The BBC Philharmonic today announces a celebration of the life and music of Leonard Bernstein in their new 2015/16 season at The Bridgewater Hall, starting on 19 September.

Starting on Saturday 19 September at The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, Chief Conductor Juanjo Mena will explore the works with which Bernstein was closely associated. Bernstein considered Mahler to be the greatest 20th-century composer and we close the season with his monumental Second Symphony. He performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17 more than any other work, and one of his final acts was to establish the Pacific Music Festival in Japan, conducting Schumann’s Symphony No. 2. His assistant at the time, Japanese conductor Yutaka Sado, joins us on Friday 13 November to revisit that work and to remember Bernstein.

The BBC Philharmonic also looks at the importance of Serge Koussevitzky, Bernstein’s great mentor. He profoundly influenced the development of orchestral music in the 20th century through his many commissions, and the orchestra showcases just a few of those, including Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphony in its season launch, Britten’s Peter Grimes, Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G, Hindemith’s Concert Music for Brass and Strings, Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms and Bernstein’s Serenade. Bartók, Copland, William Schuman, Turnage and Walton also all benefitted from the support of Koussevitzky and the Koussevitzky Foundation, and the orchestra showcases them too. Pre-concert debates and discussions organised in association with the RNCM will enrich and extend the musical experience for audiences.

The BBC Philharmonic is proud and delighted to welcome new Composer in Association Mark Simpson from Liverpool to the BBC Philharmonic family. Over the next four years he will write a series of new works for the BBC Philharmonic. The orchestra will perform his brilliant Sparks in February 2016 while Mark himself will play the Lindberg clarinet concerto in The BBC Philharmonic’s Salford studio, conducted by HK ‘Nali’ Gruber. He is in good company, following in a long line of highly successful British composers with whom the orchestra has worked closely, including James MacMillan, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and John McCabe – who is remembered fondly this season.

Manchester composer John Foulds’ astonishing piece Three Mantras will raise the curtain on the new season in Manchester, while Anthony Payne’s Visions and Journeys will mark his forthcoming 80th birthday. The BBC Philharmonic also commissions five new Manchester-trained composers for its Shakespeare celebration in April on the 400th anniversary of his death.

Anniversaries are important this season. The BBC Philharmonic’s Finnish Principal Guest Conductor, John Storgårds, will revisit his critically acclaimed recordings with the orchestra of all of Sibelius’s symphonies to mark his 150th birthday on Saturday 7 November with Symphony No. 5, Karelia Suite and the Swan of Tuonela. Ginastera’s centenary will be marked by his proud champion Juanjo Mena, as Marie-Pierre Langlamet joins the orchestra in his magical Harp Concerto on Saturday 16 April.

The BBC Philharmonic family of conductors Juanjo Mena, John Storgårds and Vassily Sinaisky will share the podium with new as well as old friends, including John Wilson, Nicholas Collon, Yan Pascal Tortelier as well as Andrew Gourlay, Yutaka Sado and Jesús López-Cobos.

The BBC Philharmonic will welcome soloists Steven Osborne, Valérie Hartmann-Claverie, Tasmin Little, Christian Tetzlaff, Rebecca Evans, Ronald Brautigam, Peter Erskine, James Ehnes, Susan Bickley, Jonathan Scott, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Ruby Hughes, Dejan Lazić, Lawrence Power, Augustin Hadelich, Leonard Elschenbroich, Julian Bliss, Garrick Ohlsson, Marie-Pierre Langlamet, Kathryn Stott, Olena Tokar and Jennifer Johnston.

Tickets cost from £12 to £38 and can be purchased online at bridgewater-hall.co.uk or by calling the Box Office on 0161 907 9000.

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