LPO announces 2024-25 London season

London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) has announced details of its upcoming 2024-25 season. Centred around the theme of ‘Moments Remembered’, the season explores the relationship between music and memory.

LPO has appointed Jeremy Eichler, author of Times Echo, as its first ever writer-in-residence to help bring the season’s theme to life. His writing will be found in programmes throughout the season, and he will also participate in pre-concert talks giving valuable context to many of the orchestra’s programme.

LPO artistic director Elena Dubinets said: ‘We’ve all experienced the rush of emotions when music with personal connotations begins to play; we will explore that as well as hear memorials, tributes and powerful public statements, all captured in music. I’m delighted that Jeremy Eichler… will be with us throughout to help us explore these themes. Memory problems are one of the most devastating things a human being can experience and so, off the platform, we will be working with organisations that support people with dementia, memory loss and brain injury.’

Principal conductor Edward Gardner teams up with Joyce DiDonato to open the season on 25 September with a programme inspired by antiquity with Barber’s Medea’s Dance of Vengeance, Berlioz’s The Death of Cleopatra and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 (Eroica). Gardner will then take on an all-Rachmaninoff programme alongside the London Philharmonic Choir and guests Leif Ove Andsnes, Kristina Mkhitaryan, Dmytro Popov and Kostas Smoriginas.

Throughout the season Gardner is joined by further guests including Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Víkingur Ólafsson, Augustin Hadelich and Isabelle Faust. Further guest artists will also include Renée Fleming, Gidon Kremer and Jan Lisiecki, while the season’s final concerts of the season will see circus performers from Circa join the orchestra for a programme of Ravel.

The upcoming season will include four premieres, including world premieres from Freya Waley-Cohen and David Sawer, a UK premiere from composer-in-residence Tania León, and a European premiere from Dinuk Wijeratne. In an effort to enhance access to its concerts, the LPO will also be trialling earlier 6.30pm starts for three Wednesday concerts at the Royal Festival Hall as well as continuing its FUNharmonics Family Concerts series and hosting a day dedicated to its OrchLab project for disabled adults in partnership with Drake Music.

Gardner said: ‘World-class soloists pack our season, and our commitment to emerging talent is as strong as ever. I’m intrigued to see how our second cohort of Fellow Conductors develop across the year, as well as working with our Foyle Future Firsts and students from my alma mater, the Royal Academy of Music in our annual showcase.’

Programmes for LPO’s partnership with St John’s Church Waterloo, residencies at Brighton Dome, Eastbourne’s Congress Theatre and Saffron Hall and digital residency with streaming service Marquee TV are yet to be announced.