Composer

With its iconic four-note opening and themes of sorrow and delight threaded throughout, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is a cornerstone of our musical pantheon. The pioneering symphony kicks off the YSO’s year-long celebration of the German composer, Beethoven. Paired with this masterwork is Sergei Prokofiev’s First Symphony, which is infused with unexpected harmonies. The concert concludes with Christopher Theofanidis’ Bassoon Concerto that was written specifically for our esteemed guest soloist Martin Kuuskmann. Beethoven lives on!

Beethoven’s Fifth

Appell Center for the Performing Arts

Cannons roar. Drums thunder. For Opening Weekend, Michael Francis is not holding back – setting the tone for a season of bold, high-voltage music. We’re off and running with Rossini’s galloping William Tell Overture. Take a moment to catch your breath with the quiet intensity of Christopher Theofanidis’ The Gift, featuring tenor Anthony Dean Griffey. Then, hold on tight for a full blast of musical firepower as Beethoven’s Wellington’s Victory meets Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, featuring the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay like you’ve never heard them before. A concert of pure exhilaration from start to finish.

EPSG:4326

Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture

Duke Energy Center for the Arts

As a Music, Mix & Mingle evening, this concert offers a fresh take on a night out: arrive at 6:00 PM for tastings, $10 craft cocktails, and specialty mocktails by Breckenridge Distillery alongside a lively pre-concert mingle set to Bridgerton-style strings, then settle in for a dynamic, one-hour performance that is vibrant, social, and effortlessly fun.  

“American Icons” highlights the individuals—visionaries, trailblazers, and cultural forces—whose lives have left an indelible mark on our collective story. Five American Portraits is a recently premiered work by five contemporary composers that offers a multifaceted tribute, each composer crafting a distinct musical lens on an influential figure. Varied in voice and style, the suite moves through reflection, vitality, and bold expression, forming a mosaic of character studies that feel at once personal and expansive. Richard Strauss’ Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks closes the evening with virtuosic storytelling, its mischievous antihero leaping through the orchestra in dazzling episodes—reminding us that icons, whether revered or rebellious, are often defined by their audacity. 

American Icons

Riverwalk Center

Conductor Laureate Carlos Kalmar returns for Sibelius’s majestic Symphony No. 2, an emblem of Finnish nationalism written at a time of cultural and linguistic suppression. Christopher Theofanidis’s Drum Circle makes its Chicago premiere, featuring the virtuosic musicians of Third Coast Percussion.

Sibelius Symphony No. 2

Millennium Park

American Music Festival: Cuong, Theofanidis & Assad

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Alex Amsel and the Symphony will guide you through a frozen landscape, where the ethereal melodies of Christopher Theofanidis illuminate the night. The Legend of the Northern Lights is a multimedia experience by astronomer and visual artist Dr. José Francisco Salgado. The program blends stunning imagery of the Aurora Borealis with a symphonic score, bringing the science and mythology of the Northern Lights to life. This performance is a journey into the heart of a natural wonder and a chance to experience the breathtaking beauty of the Arctic’s “frozen fire” through the power of the Symphony.

Northern Lights Adventure

Madison Center for the Arts

The incomparable Stephen Hough, one of the greatest players of our time, returns to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1, a dazzler combining ferocious pianism with Hollywood lyricism. Music Director Laureate Robert Spano returns to conduct a pair of Bernstein symphonies over a two-week residency. This week's concert shines a spotlight on the ASO brass in Bernstein's tumultuous Jeremiah Symphony, based on the Biblical prophet. The Orchestra welcomes the Grammy® Award-winning mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor.

America @ 250: Spano Conducts Rachmaninoff + Bernstein

The Woodruff Arts Center

Rachmaninov’s final orchestral work, musically retracing the course of his own existence, evokes the Russia he was forced to leave behind. Composed in the U. S. just a few years before his death, Rachmaninov drew on folk and sacred motifs as well as themes from his own past works, including the All-Night Vigil and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. The result is a warm, contemplative, richly textured farewell to life. Under conductor Peter Oundjian, the Seattle Symphony also debuts a Double Concerto commissioned from major American composer Christopher Theofanidis for world-renowned percussionist Svet Stoyanov and concertmaster Noah Geller. Joan Tower’s exciting Concerto for Orchestra Suite rounds out the program.

Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances

Benaroya Hall

Visions & Vitality - Symphony Orchestra

ISU Center for the Performing Arts

First United Methodist Church, Springfield

Rainbow Body, a luminous work by American composer Christopher Theofanidis weaves ancient and modern worlds together to take us on a spellbinding journey. Inspired by the chant Ave Maria by medieval mystic Hildegard of Bingen, the piece reimagines her melodies in lush, cinematic orchestration. Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 2 is a showcase of elegance and virtuosity brought to life with wit and charm by internationally acclaimed Alban Gerhardt who makes his fifth appearance with us. He is beloved by our musicians and audiences. Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition orchestrated by Ravel is a feast for the senses painting vivid musical portraits. Each movement captures a visual scene, from the playful “Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks” to the majestic “Great Gate of Kiev.” With its dazzling colors and bold drama this music will take you on an unforgettable exploration of sound and imagination.

Radiance

Overture Center for the Arts

Yale Philharmonia, joined by Yale Opera, Yale Choral Artists, and Yale Glee Club, performs the East Coast premiere of Siddhartha, She — a major new work by the “unusually skilled, communicative composer” (The Baltimore Sun) Christopher Theofanidis. Conducted by Jeffrey Douma, guest conductor.

Christopher Theofanidis’s Siddhartha, She

Yale University

Our season opener kicks off with Verdi’s electrifying La Forza del Destino Overture, a masterwork of operatic tension and sweeping emotion, where the power of fate is announced with bold brass and lyrical fervor. Soloist Alexi Kenney then takes the stage with Korngold’s Violin Concerto, a fusion of Romantic concert tradition with the shimmering warmth of Hollywood film music, featuring sweeping melodies, dazzling virtuosity, and heartfelt emotion.

Symphonic Metamorphosis

Century II Performing Arts & Convention Center

Pianist Tony Siqi Yun approaches Rachmaninoff with “deep expressiveness” and “pure adrenaline” (The Philadelphia Inquirer), qualities that have marked him as the preeminent classical superstar born in this century. The electrifying ardor of Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto is echoed in the mystical fervor of Christopher Theofanidis, a dazzling composer who owes so much to his champion Robert Spano. This dynamic conductor is known for amplifying American music that deserves to be heard, like The Glass Bead Game, a multidimensional brain-tickler commissioned by the LO four decades ago.

Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No. 3

The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts

BNY Classics showcases unforgettable performances by your Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, featuring timeless masterpieces, thrilling premieres, and renowned guest artists.

Dvořák's Eighth

Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts

Genre-bending string trio Time for Three joins conductor Robert Moody and the SF Symphony for a lively program featuring Mason Bates’s Silicon Hymnal, a Symphony commission. Described as “a book of songs with a heart of electronica,” Bates’s triple concerto is tailor-made for Time for Three’s signature sound. Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story closes the program with Broadway panache.

Time for Three and West Side Story

Davies Symphony Hall

Immerse yourself in the captivating world of contemporary American music at the Albany Symphony's American Music Festival: Water Music. This exceptional event is scheduled for Saturday, June 7, 2025, from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM at the EMPAC in Troy, located at 44 8th Street, Troy, NY, 12180, United States.

Under the baton of the esteemed David Alan Miller, the concert promises an evening of groundbreaking compositions and performances. The lineup features an array of talented artists including Stephen Williamson on clarinet, the innovative Third Coast Percussion ensemble, and composers such as Bobby Ge, Clarice Assad, Sophia Jani, and Christopher Theofanidis, presenting works that explore the theme of water in unique and engaging ways. Highlights include the world premiere of Bobby Ge's "Water Music," Clarice Assad's "Percussion Concerto," Sophia Jani's introspective "What do flowers do at night," and Christopher Theofanidis's "Clarinet Concerto."

For your convenience, free parking is available in the College Avenue parking garage adjacent to Cogswell Laboratory, with all parking free on nights and weekends in the City of Troy. Please note, there is no elevator access to the Concert Hall from the 8th Avenue entrance. For those requiring accessibility accommodations, large-print programs and assistive listening devices are available upon request. Enhance your concert experience with our safe and convenient concert shuttle offering round-trip transportation from Delmar for $20. Reserve your spot by clicking the provided link or calling the box office at 518 694-3300.

Individual tickets will go on sale in early fall 2024, but subscriptions are available now. Don't miss this opportunity to experience the innovative and inspiring works of contemporary composers performed by the Albany Symphony. Join us for an evening that promises to be a highlight of the 2024-25 season.

American Music Festival: Water Music

2025 Annual Gala Celebration  with Yo-Yo Ma

Veterans Memorial Auditorium

rebelSYMPHnoire

The Lerner Theatre 

rebelSYMPHnoire, May 18 at The Lerner Theatre, features guest performer rebel noire and the accomplices—a local Eclectic Rock/Spoken Word ensemble that creates original songs exploring themes of power, resistance, and the complex textures of human love. The repertoire for this exciting season finale includes Ethel Smyth, Boatswain’s Mate Overture; Choi, Arirang Fantasy; Theofanidis, Rainbow Body; and works by rebel noir and the accomplices.

Elkhart County Symphony – rebelSYMPHnoire

This concert is made possible with the generous support of Alice Ditson Fund, Jody and Martin Grass, Lucy and Martin Murray, Conrad Cummings, and an Anonymous donor.


BMOP Presents Turning Point

New England Conservatory of Music

Enjoy Chris Zimmerman’s informal chats about the music with our guest artists 45 minutes before every concert in Beckwith Recital Hall.

Masterworks 3 | BRILLIANCE

Reineke Fine Arts Center

Guest Conductor Kayoko Dan takes us on a compelling musical journey with Coleman's Umoja: Anthem of Unity, a vibrant celebration of togetherness. Theofanidis's Rainbow Body transports listeners through ethereal textures and spiritual motifs, leading to a finale of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5, a monumental work of intense emotional landscapes.

Unity: A Musical Journey

The Vista Center for the Arts

GRAMMY®-nominated composer Christopher Theofanidis’s compositions have been performed by leading orchestras around the world, with Rainbow Body being the most performed new orchestral work of the new millennium. Currently on the faculty of the Yale School of Music, he is the recipient of the International Masterprize, the Rome Prize, and fellowships from the Guggenheim, Fulbright, Tanglewood, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. 

Christopher Theofanidis, Guest Composer in Residence

Alice Pratt Brown Hall

The Phoenix Symphony proudly presents "The Planets," a spectacular opening to the 2024/25 season that promises to be an unforgettable experience. Under the baton of the talented Colombian-American conductor Lina Gonzalez-Granados, audiences will be taken on an auditory and visual journey through Gustav Holst’s most celebrated work, "The Planets." This performance is set to be enhanced with stunning visual images projected above the Symphony, creating an immersive experience.

Adding to the excitement, the concert will feature the Grammy Award-winning composer Christopher Theofanidis’ "Drum Circles," performed by the visually captivating Percussion Collective. With four guest soloists and more than 30 instruments, including unique elements like an amplified typewriter, wooden slats, and spring coils, this piece promises to deliver an exhilarating auditory experience that will "rattle the rafters."

The concert repertoire also includes a mystery piece, adding an element of surprise to the evening. The performances are scheduled for October 4-6, 2024, at Symphony Hall, with shows on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 PM, and a Sunday matinee at 2:00 PM.

For those interested in attending four or more performances, the Phoenix Symphony offers a subscription package that saves 20%, encouraging music lovers to create their own package and enjoy a season of breathtaking music.

Don't miss this opportunity to experience the power and beauty of "The Planets" and more, as brought to life by the Phoenix Symphony.

The Planets

Phoenix Convention Center

Recognized by Gramophone as “the Heifetz of the flute,” Marina Piccinini first fell in love with her instrument after a performance of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, an experience which led to a life-long love of opera and the singing voice. She announced to her parents “I’m playing the flute.” Still too small for one, she was given a recorder. She hated it, but endured it for two years before taking up flute.

Chamber Symphony: Beethoven's "Eroica"

Michael Klein Music Tent

Faculty Event: Marina Piccinini

Join us for an enchanting evening of classical music at the "Bach, Beethoven and their Admirers - Music in the Vineyards" event, set to take place on Friday, August 9th, 2024, at 5:00 pm. This remarkable concert will be hosted at the scenic Maxville Winery, located at 4105 Chiles Pope Valley Rd, St Helena, CA 94574.

Dive into the world of classical inspiration as we explore the connections between legendary composers and the contemporary artists they've influenced. The evening will feature Beethoven's String Quartet in B-flat Major, op. 18, no. 6, a piece that inspired Caroline Shaw's "Blueprint," and Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, which motivated Christopher Theofanidis to compose "Muse" for the same instrumentation. Additionally, the program includes George Friderich Handel's Sonata for violin and harpsichord, showcasing the talents of Daniel Ching on violin and Katherine Heater on harpsichord, among other esteemed musicians.

Tickets are priced at $85, offering you the opportunity to immerse yourself in the beauty of classical music amidst the vineyards. This concert not only celebrates the legacy of Bach, Beethoven, and their admirers but also supports the ECHO Education & Outreach initiative, providing music education and participatory experiences to diverse audiences.

Don't miss this unique blend of historical masterpieces and modern interpretations in the stunning setting of Napa Valley. Book your tickets now and prepare for an unforgettable journey through the ages of music.

Bach, Beethoven and their Admirers

Maxville Winery

This 100th Anniversary Season finale includes Beethoven’s most beloved work with the Amarillo Master Chorale and special guest vocalists, plus new music written for the Harrington String Quartet by Grammy Award-winning composer Christopher Theofanidis.

Beethoven’s Ninth & HSQ

Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts

Timothy Weiss leads the Contemporary Music Ensemble (CME) in Warner Concert Hall. CME features Oberlin Conservatory student musicians playing new pieces by a wide range of 20th- and 21st-century composers. This program features a new untitled work by fourth-year composition student Jerry Achtermann.

Concert: Contemporary Music Ensemble

Oberlin College

The highly anticipated total solar eclipse on Buffalo’s horizon illuminates the program selection of two contemporary composers to complement Holst’s dazzling interpretation of the cosmos, The Planets. Nina Shekhar’s haunting Lumina explores the concept of lightness and dark, while The Universe in Ecstatic Motion by Christopher Theofanidis is a showcase for pre-eminent flutist, Marina Piccinini.

Beyond The Planets

Kleinhans Music Hall

“Our Glorious Life concert is deeply personal. And I’m really excited for it.  Birth and death are the most profound and mystical occurrences of the human life cycle. There is nothing more celebrated or mourned than the ‘into’ and ‘out of’ our human life. And there is nothing more questioned than the ins and outs. Where did we come from? Where do we go? Is there life before life? Is there life after death? Who knows the answers?  We turn to religion, spiritual practices, psychics, priests, gurus, doctors.  Books have been written about different accounts of people with Near Death Experiences.

Glorious Life

Civic Center Music Hall

Kerson Leong Plays Beethoven

Robinson Center

Immerse yourself in an evening of celestial melodies with the York Symphony Orchestra's presentation of "Mahler’s 4th Symphony: Heavenly Voices" at the Appell Center for the Performing Arts. This enchanting concert, part of the 2023-24 Classical Series, is scheduled for Saturday, February 10, 2024, at 7:30 PM EST, promising a two-hour journey through compositions inspired by the ethereal realms of heaven.

Under the baton of the acclaimed conductor Lawrence Golan, the orchestra will explore the dreamlike landscapes of Gustav Mahler's Fourth Symphony, a piece renowned for its portrayal of innocent joy and heavenly serenity, drawing inspiration from German folk poetry and Mahler's own childhood. The program also features the delicate aria "Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, showcasing the soprano talents of Heather Hill in a performance that begins with a soft melody and builds to a challenging climax. Additionally, the concert will present Christopher Theofanidis's "Rainbow Body," a modern masterpiece that pays homage to Hildegard von Bingen through its graceful and stirring sections.

This event not only highlights the York Symphony Orchestra's dedication to classical music but also offers a unique opportunity to experience the works of composers from different eras who were all inspired by the concept of heaven. Join us at the Appell Center for an unforgettable night of heavenly voices and orchestral brilliance.

Mahler’s 4th Symphony: Heavenly Voices

Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 was his most understated and transparent, concluding with an orchestral song based on a German folk poem that presents a child’s view of heaven. Soprano Heather Hill sings the final movement of the symphony, as well as a Mozart aria and a short work by 12th-century composer, poet and abbess Hildegard von Bingen which serves as the basis for the only purely orchestral work on the program, Rainbow Body by American composer Chris Theofanidis.

Classical IV – Heavenly Voices

Capitol Theatre

Fantasy for Clarinets

First Baptist Church of Oklahoma

Rachmaninov’s poignant Third Symphony evokes the Russia he left behind. Violinist Karen Gomyo, hailed by the Chicago Tribune as “a first-rate artist of real musical command, vitality and brilliance,” joins the CSO for Philip Glass’ Violin Concerto No. 1. From its exciting first movement to its thrilling finale, this is one of Glass’ most powerful and captivating concertos. Complementing these works is Sibelius’ atmospheric Pohjola’s Daughter.

Glass & Rachmaninov

Symphony Center

 World premiere commission by Dr. Candace Steele Flippin, the Briggs Foundation, and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.

Pictures at an Exhibition & Chris Brubeck Guitar Concerto World Premiere

Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center

Holst’s The Planets

Ruth Eckerd Hall

Christopher Theofanidis: Drum Circles
Holst: The Planets

Holst’s The Planets with The Florida Orchestra

Featuring Grammy Award Winner Richard O’Neill, and continuing our celebration of Rachmaninoff’s most popular works for orchestra!

Happy 150th, Rachmaninoff! - Masterworks Series

Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center

Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS faculty coach the program's major emerging talents in opera scenes. Enjoy excerpts from the repertoire, ravishing voices, and insightful coaching. This week's focus is on contemporary music.

Opera Encounters

Wheeler Opera House

Hear Copland's original 13-instrument version of Appalachian Spring and an AMFS co-comissioned work in this concert highlighting American composers. 

American Evening Featuring Appalachian Spring

Aspen Meadows Resort

Two ballets written for the Martha Graham Dance Company feature prominently on this evening showcasing American creativity and originality. Augusta Read Thomas’s The Auditions is in seven sections, and depicts three dance auditions and the environment surrounding them. According to the composer and choreographer, the ballet "takes place in two worlds – one ethereal, one grounded.” The otherworldly, odd-numbered sections, all titled “The Landscape” contrast with the action-packed even-numbered sections, all titled “The Room.” 

Watch and listen as composer and professor Christopher Theofanidis works with talented composers on honing their craft as part of his weeklong AMF workshop Orchestrating for the 21st Century. Hear how it all comes together on Sunday night at First Draughts Reading Sessions.

Composer Masterclass

Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center

Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra inaugurates its 2021-22 season a with stirringlprogram of brilliance, depth, and grandeur.

PSYO Fall Concert

Segerstrom Center for the Arts

PSYWE: Rise & Shine!

At the beginning of the 1930s, Orff produced a number of arrangements of early music. His researches in this area led to the creation of Carmina Burana. The texts come from a collection of earthy lyrics, discovered in a Bavarian monastery and dating from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It contains some 200 drinking songs and love lyrics. Orff saw in it the ideal vehicle to express basic human emotions.</p>
<p>This work is enormous in both force and sound creating an experience that is nothing short of spectacular.

Carmina Burana - Carl Orff

Music of hope, beauty and humanity comes together in an unforgettable programme for strings and percussion, culminating in one of the twentieth century's most captivating violin concertos.

with Esther Yoo

The Forum Bath

Music of hope, beauty and humanity for strings and percussion, featuring violinist Esther Yoo in Leonard Bernstein's Serenade (after Plato's Symposium).

American Dreams

The Forum

Acclaimed as an “outstanding ensemble” (The New York Times) with a “big, vibrant sound” (San Diego Union), the Verona Quartet has soared to prominence in recent years with prizes and performances across four continents. The sensational Steven Banks, “the saxophone’s best friend, fiercest advocate, and primary virtuoso in the classical realm” (The Washington Post), joins the group to explore the expressive vitality of works by Christopher Theofanidis and Mozart.

Verona Quartet Steven Banks, saxophone (Baltimore Debut)

Johns Hopkins University

Concertmaster, Min-Young Kim will lead Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos
Nos. 1, 3, and 4 showcase the brilliance, variety, and invention of one of
music’s most enduring masterpieces. Each concerto offers its own
distinctive character, from the festive energy of No. 1 to the pure string
vitality of No. 3 and the sparkling interplay of No. 4. Complementing Bach’s
music is Christopher Theofanidis’s Muse, a contemporary response inspired
by Brandenburg Concerto No. 3. Together, these works place Baroque form
and modern imagination in dialogue across three centuries.

Brandenburg & Theofanidis

Bryn Mawr College

Philadelphia Film Society Center

Begin the new year with music of radiant power and cosmic wonder. Christopher Theofanidis's luminous Rainbow Body opens the program, followed by Bruch's soaring Violin Concerto in D minor performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra's long-serving, world-renowned, concertmaster, David Kim. The journey concludes with Gustav Holt's spectacular The Planets - a thrilling tour of the solar system in sound.

Visalia Fox Theatre

Art and music come together as SLSO musicians perform adventurous chamber music by composers of today, curated by composer Christopher Stark, within the galleries of the Pulitzer Arts Foundation.

Live at the Pulitzer

Pulitzer Arts Foundation

The French impressionist composer Maurice Ravel wrote brilliantly colorful melodies to accompany Greek myths and children’s stories. To close its season, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and music director Robert Spano will perform Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite, his Valses nobles et sentimentales, and the Suite No. 2 from his ballet Daphnis and Chloe. Plus, FWSO principal cellist Allan Steele takes the spotlight in the World Premiere of a new cello concerto by American composer Christopher Theofanidis.

Composer

Christopher Theofanidis

Events

Upcoming events

Nov 10, 2026

with Esther Yoo · Bath Philharmonic Orchestra

Nov 10, 2026

American Dreams · Bath Philharmonic Orchestra

Dec 6, 2026

Verona Quartet Steven Banks, saxophone (Baltimore Debut) · Shriver Hall Concert Series

19 - 20 Dec, 2026

Brandenburg & Theofanidis · Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia

Jan 16, 2027

The Planets · Sequoia Symphony Orchestra

Past events

Oct 3, 2026

Beethoven’s Fifth · York Symphony Orchestra

2 - 4 Oct, 2026

Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture · Florida Orchestra

About

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