Anniversary street party kicks off the new season at Perth Theatre and Concert Hall

125 Live!, Perth Theatre and Concert Hall’s anniversary street party will get the autumn season off to a spectacular start this September. 

Iconic Glasgow glam-pop band Walt Disco leads the line-up with further acts performing on the 125 Live! music stage including Skye trad and electronic duo Valtos, Perth indie band Parliamo, dynamic Perthshire piper Ross Ainslie with The Sanctuary Band and singer-songwriter and DJ Jack David. 

They will be joined by spectacular big band That Swing Sensation, local chamber choir Chansons, musical theatre stars Hannah Howie & Matthew Tomlinson and students from UHI Perth Musical Theatre course over two nights for a performance that runs from Perth Concert Hall Plaza to Perth Theatre Courtyard. 

Specifically created to showcase the wide spectrum of art forms that audiences have enjoyed throughout 125 years of entertainment in Perth, 125 Live! will see Mill Street come alive with dramatic projections from Alba Corral, a dazzling light show by Will Potts, plus some special theatrical surprises along the way!  

Daytime events include free drop-in family activities, specially selected performances and Gig On A Truck – sponsored by St Johnstone FC. 

The venues’ 125 commemorations continue through the season with a Perth début for Perth Theatre Associate Director, Patrick Sandford’s acclaimed play Groomed. A dramatic expression of overcoming childhood trauma, Groomed has been performed at the UK Home Office, the Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh Fringe, and remarkably at the Vatican. Veteran Scottish actor Stuart McGugan explores the roots of storytelling and tells anecdotes from his stage and screen career in Aesop, Coco and Me. 

Further theatre shows include the première performance of the Perth Theatre production A Piano Full of Feathers, Jane Livingstone’s brand-new play about the story behind Irving Berlin’s best-selling song White Christmas, and the panto team bring their ‘coolest’ panto yet to the stage with The Snow Queen. 

In Perth Concert Hall, the Perth Concert Series opens with a Perth Concert Hall début for one of the world’s greatest orchestras, the Philharmonia Orchestra performing a programme of popular works including Mendelssohn’s Overture The Hebrides, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 27 and Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony. The Resident Orchestra Series unfolds with From Darkness to Light with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra featuring Beethoven’s best-loved 5th Symphony and Richard Strauss’s poignant Metamorphosen. Legendary pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja joins the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra to perform Mozart’s darkly expressive 24th Piano Concerto in a concert that also features Sibelius’s epic Second Symphony. The Royal Scottish National Orchestra takes inspiration from the world of cinema in Also Sprach Zarathustra with music by Samuel Barber, Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss. Two charismatic soloists, violinist Noah Bendix-Balgley and cellist Bruno Delepelaire join the RSNO to play a masterpiece inspired by friendship – Brahms’s intensely emotional Double Concerto in a concert that also includes Tchaikovsky’s passionate Fifth Symphony. The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra returns with Dvořák’s melodic 8th Symphony plus Mozart’s 27th Piano Concerto with Imogen Cooper, and pianist Steven Osborne joins the Scottish Chamber Orchestra for the wild switchback ride of Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in a concert that also features Dvořák’s cherished Symphony No. 9, From the New World. Further special concerts in the classical programme include John Wilson Conducts the Tallis Fantasia and Beethoven Night with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine

Dance lovers can sign up for a series of tango workshops with tango experts Jenny and Ricardo Oria, with the opportunity to perform live at An Evening of Tango in Perth Concert Hall to a virtuoso tango band led by accordionist Ryan Corbett. Imperial Classical Ballet perform spectacular fairytale ballet Sleeping Beauty, Strictly favourites Brendan Cole, James Jordan, Pasha Kovalev, Vincent Simone and Ian Waite are back in Return of the Legends, and there’s a special festive treat in Christmas with Anton du Beke and Friends. 

The autumn Joan Knight Studio Sessions include intimate gigs from some of Perthshire’s finest musicians including Michael McGoldrick & Tim Edey, We Came from Wolves and The Carloways, You Look Like A Singer! with Ricky Garton, and award-winning tenor saxophonist Harben Kay. Exciting new presence on the celtic music scene, Scottish singer, songwriter and accordionist Calum MacPhail is Live In Concert in the Joan Knight Studio and contemporary trad music favourites Skerryvore return to Perth Concert Hall on their 20th anniversary tour. 

Audiences can travel through many decades of rock, pop and soul music with concerts including Ultimate Eagles, The James Brown Experience, The Billy Joel Songbook, The Ready Steady 60’s Show, Michael Starring Ben, Just My Imagination: The Music of The Temptations and more. There is comedy from Chris McCausland, Stuart Mitchell and Gary Meikle, plus local favourite Bruce Fummey.

Film fans have much to enjoy with another series of carefully selected screenings from Perth Film Society, family favourite The Muppet Christmas Carol in Concert, Christmas classic The Holiday in Concert and another three-film Polish Cinema Season. 

Little ones and their grown-ups have plenty to look forward to with Dino Tales: Jurassic Rescue, the first stage show of Julia Donaldson’s A Squash And A Squeeze and interactive performance Beatles for Babies, part of 125 Live!

Commenting on 125 Live! and the new season, Christopher Glasgow, Director of Perth Theatre and Concert Hall said:

“So many people have come up to me since the announcement of the 125 Live! headliners to share their excitement about what will be a truly unique event for Perth. It’s such a coup to have Walt Disco leading the line-up. They’re currently selling out venues across the US, so we’re lucky to have signed them up for our anniversary street party. We’ve deliberately kept ticket prices low with a maximum adult price of £20, so that the event is accessible to as many people as possible, plus our Ticket Bank gives audiences the option to buy tickets ahead for those whose financial circumstances may not otherwise allow them to attend.  

The perfect microcosm of all that we present in our venues from classical, trad and contemporary music, musical theatre, plus local and community groups, 125 Live! is the ideal opener for another autumn season packed with entertainment the whole family can enjoy.”

Perth Theatre and Concert Hall’s July to December season is now on sale online at perththeatreandconcerthall.com and the new brochures are available to pick up from the venues. 

Wednesday 4 June 2025