It was a year of many endings and fewer beginnings. Mark Elder left the Hallé after 24 years as the Manchester orchestra’s music director, during which time he has taken the group to ever greater heights. Kirill Karabits ended his 15-year tenure as the principal conductor of Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra; Judith Weir’s decade as Master of Royal Music came to a close (Errollyn Wallen now wears that crown). Radio 3’s Sean Rafferty hung up his In Tune headphones after 28 years. Roger Wright curated his final Aldeburgh festival and David Pickard stepped away from his role as BBC Proms director.
Pickard had overseen one of the most enjoyable Proms seasons of recent years, even if starry international orchestras are noticeably fewer than a decade ago. Naysayers bemoaned the non-classical elements of the eight-week festival, but packed events that included a tribute to Nick Drake, late night desert-blues from Tinariwen and Florence + the Machine’s ecstatic performance of 2009 debut Lungs brought new audiences and found all concerned at the tops of their games.
