British music, birthdays and building work: LSO announce first season under Pappano

Boulez’s 100th and Rattle’s 70th are among the highlights of the LSO’s new season with chief conductor Antonio Pappano in which British music is a strong thread. The orchestra also announced an £8m redevelopment of LSO St Lukes

The London Symphony Orchestra today announced its 2024-25 season, the orchestra’s first under its chief conductor Antonio Pappano. British music will dominate, with a new work by James MacMillan opening the season on 11 September and works by Bax, Elgar, Holst, Walton, Elizabeth Maconchy and Tippett threaded through the following nine months of concerts.

More of the UK’s greatest composers will feature in Conductor Emeritus Sir Simon Rattle’s two 70th birthday concerts in January 2025. Rattle will be joined by LSO Associate Artist Barbara Hannigan for the world premiere of George Benjamin’s Interludes and Aria from his opera Lessons in Love and Violence, and Mark-Anthony Turnage’s new guitar concerto will be performed by US jazz guitarist John Scofield.