Classical Mixtape: Southbank Centre’s Immersive Night of Orchestral Hits

The Southbank Centre’s Classical Mixtape: A Live Takeover is set for Thursday 5 February 2026. This one-night, multi-venue event features over 200 musicians from six orchestras, offering audiences the chance to curate their own classical experience by moving between looping live sets of classical music’s greatest hits. All six Resident Orchestras—Aurora Orchestra, Chineke! Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and Philharmonia Orchestra—will perform throughout the Southbank Centre for the first time in a single evening, marking the venue’s 75th anniversary and targeting Under 30s audiences. Chineke! Orchestra teams up with Chineke! Junior Orchestra, and the London Sinfonietta is joined by Royal Academy of Music students.

Audiences can explore 600 years of music, including Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, The Lord of the Rings score, and a Bavarian-inspired ‘oompah band’ performance. Each 20-minute programme repeats, so visitors choose how and when to experience each piece. The night begins with the London Philharmonic Orchestra performing Beethoven’s iconic Fifth Symphony, followed by Howard Shore’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 finale. Audiences then move freely between stages to hear performances from each orchestra, which range from Steve Reich’s minimalist compositions in the Queen Elizabeth Hall’s Undercroft, to Chineke! Orchestra’s Montgomery Variations in the Clore Ballroom, a brass and percussion set inspired by Bavarian traditions in the Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer, and Aurora Orchestra’s Mahler-inspired programme in the Purcell Room.

The evening concludes with the Philharmonia Orchestra, led by Marin Alsop, performing music from Star Wars and Holst’s The Planets in the Royal Festival Hall. After the orchestral sets, guests can enjoy a DJ set of contemporary-classical favourites and socialise at the venue’s bars.

Classical Mixtape aims to make classical music accessible and engaging for new audiences, encouraging visitors to shape their own musical journey. Tickets go on sale to Southbank Centre Members on 17 December 2025 and to the general public on 18 December. Under-30s tickets are £12, including a complimentary pre-event drink, while standard tickets are £28.