What we do

Liverpool Philharmonic enhances and transforms lives through music.

At the heart of our programme is the critically-acclaimed Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (the UK’s oldest) and Choir; work with young people through our Youth Company and In Harmony Liverpool; support for people experiencing mental ill health through work with the NHS;  and presentation of around 400 diverse concerts and events each year at our home, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, one of the UK’s leading concert halls.

We are central to Liverpool’s cultural offering, being the largest music organisation and one of the largest cultural organisations in the city. Our global reach through touring and recordings promotes the city and its culture. Over 350,000 people attend Liverpool Philharmonic concerts each year. 

We present one of the most diverse programmes of any music organisation outside London across our venues, representing rock/pop, folk, jazz, music from diverse cultures, chamber music, orchestral and choral music, film, spoken word and comedy, and much more.

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

The award-winning Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra is the UK’s oldest continuing professional symphony orchestra. The origins of the Orchestra’s concert series date back to the formation of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic concert society by a group of Liverpool music lovers in 1840.

Domingo Hindoyan became Chief Conductor of the Orchestra in 2021, joining a distinguished line of musicians who have led the Orchestra during its illustrious history.

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra performs over 70 concerts each year in Liverpool.

Liverpool Philharmonic premieres and commissions more music than any other UK orchestra. We have had over 150 new works premiered and commissioned in the last 10 years.

The Orchestra has also collaborated with international artists including Liverpool’s own Sir Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Ian Broudie and the Lightning Seeds, Echo and The Bunnymen, Cast, and The Unthanks.

What we stand for

Bringing Music to Everyone

Liverpool Philharmonic has been working with schools and the community through its orchestral programme since the 1940s, when Sir Malcolm Sargent first introduced a concert series for schools. Today, our Learning programme offers a range of inspirational learning opportunities.

In Harmony Liverpool provides free music education and instrumental tuition to over 1,500 children across eight settings in Anfield and Everton, two of the city’s most disadvantaged communities.

Thousands of young people participate in the Youth Company and associated ensembles, attend concerts or take part in the In Harmony programme. Over 17,000 children and teachers from 250 schools visit Liverpool Philharmonic every year as part of our Schools’ Concerts series.

Inclusivity and Relevance 

Inclusivity and Relevance are fundamental to how we see ourselves as a music organisation. We are profoundly connected with communities across our city, unlocking their creativity and placing music – whether making or experiencing it – at the centre of their lives. We are a national and international leader in innovating and reinventing what it means to be a professional music organisation with an orchestra at its heart in the 21st century. We are nothing if we are not relevant. 

22% of Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Company and In Harmony young musicians are from ethnically diverse backgrounds. 29% of audience members for the Orchestra’s concerts in Liverpool are under 25.

Leap into Live Music reaches over 2,400 people annually from the most disadvantaged communities in our city, providing reduced price tickets and support in concert attendance.

Our musicians use the power of music to improve the mental health of the city’s most vulnerable residents through our longstanding partnership with Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust. Liverpool Philharmonic is proud that over 17,000 people living with mental ill-health have benefitted from our Music and Health programme  since it began in 2008.

Over 4,500 people with disabilities are members of our Access Scheme, which provides support to help them attend concerts safely and comfortably.

Being an inclusive and relevant organisation is fundamental to how we see ourselves. Find out more about the work we’re doing here.

On the Record

Over 700,000 people in more than 170 countries listen to Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra recordings each month on Spotify, more than any UK orchestra outside London.

The Orchestra has received numerous recording accolades, such as the Gramophone Orchestral Recording of the Year and BBC Music Magazine Awards. The Orchestra has recorded the Vaughan Williams’ symphonies cycle twice (with Vernon Handley and more recently with Andrew Manze) and the Rachmaninov, Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky symphonies with Vasily Petrenko. They have also recorded albums with solo artists such as Diana Damrau, Nicola Benedetti, Alfie Boe and Tine Thing Helseth. The latest addition to the Orchestra’s catalogue includes its first recording with Chief Conductor Domingo Hindoyan – an album of works by Debussy, Dukas and Roussel.