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Events Calendar

Image of John Rutter at St Paul's Cathedral

Sir John Rutter’s Birthday Celebration

Wednesday 5 November 2025, 7.30pm
St Paul's Cathedral

Rutter I’ll Make Me A World World premiere
Vaughan Williams Symphony No.5
Rutter The Gift of Life   

Sir John Rutter Conductor
Melanie Marshall Mezzo-soprano
Jonathan Brown Baritone 
The Bach Choir

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

You may also be interested in booking for John Rutter's Christmas Celebration on Thursday 5 December, or for his appearance at Cadogan Hall on Thursday 9 April 2026 as he conducts his piano concerto, Reflections.


Join the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at St Paul's Cathedral for a concert celebrating one of the UK’s most accomplished living composers and icon of choral music, conducted by the man himself, Sir John Rutter.

Be one of the first to hear the world premiere of a new piece specially composed by Rutter for the occasion, before a performance of Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No.5. Only two years older than the evening’s conductor, it is a piece that manifests a vision of peace and tranquillity amid times of war; its heart-piercing Romanza will make you feel as though time itself has stopped.

The celebration’s centrepiece will be The Gift of Life, a work that the composer set out to write as a counterpoint to his earlier Requiem – a celebration of creation and life itself in all its majesty and manifold beauty. The six-movement piece, set to a blend of liturgical passages, poetry and original text, bursts with unabashed jubilation. Its central movement, the Hymn to the Creator of Light for double choir, is an intricate layering of voices and instruments that envelopes the listener in an array of radiant colours.


Generously supported by The 1916 Foundation in Montchanin, Delaware


Ticket information

Tickets from £15*.

 An icon of a person in a wheelchair To inquire about wheelchair accessibility, kindly reach out via email at groups@rpo.co.uk or give us a call on 020 7608 8840.


RPO Club Discounts

RPO Club members save 50% on two tickets for selected London Season concert and receive a host of other benefits – visit rpo.co.uk/club or phone 020 7608 8840 to find out more.