The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra (RPCO) is a dynamic and versatile ensemble that performs a wide range of styles and genres of music in shows across the UK and around the world. The Orchestra’s repertoire includes film music, video game scores, music from the musicals, and symphonic arrangements of classic rock and pop songs, as well as new commissions and the traditional core classical repertoire, reaching an audience of over 170,000 live listeners per year. The Orchestra’s creative partnerships with artists, promoters and producers have resulted in ambitious performances in venues from vast arenas and main concert venues around the UK to smaller and more intimate settings. The RPCO aims to reach as wide and diverse an audience as possible and is unafraid to explore new orchestral experiences.
The Orchestra is a regular visitor to the Royal Albert Hall where it has premiered many films ‘Live in Concert’ such as The English Patient, Brassed Off! in a collaboration with the Grimethorpe Colliery Band, Skyfall, and the blockbuster Bollywood film Baahubali – The Beginning screened in the original language of Tamil. This Season sees the premiere of Wonder Woman, as well as the next instalments of the Harry Potter series and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
In 2023, the RPCO made its debut at the British Summer Time Festival in London’s Hyde Park, giving the Festival’s first orchestral concert since it began in 2013. The Orchestra has toured the UK with the music of Roy Orbison, featuring the late artist in ground-breaking hologram format, and further developed this concert format to perform at the London Coliseum alongside the hologram of Maria Callas. 2023 also sees the RPCO’s fourth national arena tour with Elvis In Concert, accompanying the King of Rock and Roll up close and on screen.
Further recent highlights for the RPCO include multiple performances with the hugely popular Italian tenor, Andrea Bocelli, as well as concerts with José Carreras, Anna Netrebko and the stars of the West End stage, such as Kerry Ellis, Alfie Boe and Ruthie Henshall. The Orchestra undertook a major tour of South East Asia, including Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Vietnam, where it reached out to new audiences in these territories, incorporating songs and artists from these countries into each concert, making the tour all the more special for audience and Orchestra alike. Recent international touring has also seen the RPCO visit Gibraltar, Athens, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, as part of the UAE National Day celebrations – yet another new territory for the Orchestra.
"...the orchestra [had a] rich, lavish flow." The Arts Desk
"An orchestra in sparkling form... the famous opening fanfare was glorious." Broadway World
"Music was provided by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, and every piece was simply beautifully performed." Reece Goodall, theboar.org
