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| How To Train Your Dragon 2 |
The Glasshouse in Gateshead and Royal Northern Sinfonia have announced their 2026/27 season and a substantial one it is too. Royal Northern Sinfonia is led by the impressive partnership of music director Dinis Sousa, artistic partner Maria Włoszczowska, principal guest conductor Nil Venditti and associate conductor Ellie Slorach.
They kick of with a rare foray into opera by the orchestra and the launch of a multi-year exploration of the Mozart-Da Ponte operas led by Dinis Sousa. First off, in September 2026 is Cosi fan tutte with Christina Gansch, Alexandra Oomens, Jonas Hacker, Cody Quattlebaum, Rebecca Evans and Neil Davies. Definitely well worth a trip to Gateshead for!
Dinis Sousa’s other concerts with the orchestra include Saint-Saens’ Cello Concerto No. 1 with Sheku Kanneh-Mason, a programme of 20th-century American composer – Cage, Ives, Crumb and Gloria Coates, Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the Monteverdi Choir and soloists including Nick Pritchard as the Evangelist.
Hundreds of non-professional singers from across the North East will share the stage with the orchestra and chorus for the third time in the Share the Stage series of major events, when Sousa conducts Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with a terrific cast, Benjamin Hulett, Sarah Connolly and Roderick Williams.
Beethoven is something of a focus, not only Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with Isabelle Faust, but all the piano concertos and the Choral Fantasy spread over three concerts with pianists Paul Lewis, Alice Sarah Ott, Elizabeth Brauss, Stephen Hough, Jonathan Biss and Elizabeth Leonskaja. And the season ends with Sousa conducting Symphony No. 9 with soloists Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, Alice Coote, Laurence Kilsby, Matthew Rose, alongside a new commission from Kristine Tjøgersen.
Besides the Beethoven Piano Concerto weekend, there are two other festival weekends. Reich at 90, on the composer’s birthday weekend in October is curated by Colin Currie and brings together Bryce Dessner, author and broadcaster Tom Service and all-star contemporary ensemble Colin Currie Group to celebrate the composer whose rhythmic imagination reshaped late-20th-century music. And in May, a Sci-Fi weekend marks two major milestones: 50 years since Star Wars: A New Hope and the centenary of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. Holst’s The Planets, the full Metropolis score live, and two Star Wars in Concert performances promise to draw audiences far beyond the classical core.
Nil Venditti conducts Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3; Britten’s Violin Concerto with Maria Włoszczowska as soloist plus Grace Williams and Dvorak;
Smaller scale events in Sage Two not only include Sousa’s American concert, but Maria Włoszczowska leading Kurtag’s Kafka Fragments and Peter Maxwell Davies’ Eight Songs for a Mad King paired with his Missa super l’homme armé conducted by James Weeks.
And January brings an international spotlight through the ECHO Rising Stars Festival, a full day celebration presented in partnership with the European Concert Hall Organisation. Four exceptional young artists – violinist Ava Bahari, soprano Camila Mandillo, cellist Petar Pejčić and the Javus Quartett – take over the building with concerts, pop-up performances and artist conversations.
One of the concerts that appeals to most, however, is Ellie Slorach conducting the orchestra for How to Train Your Dragon 2 in concert!
Full details from The Glasshouse’s website.
