The BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) is one of the UK’s most versatile orchestras, with a varied range of work as both a broadcast orchestra and national sym- phony orchestra of Wales. The orchestra’s adventurous programming is driven by principal conductor Thomas Søndergård and conductor laureate Tadaaki Otaka; the Welsh composer Huw Watkins is the orchestra’s composer-in-association.

Generously supported by the Arts Council of Wales, and part of BBC Wales, BBC NOW is orchestra-in-residence at Cardiff’s St David’s Hall, and performs a busy series of live concerts throughout Wales and the UK, with almost all of its performances heard on the BBC. BBC NOW appears biennially at BBC Cardiff Singer of the World and annually at the BBC Proms. Autumn 2015 saw one of its most ambitious tours as the orchestra visited South America, including a community residency celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Welsh settlement in Patagonia.

The orchestra’s home is BBC Hoddinott Hall, a world-class concert hall and recording studio based in the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, where BBC NOW continues its work as the UK’s foremost soundtrack orchestra.