Press Release: BMW Classics 2024

This free summer concert highlights the continued partnership between BMW Group and the London Symphony Orchestra, which for the last twelve years has brought superlative live orchestral music to audiences in one of the world’s most iconic public spaces, Trafalgar Square, and to tens of thousands more around the globe watching on YouTube.

The 2024 BMW Classics concert conducted by Duncan Ward opens with Emmanuel Chabrier’s exuberant crowd-pleasing Joyeuse marche with Brahms’ similarly frenzied and rhythmic dance piece Rondo alla zingarese to follow. For the central section of the concert, the LSO play the world premiere of Joanna Lee’s new work, beams.bellows.bounds, specially commissioned for this occasion. This piece, written for a mixed-ability orchestra, brings together LSO and Guildhall School musicians with 50 young musicians from east London as part of the LSO Discovery programme. For the final half of the concert the Orchestra will perform Stravinsky’s magical score for the ballet Petrushka.

Commenting today, Dame Kathryn McDowell, Managing Director of the LSO said, ‘BMW Classics concerts are the highlight of the Orchestra’s London Season, an important fixture in London’s summer calendar of music events and always a great moment to capture an audience of first timers and passersby, there is nothing quite like it. On behalf of the LSO and our audiences in Trafalgar Square and online, a big thank you to our esteemed partner BMW, and the Mayor for London for making this possible.’

Mr Walter Mertl, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Finance said: ‘Thanks to our 13-year partnership with the London Symphony Orchestra, this summer Trafalgar Square will once again be transformed into London’s biggest concert hall. BMW’s commitment to great music is an integral part of our global cultural engagement, which has been inspiring people around the world for more than half a century. I am very much looking forward to seeing Duncan Ward, the LSO and young musicians on stage in one of the world’s most famous public spaces.’

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: ‘I am delighted that the London Symphony Orchestra will return to play in the heart of our capital this summer for BMW Classics. Trafalgar Square will once again become our biggest open-air classical concert venue entertaining both Londoners and visitors with this free performance. It will also be a fantastic opportunity for young musicians from East London to perform alongside the LSO on this world-renowned stage, as we build a better London for everyone.’

Composer, Joanna Lee said: ‘It is a complete honour to be commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra to compose a piece for LSO Discovery young musicians to perform alongside the LSO. beams.bellows.bounds is inspired by my time working nearby Trafalgar Square, when I would often sit in the Square and observe the dance-like nature of life, from morning to late: from the balletic beams of the still morning sun; to the brash bellows of taxis in cyclical motion and the pounding heartbeat of lines of protesters; and the exuberant bounds of street performers and audiences. The piece embraces the importance of music and musicians, and I am excited to hear its premiere at BMW Classics!