A Tsar, wanting to have his photograph taken has no idea he’s surrounded by conspirator’s planning his assassination. And a young woman, who can outsmart anybody – even a King.

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The Tsar wants his Photograph taken / The Clever Woman

Oper Frankfurt

O Fortuna, you are changeable as the moon. Thus begins and ends Carl Orff's most famous work, in which he reflects on the fleeting nature of fortune and the inescapable cycle of human destiny. Carmina Burana, an anthology of medieval songs, celebrates the beauty of spring, pays homage to life, and extols the power of love. With his music for these texts, Orff provides the foundation for a sensual Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art), deliberately placing the staging in the hands of directors and choreographers. Music, song, and dance are inextricably linked, and so the Spanish choreographer Alba Castillo and the dance company invite their colleagues from music theater, orchestra, and choir to a shared exploration of happiness, prosperity, love, and their transience.

Carmina Burana

Theater Osnabrück

Orff's "Carmina Burana" – 4th Subscription Concert of the Berlin Philharmonic Choir

Berliner Philharmonie

The season reaches a thrilling climax as Andreas Delfs leads the RPO, the Rochester Oratorio Society, Bach Children’s Chorus of Rochester, and powerhouse soloists in Carl Orff’s electrifying Carmina Burana—a choral spectacle of fate, fortune, and unrelenting rhythm. The program opens with Pacho Flores performing Roberto Sierra’s stunning trumpet concerto Salseando. Don’t miss this astonishing finale, where voices and orchestra unite in one of the most exhilarating masterpieces of all time!

RPO: Season Finale – Carmina Burana

Eastman Theatre

As the first of a trilogy of cantatas, Orff’s irreverent Carmina Burana draws from a 13th century compilation of vagabond songs and poems detailing fate’s fickleness, pagan delights, and corruption, with hypnotic sensuality and powerful rhythms. Hindemith’s reworked Symphonic Dances emerged from a discarded ballet collaboration.

Kleinhans Music Hall

The season reaches a thrilling climax as Andreas Delfs leads the RPO, the Rochester Oratorio Society, a children’s choir, and powerhouse soloists in Carl Orff’s electrifying Carmina Burana—a choral spectacle of fate, fortune, and unrelenting rhythm. The program opens with Pacho Flores performing Roberto Sierra’s stunning trumpet concerto Salseando. Don’t miss this astonishing finale, where voices and orchestra unite in one of the most exhilarating masterpieces of all time!

Season Finale: Carmina Burana

Our Forest Theater performances begin long before the concert, with a pre-show spectacle that is part carnival, part dream.

Think Hildegard von Bingen song circles, wandering minstrels, and a wheel of fortune turning among the trees.

And this year, a rare touch of magic: a blue moon rising above the Carmel performances.
Coincidence? No. Destiny.

Forest Theater

University of California, Santa Cruz

Music as if it came from ancient times, driven by earthly forces, ancestral rhythms, original chants with universal resonances: this is how Carl Orff imagined his Carmina Burana. He chose 24 secular poems from a 13th-century collection, discovered in a Bavarian abbey, to compose a monumental stage cantata. The work opens and closes with the famous O Fortuna, a bewitching, powerful, and simply unforgettable chorus. 

Grand Théâtre de Québec

Carmina Burana remains one of the most popular and dramatic masterpieces in orchestral repertoire. Conducted by Jean-Marie Zeitouni, this towering work based on a medieval collection of poems is a must-see. Ravel’s delicate orchestration in his Suite from Daphnis et Chloé, based on a Greek novel of the same name, is a lush musical adventure full of Impressionist colour. Finally, hear an exciting new ESO commission by leading Canadian composer Julien Bilodeau.

Winspear Centre

As part of the 18th edition of Yacht&Garden, the Children’s Choir will perform a concert featuring a mix of classical, film, and musical repertoire—a series of lively and evocative pieces that blend playfulness, emotion, and imagination

Over the Rainbow

Marina Genova

The York Symphony Orchestra and Chorus concludes the season with Carl Orff’s Carmina burana. Inspired by medieval poems and codex, Carmina burana combines bold percussion with recurring vocals and vivacious harmonies. Strauss’ Wine, Women and Song captures a Viennese Waltz structure with sassy arrangements and fanfare.

Carmina burana

Appell Center for the Performing Arts

With its shimmering orchestration and primal rhythms, Carl Orff’s “scenic cantata” Carmina burana is already a mainstay in the canon of contemporary music for choir and orchestra. Its lyrics are based on 24 Medieval poems addressing issues as familiar to us today as they were when they were first written in the 13th century — the fickleness of fortune and wealth, the ephemeral nature of life, the joy of spring’s return, and the pleasures and perils of drinking, gluttony, gambling and, of course, love.

carmina burana

Lensic Performing Arts Center

The season finale opens with a piece by Gabriela Ortiz exploring the Kauyamari, or “blue deer,” from Mexican folklore, a spiritual guide transformed through an extended pilgrimage. The concert follows with the epic Carmina Burana, a thrilling cantata by Carl Orff based on medieval poems celebrating the joys of life, love, and fortune. With its famous opening, O Fortuna, this dynamic work combines chorus, soloists, and full orchestra in a dramatic journey from fate’s cruelty to the pleasures of spring, tavern revelry, and courtly romance. Whether grand and ominous or tender and playful, Carmina Burana is an unforgettable musical spectacle—visceral, vivid, and emotionally charged. This performance promises an electrifying experience that showcases the full force of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in one of the most iconic and beloved works of the 20th century.

VSO at the Flynn: O Fortuna!

The Flynn

You’ve heard O Fortuna — in movies, commercials, sports stadiums. But have you felt it live, surround-sound, with over 100 voices roaring through the hall like thunder? Carmina Burana is the season finale to end all finales. It’s primal, poetic, and impossible to forget. With Ravel’s mesmerizing Bolero and Brouwer’s powerhouse Rhapsody Concerto, this is a wall-to-wall thrill ride. You’ll leave breathless, and that’s not just talk… that’s a finale ten years in the making!

The University of Akron

Based on ancestral Huichol folklore from Mexico, Grammy Award-winning composer Gabriela Ortiz’ piece explores the Kauyamari, or “blue deer”, a spiritual guide transformed through an extended pilgrimage. The concert follows with the epic Carmina Burana, a thrilling cantata by Carl Orff, based on medieval poems celebrating the joys of life, love, and fortune. With its famous opening, O Fortuna, this dynamic work combines chorus, soloists, and full orchestra in a dramatic journey from fate’s cruelty to the pleasures of spring, tavern revelry, and courtly romance. Its driving rhythms, bold harmonies, and theatrical energy have captivated audiences since its 1937 premiere. Whether grand and ominous or tender and playful, Carmina Burana is an unforgettable musical spectacle—visceral, vivid, and emotionally charged. This performance promises an electrifying experience that showcases the full force of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in one of the most iconic and beloved works of the 20th century.

VSO: O Fortuna!

The MSO’s final Classics concert of the season will have us all celebrating! This program will celebrate the MSO’s 95th season, the Modesto Symphony Youth Orchestra’s 45th season, and the Modesto Symphony Orchestra Chorus’s 25th season. This finale showcases one of the most well-known pieces of the 20th century, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. This bombastic epic combines powerful brass, rich harmonies, and the full force of the MSO Chorus.

Gallo Center for the Arts

Modesto Symphony Orchestra - Carmina Burana

Combined Bienen School choirs and the Symphonic Wind Ensemble join forces for a unique collaboration exploring music of awe, reverence, and fate. The program opens with Randall Thompson’s stirring The Last Words of David and Anton Bruckner’s monumental Mass No. 2 in E Minor. Brahms’s noble Begräbnisgesang (Burial Song) offers a moment of reflective solemnity, setting the stage for the raw energy of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana in its thrilling arrangement for chorus and wind ensemble. This unforgettable night showcases the full expressive spectrum of voices and winds from the sacred to the elemental.

Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Combined Choirs

Northwestern University

Our season concludes with this vibrant finale featuring the Columbus Symphony musicians and Chorus, and dancers from BalletMet. Dvořák’s The American Flag is a spirited blend of nationalism and folk elements that celebrates the composer’s expressions of American patriotism and freedom. Orff’s Trionfo di Afroditi is the final installment of a musical trilogy that opens with the well-known Carmina Burana. This spectacular work showcases the full power of the chorus and orchestra, explores love and beauty, and embraces the listener in its powerful climaxes.

Orff: Triumph of Aphrodite

Ohio Theatre

Carl Orff's Carmina Burana

Cape Fear Community College

Carmina!

Plaza Theatre

In the post-factual age, there are so many truths that sometimes it's no longer possible to see what is real. Was it a human who wrote this text, is it a human who is reading it now? Or is artificial intelligence at play? The simple reality check goes like this: Try a pull-up. You'll become a burden to yourself and feel your own weight. No chance? Congratulations, you are very likely a real living being. If you can invest a little more time, reflect on human passions in all their facets with Carl Orff's songs: the fickleness of happiness and prosperity, the transience of life, the joy of the return of spring. They also deal with important things like the pleasures and dangers of drinking, gluttony, gambling, and lust.

Pull-ups

Mannheimer Rosengarten

The Classix Series comes to a triumphant close in the pursuit of happiness, where the program echoes with freedom, resilience, and unrelenting joy. The evening begins with Bernstein’s electrifying On the Waterfront Symphonic Suite, pulsing with cinematic drama and raw intensity. The Reno Phil will proudly unveil a newly commissioned work by Michelle Isaac, written to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The work is inspired by the story of Mary Katherine Goddard, the only woman to sign the historic document—a testament to courage, conviction, and the power of a single voice to shape history. The season reaches its grand finale with Orff’s Carmina Burana, an exhilarating choral tour de force featuring the Reno Phil Chorus and a powerhouse trio of soloists, its thunderous rhythms and ecstatic melodies transform the concert hall into a whirlwind of fate, fortune, and unrestrained joy.

Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts

Guest Concert

The Worms Theatre

Celebrate the grand finale of the season with an unforgettable evening of music! Featuring the extraordinary Krisztina Fejes, a leading artist of the Hungarian contemporary music scene, this concert will showcase her brilliant performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor. Fejes, an award-winning pianist who has made numerous live recordings for Hungarian Radio, was honored with the Artisjus Prize for her work as a performing artist, along with prestigious accolades such as the Annie Fischer Scholarship. With roots in Transylvania, she nurtures Hungarian talent from across the border and is deeply committed to promoting Hungarian musical culture both in Hungary and around the world.

Grand Finale: Carmina Burana

The rhythmic power of Orff’s Carmina Burana is unstoppable. With its massive orchestral forces and exhilarating chorus, this cantata celebrates the wheel of fortune in all its glorious ups and downs. “O Fortuna”? You know it. And it’s going to blow you away.

Salt Palace Convention Center

After its great success in 2025, the production returns to Bonn for the second consecutive year! Who doesn't know Carl Orff 's Carmina Burana ? In this multidisciplinary production from Ukraine, all artistic disciplines merge: a large orchestra plays for the dancers and the adult and children's choirs, while video installations are played in the background. Over 135 people are involved in this evening.

Theater Bonn Opera House

Fate, Fortune, and Farrenc

Clay Center

One of the most beloved scores of the twentieth century, with soloists, orchestra, choir, and children’s choir of the Teatro Carlo Felice conducted by Tito Ceccherini

Carlo Felice Theater

"Carmina Burana" will be a breathtaking fusion of dance and circus arts, transforming the iconic 20th-century musical masterpiece into a fully captivating experience. Audiences will witness Carl Orff’s "Carmina Burana" brought to life through poetic, electrifying scenes of passion and emotional transcendence.

 Carmina Burana

Dale F. Halton Theater

This program captures the full range of human emotions and experiences. We celebrate the Boise Phil Master Chorale’s 50th anniversary with Carl Orff’s epic masterpiece, Carmina Burana. The program opens with Jennifer Higdon’s ethereal blue cathedral, a beautiful and meditative tribute to the human spirit, composed in the wake of her brother’s passing.

Boise State University

Experience music that captures the full range of human emotions and celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Boise Phil Master Chorale. The program begins with Jennifer Higdon’s blue cathedral, an evocative and meditative journey to find healing from grief, and closes with one of the most epic orchestral and choral pieces ever written; Carmina Burana.

Morrison Center for the Performing Arts

Robinson Center

Now things are getting exciting! Maurice Ravel characterized his orchestral work "La Valse," originally intended as a ballet and composed between 1906 and 1920, as "a kind of apotheosis of the Viennese waltz, which conjures up the impression of a fantastic and fatal whirlwind." The virtuosity of Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 is also almost dizzying. The composer himself played the piano part at the premiere in Chicago in 1921—and prescribed himself three hours of daily practice in preparation for this pianistic rollercoaster ride. The unpredictable wheel of Fortuna, the goddess of fate,is celebrated at the beginning and end of Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana." Orff used texts from a song codex from around 1300, kept in the Benediktbeuren monastery, as the basis for a monumental series of solo and choral songs, whose archaic style, with its particular emphasis on rhythm, continues to fascinate to this day.

4th Symphony Concert

Eurogress Aachen

Carl Orff - Carmina Burana

Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Theatre

Ever wondered what it feels like to sing live at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall with Scotland’s National Orchestra? Now’s your chance to find out, in this scratch performance of Orff’s outrageously tuneful Carmina Burana – 60 minutes of life, lust and monks behaving badly!

Come & Sing Carmina Burana Participation Ticket

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

Passion, drink and roasted swans – choral music isn’t meant to be this much fun! But the medieval monks who wrote the words to Carmina Burana didn’t seem to have been that bothered. Expect great tunes, unstoppable rhythms and some thoroughly bad behaviour as the RSNO,  Chorus, and a team of local music-lovers who’ve been specially coached by RSNO Chorus Director Stephen Doughty, come together to perform Orff’s outrageous piece.

Come & Sing Carmina Burana Audience Ticket

In 2020, the National Opera in Warsaw celebrated the 55th anniversary of the reconstruction of its historic home on Teatralny Square. The ambitious project of raising the theatre from ruins was completed 20 years after the war, with the grand opening of the modernized Grand Theatre on November 19, 1965. Shortly thereafter, the Warsaw Opera ensemble, including its distinguished choir, moved in from its temporary home on Nowogrodzka Street.

Chorus Opera

Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera

Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts

Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms is a sacred work that has all the verve and rhythms of his West Side Story. Combining this with Carl Orff’s dramatic profane cantata Carmina Burana will make for a night of high octane choral singing and outstanding orchestral playing.

Perth Choral Society presents Sacred and Profane

Perth Concert Hall

Sold out in 2024 and seen by over 60,000 people. Experience the thunderous power of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana like never before, as 400 voices unite in majestic harmony at the Royal Albert Hall.

Royal Albert Hall

Starting and ending with the mighty hymn to the capricious Goddess Fortuna and her relentlessly turning wheel, the bold tunes and primal rhythms of Carmina Burana celebrate nature, the tavern, and the pleasures of love. It’s earthy and risqué, but sometimes also breathtakingly beautiful—like the soprano’s heaven-reaching solo—or raucous and rowdy, as the lusty drinking song, “In taberna.”

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

With his grand and multifaceted cantata Carmina Burana, Carl Orff created a unique gateway to classical music that has captivated new audiences since its premiere in 1937. Santtu-Matias Rouvali conducts the Oslo Philharmonic alongside soloists and choir.

Santtu-Matias Rouvali Oslo Philharmonic Choir

Oslo Concert Hall

For three performances only, Enrique Mazzola leads the celebrated Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus in Carmina Burana, the sweeping cantata based on 24 medieval poems. Lyric’s talented musicians bring this masterpiece to life in all its visceral dimension, from sotto voce choral staccatos to bombastic crashes of brass.

As the music envelops you, contemplate the whims of fickle fortune — or simply enjoy an extended spooky season with its lush, melancholy, and oh-so-familiar strains.

Lyric Opera House

Soundtracks from film and television like you’ve never heard them before! The constantly innovative organist Gunnar Idenstam gathers themes from Battlefield, Minecraft and Harry Potter, allowing the organ to present adventures beyond this world.

Gunnar Idenstam: Soundtrack Suites

Göteborgs Symfoniker

Carl Orff’s enormous work for orchestra, soloists, and choir sings of worldly pleasures and the ups and downs of fortune. The program begins with two contemporary classics by Michael Abels: Global Warming, which combines the music of a variety of cultures (originally written to celebrate warming international relations in 1990), and More Seasons, described by Abels as “Vivaldi in a Mixmaster.”

Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Under the baton of Music Director Rolf Bertsch, this concert unites over 200 musicians for a monumental performance of Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana.

Arts Commons

Experience the exhilarating power and passion of Carmina Burana, Carl Orff’s monumental choral masterpiece, live at the McCoy! From the thunderous “O Fortuna” to the playful and sensual movements, this work is a feast for the senses. Join the New Albany Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and guest soloists; Chelsea Hart Melcher, Robert Kerr and Daniel Stein and we spin the Wheel of Fortune!

Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts

Carmina Burana is a musical feast for the senses. New Philharmonic is joined with the 80-voice Northwest Indiana Symphony Chorus and soloists to perform this powerful cantata of 24 poems written by medieval monks, celebrating dancing, drinking, spring, gambling and other worldly pleasures. Orff’s score is at times powerful, mysterious, hypnotic, and exotic; especially the famous chorus “O Fortuna”, widely used on film and TV, reminds us that fate will always have her say. Borodin’s captivating melodies and energetic rhythms in Polovtsian Dances, blends Russian folk elements to capture the grandeur and drama inherent in the music. * For All-in price, add $3/ticket. Add’l fees apply online.

Carmina Burana | Polovtsian Dances

McAninch Arts Center

"The extraordinary power inherent in Carl Orff's Carmina Burana , perhaps one of the world's most recognizable works of classical music, from its very first sound touches the imagination of listeners and viewers in a very direct and open way. The phrases and lyrics, set in a medieval context, yet framed by almost contemporary music, create a universal message about the laws of this world to which we are equally subject, great or small, at the dawn of life or at its end. Orff thought in music, thought in words, thought in theater. He inscribed the meaning of his work in intersecting dimensions," writes Waldemar Dąbrowski, general director of the Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera in Warsaw, about Carl Orff's work.

Carmina Burana (The Blink of an Eye)

O Fortuna! A new season takes flight with the electrifying force of Orff’s Carmina Burana, as chorus, soloists, and orchestra come together to deliver an unforgettable surge of drama and energy. Also featuring Wynton Marsalis’s jazz-infused Concerto for Orchestra, this season-opening concert offers a thrilling fusion of classical tradition and modern innovation that will leave audiences in awe.

David Pecaut Square

Sometimes it turns faster, sometimes slower, sometimes it even stops, but then it starts moving again - the wheel of fortune knows no set tempo, the goddess Fortuna does what she wants. There is nothing that can be done about it, man must submit. This is precisely why Carl Orff once described his greatest work, Carmina Burana , as his "darkest piece". In this monumental setting of 1000-year-old texts from the library of Benediktbeuren Abbey, he laments the fleeting nature of life with an unparalleled sense of effect, but also celebrates its joys with almost uninhibited abandon: love and laughter, dancing and playing, intoxication and excess.

Cologne Philharmonie

"Everything I've written so far, and which you've unfortunately printed, you can now pulp! My collected works begin with Carmina Burana!" Carl Orff was proud of the choral work he presented to his publisher and the music world in 1937 – there's no doubt about that. He also created a magnificent opus magnum: his settings of the medieval "Songs from Benediktbeuern" soar across time yet draw on life itself. With both tender colors and ecstatic sounds, the famous work, which will be presented to audiences this year by the Gürzenich Orchestra and the Cologne Citizens' Choir under the direction of our featured artist Andrés Orozco-Estrada, tells of fate, nature throughout the year, and love and desire.

Carl Orff: “Carmina Burana”

Eberbach Abbey

“O Fortuna!” Carmina Burana’s towering first movement rolls in like thunder, announcing a celebration of spring, the delightful debauchery of nights at a tavern, and the joys and sorrows of love. Although the words were written by medieval monks, this outrageous cantata is an unstoppable force brimming with bawdy, irreverent satire on the ever-changing fate of man. The National Symphony Orchestra, two choruses, and stars of the Wolf Trap Opera come together for Carl Orff’s epic choral masterwork. The evening ends with selections of the best loved melodies from the famous opera, Carmen. Come hear Wolf Trap Opera perform the entire show on August 15th.

Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts

Join Interlochen Arts Camp's premiere wind ensemble for their weekly concert. Under the direction of Steve Davis, the ensemble will present a program of wind band classics, contemporary compositions, and orchestral transcriptions

Jerry F. Junkin conducts Carmina Burana

Interlochen Center for the Arts

Variously bombastic, playful, and heart-wrenching, Carmina Burana is a sonic tour-de-force based on a collection of medieval poems about love, life, and nature. Osmo Vänksä leads The Cleveland Orchestra in this colossal work alongside the Blossom Festival Chorus, The Cleveland Orchestra Children’s Chorus, and a roster of internationally celebrated soloists. The evening opens with a smaller, though no less epic, work — Sibelius’s En Saga, which evokes ancient folklore.

Blossom Music Center

Miller & Munich Symphony Orchestra

Brucknerhaus

2024/2025 May concert

Southwell Minster

Join CSO and Maestro Intriligator on May 10th at 7:30pm for our 70th season finale Fortune & Glory! We continue our exploration of Richard Strauss with Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks. We end the season with the grand finale, Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, featuring soprano Anna McMahon, tenor Javier Abreu, baritone Andrew Garland, and huge local choir. Presented by Cheyenne Skin Clinic.  Guest Artist Underwritten by ANB Bank, Pete & Chloe Illoway, Charla & Bob Nelson, and Bill Runyan and The Kenneth & Myra Monfort Charitable Foundation.

Fortune & Glory

Cheyenne Civic Center

Carmina Burana - songs from Beuren - is German composer Carl Orff's setting of forbidden folk poems from the 12th and 13th centuries. The almost iconic work is interpreted here by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Radio Choir, the soprano Karolina Bengtsson, the tenor Tobias Westman and the baritone David Risberg under the direction of the Taiwanese conductor Yi-Chen Lin. In addition, Emmy Lindström's Rösaring - concerto for orchestra inspired by a wonderfully situated ancient relic from the Viking Age - will be premiered.

Carmina Burana & Emmy Lindström's Rösaring

SR Berwaldhallen

Carmina Burana - songs from Beuren - is German composer Carl Orff's setting of forbidden folk poems from the 12th and 13th centuries. The almost iconic work is interpreted here by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Radio Choir, the soprano Karolina Bengtsson, the tenor Tobias Westman and the baritone David Risberg under the direction of the Taiwanese conductor Yi-Chen Lin.

Carmina Burana: Orchestral Series

River Center Theatre

Merrill Auditorium

Experience the power and drama of Carl Orff's choral masterpiece, "Carmina Burana," brought to life by the Grand Rapids Symphony under the baton of the innovative conductor David Robertson. This captivating performance will also feature the talents of soprano Meechot Marrero, tenor Ben Gulley, baritone Blake Denson, and the Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus directed by Pearl Shangkuan. The concert will open with Revueltas's "La noche de los mayas," setting the stage for the main event, "Carmina Burana," a work celebrated for its raw energy, powerful rhythms, and vivid storytelling through medieval texts. The iconic opening chorus, "O Fortuna," is known worldwide, promising an exhilarating journey through the joys and sorrows of life.

**What to Expect:**
Prepare for an unforgettable evening as our chorus shines in one of the most famous choral works ever written. "O Fortuna" has captivated audiences across the globe, featured in TV, movies, and commercials, showcasing the universal appeal of this dramatic piece. David Robertson, renowned for his innovative approach, promises to deliver a performance that highlights the lush harmonies and contrasting moods of Orff's celebrated composition.

**Performance Dates and Times:**
- Friday, April 25, 2025, at 7:30 PM
- Saturday, April 26, 2025, at 7:30 PM

**Location:**
DeVos Performance Hall

**Tickets:**
Tickets for this must-see event are available for purchase. Don't miss your chance to be part of this musical journey that explores the essence of fate, fortune, and the human experience.

**Special Thanks to Our Sponsors:**
This concert series is made possible by the generous support of our sponsors, including the Richard and Helen DeVos Series Sponsor, the Edith I. Blodgett Guest Artist Fund, and Pearl Shangkuan, who occupies the Covenant Chair.

Join us for a night of unforgettable music and storytelling with the Grand Rapids Symphony's presentation of "Carmina Burana."

DeVos Performance Hall

Join “opening Notes” with Nathan Black, 6:30pm Philanthropy Theatre prior to the concerts for insights on the evening’s program.

Anson Mills

Northeast Pennsylvania Philharmonic takes you a thrilling journey through the primal rhythms and epic choruses of Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana!” The power of human desire and destiny collide in a breathtaking symphonic explosion that will leave your heart pounding.

NEPA Philharmonic presents: Carmina Burana

Northeastern Pa Philharmonic

Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts and Sciences

Choir of the Halle Opera, Extra Choir of the Halle Opera, Singakademie Rostock, Youth Choir of the Halle Opera, Soloists, Leipzig Philharmonic Orchestra, Michael Koehler Conductor

Carmina Burana by Carl Orff

Gewandhaus

Experience the raw intensity of Carmina Burana, an exhilarating ode to fate and fortune harnessing the forces of operatic vocalists, two choirs, and a full symphony orchestra. WVSO joins forces with the Columbia Chorale, soprano Allison Pohl, tenor Jason Wickson, and baritone José Rubio for two performances of this timeless classic. 

Concert IV: Wheel of Fortune

Wenatchee High School

The Carson Center for the Performing Arts

Who isn’t familiar with Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana? This piece most surely has never had such a multidisciplinary staging. Here different artistic disciplines are combined: a large orchestra plays for the dancers, two choruses, with adults and children, sing while in back video installations are screened. Over 135 people are involved in this performance.

Odesa National Academic Opera And Ballet Theatre

Experience the raw intensity of Carmina Burana, an exhilarating ode to fate and fortune, harnessing the forces of operatic vocalists, choirs, and the full symphony orchestra.

“O Fortuna” Carmina Burana

Berglund Center

Experience the epic power of fate and fortune as the Des Moines Symphony presents "O Fortuna - Carmina Burana" at the Des Moines Civic Center. This monumental performance, scheduled for Saturday, April 5, 2025, at 7:30 PM, and Sunday, April 6, 2025, at 2:30 PM, promises an unforgettable evening of music that explores the joys and sorrows of the human experience. Over 100 voices will join the orchestra to bring Carl Orff's dramatic Carmina Burana to life, alongside Wagner's majestic Prelude to Die Meistersinger and the poignant Nanie, Op. 82 by Brahms.

Under the baton of the distinguished and dynamic Maestro Joseph Giunta, a conductor of international acclaim known for his innovative programming and compelling interpretations, the concert is set to be a showcase of musical brilliance. The performance will last approximately 2 hours and 10 minutes, including one intermission, offering audiences a rich tapestry of sound and emotion.

Ticket prices range from $20 to $80, with a special half-price offer for students, making this cultural experience accessible to all. Don't miss the chance to witness the Des Moines Symphony's exploration of Orff's powerful masterpiece at the Des Moines Civic Center. Secure your tickets now for a journey through the highs and lows of life, all expressed through the universal language of music.

O Fortuna - Carmina Burana

Des Moines Civic Center

Carl Orff’s singular and powerful work, bringing to life texts from the 11th and 12th centuries, comes to the stage with soloists Ashley Fabian, Joseph Tancredi, and Octavio Moreno plus the full might of the TSO Chorus. Gabriela Ortiz’s Kauyumari, which plays tribute to the blue deer, a spiritual guide of the Huichol people of Mexico, is followed by Robert Muczynski’s Symphonic Memoir, premiered by the TSO in 1979 and the latest in the TSO’s exploration of this Tucson-based composer.

Linda Ronstadt Music Hall

Conductor Ken-David Masur and your Colorado Symphony present Carl Orff’s powerhouse Carmina Burana, a symphonic exploration of love, lust, and the perils of earthly pleasures. Featuring the Colorado Symphony Chorus, Colorado Children’s Chorale, and a cast of soloists, Carmina Burana is a true spectacle and one of the most well-known pieces of the 20th century, combining powerful rhythms and robust vocals in a dynamic performance you won’t want to miss. Hear it alongside Haydn’s Symphony No. 96, adding a counterpoint of symphonic bliss to a night of choral cataclysm.

Carmina Burana with the Colorado Symphony Chorus

Denver Performing Arts Complex

Bradford Festival Choral Society, in collaboration with the Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra, presents a dramatic and diverse concert – promising to captivate audiences with its blend of contemporary and classical masterpieces.

Bradford Theatres

The monumental harmony of more than 200 voices combine to perform Carl Orff’s unforgettable masterwork Carmina Burana.

Southbank Centre

Carmina Burana & Boléro

Gasteig HP8

"carmina Burana"

The Long Center for the Performing Arts

Associate Artistic Director Jenny Wong leads Carl Orff’s epic and propulsive Carmina Burana, along with the world premiere of a vibrant new work by Swan Family Artist-in-Residence Reena Esmail. Carmina Burana’s evocative lyrics, drawn from medieval poetry, speak of love, lust, and the inexorable wheel of fate. Esmail’s new work will be based on a variety of folk songs representing different languages and traditions of the Indian subcontinent. 

Walt Disney Concert Hall

The YOSA Philharmonic proudly presents a full performance of Carl Orff's “Carmina Burana” with the San Antonio Mastersingers. Known for its thunderous rhythms and soaring melodies, Orff’s raucous setting of 24 medieval poems engages with themes of love, life, and fate with satirical undertones. Experience the raw emotion and energy of this powerful choral work live and in its entirety. YOSA Repertory Strings will open the performance, setting the stage for this epic night of music.

Tobin Center for the Performing Arts

**Event: Carmina Burana by Pacific Symphony**

**Date & Time:** Sunday, March 2, 2025, at 3:00 pm

**Location:** Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall

**Description:**

Prepare for an unforgettable afternoon as the Pacific Symphony, under the baton of Music Director Carl St.Clair, presents Carl Orff's monumental "Carmina Burana." This performance, featuring the Grammy Award-winning Pacific Chorale, along with the artistic direction of Robert Istad, and the Southern California Children's Chorus under the founding direction of Lori Loftus, promises to be a spectacular showcase of vocal and orchestral prowess.

"Carmina Burana" is renowned for its powerful and evocative music, celebrating the joys and sorrows of life through the lens of medieval poetry. From the iconic opening of "O Fortuna" to the vibrant scenes of springtime, tavern revelry, and the Court of Love, audiences will be transported through a whirlwind of emotions and scenes, all underscored by Orff's thrilling compositions.

This performance is unique not only for its musical excellence but also for the insightful commentary provided by Carl St.Clair, offering audiences a deeper understanding of the masterpiece before it unfolds on stage. This concert is a journey through the most celebrated drinking establishments of the 13th century, a rambunctious romp without the hangover, where the concert hall transforms into the bawdiest watering hole in town.

**Program:**
- ORFF: Carmina Burana

**Note:** This concert is performed without intermission.

Join us for an afternoon of raucous revelry, timeless music, and the unparalleled talent of the Pacific Symphony and its choruses. It's more than a concert; it's an experience that promises to be as enlightening as it is entertaining. Don't miss your chance to be part of this epic musical journey.

Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall

"Carmina Burana," composed by Carl Orff in 1936, is a dramatic cantata based on 13th-century poems that explores themes of fortune, fate, love, and nature. Renowned for its powerful rhythms and the iconic "O Fortuna" chorus, the work vividly brings to life the cyclical nature of human existence.

Canyon High School

The strong opening chorus in Carmina Burana is iconic, and is, among other things, known as the dramatic opening music to the television show X Factor. Here, the goddess of fate, Fortuna, is both praised and condemned, and then things go wild with both lively drinking songs, beautiful declarations of love and even a swan that is burned alive!

DR Koncerthuset

Music Director, Roger Kalia, and Conductor Laureate, Alfred Savia, will share the podium! Savia leads the Orchestra in Giuseppi Verdi's "Triumphal March" from Aida, one of the most popular pieces of classical music in the world. Savia will also conduct Paul Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by von Weber, and exciting and dramatic piece.

 

Carl Orff's Carmina Burana features the Evansville Philharmonic Chorus, Evansville Children's Choir, and three remarkable soloists performing one of the most popular choral-orchestral works of all time. The massive work of over 20 performers onstage includes O Fortuna, famous in popular culture, first introduced to mainstream media in the 1981 John Boorman film, Excalibur. The song has been used for dramatic effects in numerous films, including Glory, The Hunt for Red October, Natural Born Killers, The General's Daughter, and more

Victory Theatre

Orff’s profane and profound pseudo-medieval cantata Carmina burana is the banger of all choral bangers: No one who has heard the opening movement “O Fortuna” even once, whether live or on a film soundtrack, could question its eternal-earworm status. Also on the program: A new piano concerto by John Adams, featuring pianist Víkingur Ólafsson and conductor David Robertson, a responsive and nuanced interpreter of Adams’s eclectic soundscapes.

Carmina Burana & Adams’ Piano Concerto

Davies Symphony Hall

Orff’s spectacular twentieth-century choral masterpiece, Carmina Burana, remains irresistible to audiences with its boundless rhythmic energy and catchy tunes, powered by massive orchestra and choir.

Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall

Experience the majestic fusion of choral and orchestral music with "Carmina Burana y Orfeón Donostiarra" at the Auditorio Nacional de Música de Madrid on Monday, 2nd December 2024, at 19:30h. This extraordinary concert, part of the Ibermúsica 2024-2025 Conciertos Extraordinarios series, features the renowned ADDA Simfònica Alicante and the illustrious Orfeón Donostiarra choir, under the batons of Josep Vicent and José Antonio Sainz Alfaro, respectively.

The evening's programme promises an unforgettable journey through music with Ravel's "Daphnis et Chloe, segunda suite" and Orff's iconic "Carmina Burana." These masterpieces will come to life in the hands of exceptional artists, offering a unique auditory experience.

Tickets are now available for purchase, with prices inclusive of a 10% VAT, though management fees will be applied at payment. Ibermúsica ensures a commitment to quality, promising an alternative of equal or superior quality should any unforeseen changes occur. Note that the concert will start promptly at 19:30h, and late access to the hall will not be permitted.

For those interested in enhancing their concert experience, Ibermúsica offers subscription packages for the 24/25 season, including exclusive benefits such as preferred seating, flexible payment options, and free cancellation.

Don't miss this exceptional evening of music and emotion. Secure your tickets now and be part of a memorable musical journey with "Carmina Burana y Orfeón Donostiarra."

Carl Orff

Events

Upcoming events

Jun 6 - Sep 13, 2026

Carmina Burana · Theater Osnabrück

14 - 27 Jun, 2026

The Tsar wants his Photograph taken / The Clever Woman · Oper Frankfurt

Jun 28, 2026

Carmina burana · MDR-Sinfonieorchester

5 - 12 Jul, 2026

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Jul 31, 2026

Carmina Burana · Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Past events

14 - 27 Jun, 2026

The Tsar wants his Photograph taken / The Clever Woman · Oper Frankfurt

Jun 6 - Sep 13, 2026

Carmina Burana · Theater Osnabrück

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