London Symphony Orchestra: Online Concert Programme | Sat 5 April 2025

Gianandrea Noseda
Conductor

Gianandrea Noseda is one of the world’s most sought-after conductors, equally recognised for his artistry in the concert hall and opera house. The 2024-25 season marks his ninth season as Principal Guest Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra and eighth season as Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO).

In addition to Noseda’s performances at the Barbican and LSO St. Luke’s (London), Noseda has toured with the LSO to America, China, Europe and to Edinburgh in the UK. His recordings on the orchestra’s own label, LSO Live, include Britten’s War Requiem, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Verdi’s Requiem, and the complete symphonic cycles of Prokofiev, Shostakovich, and Tchaikovsky, which are currently in progress.

Noseda’s leadership at the NSO has reinvigorated the orchestra, which makes its home at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Its renewed recognition has garnered invitations to Carnegie Hall, international concert halls, and led to streaming projects and a record label distributed by LSO Live. The NSO’s recent recordings include all five Sinfonias by Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington, D.C. native George Walker, Beethoven Symphonies cycle, and a recording of works by Carlos Simon. Noseda has made over 80 recordings for various labels, including Deutsche Grammophon and Chandos, where recordings included works of neglected Italian composers on his Musica Italiana series.

Noseda became General Music Director of the Zurich Opera House in September 2021. A milestone there was his first performances of complete Wagner Ring cycles in May 2024. In February 2023 he was named “Best Conductor” by the German OPER! AWARDS specifically for his Wagner interpretations. From 2007 to 2018, Noseda served as Music Director of Italy’s Teatro Regio Torino, where his leadership marked a golden era for the opera house.

Noseda has conducted the most important international orchestras, opera houses and festivals and had significant roles at the BBC Philharmonic (Chief Conductor), Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (Principal Guest Conductor), Mariinsky Theatre (Principal Guest Conductor), Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI (Principal Guest Conductor), Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (Victor de Sabata Chair), Rotterdam Philharmonic (Principal Guest Conductor) and Stresa Festival (Artistic Director).

Noseda has a strong commitment to working with young artists. In 2019, he was appointed the founding Music Director of the Tsinandali Fesitval and Pan-Caucasian Youth Orchestra in the village of Tsinandali, Georgia.

A native of Milan, Noseda is Commendatore al Merito della Repubblica Italiana, marking his contribution to the artistic life of Italy. He has been honoured as Conductor of the Year by both Musical America (2015) and the International Opera Awards (2016). In 2023, he received the Puccini Award. He received the Ambrogino d’Oro (Certificate of Merit) from the City of Milan in December 2024.

Nicola Benedetti
Violin

Nicola Benedetti is one of the most sought-after violinists of her generation. Her ability to captivate audiences and her wide appeal as an advocate for classical music has made her one of the most influential artists of today.

Nicola begins her 2024-2025 season with a performance of the Marsalis Violin Concerto with the Belgian National Orchestra in a programme that includes Marsalis’ Fourth Symphony ‘The Jungle’ with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. She will return to the London Symphony Orchestra to perform the MacMillan Violin Concerto with Gianandrea Noseda and will close the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s season playing the Brahms Violin Concerto conducted by Maxim Emelyanychev.

Winner of the GRAMMY Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo in 2020, as well as Best Female Artist at both 2012 and 2013 Classical BRIT Awards, Nicola records exclusively for Decca (Universal Music). Her latest recordings of Vivaldi Concerti and Elgar’s Violin Concerto entered at number one in the UK’s Official Classical Album Chart.  Other recent recordings include her GRAMMY award-winning album written especially for her by jazz musician Wynton Marsalis: Violin Concerto in D and Fiddle Dance Suite for Solo Violin. In 2021, BBC Music Magazine named her “Personality of the Year” for her online support of many young musicians during the pandemic.

Nicola has always been a dedicated, passionate ambassador and leader in music education and her commitment was underlined in 2019 when she established The Benedetti Foundation. The Foundation delivers transformative experiences through mass music events and unites those who believe music is integral to life’s education. The Foundation believes in the strength of music and the power of mass inspirational moments to connect cultures and communities through combining excellence and inclusivity, tradition and innovation and meaningful collaboration. In its first four years, the Foundation has worked with close to 70,000 participants of all ages and levels, instrumentalists and non-instrumentalists alike, across 105 countries. It’s free online educational video resources: ‘With Nicky’ and other Foundation videos have had over 6 million views.

Nicola was appointed a CBE in 2019, awarded the Queen’s Medal for Music (2017), and an MBE in 2013. In addition, Nicola holds the positions of Vice President (National Children’s Orchestras), Big Sister (Sistema Scotland), Patron (National Youth Orchestras of Scotland’s Junior Orchestra, Music in Secondary Schools Trust and Junior Conservatoire at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

In October 2022, Nicola became the Festival Director of the Edinburgh International Festival. In taking the role she became both the first Scottish and the first female Festival Director since the Festival began in 1947.

London Symphony Orchestra

The London Symphony Orchestra believes that extraordinary music should be available to everyone, everywhere – from orchestral fans in the concert hall to first-time listeners all over the world.

The LSO was established in 1904 as one of the first orchestras shaped by its musicians. Since then, generations of remarkable talents have built the LSO’s reputation for quality, ambition and a commitment to sharing the joy of music with everyone. The LSO performs some 70 concerts every year as Resident Orchestra at the Barbican, with its family of artists: Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano, Conductor Emeritus Sir Simon Rattle, Principal Guest Conductors Gianandrea Noseda and François-Xavier Roth, Conductor Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas, and Associate Artists Barbara Hannigan and André J Thomas. The LSO has major artistic residencies in Paris, Tokyo and at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, and a growing presence across Australasia.

Through LSO Discovery, the LSO’s learning and community programme, 60,000 people each year experience the transformative power of music. The Orchestra’s musicians are at the heart of this unique programme, leading workshops, mentoring bright young talent, and visiting schools, hospitals and community spaces. The home of much of this work is LSO St Luke’s, the LSO’s venue on Old Street. In 2025, following a programme of works, the LSO will open up the venue’s facilities to more people than ever before, with new state-of-the-art recording facilities and dedicated spaces for LSO Discovery.

The LSO’s record label LSO Live is a leader among orchestra-owned labels, bringing to life the excitement of a live performance in a catalogue of over 200 acclaimed recordings, and reaching millions through streaming services and online broadcasts. The LSO has been prolific in the studio since the infancy of orchestral recording, and has made more recordings than any other orchestra – over 2,500 projects to date – across film, video games and bespoke audio collaborations.

Through inspiring music, learning programmes and digital innovations, the LSO’s reach extends far beyond the concert hall. And thanks to the generous support of The City of London Corporation, Arts Council England, corporate supporters, trusts and foundations, and individual donors, the LSO is able to continue sharing extraordinary music with as many people as possible, across London, and the world.