In celebration of Bruckner’s 200th birthday, the Milwaukee Symphony will present the composer’s Fourth Symphony, the Romantic, with Ken-David Masur on the podium. The first half of this Oct. 4-5 program comprises Clarice Assad’s Nhanderú and Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer, featuring bass-baritone Dashon Burton. https://www.mso.org/concerts/bruckners-fourth-symphony/62509/
As its season opener Oct. 4-6, the Annapolis Symphony will play an eclectic mix of old and new music. Tania León’s 2022 work Pasajes will be followed by Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23, featuring soloist Brian Ganz. The second half of the program, conducted by artistic director José-Luis Novo, comprises two symphonies: Bruckner’s Third (second […]
In a themed program called “Scotland the Brave” on Oct. 5-6, the Spokane Symphony under James Lowe will play three works inspired by that country. First is Scottish composer Aileen Sweeney’s glimmering Glisk, followed by Christoper Rouse’s Celtic-flavored Flute Concerto (featuring Julia Pyke). The program ends with Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony No. 3. https://foxtheaterspokane.org/event/masterworks-2-scotland-the-brave/
The world premiere of a new cello concerto by composer-in-residence Andy Akiho will be given Oct. 5-7 by Jeffrey Zeigler soloing with the Oregon Symphony. David Danzmayr also conducts Brahm’ Symphony No. 2. https://www.orsymphony.org/concerts-tickets/2425/brahms-second-symphony-moments-in-light-and-darkness/?performanceId=5838
The Omaha Symphony will play Giovanni Bottesini’s rarely heard Bass Concerto on Oct. 6, with principal bass Nate Olson as soloist. The program also includes Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8, with music director Ankush Kumar Bahl conducting. https://www.omahasymphony.org/concerts/symphony-joslyn-1-beethoven-8
The Oct. 7 program Magnificent Madrigals: Monteverdi's Greatest Choral Music is part of Merkin Hall’s "What Makes It Great?" series. Rob Kapilow and the celebrated 12-singer vocal group Fourth Wall Ensemble explore the life and career of Claudio Monteverdi – the key transition figure from Renaissance to Baroque music – through his dazzling madrigals. https://www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org/mch/event/magnificent-madrigals-monteverdis-greatest-choral-music/
On Oct. 8 Chicagoans will have a chance to hear Jordi Savall, one of the most distinctive talents in the field of early music. The viol player and conductor and two of his ensembles—La Capella Reial De Catalunya and Hespèrion XXI—will be performing at the Symphony Center. https://cso.org/performances/24-25/scp-chamber/jordi-savall/
Listeners will have a rare chance to hear only the cello section of the Colorado Symphony on Oct. 10. The so-called Cello Ensemble will showcase the depth and versatility of the instrument, featuring an array of classical masterpieces and contemporary compositions curated to highlight the instrument’s expressive range. https://tickets.coloradosymphony.org/7158?_gl=1*xod9yr*_gcl_au*MTU2MjYzNDA3NC4xNzE4ODkzNjIz*_ga*MTk0ODY4MjQ2My4xNzE4ODkzNjIz*_ga_V099ZPM1LL*MTcxOTQxMTY3OS4yLjEuMTcxOTQxMTc3NC4zOC4wLjA
The U.S. premiere of Matthias Pintscher’s Neharot, a tribute to those who suffered in the pandemic, will occur on Oct. 10-13, with Pintscher himself conducting the New York Philharmonic. Gil Shaham will play Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, and the program concludes with Schoenberg’s Pelleas and Melisande. https://www.nyphil.org/concerts-tickets/2425/pintscher-shaham/
Elizabeth Raum’s miniature Romance for Horn and Piano, featuring hornist Michael Stevens, is the newest work on Society for Chamber Music Rochester’s Oct. 13 program, sandwiched between pieces by Milhaud and Saint-Saëns. The second half of the program will be Beethoven’s Septet, Op. 20. https://www.chambermusicrochester.org/concerts/beethovens-inadvertent-masterpiece
The San Antonio Chamber Music Society opens its 82nd season with a visit from Voces8 on Oct. 13. The a cappella group performs an extensive range of repertoire; program details TBA. https://www.sacms.org/concert-1/
The Germany-based Gropius Quartet makes its debut with Friends of Chamber Music (Vancouver) on Oct. 15. They will play Haydn’s Op. 33, No. 2 (the Joke), Shostakovich’s Quartet No. 8, and Mendelssohn’s Quartet No. 6. https://friendsofchambermusic.ca/concert/gropius-quartet/
Portraits of the Past, Visions for the Future is the title of the Sphinx Virtuosi’s Carnegie Hall program on Oct. 16. Hear several works by Joplin, Derrick Skye’s multifaceted and optimistic American Mirror, Part One, and a New York premiere by renowned violinist-composer Curtis Stewart. Violinist Njioma Chinyere Grievous takes a solo turn in Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s […]
In a wide-ranging program Oct. 17-19 conducted by Grete Pedersen, the Philharmonia Baroque will play works spanning more than a millenium, from Hildegard of Bingen to Caroline Shaw. Thomas Carroll, specialist in basset clarinet, will solo in Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. https://philharmonia.org/2024-25-season/dreams-passions/
Conductor Nicholas Kraemer and four preeminent singers, including soprano Amanda Forsythe and countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, will present a selection of Handel’s vocal works with the Chicago Symphony on Oct. 17-19. Plus, enjoy music fit for a king with Handel’s Water Music, and Mozart’s grand Coronation Mass, featuring the Chicago Symphony Chorus. https://cso.org/performances/24-25/cso-classical/mozart-coronation-mass/
On Oct. 18-20, the Colorado Symphony under conductor Alexander Shelley celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Colorado Symphony Chorus. They have chosen a fitting showpiece, Verdi’s Requiem, which the chorus first performed during its debut on October 25, 1984. The soloists will be Raquel González, Kelley O'Connor, John Matthew Myers, and Ryan McKinny. https://tickets.coloradosymphony.org/7011?_gl=1*1uk2wiv*_gcl_au*MTU2MjYzNDA3NC4xNzE4ODkzNjIz*_ga*MTk0ODY4MjQ2My4xNzE4ODkzNjIz*_ga_V099ZPM1LL*MTcxOTQxMTY3OS4yLjEuMTcxOTQxMTgxMC4yLjAuMA
Opera Baltimore opens its season Oct. 18-20 with La Bohème. Edward Graves sings Rodolfo and Toni Marie Palmertree is Mimì in this production conducted by Domenico Boyagian. https://www.operabaltimore.org/la-boheme
Cellist and composer Abel Selaocoe is the special guest at the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Oct. 18-20 program, which will include Selaocoe’s own Hlokomela (Take Care) and his arrangement of Marin Marais’s Les Voix Humaines. Selaocoe will then solo in Giovanni Benedetto Platti’s Cello Concerto in D, and duet with another cellist, Richard Belcher on […]
Anna Clyne’s Time and Tides will receive its U.S. premiere on Oct. 18-20 with the Detroit Symphony under Tabita Berglund, who joins the orchestra this season as principal guest conductor. This new concerto will feature violinist Pekka Kuusisto. The program also includes Britten’s Four Sea Interludes and Sibelius’ Lemminkäinen Suite. https://www.dso.org/events-and-tickets/events/24-25-fall/sea-scenes-sibelius-and-britten
To celebrate Bruckner’s 200 birthday, the Calgary Philharmonic will play his Symphony No. 8 on Oct. 18-19, under the baton of Rune Bergmann. For the first half of the program, violinist solos in Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade. https://calgaryphil.com/events/bernsteins-serenade-with-karen-gomyo-2024-10-18-730-pm/
Hawai’i Opera will perform Stuck Elevator, by composer Byron Au Yong and librettist Aaron Jafferis. This “opera musical theater hybrid” tells the story of a Chinese food deliveryman struggling for freedom from debt, human smugglers, loud-mouth coworkers, and the temptations of General Tso. Based on the true story of an undocumented immigrant who survived 81 […]
During its season opener on Oct. 19, the Albany Symphony will perform the world premiere of Tania León’s Pregón. Pianist Yuval Chen makes his debut with the orchestra in Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. David Alan Miller conducts the program, which concludes with Carl Nielsen’s Symphony No. 4, The Inextinguishable. https://www.albanysymphony.com/upcomingconcerts/2024/10/19/opening-night-tania-len-tchaikovskys-first-concerto
New England will present the world premiere of a Flute Concerto by Eric Nathan on Oct. 20, featuring flutist Alejandro Escuer. The program also includes the Boston premiere of Gabriela Ortiz’s Antropolis and Stravinky’s The Rite of Spring. https://nephilharmonic.org/concerts/ancient-cultures-new-musics
Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion return to the 92nd St. Y with an all-new collaborative soundscape, featuring gospel and jazz singer Alicia Olatuja. Details on this Oct. 23 program to be announced. https://www.92ny.org/event/caroline-shaw-and-so-percussion
Quartetto di Cremona will open Music Toronto’s 2024-25 season on Oct. 24 (replacing the previously announced Juilliard Quartet). Cremona’s program includes quartets by Gian Francesco Malipiero, Ravel, and Schumann. https://musictorontoconcerts.com/concerts/juilliard-quartet
On Oct. 24-26, British composer Hannah Kendall will receive the American premiere of her work O flower of fire, inspired by Guyanese-British poet Martin Carter, with Antonio Pappano leading the Boston Symphony. Jean-Yves Thibaudet will play Liszt’s dazzling Piano Concerto No. 2, and the program concludes with Strauss’ philosophical tone poem, Also sprach Zarathustra. https://www.bso.org/events/kendall-liszt-strauss?performance=2024-10-24-19:30
On Oct. 25-26, conductor Jean-Marie Zeitouni will make his Milwaukee Symphony debut, leading the orchestra in an evening of avant-garde French music. The works include Lily Boulanger’s D’un matin de printemps, Ravel’s Shéhérazade, and Poulenc’s Gloria (featuring the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus and soprano Joélle Harvey). https://www.mso.org/concerts/poulencs-gloria/62513/
Piedmont Opera will present Norman Dello Joio’s Joan of Arc: The Trial at Rouen Oct. 25-27. Dello Joio wrote both the music and libretto for this 1956 work. This production will be conducted by PO’s artistic director, James Allbritten. https://www.piedmontopera.org/joan-of-arc
Jeremy Dutcher, two-spirit song carrier, composer, activist, and ethnomusicologist from Tobique First Nation, joins Symphony Nova Scotia on Oct. 25-26 with an all-new, boundary-pushing orchestral performance. https://symphonynovascotia.ca/concerts-and-tickets/concerts/rebecca-cohn-auditorium/jeremy-dutcher-2024/
To celebrate his 10th anniversary as music director of the Alabama Symphony, Carlos Izcaray will lead a program that opens with two works by Dukas (including the beloved The Sorcerer’s Apprentice). Conor Hanick will give the world premiere of Izcaray’s own Piano Concerto, and the Oct. 25-26 program closes with Berlioz’s wild Symphonie fantastique. https://alabamasymphony.org/events/izcaray-10-years-remembered/
Leonard Slatkin will be both conductor and honoree for the Oct. 25 St. Louis Symphony program, “Slatkin’s Legacy,” celebrating his 80th birthday. The lineup includes Slatkin’s arrangement of D. Scarlatti’s Five Sonatas for orchestral wind ensemble, the U.S. premiere of Voyager 130 by the conductor’s song, Daniel Slatkin, Cindy McTee’s Timepiece, and Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony. […]
Violinist Geneva Lewis makes her debut with the Des Moines Symphony on Oct. 26-27 playing the Brahms Violin Concerto. Conducted by Joseph Giunta, the progarm also includes Still’s Serenade and Sibelius’ Fifth Symphony. https://www.dmsymphony.org/concerts-events/lewis-plays-brahms/
On Oct. 30, the American Composers Orchestra will present two world premieres at Carnegie Hall: a new work by Kebra-Seyoun Charles (part of the EarShot CoLABoratory project in support of Black composers) and Forest Migrations by Paul Novak. The program, conducted by Mei-Ann Chen, also includes pieces by Michael Abels, Curtis Stewart, and Victoria Polevá. https://www.americancomposers.org/performances-events/new-virtuoso-borders […]
In its Oct. 30 Carnegie Hall appearance called The New Virtuoso: Borders, American Composers Orchestra presents world premieres by rising composers Paul Novak and Kebra-Seyoun Charles plus New York premieres by Michael Abels and Victoria Poleva. Featured soloists are cellist Inbal Segev, guitarist Mak Grgic, and violinist Curtis Stewart; Mei-Ann Chen conducts. https://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2024/10/30/American-Composers-Orchestra-0730PM
The world premiere of a new work by Stephanie Orlando, commissioned through the Maria Anna Mozart Award, will be presented by Symphony Nova Scotia on Oct. 31. Santiago Cañón Valencia will be on hand to play Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1, and the program, conducted by Holly Mathieson, will conclude with Copland’s Appalachian Spring. https://symphonynovascotia.ca/concerts-and-tickets/concerts/rebecca-cohn-auditorium/shostakovich-coplands-appalachian-spring/
Former music director Riccardo Muti returns to the Chicago Symphony for an all-Beethoven concert on Oct. 31-Nov. 3. Mitsuko Uchida will be the soloist for the Emperor Piano Concerto, and the program closes with Symphony No. 3, Eroica. https://cso.org/performances/24-25/cso-classical/muti-uchida-emperor-and-eroica/
Gianandrea Noseda leads the National Symphony and oboist Alexei Ogrintchouk in the U.S. premiere of Alexander Raskatov’s Oboe Concerto, Time’s River, on Oct. 31-Nov. 2. Prokofiev’s Summer Night opens the program, which ends with Tchaikovsky’s sweeping Pathétique Symphony No. 6. https://www.kennedy-center.org/nso/home/2024-2025/noseda-ogrintchouk/
As a lead-up to the Dallas Symphony’s sixth annual Women in Classical Music Symposium, the orchestra will play a program centering two women: Alisson Kruusmaa and Amy Beach. Anne-Maria McDermott will solo in Beach’s Piano Concerto. The Nov. 1-3 program, conducted by Anu Tali, will conclude with Elgar’s Enigma Variations. https://www.dallassymphony.org/productions/elgars-enigma-variations/
The Nov. 2 program by the Anchorage Symphony will open with two meditative works. The first is “Athabaskan Prayer Song” from Echoes by former ASO music director Randall Craig Fleischer, inspired by Native American indigenous music. Then John Luther Adams’ An Atlas of Deep Time paints a mesmerizing sonic landscape. The program concludes with Beethoven’s […]
Laura Karpman’s new work will receive its world premiere at the Nov. 2-3 program by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Jeff Beal’s Body in Motion for Violin and Orchestra, featuring Kelly Hall-Tomkins, will also be performed on the West Coast for the first time. The program includes two symphonies under the baton of Jaime Martín: […]
Antonio Cagnoni’s Don Bucefalo will be performed for the first time in the U.S. since 1867 when Pacific Opera Project presents this slapstick comedy at the Garibaldina Society, one of LA’s hottest retro spots. This production will offer an optional Italian dinner add-on complete with pasta, salad, and wine! Kyle Naig conducts, with Josh Shaw […]
