A new season with the Ulster Orchestra

A hugely diverse range of concerts will take place in the Ulster Hall, Belfast Waterfront and regional venues, from September 2022 to May 2023.

It has been revealed that Daniele Rustioni will continue to work with the orchestra for a further two years. In recognition of the formidable artistic leadership he gives the Ulster Orchestra, his title formally changes to Music Director. Of his appointment, Daniele Rustioni said: “The Ulster Orchestra family welcomed me from my very first day, and it feels very special and natural to now become the Music Director of this cultural jewel. Our recent BBC Prom together confirmed our unique bond through the highest level of music making at the world’s premier classical festival and we have so many wonderful plans in the next years for all of you. I look forward to sharing fabulous symphonic concerts and broadcasts together.”

Daniele opens the Season on Friday September 23, conducting Richard Strauss’s epic Ein Heldenleben, while the phenomenal pianist Sir Stephen Hough performs Brahms’s tempestuously dramatic Piano Concerto No. 2.

The Season also celebrates stars from much closer to home as Belfast-born Barry Douglas makes a welcome return to perform Britten’s Piano Concerto and Northern Ireland resident Michael Collins performs a new work by Judith Bingham, while soloists for both Handel’s Messiah and Haydn’s The Creation will be drawn from across the island of Ireland. Every Ulster Orchestra season extends invitations to hugely talented and exciting guest conductors, and this year they include Tianyi Lu, Gabriel Bebeşelea and Jamie Phillips, alongside Honorary Principal Guest Conductor Jac van Steen.

The ever-popular Pops series returns to the Waterfront Hall and don’t miss the family spooktacular this October, Halloween Howler!