This season, the first to be programmed by our resident orchestra, the Hallé, aims to strike a balance between the familiar and the new, with an outstanding range of orchestras and artists.

Sir Mark Elder and the Hallé get the season under way with Weber's whirlwind Ruler of the Spirits Overture. The Hallé also bring their new Principal Guest Conductor, Markus Stenz, with attractive programmes of Brahms, Mozart, Schubert and Mahler. International guests include the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Libor Pesek, an old friend since his days at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. We are delighted to welcome them too, with an all-Sibelius programme under their dynamic young Principal Conductor, Vasily Petrenko. Established international soloists feature in this stunning season - pianists Lars Vogt in Beethoven, Barry Douglas in Tchaikovsky and violinist Viviane Hagner in Brahms - as well as some new faces in well-loved concertos by Bruch, Dvorák and Beethoven.

Young talent also features throughout, with the welcome return of Alisa Weilerstein, the cellist who entranced the City Hall audience last season. Alison Balsom, the young British trumpet virtuoso is also captivating audiences everywhere and will surely do the same with James MacMillan's attractive concerto, Epiclesis. Ewa Strusinska conducts the Hallé in Sheffield for the first time with Beethoven and Brahms. Edward Gardner is a young conductor blazing a trail as Music Director of English National Opera, having started his career as Assistant Conductor at the Hallé. He makes his Sheffield debut this season at the head of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in a programme of British music including Vaughan Williams's Tallis Fantasia and Elgar's Enigma Variations. Youth and maturity are found in some first and last symphonies: Beethoven, Sibelius and a nine-year-old Mozart contrasting with Rachmaninov's 3rd and Brahms 4th. We will also hear a wealth of colourful hort orchestral showpieces by Mussorgsky, Sibelius, vorák, Smetana and Mendelssohn amongst others.

The Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus joins forces with three ensembles: the Manchester Camerata for TheCreation by Haydn; the Hallé in Brahms's Requiem; and the Black Dyke Mills Band in the annual Christmas celebration. Completing the quintet of five top British symphony orchestras are the BBC Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, whose programme of Shostakovich at his most attractive, direct, and soulstirring, under the baton of the composer's son, Maxim, promises to be a highlight of the season.

All concerts this season start at the slightly earlier time of 7.00pm (with the exception of the opening concert, which takes place in the afternoon at 4.00pm).

I hope that you will agree we have kept all our subscription packages and single ticket prices affordable by freezing the previous season's prices. These prices however do not mean any compromise on the quality of this season and we hope that you will be tempted to explore the works that you do not know, alongside those that you do. Whether you are a musical connoisseur or trying classical music for the first time, I look forward to welcoming you to Sheffield City Hall.


Dominic Stokes
General Manager, Sheffield City Hall

Find out about Sheffield International Concert Season 2010 11