World-class orchestral music makes a welcome return to Hull City Hall this autumn with the unveiling of the prestigious Classics Series alongside an outstanding organ season.
Installed in the early 1900s, the venue’s magnificent 112-year-old organ will provide the perfect backdrop for the new Hull City Hall Classics Series and the centre piece for the Lunchtime Organ Showcase season.
The 2022/23 Hull City Hall Classics programme, in partnership with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) and Hull Philharmonic Orchestra, includes nine concerts and welcomes some of the world’s finest conductors and musicians performing a selection of the greatest and best-loved classical works of all time.
The musical extravaganza starts on the red carpet with a celebration of some of the greatest film scores ever written as the RPO perform mesmerising music from iconic movies, including The Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones and Star Wars on 29 September 2022.
The world-renowned musicians will also deliver beautiful renditions of Bruch’s Violin Concerto No.1 on 9 November 2022, Beethoven’s Symphony No.5, and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.
Romance blossoms on 2 February 2023 as The Hallé Orchestra return with a collection of masterpieces from Franck, Wagner, and Tchaikovsky, closely followed by a Classics debut by the Swedish Philharmonia with a thrilling evening of music including Sibelius’ Symphony No.2 on 23 March 2023.
Guest conductors will take charge of the Hull Philharmonic Orchestra for their programme of concerts, which will include music from Vaughan Williams on 26 November 2022, Séjourné on 25 February 2023, and Shostakovich lights up spring on 15 May 2023 .
Another season making a welcome return is the Lunchtime Organ Showcase. Honoured with the task of creating beautiful music from the centrepiece of Hull City Hall, described as ‘one of the most ravishing cathedral organs imaginable’, will be renowned organists Paul Hale, Jeffrey Makinson, Mark Keith, and John Scott Whiteley. The concerts in this series run from 14 September until December and take place on the first Wednesday of each month at 12:30pm.
The final Lunchtime Organ Showcase of this season takes place on 7 December and from there the festivities commence with A Dickensian Christmas on 17 December 2022.
This very special evening toasts the Christmas spirit with the very best of Victorian carols and classics, including Joy to the World, I Saw Three Ships, ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, and a selection of readings from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Tickets for the Lunchtime Organ Showcase season and A Dickensian Christmas are on sale now via the Hull City Hall Box Office on 01482 300 306 or at www.hulltheatres.co.uk. The 2022/23 Hull City Hall Classics season is on general sale from 10am Friday 5 August.