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The BBC Symphony Orchestra (= BBCSO) was founded by Adrian Boult in 1930 as London's first permanent orchestra. Since then, its impressive roll-call of Chief Conductors has included Antal Doráti, Pierre Boulez, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Sir Colin Davis and Sir John Pritchard while the Orchestra has also worked closely with a number of great composers, including Béla Bartók, Henze, Lutoslawski, Pärt, Prokofiev, Strauss and Igor Stravinsky.
A strong commitment to new music has resulted in the BBC SO giving the premieres of over 1,100 works, many of which were commissioned by the BBC and have since become established classics. As the flagship orchestra of the BBC, the BBC SO provides the backbone of the Proms, with more than a dozen appearances each summer, including the First and Last Nights. The Orchestra's schedule also includes an annual concert season at the Barbican and regional UK concerts alongside international tours and commercial recordings. Every performance, at home or abroad, is broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and can also be heard on the BBC Radio 3 website.
Since 2000 the BBC Symphony Orchestra has had its London home at the Barbican, where it holds the position of Associate Orchestra. In the same year, Leonard Slatkin became the Orchestra's eleventh Chief Conductor, succeeding Sir Andrew Davis who became its first Conductor Laureate. In another first, Mark-Anthony Turnage was appointed to the new role of Associate Composer, a position which he held until 2003.
At the start of the 2002-2003 season the BBC SO announced the appointment of highly acclaimed Finnish conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste as Prinicipal Guest Conductor, and in June 2003 John Adams was appointed to the new position of Artist in Asssociation.
The BBC SO gives a full season of concerts at the Barbican annually and every January celebrates the work of a 20th or 21st-century composer in a weekend festival; John Adams and Mark-Anthony Turnage have featured recently to great critical acclaim, and the work of that musical maverick John Cage was explored in January 2004 in a weekend of unforgettable events including an all-night piano recital in the Barbican Conservatory!
The BBC SO records for many of the major recording labels and appears regularly on television. The Orchestra's performance at Buckingham Palace as part of the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations was seen by an audience of millions around the world.
The Orchestra has a busy touring schedule, recently undertaking a tour of European cities, followed by a visit to the Bad Kissingen Festival in Germany and with a visit to South America planned for autumn 2004. In addition, the BBC SO regularly appears at international festivals including Aldeburgh, Edinburgh and Salzburg.
The BBC SO has a busy education schedule with recent projects including a week-long gamelan project at Maida Vale Studios involving pupils from pupils from a number of schools and members of the local community. |
