NCH Classical Season 2026/2027 | NCH | Live Music & Events

The National Concert Hall 2026–2027 Classical Season, running from August 2026 to May 2027, boasts more than 60 landmark performances and features National Symphony Orchestra Ireland, with Principal Conductor Alexander Shelley in his first full season with the orchestra, and some of the world’s greatest performers and ensembles from across Europe, the US and Japan. It presents:

Spanning five centuries of repertoire, it includes a major Beethoven focus marking the composer’s 200th anniversary; the 80th birthday of pianist John O’Conor; an ambitious strand of choral works with National Symphony Chorus Ireland including Mahler’s ‘Resurrection’ Symphony and Britten’s War Requiem; the Irish premiere of Heiner Goebbels' Songs of Wars I Have Seen with Irish Baroque Orchestra and Crash Ensemble; outstanding world and Irish premieres by Irish and international composers; classical masterpieces and crowd-pleasers by leading orchestras and soloists from American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato to pianist Sir András Schiff, San Diego Symphony to Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, Bach Collegium Japan to Renée Fleming with Thomas Hampson and National Symphony Orchestra Ireland and Principal Conductor Alexander Shelley, and many more. NCH Discover presents a programme of nine concerts for families and schools audiences of all ages led by NCH Discover Artist-in-Residence Jessie Grimes.

Other celebrated names include baritones Thomas Hampson and Matthias Goerne, mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly, and violinist Midori, in addition to acclaimed interpreters and outstanding new generation soloists and conductors. The distinguished Irish actor Ciarán Hinds will narrate an orchestral work by Leonard Slatkin.

Performances also take place in Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford in collaboration with Cork Orchestral Society, Triskel Arts Centre, Music for Galway, University Concert Hall Limerick and the Symphony Club of Waterford. The season also includes a performance at the National Concert Hall as part of New Music Dublin 2027.