London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra performs over 120 concerts a year and was named by Gramophone as one of the top five orchestras in the world. The LSO has an enviable family of artists; our conductors include Sir Colin Davis as President, Valery Gergiev as Principal Conductor, and André Previn as Conductor Laureate. We also have long-standing relationships with some of the leading musicians in the world – Leonidas Kavakos, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Mitsuko Uchida and Maria João Pirez amongst others, not to mention our own talented players. The LSO is widely acclaimed by audiences and critics alike.

The LSO is proud to be Resident Orchestra at the Barbican, where we perform around 70 concerts a year. The residency has enabled us to establish a truly loyal audience and to fulfil many artistic aspirations. Joint projects between the Orchestra and the Barbican, including Festival 2012 concerts with Wynton Marsalis, Sir Simon Rattle and Gilberto Gil, place us at the heart of the Centre’s programme. The LSO also enjoys successful residencies at the Lincoln Center in New York, Salle Pleyel in Paris, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Our tour destinations also include China, Canada, South Korea and the United States, plus many major European cities.

The LSO is set apart from other international orchestras by the depth of its commitment to music education, reaching over 60,000 people each year. LSO Discovery enables us to offer people of all ages opportunities to get involved in music-making and to enter the extraordinary sound world of the Orchestra. Recent projects include LSO On Track, a long-term investment inspired by the London 2012 Olympics with lasting impact for young musicians in East London which saw participants performing Elgar’s Nimrod alongside LSO players in the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. LSO St Luke’s, the UBS and LSO Music Education Centre, is the home of LSO Discovery, and host to chamber and solo recitals, dance, folk music and more.

LSO Live is the most successful label of its kind in the world. There are now 80 LSO Live releases available globally on CD, SACD and online. Valery Gergiev’s release of Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet won BBC Music Magazine’s Best Orchestra Recording award in April 2011, and Sir Colin Davis’ Verdi Otello was shortlisted for a 2011 Gramophone award.

The LSO is a world-leader in recording music for film, television and events, and is the official Orchestra of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Ceremonies. The LSO appeared on stage in the Opening Ceremony with Rowan Atkinson as Mr Bean, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle performing Chariots of Fire. The LSO has recorded music for films including Pixar’s latest, Brave, four of the Harry Potter movies including The Deathly Hallows Parts I and II, The Queen, The Ides of March, The King’s Speech, all six Star Wars movies, Superman, Thor, Nanny McPhee and hundreds more.

Bernard Haitink
Bernard Haitink’s conducting career began 60 years ago with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in his native Holland. He went on to be Chief Conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra for 27 years, as well as Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera, The Royal Opera, Covent Garden, and Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He is Patron of the Radio Philharmonic, and Conductor Emeritus of the Boston Symphony, as well as an honorary member of both the Berlin Philharmonic and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

The 2014/15 season began with an anniversary concert with the Radio Philharmonic in the Concertgebouw, and will include return visits to the Symphony Orchestra of the Bayerischer Rundfunk, opening their season with the Missa Solemnis, four programmes with the London Symphony Orchestra in London, Madrid and Paris, and the conclusion of a Brahms cycle with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in Amsterdam and Paris. He also conducts the Berlin Philharmonic in the Baden-Baden Easter Festival, and revisits the Chicago and Boston Symphony Orchestras.

He is committed to the development of young musical talent, and gives an annual Conducting Masterclass at the Lucerne Easter Festival. This season in addition he gives conducting classes to students of the Hochschule der Kunst, Zurich in collaboration with the Musikkollegium Winterthur, and a workshop with students from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in conjunction with players from the London Symphony Orchestra.

Bernard Haitink has an extensive discography for Phillips, Decca and EMI, as well as the many new live recording labels established by orchestras themselves in recent years, such as the London Symphony, Chicago Symphony and Bayerischer Rundfunk. He has received many awards and honours in recognition of his services to music, including several honorary doctorates, an honorary Knighthood and Companion of Honour in the United Kingdom, and the House Order of Orange-Nassau in the Netherlands.