Brighton Philharmonic have made the following announcement at the end of their current season:-
At the end of this season, the Brighton Philharmonic’s 90th, Barry Wordsworth will be moving to a new role within the BPO, becoming the orchestra’s first Conductor Laureate, after 26 years as Music Director & Principal Conductor.
We shall continue to enjoy Barry’s charismatic leadership throughout next season and beyond, as he will be conducting six of the eight concerts in the 2015/16 season at Brighton Dome.
In the meantime we are fortunate that Ian Brignall, our Concert Manager, has been working closely with Barry in planning our programmes. He will continue to do so while we consider whom to appoint as Music Director in the longer term.
Barry has been only the third Music Director in the 90 year history of the orchestra and we marked his huge part in our story after the final concert of the season at Brighton Dome on Sunday 22 March at a reception for Friends of the Philharmonic. The Mayor of Brighton & Hove thanked Barry for his enormous contribution to the cultural life of the city, and the Friends of the Phil presented him with a token of their appreciation for his many years of service to the BPO.
Sunday 22 March was also the day of the BPO’s open rehearsal for schoolchildren to which over 300 children from local primary schools were invited. These children have recently attended music workshops given by BPO players, funded by the Fonthill Foundation, an educational trust, which focused on “Mars” from Holst’s The Planets suite, one of the BBC’s Ten Pieces chosen to inspire young children to “get creative with classical music”. Workshop participants were invited to attend the morning rehearsal in the Dome Concert Hall to experience “Mars” played live and then to attend the concert that afternoon free of charge, with accompanying adults at a flat discounted rate.
Below are details of the summer concerts and the new season for 2015-16
