LSO and BMW renew partnership

The London Symphony Orchestra(LSO) and BMW Group have announced the renewal of their principal partnership for another three years. Each year, the partnership presents BMW Classics, which sees LSO perform a free, open-air concert in Trafalgar square.

The announcement was made live from this year’s BMW Classics event in Trafalgar Square on 13 July, which saw 10,000 people attend the concert and over 10,500 people stream it on YouTube. Long-term LSO collaborator Duncan Ward (pictured above) conducted the 2024 concert, and from 2025 Sir Antonio Pappano will lead the open-air concert as the orchestra’s chief conductor, a role he starts in September.

BMW AG, finance, board of management member Walter Mertl said: ‘The BMW Group has been supporting hundreds of cultural initiatives for more than 50 years. We firmly believe in the power of music and the arts to bring people together and to experience joy. We are looking forward to continuing the BMW Classics partnership with exciting, new ideas and Sir Antonio Pappano on the conductor’s podium. We welcome him and look forward to next year’s concert in Trafalgar Square.’

BMW classics has made LSO’s music accessible to over 100,000 people and since 2012, has enabled 450 young musicians to perform alongside the orchestra at Trafalgar Square. The extended partnership will continue to bring LSO from the concert hall to public spaces and keep supporting high-quality music education in East London schools.

The annual open-air concert is supported by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan who said he was ‘delighted’ by the announcement. He added: ‘The BMW Classics concerts are a firm favourite in the capital’s cultural calendar, brining fantastic world-class music to Londoners and visitors for free in the heart of central London, as well as showcasing the next generation of talent on stage. I’m proud to be a partner in these events as we build a better London for everyone.’