The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British concert orchestra based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, one of the

British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...

's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five BBC orchestras which is not a full-scale symphony orchestra. The BBC Concert Orchestra is the BBC's most populist ensemble, playing a mixture of

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

, light music and popular numbers. Its primary role is to produce music for radio broadcast, and it is the resident orchestra of the world's longest-running live music programme, '' Friday Night Is Music Night'' on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

History

The parent ensemble of the orchestra was the BBC Theatre Orchestra, which was formed in 1931 and based in

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

. The orchestra also did opera work and was occasionally billed as the BBC Opera Orchestra. Stanford Robinson was the principal conductor from 1931 until 1946, but others included Walter Goehr, Spike Hughes, Harold Lowe, Mark Lubbock and Lionel Salter. In August 1949, the ensemble was formally renamed the BBC Opera Orchestra. In January 1952, the BBC Opera Orchestra was disbanded and the BBC Concert Orchestra was formed from its players. Until 1972, the orchestra was based at the Camden Theatre. From 1972 to 2004, the orchestra performed regularly at the Golders Green Hippodrome. It also appears regularly at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

and

The Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

in London, as well as venues around the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. As well as its performances on BBC Radio 2, it also performs on

and the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

and was a core part of the BBC's Electric Proms, now discontinued. As well as light classical music, it also plays

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

and much of the popular repertoire previously the mainstay of the disbanded BBC Radio Orchestra. It links, from time to time, with the BBC Big Band for concerts and broadcasts.

Conductors

Gilbert Vinter served as its first principal conductor. Barry Wordsworth, principal conductor from 1989 to 2006, now holds the title of Conductor Laureate. In August 2010, the orchestra announced the simultaneous appointments of Keith Lockhart as its seventh principal conductor, with immediate effect, and of Johannes Wildner as principal guest conductor. Lockhart concluded his principal conductorship of the orchestra at the end of 2017, and subsequently took the title of chief guest conductor. In November 2017, the orchestra announced the appointment of Bramwell Tovey as its next principal conductor, effective January 2018, with an initial contract of five years. Tovey served as principal conductor until his death on 12 July 2022. In November 2019, the BBC CO announced the appointment of Anna-Maria Helsing as its next principal guest conductor, the first female conductor ever named to the post, and the third female conductor to be named to a titled post with a BBC orchestra. In June 2023, the BBC CO announced the appointment of Helsing as its next chief conductor, effective 1 October 2023, with an initial contract of three seasons. Helsing is the first female conductor to be named chief conductor of the BBC CO, the first female conductor to be named chief conductor of a BBC orchestra, and the second female conductor to be named chief conductor of a BBC music ensemble. In March 2024, the BBC Concert Orchestra announced the appointment of Matthew Swann as its next Director, in succession to Bill Chandler, effective 27 March 2024. In June 2024, the orchestra announced the appointment of Edwin Outwater as its next principal guest conductor, effective 1 September 2024.

Composers

Composers who have been affiliated with the orchestra have included Anne Dudley and Jonny Greenwood, who was named the orchestra's composer-in-association in 2004. In January 2013, the orchestra announced the appointment of Guy Barker as its new Associate Composer, replacing Greenwood, with an initial contract of two years. In 2017, Dobrinka Tabakova was appointed as the BBC CO's new Composer-in-Residence.

Recordings

The orchestra has recorded commercially for the NMC Recordings label.

Principal conductors

* Gilbert Vinter (1952–1953) * Charles Mackerras (1954–1956) * Vilém Tauský (1956–1966) * Marcus Dods (1966–1970) * Ashley Lawrence (1970–1989) * Barry Wordsworth (1989–2006) * Keith Lockhart (2010–2017) * Bramwell Tovey (2018–2022) * Anna-Maria Helsing (2023–2026)

References

External links

Official website of the BBC Concert Orchestra
{{DEFAULTSORT:BBC Concert Orchestra London orchestras Concert Orchestra, BBC 1931 establishments in the United Kingdom Musical groups established in 1931 Decca Records artists Polydor Records artists Sony Classical Records artists