BBC Symphony Orchestra - About The Orchestra

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BBC Symphony Orchestra Biography

The orchestra provides the backbone of the BBC Proms, and performs an annual season of concerts at the Barbican, all of which are broadcast on BBC Radio 3. Highlights in its 2012-13 Season include a focus on Sir Michael Tippett, operas by Donizetti and Ravel, and three Total Immersion days. Recently appointed Chief Conductor Designate Sakari Oramo’s first performance as Chief Conductor will be in 2013.

About the BBC Symphony Chorus

The BBC Symphony Chorus is one of the finest amateur choruses in the country. It makes more television and radio appearances than any similar choir.

One of the UK’s finest and most distinctive amateur choirs, the BBC Symphony Chorus was founded in 1928. Its early appearances included premieres of Bartók’s Cantata Profana, Stravinsky’s Perséphone and Mahler’s Eighth Symphony and this commitment to new music is undiminished today with premieres and commissions in recent years of works by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Judith Weir, Stephen Montague, Peter Eötvös and Sir John Tavener.

In its appearances with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Chorus performs a wide range of challenging repertoire, most of which is broadcast on BBC Radio 3. Recent performances have included music by Verdi, Prokofiev, Vaughan Williams and Elgar at the Barbican and Fairfield Halls. Performances in the BBC SO's 2013-14 Barbican season include The Apostles and The Dream of Gerontius by Elgar, Berlioz's L'Enfance du Christ, and Faure's Requiem. In November the Chorus performs in concerts at the Royal Albert Hall and Snape Maltings celebrating Britten's centenary.

As resident chorus for the BBC Proms, the BBC Symphony Chorus takes part in a number of concerts each season, usually including the First and Last Nights. Appearances in 2013 include performances of Tippett's The Midsummer Marriage with the BBC SO, BBC Singers and Sir Andrew Davis (Prom 45), and Szymanowski's Symphony No. 3 with the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales (Prom 9).

As well as dedicated studio recordings for Radio 3 the Chorus has also made recordings for commercial record labels, including a selection of choral works by Joseph Marx, and Delius’s The Song of the High Hills and Appalachia with the BBC SO and Sir Andrew Davis. The Chorus also performs on its own and with other orchestras in London and further afield, most recently in France and the Canary Islands.

Chorus Director - Stephen Jackson

President - Sir Andrew Davis CBE