The Glasshouse

• The Glasshouse reveals a year of electrifying performances, new Artistic Partners, and visiting soloists, alongside a carefully crafted season from Royal Northern Sinfonia, the music centre’s resident orchestra.
• Conductor Dinis Sousa extends his charismatic leadership of Royal Northern Sinfonia to 2030 and becomes Music Director. This follows his 2024 Critics’ Circle award and critically acclaimed appearances across the UK and Europe in 24/25.
• Sousa performs alongside guest artists Alena Baeva (violin), Bryn Terfel (bass-baritone), Louise Alder (soprano), Imogen Cooper (piano) and Paul Lewis (piano). He will lead a concert marking the 100^th birthday of composer György Kurtág and begin a participatory music and dance collaboration with Dance United Yorkshire and North East schools.
• John Wilson and his ‘super-orchestra’ Sinfonia of London become proud Artistic Partners of The Glasshouse, performing across the season, creating new projects, and working alongside the music centre as it forges plans for its third decade.
• They join violinist Maria Włoszczowska, folk band The Unthanks, and Grammy Award-winning singer Corinne Bailey-Rae as a stellar group of Artistic Partners at The Glasshouse, working within and across different musical styles.
• Visiting conductors include Giovanni Antonini, Elim Chan, and Vasily Petrenko alongside leading soloists Alexandre Kantorow (piano) and Nicolas Altstaedt (cello).
• Small but perfected formed, The Glasshouse chamber hall, Sage Two, welcomes everything from Mahler’s Fourth Symphony to Luciano Berio’s take on The Beatles to a concert inspired by the natural world with music by John Luther Adams and Sylvia Lim.

Currently celebrating its 20th anniversary, The Glasshouse International Centre for Music has revealed its 2025/26 classical season – marking the start of an ambitious new era for the music centre and Royal Northern Sinfonia. Now in its third decade, The Glasshouse is building on its founding vision with bold programming, new partnerships and a deepening connection to its community.

At the heart of these plans is an extended musical family.

Dinis Sousa continues as Royal Northern Sinfonia’s artistic leader, now in an enhanced role as Music Director till 2030. Since joining in April 2021, Sousa has injected fresh energy into Royal Northern Sinfonia with bold programming and memorable, critically acclaimed performances.

Sousa is a passionate interpreter of the chamber orchestra repertoire, with a recent 5* review of his Beethoven cycle at the Philharmonie de Paris praising his ‘thrilling’ and ‘unforgettable’ performances. He brings this same commitment to his work with young people and community groups, and in 25/26 will start a new mass participation project with Dance United Yorkshire and North East schools.

As Music Director, Sousa will cement Royal Northern Sinfonia’s reputation as one of the world’s leading chamber orchestras. His concerts in 25/26 form the spine of the orchestra’s season, weaving together collaborations with great artists like Bryn Terfel (bass-baritone) and Imogen Cooper (piano) with well-loved masterpieces of the classical repertoire – Mozart, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky – and contemporary greats György Kurtág and Sofia Gubaidulina. Sousa also leads a special Sage Two concert celebrating the endlessly inventive Luciano Berio, a composer whose work was shaped by classical tradition as well as folk, electronic and popular music influences – including The Beatles. Sousa closes the season in June with a very special celebration of Mozart, conducting Imogen Cooper and Paul Lewis in a programme featuring the composer’s final piano concerto and the joyful Concerto for Two Pianos – bringing together grace, warmth and virtuosity in one final flourish.

Conductor John Wilson and Sinfonia of London will become an Artistic Partner from 25/26, giving regular performances in and around the classical season, and collaborating with The Glasshouse on its plans for its third decade. The music centre will become a base for Wilson, himself born and raised here in Gateshead, and his critically acclaimed new symphony orchestra. In 25/26, concerts include evocative English works for strings by Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Bliss and Delius, and a programme opening with Strauss’s Don Juan and Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto with star pianist Alexandre Kantorow, culminating in Elgar’s Enigma Variations.

Artistic Partner Maria Włoszczowska curates a season of chamber-scale brilliance. She opens with a reduced, emotionally resonant version of Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, paired with Strauss’s Metamorphosen and Morgen! In November, she joins celebrated pianist Martin Helmchen with a programme featuring Mozart’s radiant Piano Concerto No. 24 and exuberant Farewell Symphony, and in May she directs Brahms’ Violin Concerto. Other highlights include Stravinsky’s darkly brilliant The Soldier’s Tale directed by Live Theatre’s Artistic Director Jack McNamara and a collaboration with guitarist Sean Shibe featuring Cassandra Miller’s Chanter.

Nil Venditti – already a firm audience favourite – returns to The Glasshouse and Royal Northern Sinfonia for two concerts in her second season as Principal Guest Conductor, including Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and a performance of Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto with Artistic Partner Maria Włoszczowska.

Visiting orchestras include: The Hallé under Kahchun Wong; London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Elim Chan with cellist Nicolas Altstaedt; and Vasily Petrenko with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and pianist Tom Borrow for one of the most popular works in classical music, Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra return with Mahler’s epic Symphony No. 9 under Domingo Hindoyan.

Other season highlights include welcoming imaginative interpreter of Baroque and Classical period music, Italian conductor Giovanni Antonini and welcoming back Bjarte Eike to direct Purcell’s opera Dido and Aeneas.

Haydn’s music runs as a thread through the season, seen through three distinctive lenses. Giovanni Antonini conducts a vibrant programme including the ‘London’ Symphony and Piano Concerto No. 11 with Kristian Bezuidenhout. Dinis Sousa leads an epic performance of The Creation in May, and Maria Włoszczowska closes her own season of chamber-scale concerts with Haydn’s witty Farewell Symphony.

The Piano Greats series features Angela Hewitt performing an all-Bach programme in February; Imogen Cooper alongside mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly; a dazzling recital by Jean-Efflam Bavouzet; and left-hand pianist Nicholas McCarthy playing Wagner, Bartók and Scriabin.

RNS Moves – Royal Northern Sinfonia’s sister inclusive ensemble – brings its ground-breaking music-making to new audiences this season, making debut appearances at the Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester) and King’s Place (London).

The season is a celebration of everything The Glasshouse stands for in its third decade – world-class music, full of adventure.

Reflecting on his extended tenure, Sousa said:

“Royal Northern Sinfonia is a truly special orchestra, and working with them is always an 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. 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.”

John Wilson, conductor and Artistic Partner, added:

“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. I look forward to seeing you all over the coming weeks and months.”

James Thomas, Executive Director of Royal Northern Sinfonia and Classical Music at The Glasshouse, added: 

“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. There’s a huge amount to look forward to.”

Press enquiries:

Susie Gray, susie.gray@premiercomms.com / 07834 073795

Jackie Thompson, Jackie.thompson@theglasshouseicm.org / 0191 443 4602

FULL LISTINGS HERE

Royal Northern Sinfonia
Internationally renowned, calling Gateshead home.

37 musicians at the top of their game. Electrifying music, old and new. All the talent, determination and creativity of the North East on a worldwide stage. From their home at The Glasshouse International Centre for Music, Royal Northern Sinfonia share the joy and wonder of orchestral music with thousands of people across the North of England – and beyond – every year.

From symphonies to string quartets, film soundtracks to choral masses, and original performances with awesome artists from Sheku Kanneh-Mason to Self Esteem, the orchestra’s members have got one of the most varied jobs there is. They’re always looking for fresh new sounds from up-and-coming composers, inviting local communities to share a stage, and doing everything they can to inspire and prepare the musicians of tomorrow to one day take their place.

They’re also working hard to smash the barriers that can stop brilliant people getting into classical music. They’ve teamed up with national partners to support women conductors to develop their careers, to help global majority musicians get vital experience in the orchestra world, and to celebrate disabled and non-disabled musicians breaking new ground together in RNS Moves. And they bring new musical opportunities to the region, headlining the first-ever BBC Proms weekend outside London.

Because they whole-heartedly believe orchestral music is for anyone – big cities and tiny villages, brand-new babies and life-long listeners, die-hard fans and curious minds – they travel far and wide to make sure there’s top-notch classical music on offer for anyone ready to say, “I’ll give that a go”. You’ll find them in churches, castles, and community venues across the North, as well as spearheading concert seasons in Carlisle, Kendal, Middlesbrough, and Sunderland.

With 65 years of success to build on, they’ve signed a dynamic young artistic leadership – Music Director Dinis Sousa, Artistic Partner Maria Włoszczowska, Principal Guest Conductor Nil Venditti and Associate Conductor Ellie Slorach – to lead the way into a bold, bright future. They’re joined by Conductor Laureate Thomas Zehetmair.

Wherever the orchestra play and whoever they share a stage with, every performance is a chance to see, hear and feel the music.

About The Glasshouse International Centre for Music

The Glasshouse International Centre for Music is a home for live music lovers.

It’s a place where you can hear rock legends or pop icons on the same night as folk trios or string quartets. Where new musicians are nurtured and showcased on the same stages as platinum-selling performers. And where youth choirs and tambourine-shaking toddlers practise in the same spaces as its acclaimed orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia.

Because as an international centre for music they’re focused on creating and celebrating outstanding music – whether that’s unearthing or growing talent from the region or bringing the world’s best artists to their stages. And as a charity they’re focused on making sure all of that is available to anyone – no matter where you’re from, how old you are, how much money you have, or what challenges you face.

Which is why every year more than 2 million people are able to join for top-notch gigs, concerts, and classes – in their venue at Gateshead Quays, out in communities across the North East, and through livestreamed performances and digital lessons.

Whether you’re making it up or taking it in, you’ll find music lives and grows there.

More about The Glasshouse International Centre for Music

• Since opening in 2004, The Glasshouse has hosted over 10,000 performances, welcoming nearly 5 million audience members. It would take more than 27 years to see every show if you attended one every day.
• Over two decades, the charity has delivered around 230,000 music lessons, reaching young people and adults 2.7 million times across its education programmes.
• As its resident orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia has toured globally, performing across four continents and livestreaming to audiences across five.
• The Glasshouse has supported the careers of thousands of artists like Ward Thomas who have worked their way from free stages to headline shows in its main hall, achieving national and global recognition.
• Since 2004, The Glasshouse has welcomed over 400,000 delegates for conferences and events, hosting organisations such as Greggs, NHS, and British Engines.
• Over the past two decades, The Glasshouse has generated £500 million in economic impact for the North East.
• The iconic building, designed by Foster + Partners, has 630 panes of glass and stands 40 metres tall. In its opening year, it was exhibited at the Venice Biennale and won the RIBA Inclusive Design Award in 2005.
• Celebrating 20 years – In December 2024, The Glasshouse marked its 20th birthday. Over the next year, the charity will reflect on two decades of achievements and look ahead to its third decade, with major initiatives like the Music Academy and Music Pass for newborns, making music accessible to all.