Wigmore Hall
A major year for the revered London concert hall: 2026 begins in high style with the Russian-American virtuoso pianist Kirill Gerstein playing Liszt and Brahms (Wednesday) and two concerts by the Jerusalem Quartet (21 & 22 January). The big celebration is the launch of a 125th anniversary biography, There Is Sweet Music Here: The World of Wigmore Hall by Julia Boyd, followed by Thomas Adès, Louise Alder, Alina Ibragimova and more in a gala concert on 25 May.
Aurora
Composer-conductor Brett Dean and mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean collaborate with Aurora Orchestra in a concert entitled Memory. Father and daughter explore the overlapping musical inspirations that have shaped their careers.
Kings Place, London, 17 January
The Marriage of Figaro
Opera North’s new production of Mozart’s masterpiece, directed by Louisa Muller and conducted by Valentina Peleggi, is updated to a modern country house setting (think V-necks and cords). Comedy tinged with darkness.
Leeds Grand, 30 January to 20 February, then touring to the Theatre Royal, Nottingham; Lowry, Salford Quays; Newcastle Theatre Royal; Hull New Theatre until 28 March
The Great Wave
An important departure for Scottish Opera in the world premiere of an opera by Dai Fujikura and Harry Ross about Katsushika Hokusai and The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, his famous woodblock print.
Theatre Royal Glasgow, 12 & 14 February; Festival Theatre Edinburgh, 19 & 21 February
The Immortal
The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra performs the world premiere, in a revised version, of a “supernatural oratorio” exploring Victorian seances, by artist in residence Mark Simpson, to a text by Melanie Challenger.
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, 26 March
Abel Selacoe returns to his South African roots in a Barbican weekender. Main image: Opera North’s new production of The Marriage of Figaro
Abel Selaocoe & friends
The South African cellist, vocalist and composer is joined by musician friends for a weekend of ancestral memory and connection. Expect everything from traditional Zulu music to Afro-psychedelic future pop, Afrorave, jazz and more.
Barbican, London, 23-26 April
Kahchun Wong conducts Mahler’s Sixth
The Hallé orchestra’s many highlights this year include a world premiere by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood (26 February) and the final of the Siemens Hallé International Conductors Competition (31 March). Principal conductor Kahchun Wong’s ongoing exploration of Mahler – here, his immense, tragic Symphony No 6 – will be a grand season finale.
Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, 28 May
Philip Glass: Double Timpani Concerto
Alpesh Chauhan conducts the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in a jazz-inspired programme of Carlos Simon’s Four Black American Dances and Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances, but the spotlight will be on timpanists (the CBSO’s Matthew Hardy and Toby Kearney) for Glass’s pulsating concerto.
Symphony Hall, Birmingham, 28 May
I puritani
Bellini’s opera, set in Puritan England and Queen Victoria’s favourite, is the Royal Ballet and Opera’s final new production of this 2025-26 season (which also includes Wagner’s Siegfried and Britten’s The Turn of the Screw). It’s directed by Richard Jones and stars Lisette Oropesa and Ildebrando D’Arcangelo (30 June-19 July).
Booking opens on Wednesday
Aldeburgh festival
The 77th festival’s star lineup includes Lise Davidsen, plus a semi-staging of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande directed by Rory Kinnear, with Jacques Imbrailo, Sophie Bevan, Sarah Connolly and John Tomlinson, conducted by Ryan Wigglesworth. Plus, celebrations of composer centenaries: Morton Feldman, Hans Werner Henze and György Kurtág.
Snape Maltings, Suffolk, 12-28 June
Photograph by Phill Sharp