Montreal Symphony Orchestra returns to London

Later this month the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) will make a long-awaited return to the UK capital in its first London concert since 1994. The only international orchestra to be a guest of the Southbank Centre this autumn, the OSM will perform at the Royal Festival Hall on 28 October.

In a concert conducted by new music director, Rafael Payare, the orchestra will collaborate with Southbank Centre artist in residence, pianist Víkingur Ólafsson, to mark the end of the orchestra’s European tour with a programme opening with Elysium by Canadian composer Samy Moussa and including works by Ravel and Shostakovich. The orchestra will begin its tour on 21 October in Zagreb, before moving on to Budapest, Vienna, Brussels and finally London on 28 October.

Payare said: ‘I am incredibly excited to be bringing the Orchestre symphonique de Montreal to the Southbank. London has many great memories for me, and I couldn’t be happier that the city is part of our first European tour together.’

The first South American to be appointed music director at the OSM, Payare succeeded Kent Nagano in 2021 to become the ninth music director in the orchestra’s history. Born in Venezuela, and trained as a French horn player, Payare is a graduate of El Sistema where he studied conducting with founder Jose Antonio Abreu, eventually winning the Malko International Competition for Young Conductors in Denmark in 2012, and gaining international recognition.

You can find further information about OSM’s upcoming London performance here.