It’s time to lose yourself in a world of musical storytelling, as the Ulster Orchestra’s 2025/26 concerts are on sale now. Full details of all concerts and links to book can be found on our What's On section.

What will you hear? If your imagination is captured by myths and legends, there’s no better place to start than our opening concert on 26 September when we bring to life the brilliant, technicolour feathers of Stravinsky’s Firebird. Or if the mythology of this island is your passion, you won’t want to miss a new co-commission for the Ulster Orchestra on 24 October. Bád on Alltár fuses Irish traditional and classical musics and captures the idea of the ‘thin veil’ between reality and the otherworld – its performance, featuring soloists such as Dónal O’Connor and Maria Ryan, promises to be a sensational evening at the Ulster Hall, while saxophonist Jess Gillam makes her Ulster Hall debut on 23 January to depict another cornerstone of Irish mythology, the banshee, in Anna Clyne’s Glasslands.
 
If music that takes you to the great outdoors is your idea of a perfect listen, the 7 November’s concert comes with a little Italian flair, or take a trip to Spain and Bohemia on 20 March with music by Falla, Francisco Coll and Smetana, in a programme featuring guitarist Sean Shibe.
 
The raw emotion and drama of the orchestra will never be far from the stage, with everything from Dvořák’s achingly beautiful Cello Concerto (6 February) to Berlioz’s dark world of obsessive desire, Symphonie fantastique (6 March). We take a pre-Christmas trip to the ballet on 5 December with music from Swan Lake and a gloriously swinging arrangement of The Nutcracker by Duke Ellington, while later in the season we head to the theatre for Stravinsky’s Pulcinella.
 
But if all that drama gets too much, we’ve also got the antidote in the form of concerts that bring music of peace and tranquility. Sayaka Shoji is conducted in a performance of Mozart’s Fifth Violin Concerto by the Ulster Orchestra’s new Principal Guest Artist Michael Collins on 1 May, while Easter presents the opportunity for uplift and comfort in a concert on 3 April that features Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending and Brahms’s beautiful German Requiem.
 
Our Pops Series always provides a memorable evening at the Waterfront Hall, and this year they will bring to life on-stage the music of Elton John and Queen, along with a celebration of some of the most Spectacular Soundtracks to light up the silver screen. Younger fans will be delighted that we’re going to be taking a musical journey with some of their favourite TV characters, as we go on a Wildlife Jamboree in the CBeebies Prom, while no Christmas would be complete without our annual live play-along to The Snowman and performances of Messiah and The Magic of Christmas.
 
Ulster Orchestra concerts remain a fantastic value night out. Discounts on Classical Season concerts are available from booking as few as four concerts, with savings starting at 10% off, running right up to a 25% discount if you buy all 16 – the more you buy, the more you save! So take the plunge and book your seats now; give your imagination the space to roam as new musical story unfolds for you with the Ulster Orchestra.