Nicholas Springer
Charitable Trust
Timothy Walker CBE AM
Christopher Williams
Peter Wilson Smith
Mr Anthony Yolland
and all other donors who wish to remain anonymous
Thank you
As a registered charity, we are extremely grateful to all our supporters who have given generously to the LPO over the past year to help maintain the breadth and depth of the LPO’s activities, as well as supporting the Orchestra both on and off the concert platform.
Artistic Director’s Circle
The American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra
William & Alex de Winton
Catherine Høgel & Ben Mardle
Aud Jebsen
In memory of Paul Morgan
In memory of Donald Pelmear
In memory of Rita Reay
Sir Simon & Lady Robey CBE
In memory of Peter J Watson
Orchestra Circle
Richard Buxton
In memory of Nicola Goodman
Mr & Mrs Philip Kan
Neil Westreich
Principal Associates
An anonymous donor
Steven M. Berzin
Irina Gofman & Mr Rodrik V. G Cave
George Ramishvilli
In memory of Kenneth Shaw
The Tsukanov Family
Associates
Anonymous donors
Sir Nigel Boardman & Prof. Lynda Gratton
Garf & Gill Collins
Michelle Crowe Hernandez & Christian Hernandez
Ian Ferguson & Susan Tranter
Stuart & Bianca Roden
Malcolm & Alison Thwaites
Joe Topley & Tracey Countryman
The Williams Family in memory of Grenville Williams
Gold Patrons
An anonymous donor
David & Yi Buckley
Dr Alex & Maria Chan
In memory of Allner Mavis
Channing
In memory of Peter Coe
John & Sam Dawson
Fiona Espenhahn
Mr Roger Greenwood
Sally Groves MBE
David & Bettina Harden
Eugene & Allison Hayes
Malcolm Herring
Mrs Asli Hodson
John & Angela Kessler
Mrs Elizabeth Meshkvicheva
Peter & Lucy Noble
Julian & Gill Simmonds
Eric Tomsett
The Viney Family
Guy & Utti Whittaker
Silver Patrons
An anonymous donor
David Burke & Valerie Graham
Mr Luke Gardiner
The Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris
Charitable Trust
Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill
Clandia Wu & Hiu Fung Ng
Simon & Lucy Owen-Johnstone
Andrew & Cindy Peck
Mr Roger Phillimore
Tom & Phillis Sharpe
Laurence Watt
Joanna Williams
Bronze Patrons
Anonymous donors
Miram Al Rasheed
Michael Allen
Gabriela Andino-Benson
Irina Bednaya
Nicholas Berwin
Mrs Amna Boheim
Dame Colette Bowe
Lorna & Christopher Bown
Mr Bernard Bradbury
Dr Anthony Buckland
Desmond & Ruth Cecil
Mr John H Cook
Cameron & Kathryn Doley
Elena & Sergey Dubinets
Harron Ellenson & Charles Miller
Smith
Cristina & Malcolm Fallen
Christopher Fraser OBE
Charles Fulton
Gini & Richard Gabbertas
Jenny & Duncan Goldie-Scot
Mr Daniel Goldstein
David & Jane Gosman
Mr Gavin Graham
Mrs Dorothy Hambleton
Iain & Alicia Hasnip
J Douglas Home
Mr & Mrs Ralph Kanza
Mrs Irina Kiryukhina
Rose & Dudley Leigh
Wg. Cdr. M T Liddiard OBE JP RAF
Drs Frank & Gek Lim
Svetlana London
Graham Long
Richard & Judy Luddington
Mr & Mrs Makharinsky
James Maxey-Branch
Andrew T Mills
John Nickson & Simon Rew
Mikhail Noskov & Vasilina Bindley
Mr Stephen Olton
Nigel Phipps & Amanda McDowall
Mr Michael Posen
Marie Power
Neil & Karen Reynolds
Sir Bernard Rix
Baroness Shackleton
Tim Slorick
John & Madeleine Tucker
In memory of Doris Tylee
Mr & Mrs John & Susi Underwood
Sophie Walker
Jenny Watson CBE
Elena Y. Zeng
Principal Supporters
Anonymous donors
Dr M. Arevuo
Mrs Carol Ann Bailey
Mr John D Barnard
Roger & Clare Barron
Mr Geoffrey Bateman
Mrs A Beare
Adam J. Brunk & Madeleine
Haddon
Simon Burke & Rupert King
David & Liz Conway
Mr Alistair Corbett
David Devons
Deborah Dolce
David Edgecombe
Sir Timothy Fancourt
Jonathan Franklin
Professor Erol & Mrs Deniz Gelenbe
Steve & Cristina Goldring
Prof Emeritus John Gruzelier
Sebastian Arun Hansjee
Nick Hely-Hutchinson
Michael & Christine Henry
Mrs Farrah Jamal
Bruce & Joanna Jenkyn-Jones
Per Jonsson
Julian & Annette Armstrong
Mr Ian Kapur
Gee Lee
Dr Peter Mace
Mr Nikita Mishin
Allison Mollerberg
Simon Moore
Dr Simon Moore
Mrs Terry Neale
Mr Matthew Pearson
Mr James Pickford
Filippo Poli
Sukand Ramachandran
Mr Martin Randall
Mr Robert Ross
Mr Andrea Santacroce & Olivia Veillet-Lavallée
Aniruddha Sharma
Priscylla Shaw
Michael Smith
Erika Song
Mr & Mrs G Stein
Andrew & Rosemary Tusa
Wolf-Christian Ulrich
Ben Valentin KC
Christine Warsaw
Mr Rodney Whittaker
Christopher Williams
Supporters
Anonymous donors
Ralph & Elizabeth Aldwinckle
Alison Clarke & Leo Pilkington
Mr Philip Bathard-Smith
Mrs Martha Brooke
Mr Julien Chilcott-Monk
Miss Tessa Cowie
St Peter’s Composers, Bexhill-on-Sea
Dorothy Hobden
The Jackman Family
Jan Leigh & Jan Rynkiewicz
Mr Mack Lindsey
Mr David MacFarlane
Simon & Fiona Mortimore
Dana Mosevics
Dame Jane Newell DBE
Michael Noyce
Mr & Mrs Graham & Jean Pugh
Emilie Sydney-Smith
Ms Caroline Tate
Craig Terry
Tony & Hilary Vines
Dr Ann Turrall
Dr June Wakefield
Mr John Weekes
Mr C D Yates
Hon. Benefactor
Elliott Bernerd
Hon. Life Members
Alfonso Aijón
Dame Carol Colburn Grigor DBE
Robert Hill
Keith Millar
Victoria Robey CBE
Mrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE
Cornelia Schmid
Timothy Walker CBE AM
Laurence Watt
Thomas Beecham
Group Members
An anonymous donor
Sir Nigel Boardman & Prof. Lynda Gratton
David & Yi Buckley
Dr Alex & Maria Chan
Garf & Gill Collins
William & Alex de Winton
Ian Ferguson & Susan Tranter
The Friends of the LPO
Irina Gofman & Mr Rodrik V. G.
Cave
Mr Roger Greenwood
Barry Grimaldi
David & Bettina Harden
Mr & Mrs Philip Kan
John & Angela Kessler
Sir Simon Robey
Victoria Robey OBE
Stuart & Bianca Roden
Julian & Gill Simmonds
Malcolm & Alison Thwaites
Eric Tomsett
Neil Westreich
Guy & Utti Whittaker
LPO Corporate Members
Bloomberg Carter-Ruck Solicitors
French Chamber of Commerce
German-British Chamber of Industry & Commerce
Lazard
Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking
Virgin Money
Walpole
Preferred Partners
Google
Lay & Wheeler
Lindt & Sprüngli
Mayer Brown
Steinway & Sons
Welbeck
Trusts and Foundations
ABO Trust
Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne
Candide Trust
Cockayne – Grants for the Arts
David Solomons Charitable Trust
Dunard Fund
Foyle Foundation
Garfield Weston Foundation
The Baily Thomas Charitable Fund
The Boshier-Hinton Foundation
The Golsoncott Foundation
Jerwood Foundation
John Thaw Foundation
John Horniman’s Children’s Trust
The Ian Askew Charitable Trust
Idlewild Trust
Institute Adam Mickiewicz
Kirby Laing Foundation
Thank you
The Lennox Hannay Charitable Trust
Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust
Lucille Graham Trust
The Marchus Trust
Margaret Killbery Foundation
Maria Bjӧrnson Memorial Fund
The 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust
PRS Foundation
The Radcliffe Trust
Rivers Foundation
Rothschild Foundation
Scops Arts Trust
Sir William Boreman’s Foundation
The John S Cohen Foundation
TIOC Foundation
UK Friends of the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Foundation
Vaughan Williams Foundation
The Viney Family
The Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust
and others who wish to remain anonymous.
Trusts and Foundations
Principal Partners
Principal Supporters
Major Supporters
Board of the American Friends of the LPO
We are grateful to the Board of the American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, who assist with fundraising for our activities in the United States of America:
Hannah Young Chair
Lora Aroyo
Jon Carter
Alexandra Jupin
Natalie Pray MBE
Dr Irene Rosner David
Marc Wassermann
Catherine Høgel
Hon. Director
LPO International Board of Governors
Natasha Tsukanova Chair
Steven M. Berzin
Shashank Bhagat
Irina Gofman
Olivia Ma
George Ramishvili
Florian Wunderlich
Corporate Sponsors
Principal Partner
OrchLab Project Partner
Principal Supporter
Major Supporters
London Philharmonic Orchestra Administration
Board of Directors
Dr Catherine C. Høgel Chair
Sir Nigel Boardman Vice-Chair
Mark Vines* President
Kate Birchall* Vice-President
Emily Benn
David Buckley
David Burke
Simon Burke
Simon Carrington*
Michelle Crowe Hernandez
Deborah Dolce
Simon Estell*
Jesús Herrera
Tanya Joseph
Minn Majoe*
Tania Mazzetti*
Jamie Njoku-Goodwin OBE
Neil Westreich
David Whitehouse*
*Player-Director
Advisory Council
Roger Barron Chairman
Christopher Aldren
Kate Birchall
Amna Boheim
Richard Brass
Helen Brocklebank
YolanDa Brown OBE
David Burke
Simon Callow CBE
Desmond Cecil CMG
Jane Coulson
Andrew Davenport
Guillaume Descottes
Cameron Doley
Lena Fankhauser
Christopher Fraser OBE
Jenny Goldie-Scot
Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS
Nick Hely-Hutchinson DL
Jesús Herrera
Dr Catherine C. Høgel
Martin Höhmann
Jamie Korner OBE
Andrew Neill
Nadya Powell
Sir Bernard Rix
Victoria Robey CBE
Baroness Shackleton
Thomas Sharpe KC
Julian Simmonds
Daisuke Tsuchiya
Mark Vines
Chris Viney
Laurence Watt
Elizabeth Winter
New Generation Board
Ellie Ajao
Peter De Souza
Vivek Haria
Rianna Henriques
Zerlina Vulliamy
General Administration
Jesús Herrera
Artistic Director
David Burke
Chief Executive
Monica Rutherford PA to the Executive & Office Manager (Interim)
Concert Management
Roanna Gibson
Concerts & Planning Director
Graham Wood
Concerts & Recordings Manager
Aimee Walton Tours Manager
Madeleine Ridout Glyndebourne & Projects Manager
Alison Jones
Concerts & Artists Co-ordinator
Alice Drury
Tours & Projects Assistant
Nicola Stevenson
Concerts & Recordings Assistant
Matthew Freeman Recordings Consultant
Andrew Chenery
Orchestra Personnel Manager
Helen Phipps Orchestra & Auditions Manager
Sarah Thomas
Martin Sargeson Librarians
Stephen O’Flaherty Deputy Operations Manager
Gabrielle Slack-Smith Assistant Stage Manager
Finance
Frances Slack
Finance Director
Dayse Guilherme Finance Manager
Jean-Paul Ramotar IT Manager & Finance Officer
Education & Community
Talia Lash
Education & Community Director
Eleanor Jones
Lowri Thomas
Education & Community Project Managers
Ellie Leon
Education & Community Co-ordinator
Claudia Clarkson
Regional Partnerships Manager
Development
Laura Willis
Development Director
Rosie Morden
Senior Development Manager
Eleanor Conroy
Development Events Manager
Owen Mortimer
Corporate Relations Manager
Anna Quillin
Trusts & Foundations Manager
Holly Eagles Development Co-ordinator
Faye Jones Development Assistant
Nick Jackman
Campaigns & Projects Director
Kirstin Peltonen
Development Associate
Marketing & Communications
Kath Trout
Marketing & Communications Director
Sophie Lonergan
Senior Marketing Manager (maternity leave)
Katie Vickers
Senior Marketing Manager (maternity cover)
Georgie Blyth
Press & PR Manager (maternity leave)
Said Abubakar, WildKat PR 07983 489 888
Press & PR (maternity cover)
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Auditors
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ALLAN CLAYTON | JAMIE BARTON | JAMES PLATT
MAHLER: SYMPHONY NO. 9
Vladimir Jurowski conductor LPO-0139 Released 23 January 2026
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