BBC Concert Orchestra

Of the five orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Company, the BBC Concert Orchestra is the most oriented toward light music, popular music, and jazz. The orchestra's name is somewhat inaccurate: although it does often perform live concerts, the group's most important tasks are connected to radio broadcasting. The BBC Concert Orchestra grew out of the BBC Theatre Orchestra, which was formed in 1931 and was later renamed the BBC Opera Orchestra. In 1952, that group was reorganized as the BBC Concert Orchestra. In 2019, the orchestra issued an album on Regent of music by its new composer-in-residence, Dobrinka Tabakova. Since 2023, the orchestra's conductor has been Anna-Maria Helsing. By 2024, when the BBC Concert Orchestra released the album Dorothy Howell: Orchestral Works, its recording catalog comprised at least 90 items.