Looking ahead to the opening event of acclaimed Harrogate orchestra's new season
The incredible Cuore Chamber Orchestra is to return to its home venue of Harrogate’s Royal Hall for the opening concert of its 2026-27 season.
“After such an exciting and successful first year, I am delighted to be back in the Royal Hall performing with the incredible musicians of Cuore,” said the orchestra’s Founder and Artistic Director William Dutton.
Taking place on Friday, November 6, the concert follows the orchestra’s highly-praised inaugural year of five performances in three iconic Yorkshire venues.
Melanie Ekenazi of OMH Music was among those to hail the debut season.
"If you’ve never heard of the Cuore Chamber Orchestra, based in the fabulously ornate Royal Hall in the almost equally ornate town of Harrogate, you most certainly soon will.”
The opening concert of the 2026-27 season will feature works by Mozart and Grieg.
The soloist will be one of Britain’s foremost violinists, Jennifer Pike.
In demand as soloist and recitalist all over the world, she is known as an artist of exceptional integrity and depth, while her ability to “hold an audience spellbound” (The Strad) and “luminous beauty of tone" (The Observer) have established her as one of the most exciting artists performing today.
As well as showcasing works by Grieg and Mozart, Cuore will be performing the Yorkshire premiere of composer and BBC Radio 3 Broadcaster Michael Berkeley’s Meditations’for Strings.
Michael Berkeley said: "Meditations was the first of my pieces to gain any real attention and audiences seem to respond to its emotional directness.
"I’m delighted that Cuore, who have done so much to promote orchestral music in Yorkshire and, in particular ,the work of living or 21st century composers, will be playing meditations under their inspiring young conductor William Dutton."
Cuore is a new professional Chamber Orchestra for Yorkshire, showcasing orchestral music in the heart of the region with some of the best young musicians in the UK.
William Dutton won the Strings Final of BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2014 and was the first British conductor admitted to the Italian Conducting Academy in Milan, where he studied with Gilberto Serembe.
Tickets: https://cuorechamberorchestra.com/