Artistic Director John Gilhooly doubles the number of £5 tickets for under 35s for 2016/17 Wigmore Hall season announced today Doubling of number of £5 tickets offered to under 35s New digital capability of Wigmore Hall further extended internationally with new partnership with medici.tv Helen Grime becomes Wigmore Hall’s first female Composer in Residence Major artist residencies and series from trumpeter Alison Balsom, pianists Angela Hewitt, Igor Levit and Francesco Piemontesi; violinists Janine Jansen & Patricia Kopatchinskaja; harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani and the Takács Quartet Vibrant Early Music and Baroque Series includes Arcangelo with Jonaathan Cohen as first Baroque Ensemble in Residence, plus performances by Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Les Arts Florissants, Collegium Vocale Gent, Le Poème Harmonique, The Sixteen, The Tallis Scholars, La Venexiana and Vox Luminis Major contemporary music focus with Thomas Adès Day ‘Arcadiana’,, Xenakis Day with JACK Quartet, and 52 major premières including 25 world premières of Wigmore Hall co- commissions Return concerts for Cecilia Bartoli, Philippe Jaroussky, Sir András Schiff and Violeta Urmana Masterclasses by Brigitte Fassbaender, Sir András Schiff and the Takács Quartet Wigmore debut recitals from René Pape and Barbara Hannigan; Emmanuelle Haïm makes her debut as a conductor Christian McBride returns and celebrated pianist Vijay Iyer becomes Jazz Artist in Residence Schubert: The Complete Songs continues with an outstanding line-up of performers and compelling visions of the composer’s late song-cycles, as well as the song-cycles in English as part of Wigmore Hall’s Learning programme Wigmore Hall’s rich legacy of great performances, artistic revelations and creative daring is set to grow throughout the 2016/17 season. The Hall’s Chief Executive and Artistic Director John Gilhooly was last Sunday named as one of Britain’s 500 most influential people in Debrett’s 2016 People of Today list, published in The Sunday Times. He announces his bold new 2016/17 programme on Thursday 28 January, shortly before a performance given by an ensemble of remarkable young artists. The season launch and subsequent concert is the first event to be streamed live from Wigmore Hall, inaugurating an online series designed to broaden international access to Europe’s leading venue for chamber music, early music and song. It was also announced that Wigmore Hall’s 115th Anniversary Gala Concerts on 31 May, 1 and 2 June 2016 will be streamed live in partnership with medici.tv. ‘Wigmore Hall now attracts capacity audiences to many of its 488 concerts each year,’ observes John Gilhooly. ‘We want to share the experience of great music-making with the greatest possible number of people. This is why we created a world-class digital studio as part of our £2.1 million building infrastructure upgrade last year. I am also delighted to announce that, as a result of its overwhelming success, we will increase our £5 ticket scheme for Under-35s from 10,000 tickets this season to 20,000 tickets in 2016/17. Our digital capability and work to attract new and younger audiences belong to the Hall’s vitally important investment in its future.’ Artists, loyal audience members and generous donors were among those who welcomed the launch of Wigmore Hall’s 2016/17 Annual Season Appeal. The fundraising initiative expects to raise £1.7 million from private sources to enhance the quality of the Hall’s artistic programme, support the development of its influential Learning programme and expanding Under 35s ticket scheme, and ensure that Wigmore Hall can be accessible to the widest possible audience. ‘In recent seasons Wigmore Hall has dramatically increased the number of concerts it promotes,’ John Gilhooly recalls. ‘This has given us the freedom to create special projects and build season-long series in collaboration with remarkable artists at all stages in their careers. It has also enabled us to expand the range, diversity and ambition of our artistic programme. We believe the extra work and financial risk involved are vital if Wigmore Hall is to maintain its place among the world’s leading venues for chamber music and song. The Annual Season Appeal supports our artistic ambitions and will allow the Hall to deliver a programme in 2016/17 of the highest international quality.’ During the new season Wigmore Hall will promote 488 concerts and a comparable number of Learning events. ‘The 2016/17 programme offers an unrivalled blend of artistic quality and creative possibilities,’ comments John Gilhooly. Sarah Connolly, one of Britain’s most distinguished singers, opens Wigmore Hall’s 2016/17 Season in company with Malcolm Martineau on Friday 9 September. Their programme includes four settings of Hans Christian Andersen from Schumann’s Op. 40, Mahler’s Rückert Lieder and Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été, works drawn from the heart of the acclaimed mezzo-soprano’s repertoire. The human voice holds centre stage throughout the season’s opening week. Finnish soprano Soile Isokoski returns to the Hall on 10 September to perform works by Schumann and her countryman Yrjö Kilpinen. Mark Padmore and James Baillieu launch the second half of the Hall’s Schubert: The Complete Songs on 13 September with a recital embracing everything from simple folk- inspired pieces to the complex emotional worlds of the composer’s late songs. Wigmore Hall’s complete survey of Schubert’s 600-plus songs, launched in September 2015 and presented in partnership with Austria’s Schubertiade Schwarzenberg and Hohenems festival, unfolds with 20 concerts across the new season. The series offers the chance to hear many of the world’s finest Schubert interpreters and a carefully chosen group of exceptional young talent. This season’s roster of distinguished Schubertians – singers and pianists – includes Florian Boesch, Robert Holl, Graham Johnson, Simon Keenlyside, Elisabeth Kulman, Stephan Loges, Malcolm Martineau, Georg Nigl, Mauro Peter, Christoph Prégardien, Anna Lucia Richter, Dorothea Röschmann, Markus Schäfer, Sir András Schiff, Violeta Urmana and Elizabeth Watts. The series contains complete performances of Winterreise with Matthew Rose and Gary Matthewman (15 February), Die schöne Müllerin with Henk Neven and Imogen Cooper (11 April), and Schwanengesang with Ian Bostridge and Lars Vogt (10 May). The song- cycles can also be heard in new English translations by Jeremy Sams, performed under the umbrella of Wigmore Hall’s Learning programme by Toby Spence, Roderick Williams, Sir John Tomlinson and Christopher Glynn. Several substantial new series come to Wigmore Hall in 2016/17. Igor Levit starts his first complete survey of Beethoven’s piano sonatas in a major concert hall, comprising a total of eight concerts. Beethoven Cycle: Igor Levit opens on 28 September with four works, including the early Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor Op. 2 No. 1 and the dramatic ‘Waldstein’ Sonata. Takács Quartet: Beethoven String Quartet Cycle presents a prominent platform for Wigmore Hall’s internationally acclaimed Associate Artists to explore some of the greatest works in the chamber music canon. The Takács Quartet’s series starts on 3 February 2017 and unfolds with five further concerts. Angela Hewitt: The Bach Odyssey, devised by John Gilhooly to run over several seasons, starts on 25 September and continues on 20 January and 10 June. The divinely-inspired composer’s keyboard fantasies, inventions and sinfonias provide the creative launch pad for this landmark series, which will grow in 2016/17 to include a complete survey of the French Suites. Harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani, also at John’s request, begins a long-term survey of Bach’s keyboard works on 21 December with the Goldberg Variations. Artist residencies have become an integral part of Wigmore Hall programming in recent years. Next season’s Janine Jansen Perspecitves focuses on the work of one of the world’s leading classical instrumentalists, an acclaimed soloist who is also passionate about chamber music-making. The Dutch violinist, a firm favourite with the Hall’s audience, begins her three-concert showcase series on 8 October with a recital of works by Brahms, Poulenc, Prokofiev and Szymanowski. She will return later in the season for performances of, among other works, Korngold’s rarely heard Suite for two violins, cello and piano left hand, and Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time. In a rare partnership with London Symphony Orchestra, Jansen will also perform orchestral works by Bernstein, Brahms and Berg across three concerts at the Barbican in February, March and April 2017. Connoisseurs of visionary violin playing will also be drawn to Patricia Kopatchinskaja: Artist in Residence. The Moldovan-born Austrian performer, winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s prestigious Instrumentalist Award, appears in recital in March, April and May 2017 for three contrasting programmes that include everything from Bach and Beethoven to George Crumb and György Kurtág. Sir András Schiff: Bach, Schumann, Janáček and Bartók arises from the pianist’s captivating artistic insight and power to reveal the complex inner worlds of keyboard masterworks. His latest series opens on 29 November with the first of three recitals. Wigmore Hall’s award-winning Learning programme will enter the evening concert diary for the first time when Sir András Schiff offers his practical advice and essential wisdom to a hand-picked group of outstanding young musicians in a series of masterclasses (30 November, 22 February & 3 May). Over the past decade Alison Balsom has captivated audiences worldwide with her lyrical playing, exquisite tone and penetrating musicianship. Wigmore Hall’s Alison Balsom ‘The Trumpet Shall Sound’ series offers the chance to experience the wide range of her work over the course of four concerts. The high-profile trumpeter’s series opens on 31 October in partnership with pianist Tom Poster, includes a celebration of music for brass ensemble from the Balsom Ensemble Trumpet Consort on 20 December, and finishes with a late- night concert in company with jazz trumpeter Guy Barker and Friends on 9 June.