BMW Classics 2022

On Saturday 11 June 2022, a giant temporary stage in the Square will once again host Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra for a free concert for an audience of thousands in one of the world’s most iconic public spaces, Trafalgar Square, and to thousands more watching the live stream on YouTube.

The 2022 BMW Classics concert programme opens with George Gershwin’s evocative sunny Cuban Overture. For the central section of the concert, in contrasting mood, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason marks his debut live performance with the Orchestra, playing two sublime masterpieces for cello and orchestra, Bruch’s Kol Nidrei and Bloch’s Prayer from Jewish Life.

This is followed by the world premiere of Fiaya! a specially commissioned work by Ayanna Witter-Johnson. This dance inspired piece written for a mixed-ability orchestra brings together LSO musicians with 55 young musicians from east London as part of the LSO On Track partnership, and 18 students from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. For the final work the upbeat tempo returns with a second Gershwin classic, An American in Paris.