Experience the Magic: NCO’s 2026 Concert Series

National Children’s Orchestras (NCO) today announces an exciting year ahead, as it continues to champion the life-changing power of orchestral music for children aged 8 to 14 across the UK.

In 2026, NCO will support more than 700 young musicians through its seven auditioned symphony orchestras, alongside a growing programme of free, open-access orchestral opportunities designed to remove barriers to participation and inspire the next generation of music-makers and audiences.

With six public concerts, expanded regional activity, new partnerships and a renewed focus on audience development, 2026 marks a significant moment for NCO as they aim to ensure that more children, regardless of background, can experience the transformative impact of music.

NCO’s work revolves around its seven auditioned orchestras. They bring together children from across the country. These children rehearse and perform at the highest level.

Members engage in Orchestral Weekends (ages 8–14) or Orchestral Weeks (ages 11–14). This forms a year-round musical community. It combines excellence, creativity, and personal growth.

A parent of an NCO young musician recently said: “It’s the real thing. It’s like taking your child and enabling them to access a future that without NCO would be something existing in dreams, if at all.”

Alongside its auditioned ensembles, NCO continues to expand its non-auditioned, free orchestral activities for children aged 8–14. These include Orchestral Days, school concerts, and special projects.

One Orchestral Day participant said: “Before my first NCO activity I had never even considered orchestra and didn’t know how awesome it could be! And now my music world has just opened entirely.”

Among its partnerships in 2026, NCO will deliver an exciting side-by-side project alongside the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestras In Harmony programme. 

Building on the success of similar collaborations in recent years these initiatives allow young people to play, learn and perform alongside each other and gain valuable peer to peer learning experiences.

NCO’s six public concerts in 2026 offer audiences the chance to experience the energy, commitment and artistry of young orchestral musicians. NCO First Experience offers free tickets for children engaged with their local Music Education Hub or Youth Music Service to attend any of the NCO concerts taking place in 2026.

“We were utterly blown away by the quality of musicianship displayed. I found it very emotional! The sheer joy of the children was utterly delightful and shone through their performance.” 

NCO Audience Member

The first public concerts take place in the South West. On Sunday 5 April Music in Motion, Bristol Beacon, sees Natalia Luis Bassa conduct young musicians. The programme features movements from Aram Khachaturian’s Gayane Suites. It also includes Alexander Borodin’s Polotsvian Dances and numbers from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story, amongst others.

Renowned organist, presenter and music personality Anna Lapwood then joins National Children’s Orchestras and conductor Enyi Okpara on Sunday 12 April at Bristol Beacon for Cosmic.

Beyond her performance of Hans Zimmer’s Interstellar Suite for Organ and Orchestra and Kristina Arakelyan’s Toccata for Organ and Orchestra, Anna will bring her dazzling stage presence as she also presents the concert in collaboration with young musicians from the orchestra.

The orchestra will also perform movements from Gustav Holst’s The Planets and music from Richard Strauss, Star Wars and How to Train Your Dragon.

Tickets for both concerts range from just £18-£24 for adults, with all tickets £7 for Under 18s and students as well as free NCO First Experience tickets for local young musicians.

In the summer, National Children’s Orchestras performs three concerts in August. On 1 August at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, NCO plays an American programme conducted by Andrew Morley and including music from George Gershwin, Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein, as well as Dominque Le Gendre’s Concerto for Orchestra.

The following day at Bristol Beacon NCO revives their en pointe There’s No Planet B programme with conductor Matthew Quinn including Jean Sibelius’ Finlandia and movements from Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes, as well as Rachel Portman’s Endangered and Debbie Wiseman’s Carnival of the Endangered Animals.

And the final summer concert takes place on Saturday 8 August at Wiltshire Music Centre with a programme called Spellbound conducted by Caroline Hobbs-Smith and featuring Modest Mussorgsky’s Night on a Bare Mountain, movements from George Bizet’s Carmen Suite and numbers from Beauty and the Beast, Captain Marvel and more.

The year finishes in its traditional way, with a graduation concert on Sunday 22 November for NCO’s eldest orchestra, at Woolwich Works in London.

Sophie Lewis, Chief Executive of National Children’s Orchestras commented: “NCO exists to nurture remarkable young musicians, to inspire new audiences, and to ensure that orchestral music remains a powerful, inclusive and life-changing force for children across the UK.

“Over the course of 2026 we will welcome more than 700 children to our auditioned orchestras and over 1,000 others to our activities across England.The impact of this experience on these young lives is incredibly positive. We hope that you will come and see and hear for yourselves the fantastic level of musicianship and performance, and leave feeling inspired.”