Southbank Centre launches autumn-winter classical programme

The Southbank Centre has revealed details of its autumn-winter 2025-26 classical music programme. The upcoming programme marks the anniversaries of four of the London venue’s six resident orchestras, celebrating 80 years of the Philharmonia Orchestra, the 20^th anniversary of Aurora Orchestra, 40 years of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and a decade of Chineke!.

The season will launch with a four-day opening weekend starting on 25 September with the Philharmonia Orchestra’s world premiere performance of Si el oxígeno fuera verde by the orchestra’s composer-in-residence Gabriela Ortiz. The Attacca Quartet makes their Southbank Centre debut before the BBC Concert Orchestra presents a special edition of Friday Night is Music Night and resident artists Manchester Collective return to perform John Adams’ Shaker Loops. New resident artists cellist Alisa Weilerstein and guitarist Sean Shibe launch their residencies on 27 September.

London Philharmonic Orchestra presents a programme combining Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.5 with Ringed by the flat horizon by composer-in-residence George Benjamin, while Aurora Orchestra continues their 20th anniversary celebrations with a family-focused concert. Pianist Boris Giltburg performs an evening concert of all of Rachmaninov’s Preludes and the weekend closes with Chineke! Joins forces with Chineke! Junior Orchestra and soloists Tai Murray, Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Isata Kanneh-Mason to mark their 10^th anniversary.

Artistic director Mark Ball added: ‘This season once again demonstrates that at Southbank Centre our approach to classical music reinforces our role as an engine of creativity and our commitment to democratising music. It both celebrates the canon and shapes the future of the form, exciting audiences that are familiar concert-goers, whilst supporting artists to create thrilling ways to make music and engage new audiences.’

Alongside a rich programme of symphonies and concertos from the established classical canon, the venue’s ‘Contemporary Edit’ features the return of the 2025 RPS Award-winning Paraorchestra with their new production Dance Like Nobody's Watching transporting the audience back to Vienna, 1918. Elsewhere, associate artist Belfast Ensemble returns to perform the UK debut of the concert version of director Conor Mitchell’s new chamber opera Dublin Jack.

Michael Barenboim makes his solo debut, and joins forces with Gilbert Nuono for an evening of violin, viola and live electronics, while The Multi-Story Orchestra presents STUCK, a new musical combining genres from grime to gospel and orchestral and choral. London Sinfonietta and George Benjamin present a programme celebrating Boulez’ 100th anniversary on 5 October.

You can explore the full programme here.