No upcoming perfomances found for this event.
About the Show
Ray Chen, soloist
Vasily Petrenko, music director
Experience a night of musical brilliance as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the most celebrated touring orchestras in the world, returns to the Charleston Gaillard Center for a thrilling, one-night-only performance. Joined this season by acclaimed violinist Ray Chen, the RPO enriches lives through orchestral experiences that are uncompromising in their excellence and inclusive in their appeal—placing it at the forefront of music-making in the UK and beyond.
Performing nearly 200 concerts a year and reaching a global audience of more than 60 million people, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra embraces a bold, wide-ranging repertoire. While artistic integrity remains paramount, the RPO is known for pushing the boundaries of symphonic music, recording major video game, film, and television soundtracks and collaborating with leading artists across genres—all while touring the world performing the great symphonic masterpieces.
A glorious, full-bodied sound that stuns in its precision and beauty.
The Times (London)
This signature sound will fill the Gaillard Center with unmatched power, warmth, and brilliance as part of our 10th Season.
International superstar Ray Chen brings electrifying virtuosity to the stage, captivating audiences with performances that are as technically breathtaking as they are emotionally powerful.
Ray Chen is among the most compelling violinists of his generation.
The New York Times
Together, these two musical powerhouses promise an evening of artistry and energy that Charleston audiences will never forget.
Providing a world-class acoustic setting, the Martha and John M. Rivers Performance Hall offers the perfect environment to experience this renowned orchestra.
Don’t miss this extraordinary opportunity to witness a globally celebrated orchestra and a superstar soloist in a performance destined to be one of the most memorable nights of the year.
Read More
Throughout its history, the RPO has attracted and collaborated with the most inspiring artists and in August 2021, the Orchestra was thrilled to welcome Vasily Petrenko as its new Music Director. A landmark appointment in the RPO’s history, Vasily’s first three seasons with the RPO have been lauded by audiences and critics alike. Highlights included a star-studded gala concert to mark the RPO’s 75th Anniversary (with soloists Sheku Kanneh-Mason MBE and Sir Bryn Terfel), all three of Mahler’s epic Choral Symphonies at the Royal Albert Hall, music by Elgar and Rachmaninov at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, performances at the BBC Proms and Edinburgh International Festival, and major tours to the USA, Japan, Germany, Spain and a host of prestigious European festivals.
The RPO is recognised as the UK’s most in-demand orchestra, an accolade that would have pleased Sir Thomas Beecham, who founded the Orchestra in 1946. As well as a busy schedule of national and international performances, the Orchestra enjoys an annual season of concerts in London’s Royal Albert Hall (where the RPO is Associate Orchestra), the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall and Cadogan Hall, where it is celebrating its 20th Season as Resident Orchestra. In the 2024–25 Season, Vasily Petrenko and the Orchestra delve deep into the works of composers who overcame great challenges to produce some of their finest music in Lights in the Dark. Celebrating music’s power to unite and inspire, the series includes orchestral masterpieces such as Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, Shostakovich’s ‘Leningrad’ Symphony, Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony and Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony. The Season will also feature relaxed performances, residencies in venues across the country, a major tour to Germany and Austria, performances in other parts of Europe, and collaborations with artists including Principal Associate Conductor Alexander Shelley, Composer-in-Association Joe Hisaishi, Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, Paul Lewis, Yunchan Lim, Eric Lu, Liya Petrova, Maxim Vengerov, Roderick Williams OBE, Esther Yoo and Artist-in-Residence Johan Dalene, amongst others.
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s mission is to place orchestral music at the heart of contemporary society and, through collaboration with creative partners, foster deeper engagement with communities to ensure that live orchestral music is accessible to as inclusive and diverse an audience as possible. To help achieve this goal, in 1993 the Orchestra launched RPO Resound, which has grown to become the most innovative and respected orchestral community and education programme in the UK and internationally. In 2025, the Orchestra will move its headquarters to Wembley Park in the London Borough of Brent; this will be the realisation of its long-held ambition to embed the Orchestra in a community, in line with its mission to be a truly inclusive and contemporary international orchestra for the modern age.
The Orchestra has always been entrepreneurial; in 1986 it was the first UK orchestra to launch its own record label and it has gone on to embrace advances in digital technology, achieving well over 50 million streams of its recorded music each year. The RPO’s global online audience engages with it through the website and social media channels, where the Orchestra shares streamed performances, artist interviews, ‘behind-the-scenes’ insights and more.
Passion, versatility and uncompromising artistic standards are the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s hallmarks; as it looks forward to an exciting future with the patronage of His Majesty King Charles III and Vasily Petrenko as Music Director, the RPO will continue to be recognised as one of the world’s most open-minded, forward-thinking and accessible symphony orchestras.
Discover more online at rpo.co.uk
Carl Nielsen – Helios Overture, Op. 17
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35
Dmitri Shostakovich – Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93
Student & Teacher Tickets
The Charleston Gaillard Center’s Education and Community Program is pleased to announce student and teacher tickets are available for this performance. Limited availability. Limited to two tickets per person with valid student/teacher ID.
Student and Teacher Tickets available in advance: Tickets are $30.13 for Green seats on seating map. Ticket purchasers must pick up their tickets at Will Call the night of the performance.
Student and Teacher Day of Rush: Tickets are $23.40. Available two hours prior to show time, best available.
Click here to sign up for education emails, including those regarding our student and teacher ticket program.
Buy More and Save
Buy three or more Gaillard Center presented performances in the 2025–2026 season and receive 10% off your purchase.
Discount automatically applied at checkout when three or more performances are added to the cart.
Offer excludes Box Tier Seats, VIP programs, and the following shows: Diana Krall, Hannah Berner, Charlie Berens, Old Crow Medicine Show, Elmo’s Got the Moves, and The Princess Bride: An Inconceivable Evening with Cary Elwes. Does not include Charleston Symphony presented performances. Other exclusions may apply. Shows included in the discount will include a disclaimer on their individual event page.
No retroactive discounts.
Please note that for this performance online purchases have a limit of eight (8) tickets per customer. To purchase additional tickets or to inquire about group sales, please contact the ticket office directly at (843) 242-3099.