This season, you won't want to miss three amazing orchestras that are each defining and redefining what a large ensemble looks like and sounds like. Two perennially excellent orchestras take the stage at Symphony Hall, and a group of young players in a newly-formed group bring their game-changing chemistry, energy, and talent to Jordan Hall!
Gustavo Dudamel, music and artistic director
María Dueñas, violin soloist
Sunday, October 23 at 5pm
Symphony Hall
Constant innovation and reinvention define the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Now in his 14th season as music & artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel’s vision and creative direction for the organization has led the New York Times to herald the Los Angeles Philharmonic as “the most important orchestra in America—period.” Joining Dudamel for the local premiere of "Altar de cuerda" (String Altar), a newly commissioned work by Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz, is the young and electrifying Spanish violinist María Dueñas in her Boston debut.
Kirill Petrenko, conductor
Noah Bendix-Balgley, violin soloist
Sunday, November 13 at 8pm
Symphony Hall
Kirill Petrenko makes his eagerly awaited Boston debut as music director of the Berliner Philharmoniker in what promises to be a highlight of the new season: a truly unmissable event.Petrenko leads the orchestra in three pieces, culminating in a sweepingly dramatic, richly textured work that he deeply champions: Korngold’s Symphony.
Andrew Grams, conductor
Stewart Goodyear, piano
Wednesday, March 22 at 8pm
NEC's Jordan Hall
Britain's Chineke! Orchestra was founded in 2015 to be the first professional orchestra in Europe in which a majority of the members are people of color, but their Boston debut is exciting for many more reasons than their history-making and inspiring inception. The young and talented group will bring their energy and exuberance to a program that includes Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's haunting "Othello" suite, Stewart Goodyear's Caribbean-inspired "Calaloo" (which also features Goodyear at the piano), and Florence Price's groundbreaking Symphony No. 1.
Featuring A Far Cry
Sunday, February 5 at 3pm
NEC's Jordan Hall
In the second part of his Inventing America series (part 1 looked at the legacy of Irving Berlin), Rob Kapilow explores Aaron Copland's "Appalachian Spring," with the expert assistance of Boston's self-conducted chamber orchestra A Far Cry. Originally commissioned as a ballet for Martha Graham, the piece has become auditory shorthand for a kind of populist Americana, but Kapilow finds elements of the work that keep avid listeners coming back. He illustrates Copland's choices that surprise, subvert audience expectations, and set the work apart.
Pianist Yulianna Avdeeva, a Chopin Competition gold medalist with a flourishing career throughout Europe, makes her eagerly anticipated Celebrity Series debut, offering a bold and audacious program featuring short works by Liszt and Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata.
Pianist Yulianna Avdeeva, a Chopin Competition gold medalist with a flourishing career throughout Europe, makes her eagerly anticipated Celebrity Series debut, offering a bold and audacious program featuring short works by Liszt and Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata.
Cuba’s most in-demand contemporary dancers return to Boston with a vibrant program showcasing the company’s commitment to working with international choreographers while also nurturing Cuban artistry.
Impeccably tight and always in the pocket, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis returns, after a sold-out performance at Symphony Hall in 2024, to lend their old-school class and effortless polish to covers of jazz standards, 20th-century classics, originals by Marsalis and other band members, and more.
Cuban-born drummer Dafnis Prieto returns to Celebrity Series with his dynamic Sí o Sí Quartet. Prieto—a Grammy Award winner and MacArthur Fellow—is known for blending Cuban percussion instrumentation, rhythms, and textures with the classic jazz drum kit, providing a distinctive pulse for the foursome’s “ecstatic and intelligent” (AllAboutJazz) contemporary post-bop explorations.
In a Celebrity Series first, the thrilling combination of a mezzo-soprano, a violist, and a pianist share the stage for a program featuring Romantic-era classics and culminating in the Boston premiere of "On Mars," a Celebrity Series co-commission by Joel Thompson written for the ensemble.
Journalist Jad Abumrad, creator and former co-host of NPR’s Radiolab, returns to Celebrity Series with his latest project, How to Talk to a Human, an innovative, lively, and timely presentation about the art and science of interviews and tough conversations.
Meklit Hadero is an Ethiopian American vocalist, songwriter, composer, and former refugee known for her electric stage presence, innovative sound, and cultural advocacy. Meklit refracts American funk, soul, indie pop, and jazz through traditional Ethiopian styles, incorporating complex polyrhythms and propulsive grooves with her soulful, melismatic vocals. The result is an irresistible sound that is entirely her own.
Pianist Seong-Jin Cho returns to Celebrity Series with an all-Ravel program following his sold-out debut in 2023. Cho’s affinity for Ravel’s works—encompassing orchestral appearances, a forthcoming recording, and this recital tour—promises a performance full of depth, mastery, and commitment.
Counterpoint is the latest collaboration between pianist and composer Conrad Tao and choreographer and tap dancer Caleb Teicher, last seen together on the Series in More Forever (2020). In this dynamic duet performance, the artists engage in a mesmerizing dialogue of harmonic, theatrical, and rhythmic interplay, bridging their disparate traditions and creating a collective experience that fires the imagination and opens the heart.
Courtney Swain, heard with Bent Knee at a Stave Sessions show in 2018, makes her debut as a headliner. A multi-instrumentalist, composer, vocalist, songwriter, and sound artist, Swain is artistically fearless, conjuring soundscapes that surround audiences with murmuring, echoing electronics, providing a canvas for her vocals, live instruments, and witty, insightful songwriting.
Called “a dream group” by The New York Times, Owls’ two-cello sound and eclectic programming—offering new works and their arrangements of music from the 1600s to the present—make them a must-hear group for adventurous music lovers.
Hailed by The Guardian as “a cellist of power and grace” who possesses “mature artistry and willingness to go to the brink,” two-time Grammy-nominated cellist Seth Parker Woods is a versatile artist and innovator across multiple genres. His new program, Thus Spoke Their Verse, curates selections spanning three centuries, anchored in Sarabandes from the Bach cello suites.
The Westerlies are a New York-based brass quartet comprised of Ray Larsen (replacing Riley Mulherkar for this event) and Chloe Rowlands on trumpet and Andy Clausen and Addison Maye-Saxon on trombone. From Carnegie Hall to Coachella, The Westerlies navigate a wide array of venues and projects with the precision of a string quartet, the audacity of a rock band, and the charm of a family sing-along.
The Dover Quartet returns to Boston following their appearance on the Debut Series in 2018, marking a thrilling opportunity for audiences to experience their continued excellence and artistic growth. The Quartet will perform Schumann’s Quartet No. 1 alongside Tchaikovsky’s moving first string quartet, and Dvořák’s 1893 “American” quartet, written in an Iowa Czech immigrant community.
Pianists Víkingur Ólafsson and Yuja Wang have consistently wowed audiences as solo recitalists, chamber music partners, and orchestral soloists. This season, they come together on Symphony Hall’s stage for a two-piano and piano four hands recital featuring Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, John Adams’ Hallelujah Junction, and more.
Lang Lang’s expressive piano mastery and passion are evident to audiences across the globe. He consistently and expertly conveys the sweeping drama of music through his gestures, expressions, and sumptuous playing.
Guided by Duke Ellington’s great canon, Moran takes a solo piano climb up “Mount Ellington” in this extraordinary celebration of the composer’s enduring legacy 125 years after his birth. Experience the timeless genius of Ellington’s music, brilliantly reimagined by Moran.
Two superstars join forces for a chamber recital spanning highlights of the piano and violin repertoire. Violinist Leonidas Kavakos makes a return to the Series for the first time since 2019, appearing with Daniil Trifonov for an evening of virtuosity highlighting 19th- and 20th-century classics from Beethoven, Bartók, and more.
Renowned for the expressive agility of her playing, violinist Midori returns to the Series for the first time since 2012 with a program that lends her finely honed touch to songs of mourning and lamentation across cultures.
Renowned for the expressive agility of her playing, violinist Midori returns to the Series for the first time since 2012 with a program that lends her finely honed touch to songs of mourning and lamentation across cultures.
Kodo returns to the Celebrity Series with Warabe, a soul-stirring program created to celebrate the group’s 40th anniversary. In this performance, Kodo’s drummers, singers, and other traditional instrumentalists look to the group’s classic repertoire and early days, blending simple forms of taiko expression that celebrate their unique sound, resonance, and physicality. Come and experience the soul-stirring rhythm of life firsthand.
Pianist and composer Sean Mason artfully navigates the confluence of contrasts, masterfully blending the past and the future, the fresh and the timeless, uptown glamor and downtown grit, the blues joint and the church pew. This visionary young bandleader illuminates the rich tapestry of jazz history to show a new path forward.
Malaysian Australian bassist and composer Linda May Han Oh shares her remarkable musicianship and distinctive voice with audiences. Celebrated for her pivotal role as both the inspiration for a character and a featured bassist in the Pixar movie Soul, Linda also earned a Grammy Award for her contributions to Terri Lyne Carrington’s New Standards, Vol. 1 in 2023. The Financial Times lauded “her vibrant tone, close control, and confident attack,” underscoring her status as a highly sought-after talent in the music world.
Mali Obomsawin, from Odanak First Nation, is a multifaceted artist known for her prowess as a bassist, singer-songwriter, and composer. Recognized as one of Grammy.com’s top ten emerging jazz artists to watch in 2023, Obomsawin stands out among the vibrant community of up-and-coming Indigenous jazz artists.
International cabaret goddess Meow Meow returns to Boston for her Series debut, An Evening with Meow Meow, featuring an array of the chansons, cabaret classics, and covers that have made her a favorite around the world. Expect mischief, mayhem, marvelous singing, and, perhaps, a little audience participation.
Harpist Brandee Younger, current Resident Artistic Director at the illustrious SF Jazz, is carving a unique path in the music world while honoring the legacy of those who paved her way. Her most recent album, Brand New Life, pays tribute to jazz harp trailblazer Dorothy Ashby, a Black female musician who defied expectations by becoming a bandleader and composer on an unconventional instrument.
Mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron and pianist Kunal Lahiry’s program, The Power and the Glory, weaves together works from Latin America, Europe, and Asia, bringing a new voice to traditional and historical works, and showcasing contemporary creations. Together, Barron and Lahiry create meaningful moments of profound beauty, making space for empathy and understanding.
