BBC Concert Orchestra 2025-2026 Friday Night is Music Night: Celebrating 100 Years of Portsmouth Becoming a City

Friday Night is Music Night – and how! For more than seventy years, it’s been BBC radio’s weekly celebration of great tunes, good times and that unmistakable Friday feeling. And tonight it sets sail for Portsmouth; on board, a whole shipload of Pompey and circumstance from presenter Katie Derham, maestro Ellie Slorach and the fabulous BBC Concert Orchestra. Naturally, there’ll be a local twist, from the riotous sounds of Walton’s Portsmouth Point to the music of Portsmouth’s very own Freda Swain.

Sea songs go without saying – swashbuckling yarns and traditional hornpipes from Korngold, Davd Lyon and more. There’s the magic of Mozart, from the BBC Concert Orchestra’s Principal Horn Andrew Littlemore, and a salute to the city’s greatest literary son, as the orchestra remembers famous movies inspired by Charles Dickens.

Classic melodies, big screen memories and great live music. It’s exactly what you’d expect from a big night out in Portsmouth!