Stories

Six Questions with Eric Lu: Beethoven Edition

We caught up with Eric Lu about what initially attracted him to the piano in his early years and the significance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s music, ahead of his concert debut with the Orchestra next week.

Five things you should know about Kurt Weill's Lady in the Dark (and the Symphonic Nocturne)

Have you heard of it before? Read on to find out more about the piece and the story behind it.

Basically Beethoven: Four questions for Ilker Arcayürek

Five Reasons to Love Janáček's Jenůfa

There’s lots to love about Jenůfa, the opera that propelled Czech composer Leoš Janáček to fame, from its dramatic plot and multi-dimensional characters, to the colourful, folk-inspired music.

Theories of Forgetting: Hollie Harding

On Saturday 14 January at LSO St Luke’s, composer, curator and LSO Jerwood Composer+ participant Hollie Harding presents an evening of music inspired by time and memory including the world premiere of her brand new piece Theories of Forgetting. Here Hollie explains her approach to curating the evening, and how each piece connects itself back to the impermanent yet enduring nature of memory over time.

Joel Thompson on To Awaken the Sleeper: 'Baldwin asks us to build a new world'

Joel Thompson is an Atlanta-based composer, artist and educator best-known in the US for his 2015 choral work Seven Last Words of the Unarmed, that sets the final words of seven Black men who were killed by police or authority figures. On 6 November at the Barbican, London, we perform another of his pieces in the UK for the first time, To Awaken the Sleeper, written for orchestra and narrator. Joel introduced this new piece, and the inspiration behind it, to us.

André J Thomas on marking Black History Month with the LSO

Announced as LSO Associate Artist in May 2022, André J Thomas is a world-leading expert on choral and American gospel music. He has already brought his passion for gospel to two concerts with the LSO (March 2020 and May 2022), and this Autumn he does it all again, paired with a second concert of orchestral works from contemporary US composers Joel Thompson, Carlos Simon and Wynton Marsalis.

Read on to find out more about each concert.

A Lifelong Love of the Trumpet: Håkan Hardenberger

Interview by James Drury

Meet Tangram, Associate Artists at LSO St Luke's

As humans become more global, living outside places of birth or inhabiting multiple cultures, trailblazing collective Tangram’s mission will feel familiar to many. The group explores ideas of ‘transnational identity’ through celebrating Chinese and Western cultures in music. But their aims are deeper than that. The group wants to break down the idea that China and the West are mutually exclusive entities and connect both ancient traditions in multiple ways.

Seven Things You Didn't Know About Sibelius

In December 2024, we celebrate the 159th anniversary of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’ birth. A towering figure in classical music, Sibelius is a national hero in Finland and revered worldwide for his powerful, nature-inspired works that continue to captivate audiences to this day.

Read on to find out seven surprising facts about the composer’s life and listen to his symphonies on our record label LSO Live’s newly remastered Spatial Audio version conducted by Sir Colin Davis.

Seven times John Williams wowed the world – and it wasn’t on a film!

It seems unbelievable, but the pre-eminent film composer John Williams turns 90 today.

The Barbican at 40

40 years ago this year, on 3 March 1982, the Barbican Centre opened its doors for the first time, with a performance by the LSO conducted by then Principal Conductor Claudio Abbado, marking their new role of Resident Orchestra of the City of London.