News

Angels Unawares, the new oratorio by James MacMillan evoking a sequence of divine encounters, became the first concert work to be premiered in the Sistine Chapel in March. Its UK premiere follows on 2 June at Cadogan Hall in London with the Sixteen and Britten Sinfonia conducted by Harry Christophers.

Jüri Reinvere’s Concerto for Violin, Harp and Orchestra is unveiled in May with violinist Leila Josefowicz, harp soloist Trina Struble, The Cleveland Orchestra, and Franz Welser-Möst.

The London Symphony Orchestra under Simon Rattle tours Roberto Gerhard’s Symphony No.3 ‘Collages’, a pioneering fusion of symphonic and electronic sound, in the UK, France and Luxembourg in May. The conductor has done much to champion Gerhard’s music over the decades, embracing his Spanish-influenced works as well as his late modernist scores.

The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace has been crowned Britian’s favourite piece of classical music, claiming the number one position in the Classic FM Hall of Fame 2026. This monumental achievement marks the first time a living composer has topped the poll.

The new satirical opera by composer Olga Neuwirth and writer Elfriede Jelinek, Monster’s Paradise, stormed the stages in Hamburg and Zürich in recent months, leavening the global apocalypse with biting humour.

Theory of Flames, the new film opera by Michel van der Aa exploring the threat of conspiracy theories and disinformation, was acclaimed at its premiere by Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam in March.

Of One Blood, the new opera by Brett Dean, receives its world premiere staging at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich on 10 May. Telling of the rivalry between Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots, the opera is staged by Claus Guth with Vladimir Jurowski conducting.

Two major orchestral works by rediscovered Russian composer Leokadiya Kashperova – her Piano Concerto in A minor and the Symphony in B minor – receive their first recordings on Capriccio thanks to soloist Oliver Treindl and the RSO Berlin conducted by Anna Skryleva.

Olga Neuwirth’s Zones of Blue receives its North American premiere with clarinet soloist Jörg Widmann, The Cleveland Orchestra, and Franz Welser-Möst in May.

The Sixteen and Britten Sinfonia give the world premiere of James MacMillan’s new Genesis Foundation commission, Angels Unawares, in the Sistine Chapel on 22 March. The UK premiere with the same forces conducted by Harry Christophers follows at Cadogan Hall in London on 2 June.

The BBVA Foundation has announced that its Frontiers of Knowledge Award has gone to South Korean composer Unsuk Chin. The citation praised how her distinctive voice has resonated throughout the contemporary music world, distinguished by its instrumental virtuosity and a boundless imagination.

Festen, the acclaimed new opera by composer Mark-Anthony Turnage and librettist Lee Hall, has won the Royal Phiharmonic Society’s Large-Scale Composition Award. Premiered at The Royal Opera in London in February 2025, the production by Richard Jones travels to the Finnish National Opera, opening in Helsinki on 27 March.

HM King Charles III has approved the award of the 2025 King’s Gold Medal for Music to James MacMillan - composer, conductor, and the founder of The Cumnock Tryst annual music festival.

Britten Sinfonia gives the London premiere of Gregor A Mayrhofer’s Recycling Concerto at a Barbican concert on 12 March, with percussionist Vivi Vassileva and the composer on the rostrum.

Sokolovic’s Clown(s) has been met with sweeping critical acclaim following its world premiere at Opéra de Montréal, with critics hailing the work as a landmark achievement in contemporary opera.

Cuadros del Sur, a new orchestral suite drawn from La Pasión según San Marcos by Osvaldo Golijov, receives its world premiere with Daniil Trifonov and the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo.

Boosey & Hawkes launches its new video series created in collaboration with the Britten Pears Archive, based in the composer’s home town of Aldeburgh. The web documentary films, presented by the archive team and examining sources linked to the history of key Britten works, are released throughout 2026, the 50th year since the composer’s death.

International opera productions, concerts, and academic initiatives mark the composer’s 100th birthday, including a landmark Carnegie Hall celebration starring Gabriella Reyes, Ryan McKinny, Edward Nelson and Reginald Smith Jr. conducted by Christopher James Ray on June 20.

Two major works by HK Gruber appear on disc for the first time in a new Capriccio recording by the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of the composer. Frank Dupree is soloist in the Piano Concerto which grew from the cabaret nightclub scene in Gruber’s Tales from the Vienna Woods, also heard on this recording in his orchestral suite from the opera, Short Stories.

Gabriela Ortiz’s Yanga on Platoon won multiple honors at the 68th GRAMMY® Awards, including Best Contemporary Classical Composition for Dzonot—making Ortiz the only composer to win this category in consecutive years.