Birmingham-based music charity B:Music has announced its 2025/26 Birmingham Classical season, taking place at Symphony Hall.

The eclectic programme is filled with world-renowned orchestras, stellar soloists, exclusive concerts and innovative rising stars.

The new season promises to showcase some of the pinnacles of orchestral music as well offering a platform for newer discoveries.

An array of leading soloists will perform in the new season, including the internationally acclaimed pianist Freddy Kempf, who will play with the Brno Philharmonic on Wed 15 Oct.

Hailing from Georgia and winner of eight prizes at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition, Giorgi Gigashvili performs in the Jennifer Blackwell Performance space on Sun 9 Nov as one of six ECHO Rising Stars concerts.

The ECHO Rising Stars Sunday recitals feature outstanding artists handpicked by the directors of Europe’s most prestigious venues. Each musician or group embarks on an international concert tour of halls in the ECHO network, and B:Music venues Symphony Hall and Town Hall have been there since the series began in 1995.

The other musicians and groups who feature in the series are the Maat Saxophone Quartet (Sun 5 Oct), Álfheiður Erla Guðmundsdóttir (Sun 8 Feb), Valerie Fritz (Sun 29 Mar), Áron Horváth (Sun 12 Apr), and Trio Concept (Sun 17 May).

The season also sees a hugely anticipated homecoming performance from Sir Simon Rattle, who takes to the Symphony Hall stage with his new orchestra, the world-leading Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra on Tue 11 Nov.

The Concerto Budapest Symphony Orchestra make a return to Symphony Hall with a programme including Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto (with Paul Lewis) and Shostakovich’s
playful Ninth Symphony on Wed 3 Dec, while the unique and compelling violinist Jennifer Pike joins the master musicians of the Czech Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra to perform Bruch’s ever-popular Violin Concerto on Thu 12 Feb.

On Sun 29 Mar, the London Philharmonic Orchestra will play Beethoven’s visionary Ninth Symphony conducted by globally celebrated musician and composer Tan Dun, and the superb musicians of the Spanish Galicia Symphony Orchestra come to Symphony Hall for the first time on Sat 11 Apr.

The 2025/26 Birmingham Classical season draws to a close with a performance by the Warsaw Philharmonic and the trailblazing pianist Alexandra Dariescu on Sun 17 May.

Nick Reed, Chief Executive said, “Our new Birmingham Classical season brings a European tour of the finest orchestras- from the Czech Republic to Germany and Hungary- along with terrific soloists and exciting Rising Stars, right here to Symphony Hall. Among the season’s hottest tickets will be Sir Simon Rattle and the world-renowned Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra who are visiting just three cities on their first UK tour, and Birmingham is one of them.

“There are orchestral ambassadors, too, from Spain and Poland, all offering a rare chance to hear truly authentic performances of music from their own countries.”

£15 tickets will be available to purchase for all concerts, with the top price being capped at £40. For more information, or to book tickets, click the button below.

Featured image credit: Marco Borggreve