The world-class English Symphony Orchestra is an ensemble which in recent years has become synonymous with artistic excellence, innovative and visionary programming. Now in their second year of residency at Cheltenham Town Hall, ESO promises a thrilling season full of music you know you love – Mozart, Beethoven, Mahler, Rachmaninov, Elgar and Strauss – as well as incredibly exciting and accessible works by new composers. We can’t wait to welcome you!
Friday 19 September 2025 @ 7.30pm
Programme
Jean Sibelius – Symphony No. 4 in A minor, Op.64. 35’
Sergei Rachmaninoff – Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op.18. 38’
Artists
Kenneth Woods, conductor
Freddy Kempf, piano
These two iconic masterpieces were both written in response to moments of intense personal adversity. The Fourth Symphony reflects Sibelius’s ultimately successful battle against cancer, while the Second Piano Concerto sees Rachmaninov regaining his confidence and inspiration following a period of profound creative crisis, resulting in what is quite possibly the most popular piece in the entire classical repertoire and a constant, beloved audience favourite. Don’t miss this chance to hear it live as it kicks off our season in style!
English Symphony Orchestra Residency: Sibelius & Rachmaninoff – Cheltenham Town Hall
Tuesday 2 December 2025 @ 7.30pm
Programme
Richard Strauss – Four Last Songs (chamber version by James Ledger) 26’
Mahler – Symphony No.9 (chamber version by Klaus Simon) 80’
Artists
Kenneth Woods, conductor
April Fredrick, soprano
Composed in the difficult years just after WW2, Strauss’s final masterpiece could well have
been a despairing, angry work. Instead, the Four Last Songs stand as one of music’s most
inspiring expressions of gratitude – for long life, for long love and for a world abundant in music and nature.
The Ninth Symphony of Strauss’s friend & contemporary, Gustav Mahler – his last completed work – sees the composer working through deep despair and resignation (shaken to the core by the sudden death of his daughter in 1907) towards a resolution which abounds in gratitude and love.
English Symphony Orchestra Residency: Strauss & Mahler – Cheltenham Town Hall
Sunday 1 February 2026 @ 3pm
Programme
Vaughan Williams – Overture to The Wasps 9’
Philip Sawyers – Symphony No. 6, A Pastoral 25’
Elgar – Violin Concerto, Op.61 48’
Artists
Kenneth Woods, conductor
Zoë Beyers, violin
Many consider Elgar’s Violin Concerto to be his most personal & confessional piece. Despite its titanic virtuosic demands, it is not a showpiece, but an expression of the inner world of a great man at one of life’s turning points. Philip Sawyers also found himself at a turning point when he gave up his career as a violinist to pursue composition full time. His courage has been validated many times over as he has been repeatedly hailed as one of Britain’s greatest modern symphonists. His Sixth Symphony is a touching homage to another great Sixth Symphony, Beethoven’s Pastoral.
English Symphony Orchestra Residency: Elgar, Vaughan Williams & Sawyers – Cheltenham Town Hall
Sunday 22 March 2026 @ 3pm
Programme
David Matthews – Early Spring (world premiere) 7’
Mozart – Sinfonia Concertante for Violin & Viola, K364 33’
Beethoven – Symphony No.7 in A major, Op.92 42’
Artists
Kenneth Woods, conductor
Zoë Beyers, violin
Kate Musker, viola
A celebration of the spring equinox, this matinee offers a generous portion of musical sunshine, hope and warmth. Beethoven’s Seventh is his most exuberant and energetic work, with several hugely popular melodies and themes, while Mozart’s evergreen Sinfonia Concertante has an unmatched abundance of lyricism, good humour and playful happiness. One of Britain’s greatest living composers, David Matthews, also contributes a new work, written in celebration of Spring and dedicated to the ESO.
English Symphony Orchestra Residency: Spring Equinox – Cheltenham Town Hall
Friday 22 May 2026 @ 7.30pm
Programme
Elgar – Serenade for Strings 12’
Matthew Taylor – Romance for Strings 10’
Copland – Clarinet Concerto 16’
Mahler – Adagietto from Symphony No.5 12’
Schoenberg – Verklarte Nacht (Transfigured Night) 30’
Artists
Kenneth Woods, conductor
Julian Bliss, clarinet
Schoenberg was one of the most revolutionary & challenging composers, but his early works are among the most lyrical & romantic pieces ever written. Mahler’s heart-rending Adagietto needs little introduction and is regularly in the Top 40 of Classic FM’s annual Hall of Fame, while Schoenberg’s impassioned Transfigured Night is a musical realisation of a Richard Dehmel poem, in which a young woman confesses to her betrothed that she bears another man’s child, conceived before they met. His acceptance of her, and resolve to raise the baby as theirs, is one of the most touching moments in classical music.
English Symphony Orchestra Residency: Schoenberg, Mahler, Elgar, Taylor & Copland – Cheltenham Town Hall
