On Jan. 8, the Detroit Symphony explores the potential symphonic grandeur of Radiohead’s 1997 album OK Computer with an orchestration of those celebrated tracks. With Steve Hackman at the podium, that imaginative genre crossover is paired with the acknowledged grandeur of Brahms’ Symphony No. 1. https://www.dso.org/events-and-tickets/events/24-25-winter/brahms-x-radiohead
To mark his 10th anniversary as music director of the Boston Symphony, Andris Nelsons will lead the orchestra in all nine of Beethoven’s symphonies. The cycle starts Jan. 9-11 in a program that includes Symphonies Nos. 1-3, works in which the early influence of Haydn and Mozart is still clearly heard. https://www.bso.org/events/beethoven-symphonies-1-2-3?performance=2025-01-09-19:30
As part of its 2024-25 Mahler cycle, the Philadelphia Orchestra will play the Ninth Symphony on Jan. 9-11, with Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting. The program will open with Jake Heggie’s setting of Margaret Atwood’s Songs for Murdered Sisters, a collection of poems inspired by the violent death of the sister of baritone Joshua Hopkins, who will […]
The New Jersey Symphony will perform the imaginative chamber work Of Rats and Men by Korean composer Donghoon Shin. This Jan. 9-12 program continues with Jean-Yves Thibaudet playing Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G and Kevin John Edusei conducting Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2. https://www.njsymphony.org/events/detail/jean-yves-thibaudet-plays-ravel
There’s a whole lot of Mozart in the Colorado Symphony’s Mozart & Now program Jan. 10-12 (three different programs). Principal conductor Peter Oundjian leads a total of six Mozart works, including the 36th Symphony, alongside contemporary compositions by Samuel Adams, Anna Clyne, and John Adams. https://tickets.coloradosymphony.org/7014?_gl=1*jh1gke*_gcl_au*MTU2MjYzNDA3NC4xNzE4ODkzNjIz*_ga*MTk0ODY4MjQ2My4xNzE4ODkzNjIz*_ga_V099ZPM1LL*MTcxOTQxMTY3OS4yLjEuMTcxOTQxMTk4Ni42MC4wLjA
A new work by Marina López, commissioned by the League of American Orchestras, will receive its world premiere on Jan. 10-11 with the Grand Rapids Symphony under the direction of Lidiya Yankovskaya. Saxophonist Timothy McAllister will play Corigliano’s Triathlon, a work he originally premiered. Also on this all-American program are Copland’s Quiet City and Bernstein’s […]
As part of its Nordic Soundscapes Festival, the Minnesota Orchestra will play works by Iceland’s Daníel Bjarnason and Denmark’s Bent Sørensen, alongside an overture from the last century by Sweden’s Elfrida Andrée and Finlandia by Jean Sibelius. Principal clarinet Gabriel Campos Zamora will solo in Carl Nielsen’s Clarinet Concert; Thomas Søndergård conducts. (Jan. 10-11) https://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/tickets/calendar/classical/nordic-landscapes-and-portraits/
Hanzhi Wang will be the soloist for the world premiere of Nina Shekhar’s Accordion Concerto with the St. Louis Symphony Jan. 10. Daniela Candillari conducts this program, which opens with the overture to Samuel Barber’s The School for Scandal and closes with Dvořák’s New World Symphony No. 9. https://shop.slso.org/8092
In a Jan. 11-13 program titled “Leaders and Pathbreakers,” the Oregon Symphony will set works by Americans Joan Tower (Sixth Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman) and Duke Ellington (Three Black Kings) against two pieces by Beethoven. David Danzmayr leads Beethoven’s King Stephen Overture, followed by his Emperor Piano Concerto, featuring Yefim Bronfman. https://www.orsymphony.org/concerts-tickets/2425/beethovens-emperor-leaders-pathbreakers/?performanceId=5865
Envision yourself on an epic quest as the Houston Symphony performs Bruckner’s sweeping and expansive Symphony No. 4, Romantic. Christoph Eschenbach leads this Jan. 11-12 program in celebration of Bruckner’s 200th birthday. https://houstonsymphony.org/tickets/concerts/bruckners-romantic-symphony/
Atlanta Symphony concertmaster David Coucheron gets the solo spotlight on Jan. 12 when the orchestra performs Vivaldi’s effervescent masterpiece, The Four Seasons, which Coucheron will both play and conduct. The first half of the concert is Dvořák's Serenade for Strings in E Major. https://www.aso.org/events/detail/coucheron-the-four-seasons
The Horszowski Trio and clarinettist Todd Palmer will feature composer Rebecca Clarke’s Trio from 1921 in their Calgary Pro Music appearance on Jan. 12-13. Also on the program are Moravec’s Tempest Fantasy and Smetana’s Trio, Op. 15. https://calgarypromusica.ca/master-series-3/
As part of its Focus on Mexico series, the National Symphony will perform the D.C. premiere of Gabriela Ortiz’s Téenek – Invenciones de Territorio. Mexican conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto takes the podium for this Jan. 16-18 program, and Mexican pianist Jorge Federico Osorio plays Beethoven’s Third Concerto. The Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances complete the program. https://www.kennedy-center.org/nso/home/2024-2025/prieto-osorio/
Gustav was not the only one in the Mahler household who composed beautiful music. On Jan 16-17, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, conducted by Rafael Payare, will present Five Lieder by Alma Mahler, sung by mezzo-soprano Beth Taylor. After the intermission, it’s Gustav’s turn, with his Symphony No. 6, Tragic. https://www.osm.ca/en/concert/mahlers-sixth-symphony-with-payare
As part of its Fanfare for Uncommon Women series, the Detroit Symphony will present Camille Pépin’s Les Eaux célestes, a work inspired by an ancient legend and summoning cosmic sounds. Two Russian masterpieces complete the Jan. 16-18 program conducted by Daniele Rustioni: Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto (with Francesca Dego) and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. https://www.dso.org/events-and-tickets/events/24-25-winter/the-rite-of-spring
William Grant Still wrote his Symphony No. 2, Song of a New Race, for the Philadelphia Orchestra to premiere in 1937, conducted by Leopold Stokowski. On Jan. 16-18, that same orchestra will play it again, this time under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who will also conduct Margaret Bonds’ The Montgomery Variations and Tchaikovsky’s Piano […]
John Adams’ new piano concerto, After the Fall, receives its world premiere by pianist Víkingur Ólafsson with conductor David Robertson and the San Francisco Symphony on Jan. 16-19. The program will also include Orff’s Carmina burana. https://www.sfsymphony.org/Buy-Tickets/2024-25/carmina-burana
Vanessa Benelli Mosell, conductor and pianist, makes her Vancouver Symphony debut on Jan. 17. The program includes the North American premiere of Philppe Schoeller’s Sereno Sola for Piano and Strings, as well as Bartók’s playful Divertimento for Strings and Schubert’s exuberant Third Symphony. https://www.vancouversymphony.ca/event/ca-schuberts-third-symphony/
On Jan. 17, the Saskatoon Symphony offers a rare opportunity to see a staged version of Gian Carlo Menotti’s haunting opera The Medium. Anastasia Winterhalt stars. https://saskatoonsymphony.org/event/the-medium/
Jun Märkl will make his first official appearance as the music director of the Indianapolis Symphony on Jan. 17-18. The program includes two crowd-pleasers: Johann Strauss II’s Emperor Waltz and Beethoven’s Symphony Nov. 7. https://www.indianapolissymphony.org/event/beethovens-7th/
It’s controversial but perhaps inevitable. Artificial has been used to complete Beethoven’s Symphony No. 10. The Spokane Symphony will play that version (premiered in Germany in 2021) on Jan. 18-19, under James Low. The rest of the program is 100% human Beethoven: The Creatures of Prometheum Overture, Barry Cooper’s completion of the 10th (for direct […]
Washington National Opera will present its American Opera Initiative showcase on Jan. 18, featuring the world premiere of three one-act operas. This year’s creative artists include librettist Clare Fuyuko Bierman, composer Kyle Brenn, librettist Lex Brown, composer JL Marlor, librettist Christine Evans, and composer Omar Najmi. https://www.kennedy-center.org/wno/home/2024-2025/american-oera-initiative/
To celebrate the Lunar New Year—the Year of the Snake, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will play the world premiere of a new work by Vietnamese-American composer Viet Cuong. Music director Jonathon Heyward conducts this Jan. 22 program, the third such Lunar New Year program given by the orchestra, making it an anticipated annual tradition. https://my.bsomusic.org/19151/19157
At this season’s second Sonic Spectrum concert by Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, two works will be given their New York premieres: a new work for mezzo-soprano (Jamie Barton), viola, and piano by Joel Thompson and Perry Boldstein’s Birding by Ear, featuring baritone Roandall Scarlata. Also on the Jan. 23 program are two pieces […]
The San Diego Symphony welcomes two debut artists on their Jan. 24-26 program: conductor Daniele Rustioni and violinist Francesca Dego. Dego will solo in Busoni’s Violin Concerto in D major. Rustioni will also lead Berlioz’s Roman Carnival Overture, Tchaikovsky’s symphonic fantasy Francesca da Rimini, and Respighi’s Roman Festivals. https://www.sandiegosymphony.org/performances/busonis-violin-concerto/
On Jan. 24-25 the Cincinnati Symphony will play a new CSO commission by Jimmy López Bellido. The work was inspired by guest conductor Christian Reif’s boundless love for his son Lukas and deep affection for Michael Ende’s beloved novel The Neverending Story. CSO principal cello Ilya Finkelshteyn will take the solo in Camille Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1 […]
Although “Fin de siècle” most commonly refers to the turn of the 19th into the 20th century, any century mark can be construed as important in music history. The Austin Chamber Music Center explores this line of thinking on its Jan. 24-25 program, featuring works of Beethoven, Anton Arensky, and Kevin Puts. https://austinchambermusic.org/event/fin-de-siecle/
Two orchestral works by Black composers will be the focus of the Arkansas Symphony’s Jan. 25-26 program, conducted by Joseph Young. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Ballade in A minor opens the program, while William Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony (from 1934) closes it. Between those two works, pianist Zee Zee will solo in Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1. […]
The Harrisburg Symphony will present a “Shostakovich Celebration” Jan. 25-26. Music director Stuart Malina will conduct the composer’s Festive Overture as well as his Symphony No. 7, Leningrad. https://harrisburg-symphony-orchestra.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/#/events/a0S6T0000170vYgUAI
The Kansas City Symphony presents the world premiere of a new work by (and featuring) pianist Conrad Tao, who will also play Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto. The Jan. 25-26 program, conducted by Matthias Pintscher, concludes with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. https://tickets.kcsymphony.org/22168
Viktor Ullmann’s rarely performed opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis is a powerful allegory exploring the themes of power, mortality, and the human spirit. Teddy Abrams conducts the Louisville Orchestra in a concert performance of the work on Jan. 25. https://louisvilleorchestra.org/concert/teddy-conducts-der-kaiser-von-atlantis/
It’s double the party on Jan. 25 when the Calgary Philharmonic celebrates the birthdays of both Mozart and music director Rune Bergmann (who will conduct). The music for this fête will be Mozart’s Mass in C major, featuring Mireille Asselin, Lillian Brooks, John Tessier, and Stephen Hegedus, along with the Calgary Philharmonic Chorus. https://calgaryphil.com/events/mozarts-birthday-party-2025-01-25-730-pm/
The National Symphony continues the initiative begun in the 2023–2024 season of producing an opera in concert led by Gianandrea Noseda. The Jan. 30-Feb. 1 offering is Samuel Barber’s Vanessa, with a cast including Sondra Radvanovsky (NSO debut), mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, tenor Matthew Polenzani, mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, and baritone Thomas Hampson. https://www.kennedy-center.org/nso/home/2024-2025/noseda-barber/
The world premiere of Billy Childs’ Concerto for Orchestra will take place Jan. 31-Feb. 1 with the San Diego Symphony under Rafael Payare. Alexander Malofeev will play Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, and the program ends with Beethoven’s Third Symphony, Eroica. https://www.sandiegosymphony.org/performances/orchestral-evolution-childs-premiere-and-beethovens-eroica/
On Feb. 1-2, the Baltimore Symphony will celebrate Maurice Ravel’s 150th birthday in a program conducted by Robert Treviño. The Ravel selections include Alborada del gracioso, Rapsodie espagnole, Pavane pour une infante défunte and La Valse, which the composer described as a “choreographic poem for orchestra.” Karen Gomyo will be the soloist for Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto […]
