Eurovision Classical Concerts
CELEBRATING EUROPE’S ORCHESTRAS WITH BBC ARTS & THE EBU
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The Eurovision Classical Concerts is a landmark, ongoing television series established as a major music co-production between BBC Arts and the EBU. Its main purpose is to serve as a platform celebrating the artistry, individuality, and shared values of public service music-making by showcasing different major European orchestras.
The series is built on the foundation of public service media collaboration, marking the first new Eurovision music co-production in over four decades. While the specific orchestras and repertoire will change with each edition, the overarching goal remains the same: to take viewers on a musical journey across Europe, highlighting each featured ensemble’s unique sound and cultural identity through performances of both canonical repertoire and contemporary European works.
The series is intended to be a recurring offering to all EBU Member organizations, bringing high-quality classical music and behind-the-scenes cultural stories to a pan-European audience, thus emphasizing the orchestras' vital role in bridging past and present, tradition and innovation in European cultural life.
2025 Series
The first edition of the Eurovision Classical Concerts series is a four-part production with a confirmed International Broadcast Window of December 2025 through January 2026.5 This edition exclusively features the following four public service orchestras, each filmed in their home city.
| Orchestra |
Location |
Core Repertoire Piece |
| BBC Philharmonic |
Manchester |
Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake Suite |
| Gulbenkian Orchestra |
Lisbon |
Ravel's La Valse |
| WDR Symphony Orchestra |
Cologne |
Stravinsky's Petrushka |
| Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra |
Helsinki |
Sibelius' Finlandia |
Each episode in this 2025/2026 run features performances of the core repertoire listed above, along with other contemporary European works. The entire four-part series is presented by internationally acclaimed conductor Nicholas Collon, who is also the Chief Conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra.Collon guides the audience through this specific musical tour, celebrating these four groups of musicians and the inspiring venues in which they perform.
The EBU has already opened a call for EBU Members to join the 2026 edition of the series, confirming the rotating nature of the orchestras, conductors, and locations for subsequent years.
