Other composers writing major works for 2008 include Sir John Tavener, who will produce "a spirited faith-themed work for the Philharmonic Choir, based on a Requiem-like subject"; former Anglican cathedral chorister Kenneth Hesketh, now the Phil's resident composer, will write a major symphonic-scale orchestral piece for the Phil, and Mark Simpson, just 18, and this year's first dual winner of the BBC young musician and composer of the year, will write an overture. Liverpool Phil's executive director Andrew Cornall said: "This is part of the legacy of music that is being produced for this landmark year."
Another major project will be the involvement of both Liverpool Cathedral choirs in a joint project with the choir of Cologne Cathedral in Liverpool's longest-established twin city.
Fittingly, the piece chosen is Benjamin Britten's giant pacifist-inspired War Requiem, written for the opening of Coventry Cathedral in 1964.
Performances will take place in both Liverpool in June, and then in Cologne.
The spirit of remembrance will also drive a week of concerts to honour International Holocaust Memorial Day, for which Liverpool is the UK host in January, 2008.
Central to the Phil's season will be the involvement of their new music director.
The Russian Vasily Petrenko, who began his tenure in September, is, at 30, the youngest chief conductor in the Phil's 160 year history. In 2008, he will lead the orchestra on a European tour ending in Vienna.
Another proposal, by the Everton-based European Opera Centre, is for a staging of Donizetti's opera, Emilia di Liverpool, opening on December 31, 2007, in St George's Hall.
