Experience the intensity and emotional depth of two composers profoundly influenced by the tumult of Soviet Russia. Pianist Denis Kozhukhin, hailed as a “firebrand” (Chicago Tribune), dazzles in Rachmaninoff’s exhilarating Piano Concerto No. 4 and Shostakovich’s gripping Symphony No. 4 delivers raw power and emotion.

Line dance down the aisles to Aaron Copland’s Rodeo featuring the iconic “Hoe-Down”. Principal Harpist Alexis Colner brings her instrument’s harmonically bountiful sound to the forefront with Jennifer Higdon’s GRAMMY® Award-Winning Harp Concerto. Along with Curtis Stewart’s brand new work inspired by Black religious music and experiences, this program celebrates the great American composers of the past, present, and future.

Conductor Lawrence Renes takes the podium for an evening of all American composers — John Adams, Aaron Copland and our Artist in Focus Steven Mackey. Seattle Symphony Principal Trumpet David Gordon and English Horn Stefan Farkas take star turns in Aaron Copland’s Quiet City, a gentle reflection of urban melancholy and uncertainty. Next, world-renowned saxophonist Timothy McAllister performs a concerto written especially for him by Grammy-winning composer Steven Mackey, who stretches the bounds of classical music by incorporating rock and blues elements, including electric instrumentation. Finally, John Adams’ moving Harmonielehre melds disparate trends of 20th-century music, from minimalist themes in frenzied rhythms to provocative eruptions of dissonance to dazzlingly cinematic soundscapes.

In this spellbinding program, Music Director Jonathon Heyward illuminates four symphonic portraits, drawing on the unique qualities of each instrument to create vivid, dramatic, and colorful effects. Scriabin’s Prometheus: Poem of Fire features an epic orchestra, choir, piano soloist, and color projections for a truly mesmerizing experience.  

Possibly the single most treasured symphony ever written — especially its beloved “Ode to Joy” — Beethoven’s influential Ninth Symphony celebrates brotherhood, forgiveness, and the quest for peace. Music Director Peter Oundjian conducts this masterwork, which also welcomes to the Festival stage soprano Lauren Snouffer,  mezzo-soprano Abigail Nims, tenor Issachah Savage, bass Benjamin Taylor, and St. Martin’s Chamber Choir. Composer Michael Abels’ Amplify, co-commissioned by the Festival, opens the program; on top of his Pulitzer Prize-winning compositions for opera, audiences may recognize Abels’ work from film scores such as Get Out, Us, Chevalier, and more.

Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto finds the composer moving toward his own personal style, displaying what would become his hallmark drama, spirit, and agitation; pianist Yeol Eum Son brings a “fearlessly fast articulation” (The Times) to the stage. Sofia Gubaidulina’s striking “Fairytale Poem” draws inspiration from a children’s story about creativity, and its music is fittingly full of color. Guest conductor Ryan Bancroft conducts this dynamic program, which also includes Shostakovich’s Tenth; written shortly after the Soviet dictator Stalin’s death, this symphony is rife with terror, passion, and oppression — until one final, hopeful ray of light. 

There is something for everyone in these energetic concerts! Be among the first to hear a new showpiece for violin, The Pacific Has No Memory, composed by Eric Whitacre and commissioned by Latin Grammy-winning violinist Anne Akiko Meyers. Meyers, “the coolest thing to happen to the violin since Stradivari” (Denver Post), also performs Ravel’s fiery Tzigane. Music Director Peter Oundjian opens the program with Copland’s idyllic tribute to the American heartland, Appalachian Spring, and concludes with one of the most recognizable pieces of music ever written: the achingly romantic Fantasy-Overture to Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet. 

“[Hélène] Grimaud doesn't sound like most pianists,” proclaims The New Yorker, also calling her “a reinventor of phrasings” and “taker of chances;” here she opens the 2025 Festival season with Brahms’ monumental First Piano Concerto. Surrounding Brahms’ intense work are familiar showstoppers: Ravel’s famously unrelenting Boléro, a dreamy suite from the ballet Daphnis et Chloé, and fantastic musical fireworks by Stravinsky.

The action-packed adventure pits man against prehistoric predators in the ultimate battle for survival. Featuring visually stunning imagery and groundbreaking special effects, this epic film is sheer movie magic 65 million years in the making. Now audiences can experience Jurassic Park as never before: projected in HD with a full symphony orchestra performing John Williams’ iconic score live to picture. Welcome… to Jurassic Park!

Power takes many forms. It can be the majesty of Dvorak’s Violin Concerto, played by Stella Chen. It can be Elena Langer’s Leonora’s Dream, tearing down walls between musical styles. It can be the orchestral imagination of Haydn’s “The Clock”.

Following last season’s celebrated Samson and Delilah in Concert, join us for an abridged version of Hector Berlioz’s epic in a concert version featuring full orchestra and chorus. Les Troyens à Carthage (Acts 3, 4, & 5) begins after the fall of Troy as Aeneas arrives at Carthage with tales of the Trojan War. Upon arrival, he orders his army to assist Queen Dido in defeating the invading Nubians before falling in love with the Queen himself. However, when duty calls, the two lovers are parted while a funeral pyre burns.

Power takes many forms. It can be the majesty of Dvorak’s Violin Concerto, played by Stella Chen. It can be Elena Langer’s Leonora’s Dream, tearing down walls between musical styles. It can be the orchestral imagination of Haydn’s “The Clock”.

Bold, uninhibited, and strong-willed, Carmen lives life on her own terms. She is brave, beautiful, and independent. She does what she wants. She falls in and out of love. She is a power to behold until her obsessed ex violently and tragically rejects her choice to move on.

Bold, uninhibited, and strong-willed, Carmen lives life on her own terms. She is brave, beautiful, and independent. She does what she wants. She falls in and out of love. She is a power to behold until her obsessed ex violently and tragically rejects her choice to move on.

Bold, uninhibited, and strong-willed, Carmen lives life on her own terms. She is brave, beautiful, and independent. She does what she wants. She falls in and out of love. She is a power to behold until her obsessed ex violently and tragically rejects her choice to move on.

Music Director Jonathon Heyward sheds light on Dvořák’s sun-drenched Eighth Symphony, a celebration of the Bohemian countryside filled with cheerful birdsong and brilliant fanfare. James Lee III kicks off his tenure as BSO Composer in Residence with his Visions of Cahokia, an expressive three-movement work that depicts the Cahokia Mounds Historic Site and celebrates indigenous Mississippian culture. Violinist James Ehnes interprets Barber's sensitive and tuneful concerto with his signature elegance, an approach that solidified Ehnes as a GRAMMY®-winning recording artist.

Celebrate the opening of the classical season in Raleigh with your North Carolina Symphony and one of the most sought-after violinists on the international stage, Jame Ehnes. This concert will nourish your soul with the spectacular Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 1 and the orchestral masterpiece Symphonie fantastique, by Berlioz. These audience favorites make this opening weekend a not-to-be-missed event.