The Bridgewater Hall’s own classical music series
The International Concert Series is The Bridgewater Hall’s own flagship classical music series, now in it’s 28th year, bringing the best international orchestras, celebrated recitalists and some of the world’s most renowned choirs to Manchester.
The Series 24-25
The 28th International Concert Series sees some of the leading ensembles and musicians of our time to The Bridgewater Hall and Manchester.
We kick off with a welcome return from The Sixteen (30 September 2024), Harry Christophers will this year be directing a rare complete performance of Monteverdi’s dazzling Vespers of 1610.
There’s more for fans of early and baroque music with two concerts dedicated to Johann Sebastian Bach. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment are presenting a real treat: the complete set of Bach’s six Brandenburg Concertos (5 November 2024). In January, we’ll be joined by pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard to perform Book II of Bach’s towering Well-Tempered Clavier (30 January 2025).
Two excellent German orchestras will be joining us for two very different concerts. Jonathan Darlington will be conducting the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra for Grieg’s ever-popular Piano Concerto, performed by Federico Colli (18 November 2024). Wayne Marshall, meanwhile, will be joining the German Youth National Orchestra as both conductor and pianist for Gershwin’s rip-roaring Rhapsody in Blue (17 January 2025).
The new year brings two great Fifth Symphonies. The Prague Symphony Orchestra tackle Shostakovich’s extraordinary Fifth, the symphony that may have saved the composer’s life (14 February 2024). Robin Ticciati and the outstanding London Philharmonic Orchestra take on Mahler’s epic Fifth – including, of course, the legendary Adagietto (17 March 2025).
April 2025 brings two very different concerts: the first visit in years from the remarkable Katia and Marielle Labèque (8 April 2025), followed by a new collaboration between Manchester Collective and electronic musician Clark (25 April 2025). Finally we end the series with a bang courtesy of the Buenos Aires Symphony Orchestra of Colón Opera, offering everything from classic Astor Piazzolla to Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.
This brochure contains full listings, ticketing and visitor information. We hope you can join us for what promises to be a wonderful series.