Mid-century classics and more - Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra's 2016/17 season

Kirill Karabits, chief conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, will be launching the orchestra's 2016/17 season with performances of William Walton's Symphonies 1 & 2, both of which will be recorded for future release on the Onyx Classics label. A special focus on mid 20th century symphonies will also include Martinu's Symphony No. 4 (conducted by Aleksandar Markovic the new music director of  Opera North), Shostakovich's Symphony No. 8 (conducted by Kirill Karabits in a programme which also includes Prokofiev's Violin Concerto with Valeriy Sokolov) and Lutoslawski's Concerto for Orchestra in a programme with Bartok's Dance Suite.

Another focus is on the music of Elgar in the context of his Romantic contemporaries with the Cello Concerto (paired with Dvorak's Symphony No. 8), In the South (paired with Richard Strauss's Aus Italien), Elgar's Violin Concerto (with Kirill Karabits and Guy Braunstein, paired with Rachmaninov's Symphony No. 3), and Karl Heinz-Steffens conducting Elgar's Symphony No. 1.

The orchestra's new artist in residence is Serbian violinist Nemanja Radulovic, who will be performing Khachaturian's Violin Concerto, Barber's Violin Concerto and a recital with repertoire spanning Bach to Wieniawski.

The orchestra's BSO Participate programme works with 18 Music Hubs across the South and South West, so that in addition to the orchestra's 120 public performances it will be participating in around 500 workshops, creative sessions, tea dances and community activities. 125 000 people are expected to attend a BSO concert, with more than 60,000 children, young people and community groups engaging with other activities. Free concerts for primary schools will enable more than 10,000 children (aged 7 to 11) to experience high quality live music, with the Kids for a Quid scheme enabling 3000 under 18s to see live symphonic music last season.

Full details from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra's website.