The Philharmonia Orchestra has been mirroring the Olympic spirit in London this summer with a range of performances with leading artists from around the world and enjoyed by millions of people.

As part of the ‘All Eyes on Korea Festival’, a 100-day Festival in London celebrating Korean culture curated by the Korean Cultural Centre UK, the Philharmonia gave a gala concert on 31 July at the Royal Festival Hall featuring Korean violinist Sarah Chang and Korean opera star Sumi Jo

On 11 August, one of China’s most recognised musicians, Lv Wei, travelled to London for her UK debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra as part of China to Hackney Festival at Hackney Empire. This concert was recorded for broadcast on CCTV, one of China’s largest television broadcasters with a viewership of over 130 million households in China.

The O2 London Mela Festival provided the next stop on the Philharmonia’s global musical tour, performing the culminating concert of the Festival with guest artist Jaz Dhami (whose career in India and worldwide is enjoying meteoric success) and both traditional Indian dancers and musicians from the Bhavan Centre. Over 80,000 people attended the Festival and if you missed it, you too can experience this event via BBC Asian Network’s red button facility from the 1st September.

The Philharmonia’s contribution towards the Cultural Olympiad’s London 2012 Festival included a BBC Proms performance with Finnish conductor Susanna Mälkki on 13 August in addition to the continued success of the Philharmonia’s digital installation Universe of Sound. Over 67,000 people have experienced the installation at London’s Science Museum, and for many this was their first experience of an orchestra.

In addition, the Philharmonia has contributed to the musical life of the UK’s summer music festival scene with highly successful performances at Chichester Festival, Three Choirs Festival (Hereford 2012 Festival marking the Orchestra’s first year as Orchestra in Residence) and a concert at Edinburgh International Festival with Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor Esa-Pekka Salonen.

From a packed summer of music, the Philharmonia enters September with the launch of a major UK tour of Planet Earth in Concert with conductor/composer George Fenton. Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor Esa-Pekka Salonen then continues his Beethoven Series with concerts across the UK and London culminating with an entire Beethoven Symphony cycle in Bonn at the Beethovenfest. For more details visit our Beethoven series page.