Philharmonia 2025/26 Season

The Philharmonia continue their residence at the Hall in 2025 and 2026, which will be their 80th birthday season! 

Across five concerts, the Leicester season brings the best of classical music to the Hall. We’ll be welcoming musicians including pianist Bruce Liu, conductor Leonidas Kavakos and trumpet soloist Pacho Flores, who performs music by Gabriela Ortiz, the Philharmonia’s Featured Composer next season.

Principal Conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali leads us in a boisterous season finale in June 2026 with the renowned pianist Benjamin Grosvenor. In fact, this programme was conducted by Strauss himself back in 1947. What a way to close the birthday celebrations!

Don’t forget, you can get a discount when you book multiple concerts at once! Book 3 or 4 concerts and receive 10% off, or book all 5 and receive 15% off!

Beethoven and Shostakovich Tuesday 30 September 2025

Nil Venditti conductor 
Anastasia Kobekina cello 

BEETHOVEN Coriolan Overture
SHOSTAKOVICH Cello Concerto No. 1
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7  

We open the 2025/26 season with favourites by Beethoven and Shostakovich. 

Beethoven judged his Symphony No. 7 to be one of his best compositions – the symphony is a mainstay of the orchestral repertoire – you might recognise its beautiful slow movement from the 2010 Oscar-winning film, The King’s Speech.

In between the two Beethoven works is Shostakovich’s fiery Cello Concerto No. 1. Widely considered the height of achievement for a cellist, the piece gives the principal horn, celesta, and indeed every member of the orchestra, the chance to shine too.

Symphonie Fantastique Wednesday 26 November 2025

Rafael Payare conductor
Pacho Flores trumpet

BERLIOZ Roman Carnival Overture 
ORTIZ Trumpet Concerto, Altar de Bronce
BERLIOZ Symphonie fantastique 

Two of Berlioz’s most popular works frame a performance by “the best trumpeter in the world” in this fiesta of a concert. Latin Grammy-winning trumpeter Pacho Flores joins Rafael Payare as conductor for a concert full of colour and energy. The parties continue with Symphonie fantastique – a glittering ball and a fearsome Witches’ Sabbath.

Bruce Liu Plays Ravel Saturday 11 April 2026

Ryan Bancroft conductor 
Bruce Liu piano 

BRITTEN Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes 
RAVEL Piano Concerto in G
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5

The Philharmonia welcomes outstanding pianist and winner of the 2021 International Chopin Piano competition, Bruce Liu, to Leicester. Liu will be joined by close collaborator of the orchestra, Ryan Bancroft, as they journey through carefree, jazz inspired pieces, a pillar of the classical repertoire in Tchaikovsky’s’ Fifth Symphony, and dive into the different faces of the sea with work from the opera, Peter Grimes. 

Leonidas Kavakos and Kian Soltani Wednesday 6 May 2026

Leonidas Kavakos conductor
Kian Soltani cello

DVOŘÁK Vanda Overture
SCHUMANN Cello Concerto
BRAHMS Symphony No. 1

Two world-class musicians join forces for a charming programme of classical hits, full of romantic and beautiful tones. Together, these two powerhouses create poetry with the Orchestra, performing beloved and rare pieces. 

Santtu and Benjamin Grosvenor in a Strauss Extravaganza Tuesday 2 June 2026

Santtu-Matias Rouvali conductor 
Benjamin Grosvenor piano 

STRAUSS Don Juan
STRAUSS Rondo Burleske
STRAUSS Symphonia Domestica
STRAUSS Waltzes from Der Rosenkavalier (first sequence)

The Philharmonia’s 80th birthday celebrations reach their grand finale – a reconstruction of a 1947 concert conducted by Richard Strauss himself. Strauss was 83, and the Philharmonia just two years old, when he conducted the orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in a concert of his own works. Santtu, an acclaimed interpreter of Strauss’s music, now steps into his formidable shoes to recreate that extraordinary occasion.