RSPO Orchestra Academy
The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra Academy is a special academic programme for young musicians.
Since 2016, an orchestra academy has been associated with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. This advanced special academic programme is for young musicians. Teaching is conducted on-site at Konserthuset Stockholm and in partnership with the School of Music in Piteå at Luleå University of Technology.
The programme is focused on an international target audience and the formal name is the RSPO Orchestra Academy (Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra – RSPO).
The supervisors and instructors are primarily section leaders from the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. The programme includes individual instrument instruction, orchestral performance, and chamber music performance.
There are also “mock auditions” in which participants get to practice the various steps involved with applying for a position in an orchestra, as well as seminars by experienced teachers from the School of Music at Luleå University of Technology. The programme examiner is conductor Petter Sundkvist, professor at the Luleå University of Technology.
A holistic approach is essential – to give students the chance to experience what life and work are like as part of a professional symphony orchestra. The Orchestra Academy also performs several chamber music concerts in Grünewald Hall, which are always free. The Orchestra Academy has also performed the world premieres of new compositions.
Another aspect of a holistic approach is refining skills beyond playing – such as stage presence and the ability to present the music in an inviting and compelling way.
The orchestra academy also carries out collaborations with other players – read more under Collaborations and Partnerships.
Concerts
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Genre: Chamber music
Chamber concert with this year’s musicians of the RSPO Orchestra Academy.
Saturday 12 October 2024 16.00Free entrance, no tickets required. to Season opening with the Orchestra AcademyPhoto: Nadja Sjöström
Genre: Chamber musicSeason opening with the Orchestra Academy
Chamber concert with this year’s musicians of the RSPO Orchestra Academy.
Saturday 12 October 2024 16.00
Ends approximately 17.15Save in calendarThe event has been downloaded Open the file saved on your device to add it to your digital calendar.The Grünewald Hall has capacity for up to 460 people, spread across the stalls and gallery. Both floors can be accessed by lift and the stairs. The hall has two wheelchair places.
Free entrance, no tickets required. to Season opening with the Orchestra AcademyThe link has been copied https://www.konserthuset.se/en/programme/calendar/concert/2024/rspo-orchestra-academy-24-25-kammarkonsert-i/20241012-1600/The event has been downloaded Open the file saved on your device to add it to your digital calendar.Since 2016, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra has hosted an ”Orchestra Academy”. The international RSPO Orchestra Academy is a one-year, advanced academic programme for young musicians. Under the guidance of the section leaders from the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and the Piteå School of Music, the musicians receive intensive training individually, in chamber music, and orchestral playing. They also showcase their talents through a series of public chamber music concerts – such as this one featuring this year’s academy students.
The Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz was 23 years old when she wrote her Wind Quintet in 1932, the same year she graduated in composition and violin from the Warsaw Conservatory. The music from this period is in a neoclassical style, and the quintet is a fine example of this.
Elizabeth Maconchy was a composer of great versatility and unfailing integrity, amply deserving of a British critic’s description of her as one of the most substantial composers these islands have yet produced. She studied at the Royal College of Music with Vaughan Williams, but she was attracted less by English pastoralism than by the central European modernism of Bartók and Janáček. The prize-winning quintet featured here is an early work, composed in 1932 when she was 25 years old.
The Czech-born Antoine Reicha was a contemporary and friend of Beethoven and was primarily active in Paris, where he became a professor at the Conservatoire (with students including Hector Berlioz). Reicha is particularly known for his writings on music theory, but his chamber music is also regularly performed. Here, we hear the Octet in a finale that brings together all the musicians.
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The music
Approximate times -
Grazyna Bacewicz Wind Quintet10 min
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Elizabeth Maconchy Quintet for oboe and strings13 min
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Antoine Reicha Octet in E flat major42 min
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Participants
- Emilia Reske flute
- Clara May Teahan oboe
- Astrid le Clercq clarinet
- Sabina Aran bassoon
- Ingrid Aukner french horn
- Ekin Kuzukiran violin
- Eve Gillieron violin
- Therése Magnusson viola
- Cecilia Hutnik cello
Saturday 12 October 2024 16.00
Ends approximately 17.15Save in calendarThe event has been downloaded Open the file saved on your device to add it to your digital calendar.Free entrance, no tickets required. to Season opening with the Orchestra AcademyThe Grünewald Hall has capacity for up to 460 people, spread across the stalls and gallery. Both floors can be accessed by lift and the stairs. The hall has two wheelchair places.
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Genre: Chamber music
A meeting between the RSPO Orchestra Academy and the NOSPR Academy from Poland.
Saturday 23 November 2024 15.00Free entrance, no tickets required. to Concert with two orchestra academiesPhoto: Nadja Sjöström
Genre: Chamber musicConcert with two orchestra academies
A meeting between the RSPO Orchestra Academy and the NOSPR Academy from Poland.
Saturday 23 November 2024 15.00
Ends approximately 16.40Save in calendarThe event has been downloaded Open the file saved on your device to add it to your digital calendar.The Grünewald Hall has capacity for up to 460 people, spread across the stalls and gallery. Both floors can be accessed by lift and the stairs. The hall has two wheelchair places.
Free entrance, no tickets required. to Concert with two orchestra academiesThe link has been copied https://www.konserthuset.se/en/programme/calendar/concert/2024/concert-with-two-orchestra-academies/20241123-1500/The event has been downloaded Open the file saved on your device to add it to your digital calendar.Since 2016, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra has hosted an ”Orchestra Academy”. The international RSPO Orchestra Academy is a one-year, advanced academic programme for young musicians. Under the guidance of the section leaders from the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and the Piteå School of Music, the musicians receive intensive training individually, in chamber music, and orchestral playing.
The academy also presents itself through a series of public chamber music concerts, such as this one featuring this year’s academy students. On this occasion, we experience yet another collaboration between the orchestra academies of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice.
The concert begins with an originally orchestrated work by the British-American composer Anna Clyne, which also includes recorded sounds from a music box that her father gave to her mother when he was courting her, as well as ambient sounds from her childhood in the coastal town of Brighton.
"It is five instruments conversing with each other," is how Carl Nielsen described his often-performed and much-loved Wind Quintet. He also noted that it cannot "be played without a deep feeling for nature." The piece is filled with surprising effects, but also pastoral and idyllic elements.
After the interval, the programme continues with music by two of Poland's foremost 20th-century composers. In Witold Lutosławski’s relatively early piece, Little Suite from 1950, the inspiration from folk music is clearly audible. Like Lutosławski, Grażyna Bacewicz found ways to maintain artistic integrity within the controlling communist climate of the mid-20th century. Her Concerto for String Orchestra from 1948 has become one of her most performed and beloved works, admired by, among others, her colleague Lutosławski.
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The partnership between Konserthuset Stockholm and the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice is taking place in 2023, under the project name Institutions of the Future 2023. This project is supported by the Polish Ministry of Culture under their Inspiring Culture initiative.
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The music
Approximate times -
Anna Clyne 1987 for bass flute, bass clarinet, violin, cello and tape8 min
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Carl Nielsen Wind Quintet24 min
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Intermission25 min
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Witold Lutoslawski Little Suite10 min
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Grazyna Bacewicz Concerto for string orchestra15 min
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Participants
- Emilia Reske flute/bass flute
- Clara May Teahan oboe
- Astrid le Clercq clarinet/bass clarinet
- Sabina Aran bassoon
- Ingrid Aukner french horn
- Eve Gillieron violin
- Ekin Kuzukiran violin
- Cecilia Hutnik cello
- Musicians from NOSPR Academy
Saturday 23 November 2024 15.00
Ends approximately 16.40Save in calendarThe event has been downloaded Open the file saved on your device to add it to your digital calendar.Free entrance, no tickets required. to Concert with two orchestra academiesThe Grünewald Hall has capacity for up to 460 people, spread across the stalls and gallery. Both floors can be accessed by lift and the stairs. The hall has two wheelchair places.
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Genre: Chamber music, Vocal music
This year marks 150 years since Arnold Schönberg was born, and the RSPO Orchestra Academy offers a Schönberg portrait. Christian Karlsen conducts.
Tuesday 17 December 2024 19.00Free entrance, no tickets required. to Arnold Schoenberg 1909Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951)
Genre: Chamber music, Vocal musicArnold Schoenberg 1909
This year marks 150 years since Arnold Schönberg was born, and the RSPO Orchestra Academy offers a Schönberg portrait. Christian Karlsen conducts.
Tuesday 17 December 2024 19.00
Ends approximately 20.15Save in calendarThe event has been downloaded Open the file saved on your device to add it to your digital calendar.The Grünewald Hall has capacity for up to 460 people, spread across the stalls and gallery. Both floors can be accessed by lift and the stairs. The hall has two wheelchair places.
Free entrance, no tickets required. to Arnold Schoenberg 1909The link has been copied https://www.konserthuset.se/en/programme/calendar/concert/2024/arnold-schonberg-1909/20241217-1900/The event has been downloaded Open the file saved on your device to add it to your digital calendar.The music that Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) composed in the early 20th century was certainly not met with open arms and curiosity. On the contrary, it was often met with outright hostility.
In the Five Orchestral Pieces, Op. 16 from 1909 (the version for smaller ensemble is from 1920), he truly pushed the boundaries of traditional harmony and rhythm, with fragmented phrases and distinctive colourings. What his contemporaries, often hostile, perhaps failed to recognize was that he was building upon and expanding the late Romantic tradition – traces of which become evident once the dust has settled.
At this time, before the First World War, he was a student in Vienna of the composer and conductor Alexander von Zemlinsky. Later, Schoenberg and his own students –including Anton Webern and Alban Berg – would form the radical movement known as the "Second Viennese School" (the first being made up of the likes of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven).
From the same year, 1909, we find Erwartung – a "monodrama" for soprano and chamber orchestra. He composed this incredibly intense, expressionistic music in just a few weeks, but it took fifteen years (!) before the work had its premiere in Prague in 1924, with his old teacher Zemlinsky conducting. In the dreamlike text, an anxious woman wanders through the forest, desperately searching for her lover.
Schoenberg said: ”In Erwartung the aim is to represent in slow motion everything that occurs during a single second of maximum spiritual excitement, stretching it out to half an hour”.
The vocal soloist is Elisabeth Meyer, who has performed in numerous roles at the Royal Swedish Opera and Folkoperan, among others. The concert is presented by Axel Englund, Professor of Literature, who has researched the relationship between words and music.
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In collaboration with the Royal College of Music, Stockholm University and Forum Modernism, with support from the Swedish Arts Council and Stockholm City.
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The music
Approximate times -
Arnold Schönberg Five Orchestral Pieces, version for 11 instruments (1920)20 min
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Arnold Schönberg Erwartung, version for soprano and chamber orchestra arr Faradsch Karaew30 min
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Participants
- Christian Karlsen conductor
- Elisabeth Meyer soprano
- Emilia Reske flute/piccolo flute/alto flute
- Clara May Teahan oboe/english horn
- Astrid le Clercq clarinet
- Sabina Aran bassoon
- Ingrid Aukner french horn
- Ekin Kuzukiran violin
- Eve Gillieron violin
- Therése Magnusson viola
- Cecilia Hutnik cello
- Axel Englund presenter
Tuesday 17 December 2024 19.00
Ends approximately 20.15Save in calendarThe event has been downloaded Open the file saved on your device to add it to your digital calendar.Free entrance, no tickets required. to Arnold Schoenberg 1909The Grünewald Hall has capacity for up to 460 people, spread across the stalls and gallery. Both floors can be accessed by lift and the stairs. The hall has two wheelchair places.
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Genre: Chamber music
Musicians of the RSPO Orchestra Academy together with El Sistema Södertälje and the Falun Conservatory of Music.
Friday 20 December 2024 18.00Free entrance, no tickets required. to Three young ensemblesGenre: Chamber musicThree young ensembles
Musicians of the RSPO Orchestra Academy together with El Sistema Södertälje and the Falun Conservatory of Music.
Friday 20 December 2024 18.00
Ends approximately 20.20Save in calendarThe event has been downloaded Open the file saved on your device to add it to your digital calendar.The Grünewald Hall has capacity for up to 460 people, spread across the stalls and gallery. Both floors can be accessed by lift and the stairs. The hall has two wheelchair places.
Free entrance, no tickets required. to Three young ensemblesThe link has been copied https://www.konserthuset.se/en/programme/calendar/concert/2024/three-young-ensembles/20241220-1800/The event has been downloaded Open the file saved on your device to add it to your digital calendar.Welcome to a vibrant concert where the Orchestra Academy of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra joins forces with musicians from El Sistema Södertälje and the Falun Conservatory of Music.
The RSPO Orchestra Academy is an academic specialist program with an international focus. El Sistema Södertälje, with which the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra has collaborated since its inception in 2012, is an orchestra school aimed at students from kindergarten upwards. The Falun Conservatory of Music is one of the country’s leading secondary-level institutions for young musicians with professional ambitions.
Two musicians from this season’s Orchestra Academy perform as soloists, namely the English-born oboist Clara May Teahan and the Spanish bassoonist Sabina Aran.
A similar collaboration between musicians and ensembles at different stages of their education also took place in 2022.
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The music
Approximate times -
Lille Bror Söderlundh From Suite in Swedish Tune, version for string orchestra arr Stig Rybrant4 min
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Benjamin Britten From Simple Symphony7 min
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Jean Sibelius Andante festivo6 min
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Intermission25 min
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Antonio Vivaldi Concerto in G major for oboe, bassoon, strings and basso continuo RV 54510 min
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Edward Elgar Serenad for strings12 min
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Elfrida Andrée Andante quasi recitativo for string orchestra4 min
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Participants
- Ensemble from El Sistema Södertälje
- Ensemble from Conservatory of Music Falun
- Clara May Teahan oboe
- Sabina Aran bassoon
Friday 20 December 2024 18.00
Ends approximately 20.20Save in calendarThe event has been downloaded Open the file saved on your device to add it to your digital calendar.Free entrance, no tickets required. to Three young ensemblesThe Grünewald Hall has capacity for up to 460 people, spread across the stalls and gallery. Both floors can be accessed by lift and the stairs. The hall has two wheelchair places.
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Genre: Chamber music
Musicians from this year’s orchestra academy play two string quartets and one wind quintet. The programme is provisional.
Wednesday 26 February 2025 18.00Free entrance, no tickets required. to Concert with the RSPO Orchestra AcademyPhoto: Nadja Sjöström
Genre: Chamber musicConcert with the RSPO Orchestra Academy
Musicians from this year’s orchestra academy play two string quartets and one wind quintet. The programme is provisional.
Wednesday 26 February 2025 18.00
Ends approximately 19.00Save in calendarThe event has been downloaded Open the file saved on your device to add it to your digital calendar.The Grünewald Hall has capacity for up to 460 people, spread across the stalls and gallery. Both floors can be accessed by lift and the stairs. The hall has two wheelchair places.
Free entrance, no tickets required. to Concert with the RSPO Orchestra AcademyThe link has been copied https://www.konserthuset.se/en/programme/calendar/concert/2025/concert-with-the-rspo-orchestra-academy/20250226-1800/The event has been downloaded Open the file saved on your device to add it to your digital calendar.Since 2016, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra has hosted an ”Orchestra Academy”. The international RSPO Orchestra Academy is a one-year, advanced academic programme for young musicians. Under the guidance of the section leaders from the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and the Piteå School of Music, the musicians receive intensive training individually, in chamber music, and orchestral playing.
They also showcase their talents through a series of public chamber music concerts – such as this one featuring this year’s academy musicians.
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The music
Approximate times -
Amy Beach Pastorale for woodwind quintet4 min
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Claude Debussy String Quartet in g minor25 min
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Antonín Dvorák String Quartet No. 12 "The American", version for wind quintet arr David Walter21 min
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Participants
- Emilia Reske flute
- Clara May Teahan oboe
- Astrid le Clercq clarinet
- Sabina Aran bassoon
- Ingrid Aukner french horn
- Eve Gillieron violin
- Ekin Kuzukiran violin
- Therése Magnusson viola
- Cecilia Hutnik cello
Wednesday 26 February 2025 18.00
Ends approximately 19.00Save in calendarThe event has been downloaded Open the file saved on your device to add it to your digital calendar.Free entrance, no tickets required. to Concert with the RSPO Orchestra AcademyThe Grünewald Hall has capacity for up to 460 people, spread across the stalls and gallery. Both floors can be accessed by lift and the stairs. The hall has two wheelchair places.
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Genre: Chamber music
This year's academy musicians play American, French and Swedish music. The programme is provisional.
Wednesday 2 April 2025 18.00Free entrance, no tickets required. to Concert with the RSPO Orchestra AcademyPhoto: Nadja Sjöström
Genre: Chamber musicConcert with the RSPO Orchestra Academy
This year's academy musicians play American, French and Swedish music. The programme is provisional.
Wednesday 2 April 2025 18.00
Ends approximately 19.00Save in calendarThe event has been downloaded Open the file saved on your device to add it to your digital calendar.The Grünewald Hall has capacity for up to 460 people, spread across the stalls and gallery. Both floors can be accessed by lift and the stairs. The hall has two wheelchair places.
Free entrance, no tickets required. to Concert with the RSPO Orchestra AcademyThe link has been copied https://www.konserthuset.se/en/programme/calendar/concert/2025/concert-with-the-rspo-orchestra-academy2/20250402-1800/The event has been downloaded Open the file saved on your device to add it to your digital calendar.Since 2016, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra has hosted an ”Orchestra Academy”. The international RSPO Orchestra Academy is a one-year, advanced academic programme for young musicians. Under the guidance of the section leaders from the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and the Piteå School of Music, the musicians receive intensive training individually, in chamber music, and orchestral playing.
They also showcase their talents through a series of public chamber music concerts – such as this one featuring this year’s academy musicians.
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The music
Approximate times -
Amy Beach Piano Quintet27 min
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Johan Ullén Amfortas’ Dream for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon and piano7 min
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Francis Poulenc Sextet for piano and winds21 min
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Participants
- Emilia Reske flute
- Clara May Teahan oboe
- Astrid le Clercq clarinet
- Sabina Aran bassoon
- Ingrid Aukner french horn
- Eve Gillieron violin
- Ekin Kuzukiran violin
- Therése Magnusson viola
- Cecilia Hutnik cello
- ..... piano
Wednesday 2 April 2025 18.00
Ends approximately 19.00Save in calendarThe event has been downloaded Open the file saved on your device to add it to your digital calendar.Free entrance, no tickets required. to Concert with the RSPO Orchestra AcademyThe Grünewald Hall has capacity for up to 460 people, spread across the stalls and gallery. Both floors can be accessed by lift and the stairs. The hall has two wheelchair places.
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Genre: Chamber music
Last concert with this season's academy musicians. Programme to be announced.
Wednesday 4 June 2025 19.00Free entrance, no tickets required. to Finale with the RSPO Orchestra AcademyPhoto: Nadja Sjöström
Genre: Chamber musicFinale with the RSPO Orchestra Academy
Last concert with this season's academy musicians. Programme to be announced.
Wednesday 4 June 2025 19.00
Ends approximately 20.00Save in calendarThe event has been downloaded Open the file saved on your device to add it to your digital calendar.The Grünewald Hall has capacity for up to 460 people, spread across the stalls and gallery. Both floors can be accessed by lift and the stairs. The hall has two wheelchair places.
Free entrance, no tickets required. to Finale with the RSPO Orchestra AcademyThe link has been copied https://www.konserthuset.se/en/programme/calendar/concert/2025/finale-with-the-rspo-orchestra-academy/20250604-1900/The event has been downloaded Open the file saved on your device to add it to your digital calendar.Since 2016, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra has hosted an ”Orchestra Academy”. The international RSPO Orchestra Academy is a one-year, advanced academic programme for young musicians. Under the guidance of the section leaders from the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and the Piteå School of Music, the musicians receive intensive training individually, in chamber music, and orchestral playing.
They also showcase their talents through a series of public chamber music concerts – such as this one featuring this year’s academy musicians.
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The music
Approximate times -
Programme to be announced
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Participants
- Emilia Reske flute
- Clara May Teahan oboe
- Astrid le Clercq clarinet
- Sabina Aran bassoon
- Ingrid Aukner french horn
- Eve Gillieron violin
- Ekin Kuzukiran violin
- Therése Magnusson viola
- Cecilia Hutnik cello
Wednesday 4 June 2025 19.00
Ends approximately 20.00Save in calendarThe event has been downloaded Open the file saved on your device to add it to your digital calendar.Free entrance, no tickets required. to Finale with the RSPO Orchestra AcademyThe Grünewald Hall has capacity for up to 460 people, spread across the stalls and gallery. Both floors can be accessed by lift and the stairs. The hall has two wheelchair places.
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