BBC Concert Orchestra 2025-2026 Friday Night is Music Night: Classically Black

A rich mix of music, encompassing jazz, classical and more that celebrates the incredible breadth and diversity of music written by Black composers, all recorded for future broadcast on BBC Radio 3 from Snape Maltings Concert Hall.

This evening includes compositions by Julian Joseph and Ayanna-Witter Johnson, both of who perform during Snape Malting's weekend-long focus on Black classical artists. There’s also music from Duke Ellington’s ballet score The River, alongside Julian Joseph’s Violin Concerto, full of delicious jazz colours.

Underlining the eclecticism of the night there’s music from a much earlier composer, the Chevalier de St. George, a Black composer writing in 18th-century France, with a feisty movement of his Symphony No.1.

Elsewhere there’s Subwaves, a tribute to the New York City Subway by Trevor Weston, and the evening concludes with the lush, soundtrack-like Return to History by Pete Letanka.