On 7 September Benjamin conducts the Swiss premiere of his Concerto for Orchestra with the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra.

The Concerto is varied and dynamic across an unbroken 17-minute span, with skittish lines playing against still, suspended ones. Its various instrumental protagonists play multiple roles – both dramatic and sonoric – including a volatile solo tuba, elaborate horn duos, bubbling clarinets and two pairs of rumbling timpani. Most prominent of all are the impassioned first violins, who almost have the last word during the work’s tranquil conclusion. Watch Benjamin conduct the Philharmonique de Radio France in the Concerto for Orchestra here.

The piece debuted in 2021 at the BBC Proms with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, conducted by the composer. Benjamin has said that the piece attempts “to conjure a trace of the energy, humour, and spirit” of its dedicatee Oliver Knussen; in December 2023 Benjamin programmed the piece alongside Knussen’s Chora(1970-72) for wind, percussion and double basses at the Concertgebouw.

The performance follows the Portuguese debut of the work with the Gulbenkian Orchestra in April 2024, and its Spanish premiere in June 2024 from Santiago Serrate and the Orquestra Sinfonica de Madrid at the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards, which honoured Benjamin this year. Ryan Bancroft conducts the piece with the Tapiola Sinfonietta in December 2024, following its national premiere with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Nicholas Collon as part of a focus on Benjamin in November 2023.

The full score of the Concerto for Orchestra was published in 2022 and is available to purchase here. It was commissioned by the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, supported by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation and the Karolina Blaberg Foundation, and BBC Radio 3. Since its premiere the piece has received over 20 performances internationally; as well as the MCO, Concertgebouw, and Orchestra Philharmonique de Radio France, its exponents have included the London Symphony Orchestra, Gürzenich Orchester, and Orchestre National de Lille. Benjamin himself has conducted the work on numerous occasions – other conductors to take it up have included Danel Harding and Susanna Mälkki.