BBC NOW 2026-27 Season BBC NOW – NOW!

This boldly imaginative programme, conducted by Simon Crawford-Phillips, brings three distinctive voices of contemporary music to the fore, framed by two major UK premieres and a world premiere. HK Gruber’s Short Stories from the Vienna Woods opens the evening with a series of sharply characterised musical illustrations, by turns playful, ironic and darkly expressive.

At the heart of the concert is Stanley Bate’s
Viola Concerto
, performed by celebrated
soloist Lawrence Power. A compelling and richly expressive work, the concerto reveals
Bate’s distinctive musical voice, combining lyrical intensity with dramatic energy. The
viola takes centre stage throughout, exploring a wide emotional range and highlighting
the instrument’s remarkable warmth, agility and depth of character.

Finally, we have the UK premiere of Steven Mackey’s Concerto for Curved Space. A virtuosic and kaleidoscopic journey, the work bends rhythm, harmony and genre with irrepressible momentum, drawing the evening to a thrilling and expansive close.