Chief Conductor Kirill Karabits has announced his final season with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

The conductor will enter his 15th year at the helm and will open the season with a new discovery, a ballet suite by Ukraine-born composer Thomas de Hartmann. The season concludes in a three-week focus on music close to Karabits’ heart.

In a statement, Karabits said: “We have prepared a celebratory season, which both revisits some of our favorite moments from the past 15 years — including the symphonies of Brahms, Bruckner, and Borodin, alongside a return to Shostakovich’s Fifth and Fifteenth — plus a few hidden gems along the way! I’m also excited to open the season with the music of Thomas de Hartmann, a forgotten composer whose music deserves greater recognition.”

He added, “I’m looking forward to reuniting with our friends from Seeta Patel Dance in performances of The Rite of Spring in Basingstoke and Poole, when we’ll also share Chary Nurymov’s ballet music — and to welcoming our brilliant guest soloists across the season, including Artist-in-Residence Alexander Malofeev who has made such an impact with BSO audiences. I’m also excited to mark the start of the new year with our wonderful audiences here on the South Coast, when I conduct several New Year’s Viennese concerts. It’s a full season — and we can’t wait to share it with you.”