Concerts – IMPERIAL COLLEGE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Concerts: 2025-26 Season

19:30 Saturday, 28th February 2026 | St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle

BENJAMIN BRITTEN’S WAR REQUIEM

Musical forces from Imperial join Coventry Cathedral Chorus, Orpheus Sinfonia and the choristers of St George’s Chapel for an anniversary performance of Britten’s monumental War Requiem. First performed at the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral in 1962, it is widely regarded as one of the greatest choral works of the twentieth century. Britten’s great artistic statement of pacifism is a modern classic, provocatively juxtaposing the vivid anti-war poetry of Wilfred Owen with the Latin Requiem Mass in a passionate outcry against man’s inhumanity to man. It still resonates today as a timely reminder of both the horrors of war and the importance of forgiveness and solidarity for all mankind.

Performers

Colin Durrant – Conductor

Oliver Gooch – Conductor (Chamber Orchestra)

James Vivian – Conductor (Choristers)

Niovi Klavdianou – Soprano

Ed Lyon – Tenor

Gareth Brynmor John – Baritone

Imperial College Symphony Orchestra and Choirs

Coventry Cathedral Chorus

Orpheus Sinfonia

Choristers of St George’s Chapel, Windsor

TICKETS AVAILABLE

19:30 Sunday, 23rd November 2025 | Amaryllis Fleming Hall, Royal College of Music

AFTER THE STORM

Benjamin Britten’s Four Sea Interludes (1944-45) captures scenes drawn from his opera, Peter Grimes. Written in wartime Britain, it is a powerful reflection of humanity and turmoil still relevant in our modern world.

Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Violin Concerto (1945) is a lush, romantic and virtuosic work consisting of 3 movements; each movement draws inspiration from film scores he wrote in America after fleeing Nazi-occupied Austria.

Dmitri Shostakovich’s 9th Symphony (1945) is a work full of sardonic wit. From the Allegro movement’s military-like snare drums to the darkly comedic bassoon solo in the final movement, this symphony is a window into Soviet post-war society.