Sousa extends stay, Wilson joins fold
Classical moves plus new season at The Glasshouse
The popular Dinis Sousa’s leadership of Royal Northern Sinfonia (RNS) has been extended until 2030 and his position upgraded from principal conductor to music director.
The announcement coincides with a first look at the upcoming 2025-26 classical season at The Glasshouse International Centre for Music.
Many will be delighted that the Portuguese conductor is to stay beyond his initial tenure in Gateshead, building on his successes with the North East orchestra and continuing his warm rapport with audiences.
For his part, he said RNS was truly special and a constant source of inspiration.
“I feel our bond gets stronger and stronger with each project, and I am incredibly happy that we get to extend our time together until the start of the next decade,” he said.
“They are such an open and generous group of musicians who have an amazing ability to connect with everyone.
“This special spirit means that we can continue to build an even bigger community around classical music at The Glasshouse and beyond.
“I’m really excited for the years ahead, continuing to explore, challenge and share incredible music together.”
In another significant development, it is announced that John Wilson and his acclaimed Sinfonia of London, which attracts some of the world’s best musicians to its ranks, are to become artistic partners of The Glasshouse, performing throughout the season and creating new projects.
Both the orchestra and the Gateshead-born conductor have a strong association with film music.
During its first iteration (1955 to 1970) the Sinfonia of London’s credits included the score of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Reformed in 1982 for the first recording of The Snowman, it went on to record the soundtracks to some 300 films until falling silent again in 1999.
John Wilson revived it in 2018 and has enhanced its reputation with acclaimed albums (including the world premiere recording of the complete original score of Oklahoma!) and appearances at the BBC Proms.
The Glasshouse will become a base for Wilson and the orchestra with a new season concert featuring the music of Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Bliss and Delius, and another opening with Strauss’s Don Juan and Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto (with soloist Alexandre Kantorow) and culminating in Elgar’s Enigma Variations.
Wilson said: “I am beyond excited to announce this new partnership between The Glasshouse and my orchestra Sinfonia of London.
“The audiences of the North East have always been passionate about good music of every kind and I look forward to our first season of concerts which reflect various aspects of my musical life, showcasing epic symphonic masterpieces, 20th Century English music and timeless classics of Hollywood and Broadway.
“To play all of this music in one of the great concert halls of the world, and all in my home town, is a dream come true.”
During the new season Dinis Sousa and RNS will appear with stars such as bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, pianist Imogen Cooper and violinist Alena Baeva.
He will lead a concert marking the 100th birthday of Hungarian composer György Kurtág and another in Sage Two celebrating the late Luciano Berio, remembered for embracing electronic music and The Beatles.
He will close the season conducting Imogen Cooper and Paul Lewis in a programme featuring Mozart’s final piano concerto, No. 27, and his Concerto for Two Pianos.
Sousa’s continuing commitment to young people will be seen in a new mass participation project with Dance United Yorkshire involving North East schools.
Audience favourite Nil Venditti, in her second season as principal guest conductor, will conduct the RNS for two concerts featuring Beethoven’s Fifth and Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto with Maria Włoszczowska.
In her capacity as Glasshouse artistic partner, Włoszczowska curates a chamber-scale season with highlights to include a pared down Mahler’s Fourth Symphony.
She will also join pianist Martin Helmchen with a programme featuring Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 and Haydn’s ‘Farewell’ Symphony, and direct Brahms’ Violin Concerto.
Visiting orchestras will include The Hallé under Kahchun Wong; the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Elim Chan, with cellist Nicolas Altstaedt; the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Vasily Petrenko, with Tom Borrow the soloist in Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1; and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, under Domingo Hindoyan, with Mahler’s epic Symphony No. 9.
Other attractions include Norwegian violinist Bjarte Eike directing Purcell’s opera, Dido and Aeneas, and homage paid to Haydn with Italian Giovanni Antonini conducting a programme featuring his ‘London’ Symphony and Piano Concerto No. 11 (with Kristian Bezuidenhout) and Dinis Sousa leading a performance of The Creation.
The new Piano Greats series features Angela Hewitt with a Bach programme, Imogen Cooper with mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly, a recital by Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and left-hand pianist Nicholas McCarthy playing Wagner, Bartók and Scriabin.
Meanwhile RNS sister ensemble RNS Moves, championing inclusivity, will make debut appearances at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and King’s Place, London.
James Thomas, executive director of RNS and classical music at The Glasshouse, said: “This season marks an exciting step forward for classical music at The Glasshouse.
“It brings together an extraordinary mix of artists, projects and partnerships, from Dinis’s inspiring leadership and new collaborations to the arrival of Sinfonia of London and brilliant performances across our halls.
“This season brings together so many things we care about - great music, inspiring artists and projects that build deeper connections with audiences here in the North East.”
First up in the forthcoming new season is Dinis Sousa conducting RNS in a concert on September 13 featuring Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto (Alena Baeva the soloist), Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 9 and Bioluminescene by Norwegian composer Kristine Tjøgersen.
Tickets for the 2025-26 season go on sale on Thursday, May 8 for members, supporters and current subscribers; on Thursday, May 15 for new subscription package bookings; and on general sale on Saturday, May 17.
Find details on The Glasshouse website.