The Glasshouse and Royal Northern Sinfonia: 2026/27 Classical Season

• The Glasshouse unveils its most ambitious classical season yet bringing together major artists and landmark projects.
• Royal Northern Sinfonia’s artistic leadership is anchored by Music Director Dinis Sousa, Artistic Partner Maria Włoszczowska, Principal Guest Conductor Nil Venditti and Associate Conductor Ellie Slorach.
• A new multiyear Mozart–Da Ponte opera project launches with Così fan tutte.
• Major UK premiere from Kristine Tjøgersen, cocommissioned with leading European orchestras.
• Steve Reich at 90 Festival celebrates the minimalist icon with Colin Currie and Bryce Dessner.
• 200 years of Beethoven. One big weekend. All five piano concertos and Choral Fantasy are brought together across a single weekend, performed by six world-class soloists.
• Sci-Fi weekender. From Holst to hyperspace. Marking 50 years of Star Wars and 100 years of Metropolis, the weekend brings together three landmark events: The Planets with Sinfonia of London, Metropolis in Concert and Star Wars: A New Hope in Concert.
• 300th anniversary performance of Bach’s St Matthew Passion, led by Dinis Sousa with Royal Northern Sinfonia and Monteverdi Choir.
• Star artists include Mitsuko Uchida, Isabelle Faust, Sheku Kanneh Mason and Benjamin Grosvenor.
• Visiting orchestras bring some of the season’s biggest symphonic moments, with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Sinfonia of London, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra all appearing across the year.
• Share the Stage: The Dream of Gerontius unites hundreds of non-professional singers and instrumentalists with Royal Northern Sinfonia.

Useful info

See the full classical 26/27 lineup here.

The Glasshouse, one of the UK’s leading music hubs, today announces a new season. A statement of intent – the boldest, most international, and most strongly artist-driven in its 20 year history. This energy is redefining what a music centre in the North East can be – with Royal Northern Sinfonia and its communities at its heart.

The season opens on 19 September with Mozart’s opera Così fan tutte. It is the first instalment of a rare foray into opera for Royal Northern Sinfonia and its Chorus in the shape of a multi-year Mozart–Da Ponte project led by Music Director Dinis Sousa, whose dynamic artistic leadership threads throughout the season. The cast includes Christina Gansch, Alexandra Oomens, Jonas Hacker, Cody Quattlebaum, Rebecca Evans and Neil Davies.

Alongside Dinis Sousa, Maria Włoszczowska, Nil Venditti and Ellie Slorach form a strong family of musical voices shaping the year ahead. They are joined by long-time collaborator John Wilson and Sinfonia of London as artistic partners with three concerts including Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto with Benjamin Grosvenor, his Symphonic Dances and Holst’s The Planets.

Norwegian composer Kristine Tjøgersen provides one of the season’s most striking new works – a major UK premiere co-commissioned by Royal Northern Sinfonia, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, WDR Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra XXI, conducted by Dinis Sousa and paired boldly with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to close the season in June 2027. The performance brings together outstanding soloists: Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, Alice Coote, Laurence Kilsby and Matthew Rose.

Sage Two, meanwhile, continues to evolve as a home for the unusual and the adventurous, with a strand of contemporary programmes championed by Dinis Sousa running through the season. Alongside artist-curated work from Maria Włoszczowska, this includes Kurtág’s Kafka Fragments, an exploration of American experimental music featuring Cage, Ives and Crumb, and Peter Maxwell Davies’ Eight Songs for a Mad King paired with Missa super l’homme armé – a striking journey from intimate to theatrical extremes. Together with the major new commission from Kristine Tjøgersen, these concerts reflect a growing focus on bold, exploratory music at the heart of the programme.

Three festival weekends form highlight moments throughout the year. The first, Reich at 90, on the composer’s birthday weekend in October is curated by Colin Currie and brings together Bryce Dessner, author and broadcaster Tom Service and all-star contemporary ensemble Colin Currie Group to celebrate the composer whose rhythmic imagination reshaped late-20th-century music.

A week in April sees all five Beethoven piano concertos and Choral Fantasy performed by six of the world’s most distinctive pianists – Paul Lewis, Alice Sara Ott, Stephen Hough, Elisabeth Brauss, Jonathan Biss and Elisabeth Leonskaja – an immersive portrait of the composer presented by John Suchet.

And in May, a Sci-Fi weekend marks two major milestones: 50 years since Star Wars: A New Hope and the centenary of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. Holst’s The Planets, the full Metropolis score live, and two Star Wars in Concert performances promise to draw audiences far beyond the classical core.