The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra has announced its 2018/19 season, its tenth with Kirill Karabits as Chief Conductor, with over 150 performances in Poole, Bournemouth, Exeter, Bristol, Portsmouth, Cheltenham and other towns and cities across the South and South West.
The orchestra’s relationship with Kirill Karabits was described by the Daily Telegraph as “one of the country’s finest orchestral partnerships”. Kirill became the first Ukrainian to hold a titled position with a British orchestra when he joined the BSO in 2008 after a unanimous vote by the musicians. He has since taken the Orchestra to new heights, and in recognition of his work with the Orchestra he won the Royal Philharmonic Society Conductor Award in 2013. Kirill has championed rare repertoire which he has both performed and recorded with the Orchestra to widespread critical acclaim, most recently with a performance of Lyatoshinsky’s Symphony No. 3, of which The Times said “passion shone through in the BSO’s performance”. A recording of the work is being released in early 2019 on Chandos as part of the Orchestra and Karabits’ series of rare Eastern European music.
“This season we are proud to celebrate Chief Conductor Kirill Karabits’ 10th year with the Orchestra. In April 2019 he will become the longest serving Chief Conductor since Sir Dan Godfrey himself. Kirill is a musician of the very highest order and we have seen this across the whole span of symphonic repertoire in the last 10 years. Kirill’s rare gift to bring a performance to life, combined with the outstanding musicianship and commitment of the members of the BSO, means that audiences are enjoying another golden age of performances in the history of this great Orchestra.”- Dougie Scarfe, BSO Chief Executive
The 2018/19 season opens with a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No.2 conducted by Karabits at the Orchestra’s home – the Lighthouse in Poole – with soprano Lise Windstorm, mezzo-soprano Nadine Weissmann and the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, in addition to Ligeti’s Lontano. Other highlights of Kirill’s 10th anniversary season include a performance of Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius (Poole: 15 May) and a performance of Teterian’s Symphony No. 3 featuring duduk and surna players Harutyun Chqolyan and Arshaluys Tadevosyan which the Orchestra and Karabits are recording for the next instalment of their rare Eastern European music recording series on Chandos.
The Orchestra is marking many major anniversaries this season. Firstly for the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One the BSO have co-commissioned English composer Mark-Anthony Turnage to write Testament – a setting of four Ukrainian poems for soprano and orchestra. The Orchestra will premiere Testament on 7 November in Poole, conducted by Kirill Karabits, alongside Glière’s Les Sirens and Prokofiev’s War and Peace Orchestral Suite. On Sunday 11 November the Orchestra join together with Bournemouth Symphony Chorus and conductor David Hill for Always Remembered – a performance in collaboration with the Lighthouse, Poole, bringing together readings and performance to mark the centenary of the end of World War One. The Orchestra and the Lighthouse aim to bring together the people of Poole and Dorset through the event, remembering loved ones and marking the centenary as a community.
As a major highlight of the worldwide Bernstein centenary celebrations, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Conductor Emeritus Marin Alsop perform the composer’s Chichester Psalms at Chichester Cathedral where the piece was originally performed in 1965. Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra brings together the three Cathedral choirs who sang in the original performance over 50 years ago – Chichester, Salisbury and Winchester – for the performance on 24 November 2018.
Marking the centenary of Edward Elgar’s much-loved Cello Concerto, the Orchestra will perform the piece with cellist Tim Hugh and conductor David Hill (21 March) at Portsmouth’s Guildhall, a short drive away from where Elgar composed the concerto in Fittleworth, Sussex, 100 years ago.
David Hill conducts a special anniversary performance of Tippett’s Child of Our Time with the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus and Jette Parker Young Artist Simon Shibambu to mark the work’s 75th anniversary in March 2019. Other debut performances with the BSO this season include British singer Allison Oakes who makes her UK professional debut performing Strauss’ Four Last Songs (Poole: 24 Oct, Exeter: 25 Oct), and main season debuts for young British conductors Ben Gernon (Poole: 17 Oct, Portsmouth: 18 Oct) and Jamie Phillips (Poole: 10 April, Exeter 11 April, Portsmouth 12 April). Violinist Baiba Skride makes her BSO debut performing Dvořák’s Violin Concerto conducted by German conductor Clemens Schuldt, also making his BSO debut (Poole: 30 Jan, Exeter: 31 Jan).
The 2018/19 season will see the BSO return to Cornwall for the Cornwall Residency in February 2019, and will see a mixture of school and community workshops, rehearsals and events all over the County. In 2019 the BSO aims to build on their record-breaking residency in 2017 where they reached over 6,000 individuals.
The full programme for the BSO’s 2018/19 Concert Season is available at BSOlive.com
Booking Information
General ticket sales open on September 5th 2018, through the relevant venue box offices.
There is the option to book a package of concerts and save money with generous discounts are available.
Picture used courtesy of Eric Richmond