Enjoy classical music in Manchester live at The Bridgewater Hall
Looking for classical music in Manchester? The Bridgewater Hall is Manchester’s world class concert hall, built to give the best possible space for music. The Hall hosts over 300 performances a year including almost 200 classical music events.
The Hall is home to the Hallé orchestra, and also hosts the BBC Philharmonic. The Hall also programmes its own classical music season, the International Concert Series, see current listing below.
International Concert Series 26–27
The International Concert Series is The Bridgewater Hall’s flagship classical music series. Now in its 30th year, it brings the finest international orchestras, celebrated soloists and some of the world’s most renowned choirs to Manchester.
We begin with a welcome return from The Sixteen and conductor Harry Christophers (29 September 2026). Their Angel of Peace programme traces nine centuries of music inspired by poetry, faith and reflection, from Hildegard of Bingen and John Taverner to Arvo Pärt, Will Todd and a new commission by Anna Clyne.
Two outstanding German orchestras follow. The NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover pair Beethoven and Brahms with pianist Lise de la Salle (12 October 2026), while the Stuttgart Philharmonic welcome Jeneba Kanneh-Mason for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23, before performing Brahms’s magnificent First Symphony (20 November 2026).
For the first time, Manchester’s own BBC Philharmonic joins the International Concert Series. Simone Young conducts Richard Strauss’s monumental An Alpine Symphony (4 December 2026), performed by an orchestra of well over 100 musicians. Pianist Cédric Tiberghien also joins the orchestra for two contrasting works by Schumann.
Beethoven sits at the heart of the new year. The London Philharmonic Orchestra and Benjamin Grosvenor perform his celebrated Emperor Concerto alongside Shostakovich’s gripping Tenth Symphony (20 February 2027). The Sinfonia of London and John Wilson follow with Walton’s Viola Concerto and Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances (28 February 2027), before the Ukrainian National Philharmonic Orchestra brings a richly varied programme culminating in Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony (1 March 2027).
The BBC Philharmonic returns for Beethoven’s visionary Ninth Symphony (13 March 2027). Anja Bihlmaier conducts an international quartet of soloists and the CBSO Chorus in this enduring celebration of joy, peace and human unity. Music by Pauline Oliveros, Roderick Williams and John Adams creates a fascinating dialogue between Beethoven’s masterpiece and contemporary reflections on community and shared musical experience.
Opera and recital also play a central role. Opera North presents Wagner’s epic Tristan and Isolde (9 May 2027), while Angela Hewitt gives an all-Beethoven piano recital marking 200 years since the composer’s death (20 May 2027).
The international scope continues with the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra (6 June 2027), conducted by Tadaaki Otaka and joined by violinist Viktoria Mullova for Prokofiev. The season concludes with something more intimate but no less imaginative as trumpeter Matilda Lloyd joins the Goldmund Quartet for Salon Reimagined (24 July 2027). Bach, Haydn, Schubert and Gershwin feature alongside music by Marianna Martines and Pauline Viardot in a vivid evocation of the 19th-century salon.
We hope you can join us for a season that is international in outlook, rich in ideas and filled with both much-loved masterpieces and fresh discoveries.