BBC Concert Orchestra 2026-2027, Nottingham Royal Concert Hall Haydn's Creation

The BBC Concert Orchestra and its Chief Conductor, Anna-Maria Helsing, join two of Nottingham’s finest university choirs for a choral celebration on a truly cosmic scale.

In the beginning, there was the Word – but for Joseph Haydn, there was music too: some of the freshest, happiest and most fantastic music ever written. “When I think of God, I can write only cheerful music”, he said, and The Creation is filled with sparkling tunes, stirring choruses and a spirit of fun that finds room for both angels and earthworms. But Haydn’s vision of a universe emerging from chaos also inspired music of cosmic grandeur; in short, it’s exactly what you’d expect when the wittiest composer of the 18th century tackles the greatest story ever told, and it’s perfect for the massed voices of the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University.

If you’ve experienced the BBC Concert Orchestra’s previous choral concerts at the Royal Concert Hall, you’ll know that there’s a very special atmosphere at these grand collaborations – and this might be the most joyful yet. 

Singers to be announced.