The Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra's new season, which begins on September 24, is themed around music inspired by stories, pictures, people and places.

Its 82nd season also includes two innovative pieces aimed at appealing to new audiences. On October 8 there is a special concert at 11.30am for the whole family.

This concert is aimed particularly at young people who are new to classical music and will include Prokofiev's Peter And The Wolf, in which the illustrations are made by the instruments of the orchestra.

Also in the programme is Saint- Saens's Carnival Of The Animals, which paints sound pictures of a whole zoo full of creatures, from the ferocious lion to the gracious swan, as well as tortoises, elephants, kangaroos, wild asses, fish, birds, fossils, pianists and people with long ears.

Meanwhile, Roald Dahl's rhyming verses from Dirty Beasts have been set to music by Martin Butler, professor of music at Sussex University, to bring three particular beasts to life - so watch out for the pig, the crocodile and the dreaded "tummy beast".

Martin Butler has become the orchestra's first Composer In Focus, a position he will hold for two years and which will culminate in a brand new, specially-commissioned work in the spring of next year.

Ivan Rocky, the orchestra's general manager says, "This is an exciting new direction for the orchestra. We managed to get funding for a new commission and chose Martin because of his fine track record and the fact that he is local. But we decided that, far from just dropping the new work into a concert, we should go some way to preparing the audience for it."

Between now and the world premiere, BPO will include some of Butler's works in six or seven concerts so the audience can get to know him and his music.

He is widely broadcast in Britain and overseas and has had several commissions, including one from the English National Opera and others from festivals.

Pieces by Butler to be performed this season include his Piano Concertino (October 8) and his Fixed Doubles (March 25).

This season will also include a mini Elgar festival over three concerts in January and February, which will include his Serenade, Introduction and Allegro, Enigma Variations and Cello Concerto.

The newly-refurbished Dome organ will also feature in classical mode, most notably in the thundering OrganSymphony by Saint-Saens on February 11 when Michael Maine will feature as the soloist.

Two world-class singers and the Brighton Festival Chorus join the orchestra on Saturday, January 14, for performances of Faure's Requiem and Poulenc's Gloria, featuring baritone Christopher Maltman and soprano Catherine Bott.

Other highlights of the season include A Mozart Family Portrait (December 10) with music from Wolfgang Amadeus, his father Leopold and his son Franz Xavier, and on February 25 there will be a world premiere of Andrew Gant's A British Symphony.

The new season opens with an all- Russian programme to include works by Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade featuring orchestra leader John Bradbury on solo violin.

  • For further information and details of dates, times, soloists and ticket prices go to the BPO website at www.brightonphil.og.uk