175 years young - Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra celebrate

Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra   © Mark McNulty

Under chief conductor Vasily Petrenko, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra will be celebrating the orchestra's 175th anniversary during the season (their website has a blog recording people's memories) as well as completing the refurbishment of the Philharmonic Hall. Petrenko has been in place since 2006. 

Petrenko starts his season with the orchestra with a pair of concert pairing Strauss's mammoth Alpine Symphony with Berio's Folksongs and Canteloube's Song of the Auvergne (both sung by Jennifer Johnson) and Tchaikovsky's The Seasons, closely followed by Andrew Manze conducting a pairing of Holst's The Planet with a new Robin Holloway piece and RVW 8 (Manze returns with an all RVW programme in May 2016). The remainder of the action packed season includes Petrenko conducting Mendelssohn's Elijah with Susan Gritton, Patricia Bardon, Jeremy Ovendon and Thomas Oliemans, Ton Koopman conducting Handel, Bach and Haydn, four concerts from the Lithuanian violin virtuoso Julian Rachlin, the world premiere of Ludovico Einaudi's Piano Concerto, and music by Hugo Alfven.

Nathalie Stutzman is also in residence both singing Schubert's Die Winterreise and conducting the St Matthew Passion with John Mark Ainsley as the Evangelist and Christopher Purves as Christus. Other artists in residence include the folk group The Unthanks, who will be performing folk music with the orchestra, and harpist Catrin Finch who performs Mozart and Glere

There is also a chamber music series in the more intimate St George's Hall Concert Room.  All in all over 60 concerts in the season.