Composer

Music Director

Conductor Kwamé Ryan returns for a program of passion, virtuosity and expansive Romantic expression. Legendary violinist Gil Shaham showcases his expressive brilliance in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, a perfect example of the interplay between soloists and orchestra — at times in opposition to each other but always in sync. While 200 years apart, Schubert’s Ninth Symphony and Carlos Simon’s Fate Now Conquers are influenced by Beethoven’s musical legacy (including some direct quotes!). Their individual statements attest to concepts of the Romantic — vast canvases of sound, sweeping melodies and heart-pounding climaxes. 

EPSG:4326

Gil Shaham Plays Tchaikovsky

Cincinnati Music Hall

Northern Spirits: Sibelius Symphony No. 2

Lesher Center for the Arts

He was plagued by self-doubt and had abandoned his music.  But when inspired to compose again, Sergei Rachmaninoff wrote the music that would make him immortal.  Joyce Yang plays the Second Piano Concerto.  “Vivid and beautiful playing,” proclaims The New York Times.  The concert begins with The Block, a bold work from a bold voice of our time, Carlos Simon.   And to close, the Symphony No. 4 of Tchaikovsky, music that would express the composer’s inner anguish and romantic passions in a way no music had ever dared to.

Joyce Yang Plays Rachmaninoff

Overture Center for the Arts

Transcendence explores music that reaches beyond boundaries—spiritual, emotional, and artistic. Quenton Blache’s Habari Gani opens the program with a title drawn from the Swahili greeting heard during Kwanzaa, setting a tone of reflection and community. Pianist and composer Stewart Goodyear takes the stage for his own Piano Concerto, a virtuosic work blending classical form with a contemporary voice. Our program continues with Brittany Green’s electrifying Testify! and Carlos Simon’s Movements for Flute, featuring WCO principal flute Brandon LePage, a work that merges expressive lyricism with modern rhythmic drive. We close with Anthony Kelley’s Spirituals of Liberation, drawing on the enduring power of spiritual traditions and their message of hope. Together, these works form a musical journey rising through reflection, celebration, and resilience.

Transcendence

“Transcendence” explores music that reaches beyond boundaries—spiritual, emotional and artistic. Quenton Blache’s “Habari Gani” opens the program with a title drawn from the Swahili greeting heard during Kwanzaa, setting a tone of reflection and community. Pianist and composer Stewart Goodyear takes the stage for his own “Piano Concerto,” a virtuosic work blending classical form with a contemporary voice. Our program continues with Brittany Green’s electrifying “Testify!” and Carlos Simon’s “Movements for Flute,” featuring WCO principal flute Brandon LePage, a work that merges expressive lyricism with modern rhythmic drive. We close with Anthony Kelley’s “Spirituals of Liberation,” drawing on the enduring power of spiritual traditions and their message of hope. Together, these works form a musical journey rising through reflection, celebration and resilience.

Musical Landscapes in Color Vol IV - Transcendence

The Takács Quartet, which celebrated its fiftieth anniversary just last year, recently completed a robust tour of Europe and North America and regularly collaborates with the leading composers in chamber music.

 

The Takács brings a lively and resonant program that pairs early works by Beethoven and Brahms with American composer Carlos Simon’s Warmth From Other Suns, inspired by Isabel Wilkerson’s celebrated history of The Great Migration. The Takács are a beloved CMP favorite, and this concert will be the quartet’s eleventh on our MainStage Live series.

Takács quartet

Carnegie Museum of Natural History

Dvořák’s New World Symphony inspired American composers to look to Native American and African-American music in creating their own unique traditions. Join us on a journey through Dvořák’s musical legacy through Barber’s beloved Violin Concerto to the triumphant power of a new American classic by Carlos Simon.

Barber Violin Concerto + Dvořák Symphony No. 9

Cape Fear Community College

Celebrate the season with a symphonic feast of rhythm, color, and energy. The dynamic pulse of Carlos Simon’s Four Black American Dances lead to vivid, sun-drenched landscapes and shimmering Spanish textures in Claude Debussy’s Iberia. LAMF’s season finale then culminates in Igor Stravinsky’s Petrushka, a kaleidoscopic ballet score that animates a mischievous puppet, a dazzling Russian fairground, and an irresistible surge of rhythmic brilliance.

Dances of Passion

Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts

Countertenor John Holiday returns to Orchestra Hall to perform Carlos Simon’s orchestral song cycle Songs of Separation, a setting of texts by the 13th-century Persian Sufi mystic and poet Rūmī that meditates on loss, longing and the human experience of separation. Tracing a deeply expressive emotional arc—from grief and sorrow toward hope and affirmation—the work is brought vividly to life by Holiday, whose extraordinary, genre-defying voice has been praised by audiences and critics alike for its power, nuance and unmistakable individuality.

John Holiday

Orchestra Hall Minneapolis

Formed by alumni of the National Repertory Orchestra, this quartet brings together musicians whose shared roots at the NRO have evolved into dynamic professional careers. In this program, they draw from American narratives that play a critical role in the ongoing evolution of our nation’s history and musical character. Through works that reflect migration, identity, tradition, and transformation, the ensemble creates a throughline between past and present.

Chamber Concert

Riverwalk Center

There’s an elusive logic that occurs only in dreams, that nocturnal state where the human mind processes the flood of impressions and information it takes in every day, sifting and sorting without interruption from the waking world. In this very special and wide-ranging program, Manchester Music Festival artistic director Philip Setzer is our guide through a vivid, varied dreamscape in sound—a journey epitomized by composer Paul Epstein’s appropriately titled Dreamsonata, which leaps from Viennese ballroom sounds to midwestern ragtime in the blink of an ear. The rest of the program blazes a similarly unlikely yet ultimately harmonious path, from the courtly String Quartet of Benjamin Franklin (yes, really) to Samuel Barber’s elegiac Adagio for Strings, by way of Scott Joplin, Amy Beach, and Carlos Simon.

Setzer and the Sound of Dreams

Southern Vermont Arts Center

The Cleveland Orchestra returns to Cain Park! Join us for a free community concert in the heart of Cleveland Heights, performed under the direction of Black Panther conductor Anthony Parnther. Enjoy classic favorites, from John Williams to Dvořák, as well as new pieces you might not have heard before.

The Cleveland Orchestra recognizes and thanks Jayne M. Zborowsky for her support of this concert.

2026 Cain Park Community Concert

Severance Music Center

The season finale features the return of Joyce Yang in Rachmaninoff’s exhilarating Piano Concerto No. 3, one of the most intricate, demanding and passionate works in the repertoire. Carlos Simon’s Fate Now Conquers opens the evening with dramatic urgency, leading into Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night, a hauntingly beautiful journey from turmoil to resolution.

Rachmaninoff’s Third

Jacoby Symphony Hall

Celebrate the season’s final crescendo with luminous new music, virtuosic piano mastery, and one of Brahms’ greatest symphonic triumphs.

Season Finale!

Blennerhasset School

Clay Center

Enjoy a powerful conclusion to our season, featuring an unforgettable evening of passion, virtuosity, and hope. Carlos Simon's Fate Now Conquers opens the evening, anchored by Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, – a sweeping tribute to the American landscape, rich with spiritual echoes and folk-inspired themes. Written during the composer’s time in the United States, this symphony reflects both longing and discovery, making it a perfect finale to a season of musical exploration. For this concert, ASO will be joined on stage by acclaimed violin virtuoso, Melissa White, who’ll perform Mendelssohn’s beloved Violin Concerto.

New World Symphony

University of Louisiana

Pictures at an Exhibition

Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts

Dance has a special significance in all cultures. With his Four Black American Dances, the American composer Carlos Simon shows how important dance is for the black communities in the USA in particular. Simon has chosen four examples: a ring shout, a waltz, a tap dance and finally a holy dance, in which the exuberant forms of expression of black Protestant denominations come to life. Equally gripping are Erwin Schulhoff’s Five pieces for string quartet, in which the Prague-born composer takes up fashionable dances of the 1920s. In the version for large orchestra by Manfred Honeck and Tomáš Ille, the rapid rush of sound in these miniatures is immediately captivating. Antonín Dvořák traveled from Prague to the USA in 1892 to help establish an original American art music. Not only did he give his Symphony No. 9 the title From the New World, he also incorporated harmonic and rhythmic elements from indigenous and black music cultures. Manfred Honeck, General Music Director of the Staatsoper Stuttgart from 2007 to 2011, will return to the podium of the Staatsorchester Stuttgart as guest conductor for this concert.

5. Symphony Concert

Beethoven Hall (Beethovensaal)

Experience the musical brilliance of compositions exploring destiny and the courage to face it. The concert opens with Carlos Simon’s Fate Now Conquers, a 2020 work depicting the “unpredictable ways of fate,” inspired by Beethoven’s journals and Homer’s Iliad. Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 features soloist Miri Yampolsky, whose artistry showcases the lyrical elegance and innovation of this pinnacle piano work. The evening concludes with Brahms’s Symphony No. 2, a radiant and expansive masterpiece filled with warmth, hope, and a triumphant spirit.

From Fate to Triumph

Coronado Theatre

Celebrate the triumph of American spirit and artistry with Fanfare for the Common Man and Bernstein’s West Side Story Symphonic Dances! The program begins with Aaron Copland’s iconic Fanfare for the Common Man, followed by the South Carolina premiere of Turbulent Flames by Jessica Meyer. GSO Principal Clarinetist John Sadak shines in Copland’s lyrical Clarinet Concerto, and Carlos Simon’s Four Black American Dances sets the stage for the exhilarating West Side Story Symphonic Dances by Leonard Bernstein. Experience a celebration of American creativity at its most vibrant and heartfelt.

West Side Story Symphonic Dances + Fanfare for the Common Man

Peace Center

With its tremendous emotional range, breathtaking melodies, and the exceptional virtuosity required of its musicians, Mahler’s Fifth Symphony creates a soul-stirring orchestral experience. This monumental symphony is paired with a new concerto by Carlos Simon performed by two of the brightest stars in the string world: three-time Grammy Award-winning violinist Hilary Hahn and Grammy-nominated cellist Seth Parker Woods. The magnificence of Mahler’s Fifth and the power of these two soloists make for a breathtaking collection of sounds.

Mahler’s Fifth

Powell Hall

Dr. Paul Thornock is Director of Music and Organist at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Savannah, Georgia, where he conducts the semi-professional Cathedral Choir, the fully professional Choral Scholars, and acts as Artistic Director for the Friends of Cathedral Music concert series.

Before coming to Savannah, Dr. Thornock was the director of music at St. Joseph Cathedral in Columbus, Ohio and St. James Cathedral in Seattle. He has also taught at the University of Puget Sound, Capital University, and Trinity Lutheran Seminary.  He holds degrees from the University of Puget Sound (BM), the University of Notre Dame (MM), and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (DMA).

Elgar’s Enigma

Lucas Theatre For the Arts

This extraordinary program presents a work of the powerful, contemporary voice of composer Carlos Simon, whose works resonate with history, hope, and heart. Pianist Artina McCain returns to perform George Gershwin’s brilliant Piano Concerto in F, a work that blends classical traditions with the bold rhythms of jazz and pulses with energy, romance, and the unmistakable spirit of the American Jazz Age. The program closes with Peter Boyer’s Ellis Island: Dream of America, a poignant and inspiring tribute to the immigrants who shaped the American story. Innovative in its format, the work brings elements of the theater and multimedia into the concert hall, employing actors and projected historical images from the Ellis Island archives. The spoken texts for the work come from the Ellis Island Oral History Project, an historic collection of interviews with actual immigrants about their experiences emigrating to America. This dynamic work reminds us of the hopes, struggles, and dreams that built a nation.

ELLIS ISLAND: Dream of America

Patricia Reser Center for the Arts

Mt. Hood Community College

Superstar Hilary Hahn and Grammy-nominated NSO newcomer Seth Parker Woods come together for the world premiere of Carlos Simon’s Double Concerto, a work that expands the dialogue between violin, cello, and orchestra. Warmth and complexity unfold in Brahms’ Symphony No. 3, blending bravado with introspection.

Hahn & Woods play Carlos Simon Brahms’ Third

Kennedy Center

Premiered by trombonist Kenneth Thompkins and the DSO in 2023, Carlos Simon’s moving concerto commemorates the Underground Railroad and, in Simon’s words, “the stories, accounts, and experiences told by many enslaved people and abolitionists.” Thomas Wilkins also conducts William Grant Still’s vibrant and uplifting Fourth Symphony, which celebrates a wide variety of American musical cultures.

Classical Roots

Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Join the RPO for a night of intensity! Marcelo Lehninger leads a provocative program, opening with Carlos Simon’s vibrant Festive Fanfare and Overture. The Chicago Tribune hails Lehninger for keeping “sophistication to the fore”! Acclaimed violinist Paul Huang brings his signature passion to Dvořák’s enchanting Violin Concerto, brimming with Bohemian spirit. The evening culminates with Shostakovich’s striking Symphony No. 1, a work that crackles with wit, drama, and youthful genius. Don’t miss these dynamic soundscapes and powerful artistry!

Dazzling Dvořák

Eastman Theatre

A mix of blockbuster and breakout, this dynamic program brings fresh perspective to the familiar, pairing beloved classics with some of today’s rising voices.

Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol & Mozart’s Haffner with orchestra premieres by Joachim & Simon

The Parker

The College of the Florida Keys

New World Center

Join us at our “Vitality” concert where the University Wind Ensemble presents a variety of repertoire in collaboration with guest artists Eighth Blackbird, faculty conductor Jerry Luckhardt, and doctoral candidate conductor Yusri Muhamad. Repertoire includes Bjork Guðmundsdóttir’s Overture from Dancer in the Dark, Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Scherzo alla Marcia, Carlos Simon’s Sweet Chariot, Ida Gotkovsky’s Poeme Du Feu, and Viet Cuong’s Vital Sines.

University Wind Ensemble and Eighth Blackbird Present "Vitality"

University of Minnesota

It is not every day you get to hear a saxophone virtuoso reimagine seminal works composed for bassoon, cello, and voice on his deeply expressive instrument of choice. In his Cal Performances debut, Steven Banks, “the saxophone’s best friend, fiercest advocate, and primary virtuoso in the classical realm” (Washington Post) and the first saxophonist to win the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant, offers a whirlwind musical tour on the mighty baritone saxophone.

Steven Banks, baritone saxophone Xak Bjerken, piano

University of California, Berkeley

The ASU Symphony Orchestra is joined by the acclaimed Harlem Quartet for a dynamic evening of chamber–symphonic collaboration, featuring Bernstein’s West Side Story concerto. Known for its genre-spanning performances and deep commitment to musical equity, Harlem Quartet brings its distinctive voice to the orchestral stage in a program shaped by dialogue, contrast, and expressive range.

We also welcome musicians from Red Mountain High School’s orchestra program, led by John Haggard, who will join the ASU Symphony in Dvořák’s iconic Symphony No. 9, “From the New World.” The program opens with Carlos Simon’s rousing Amen!

ASU Symphony Orchestra with the Harlem Quartet

Red Mountain High School

Journey through the rich tapestry of African American musical traditions with Florence Price's evocative Ethiopia's Shadow in America and Carlos Simon's trombone concerto Troubled Water featuring LPO Principal Trombone Austin Richardson and feel the raw energy of Samuel Barber's unbridled Symphony No. 1 before the exhilarating finale: Aaron Copland's beloved Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo – a joyous celebration of the American West.

Copland's Rodeo

Orpheum Theater

Los Angeles favorite Thomas Wilkins returns to Walt Disney Concert Hall for a holiday inflected program. In 1960, Duke Ellington merged the Tchaikovsky ballet with his own aesthetic, transforming the Sugar Plum Fairy into Sugar Rum Cherry and “The Dance of the Reed-Pipes” into “Toot Toot Tootsie Toot” creating an instant American classic with his spin on the Russian chestnut. But Tchaikovsky gets his full due with his enchanting First Symphony, which the composer lovingly called “a sin of my sweet youth.” From its chilly opening along a winter journey and through misty landscapes, the composer eventually arrives in a spring filled with the blooms of flowers and young love.

Ellington’s Nutcracker & Tchaikovsky’s “Winter Daydreams”

Walt Disney Concert Hall

Unfortunately, we need to change the first half of the programme on December 7 because of scheduling reasons. Instead of the originally planned programme with works for brass ensemble by Takemitsu, Shostakovich, and Tomasi, we will be offering “Four Black American Dances” by Carlos Simon and the trumpet concerto “Nobody Knows the Trouble I See” by Bernd Alois Zimmermann.

Andris Nelsons & Håkan Hardenberger

Gasteig HP8

Alessio Bax makes his TSO debut as the soloist in Beethoven’s monumental Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor”. Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony and Carlos Simon’s Fate Now Conquers complete this program built on themes of unrest and power.

Beethoven’s Emperor

Linda Ronstadt Music Hall

Munich Residence

This Thanksgiving, explore cultural roots and the concept of “home.” Simon’s Tales draws on African American folklore, traditions, and spirituals, while Bielawa connects to violin solist Tessa Lark's American roots in Appalachia in her work PULSE. Copland’s theme from Appalachian Spring, based on the Shaker hymn “Simple Gifts,” evokes simplicity, peace, and community. In contrast, Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7, written during a period of personal struggle, reflects his Czech heritage and the political turmoil of his homeland.

Dvořák Symphony No. 7

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

Himari Plays Bruch

Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts

Curtis New Music Ensemble’s We the Artists celebrates groundbreaking American composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. Marking America’s 250th year, the program reflects the nation’s diverse musical tapestry. It features Clarice Assad’s Canções da America, inspired by South American rhythms and Indigenous traditions; Carlos Simon’s Giants, honoring five iconic Black Americans; and Valerie Coleman’s Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes, exploring Black Indigenous heritage.

We the Artists

Curtis Institute of Music

Three composers. Three bold voices. This afternoon concert explores the idea of resilience — how artists transform adversity into energy, elegance, and invention. The concert begins with Beethoven’s Second Symphony, one of his least performed masterworks, written at a time of personal crisis but bursting with humor, invention, and fire. It’s not the Beethoven of fate and fury—but of wit, drive, and irrepressible spirit. Carlos Simon’s Fate Now Conquers picks up that thread with a jolt. Inspired by a line from Beethoven’s journals, the piece is full of quick turns and titillating energy—tight, fierce, and over almost too soon. The final word belongs to Louise Farrenc’s Symphony No. 2, a hidden gem that feels as if a mirror was held to Beethoven as it was composed. Elegant and propulsive, Farrenc’s music claims its place in the symphonic tradition—powerfully and unmistakably.

Second to None: The Second Symphonies of Beethoven and Farrenc

Hotel Chalet

Brahms Violin Concerto

Riverview Theatre

Rhapsody in Blue

New Jersey Performing Arts Center

State Theatre New Jersey

Princeton University

Ben Campbell – Master’s Recital

Hamel Music Center

The Midland Symphony Orchestra invites you on a breathtaking musical journey celebrating the violin! The evening begins with Motherboxx Connection by Carlos Simon, a vibrant and powerful work commissioned by our friends and partners at The Sphinx Organization. Violinist Adrian Anantawan will join the Orchestra for a performance of this Tchaikovsky masterwork. The second half features the beautiful and alluring Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov.

Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto

Midland Center for the Arts

Celebrate the capital city’s deep well of creativity, as Jackson soprano DeAnna Tisdale Johnson lends her stunning voice to Margaret Walker’s best-loved poems in three song-settings by Crafton Beck. Honor the Mississippi premiere of Carlos Simon’s powerful 2023 Grammy-nominated, multi-genre Requiem for the Enslaved – an original composition infused with African American spirituals and Catholic liturgical melodies – then stay for conversation and learn more.

Chamber 2: Resonant Song

Cade Chapel Missionary Baptist Church

Carlos Simon’s Fate Now Conquers sets the mood for an evening of bold, brilliant performances. Inspired by Beethoven’s journals, it is a gripping and rhythmically charged response to the great composer’s defiance of destiny. Simon’s work crackles with urgency channeling Beethoven’s spirit in a voice that’s modern, bold, and uncompromising.

Century II Performing Arts & Convention Center

Acclaimed cellist Seth Parker Woods, known for his adventurous programming and dynamic artistry, brings his unique voice to this journey. For Woods, Sarabandes feel uniquely human and contemplative, serving as touchpoints throughout the evening.

Seth Parker Woods: Thus Spoke Their Verse

St Giles Cripplegate

Ignite

Washington Center for the Performing Arts

Associate Conductor Alex Amsel leads this program with two pieces inspired by faith. Soprano Liv Redpath joins to sing Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, depicting a child’s vision of heaven. This remarkable program begins with Carlos Simon’s AMEN!, an exuberant piece inspired by Pentecostal Church music, reflecting the composer’s upbringing.

Mozart & Mahler

Phoenix Convention Center

We open the season with a program that showcases the exhilarating power of music. Fate Now Conquers, by Grammy-nominated composer Carlos Simon, was inspired by Beethoven’s defiant spirit and determination to overcome adversity. This contemporary masterpiece sets the stage for the triumphant celebration that unfolds in Beethoven's immortal Symphony No. 5. Renowned violin virtuoso Eunice Kim joins us to perform the breathtaking Bruch Violin Concerto, a technically stunning display of musical artistry.

Immortal Beethoven

Mayo Civic Center

Gershwin Concerto in F

Hemmens Auditorium

Mozart’s effervescent overture to The Marriage of Figaro provides a delightful introduction to cellist Jaemin Han, who delivers dazzling virtuosity in Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations, a sparkling tribute to 18th-century elegance. Carlos Simon’s Fate Now Conquers, inspired by Beethoven’s reflections on destiny, sets the stage for the composer’s Fifth Symphony—featuring the most iconic first four notes in classical music.

Beethoven’s Fifth

Meridian Arts Centre

Symphony on a Sunday

Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo

“From his first notes, the effect was astonishing. It was the tone he drew from his instrument which caught the ear first, and continued to throughout the performance. Totally clean, liquid, mellifluous—i.e., honeyed—in the best sense of the word, rounded and beautiful, it beckoned you in.”

Demarre McGill

Heritage Theatre

San Mateo High School

Carlos Simon’s The Block, Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler, and Mussorgsky’s iconic Pictures at an Exhibition (orchestrated by Ravel) come together in a visually inspired program that celebrates the connection between visual and musical arts.

Lancaster Country Day School

Pergolesi’s sacred masterpiece, the Stabat Mater, is filled with gorgeous, spine-tingling music that explores the nature of grief, hope and healing. These emotions also course through Barber’s sublime Adagio for Strings and Carlos Simon’s Fate Now Conquers, a high-spirited tribute to Beethoven. CSO Piccolo Jennifer Gunn solos as the mercurial protagonist in Thea Musgrave’s Piccolo Play.

Piccolo Play & Adagio for Strings

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony: Elgar’s Cello Concerto

Shermerhorn Symphony Center

Heroic Journeys

Broome County Forum Theatre

The NSO’s season bursts to life with the sensational Yuja Wang in Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, a powerhouse work for Wang to flaunt her “scintillating pianism” (New York Classical Review). The evening also shines a spotlight on American voices, from Copland’s resounding Fanfare for the Common Man to Carlos Simon’s Warmth of Other Suns and more. A perfect night for newcomers and longtime symphony lovers alike!

Season Opening Gala Concert: Noseda & Yuja Wang

Immerse yourself in our country’s most distinctive cultural resource: its music. George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, and Carlos Simon guide you on an exhilarating, globe-trotting tour of Harlem and points beyond, in a program conducted by James Gaffigan. In works like the Piano Concerto in F and American in Paris, Gershwin captured our national sound by blending all the styles he knew—jazz, blues, classical, sacred Hebrew laments, Eastern European hoedowns, and Broadway balladeering. Sophisticated and streetwise, Ellington’s Harlem celebrates the multi-ethnic capital of Black culture via sweet swing rhythms and salty avant-garde harmonies. Simon grew up in Atlanta, but his 2018 orchestral study The Block is pure Harlem, inspired by the work of African American painter and songwriter Romare Bearden.

Gaffigan Conducts Gershwin & Ellington

Davies Symphony Hall

The Grand Rapids Symphony opens its 96th season with an Ode to Joy! Marcelo Lehninger conducts a must hear performance of Beethoven's Symphony No.9.

Opening Night: Ode to Joy

DeVos Performance Hall

Join us for a night of pure musical celebration, where every moment bursts with energy, color, and joy! We open with Carlos Simon’s Fate Now Conquers — a powerful, rhythmic overture that ignites the stage with urgency and hope. Then, bask in the lush jazz-inspired brilliance of Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F, where classical finesse meets big-city swing. Finally, surrender to the unstoppable vitality of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, a work so full of life, it famously moved audiences to dance.

Finding Joy

University of Redlands

This afternoon's performance by the Tanglewood Festival Chorus is supported by the Alan J. and Suzanne W. Dworsky Fund for Voice and Chorus.

Beethoven Symphony No. 9, Ode to Joy

Tanglewood Music Center

TMC Orchestra Perform Mussorgsky, Prokofiev, and Simon

Musicianship at its finest! Experience the brilliance of harpist Johanna Wienholts and WCO Principal flute Brandon LePage as they perform works by Debussy and Carlos Simon. Paired with Mozart’s iconic Marriage of Figaro and Symphony No. 40, as well as the “Adagietto” from Mahler’s Symphony No. 5—led by guest conductor Yaniv Dinur—this program promises an evening of exceptional artistry and unforgettable music.

King Street corner of the Capitol Square

Recital Series: Boston Symphony Chamber Players

Join The Louisville Orchestra this July for the second leg of our 2025 In Harmony – The Commonwealth Tour! Celebrate summer with a vibrant program that combines iconic classics, exciting new works, and unexpected surprises in central Kentucky.

In Harmony Tour: Glasgow

Glasgow on the Square

The Stephen Foster Story

The Bandstand in Freeman Lake Park

Felix E Martin Jr Hall

The Louisville Orchestra, under the baton of conductor Teddy Abrams, will present a celebratory mix of classical and contemporary pieces. From beloved summer classics like Vivaldi’s “Summer,” and “The Star Spangled Banner” to crowd favorites like John Williams’ “Main Title” from Star Wars and Tchaikovsky’s “Finale” from 1812 Overture, Op. 49, there’s something for the whole family in this summertime celebration.

Play America

River Ridge

Celebrate Independence Day in grand style with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra! Weaving together contemporary and classical gems, audiences can expect all their favorites such as 1812 Overture, Stars and Stripes Forever, and the Armed Forces Salute, paired with performances by the TIED WINNERS of our 2025 Young Artist Concerto Competition, 17-year-old Indre Raghavan showcasing her skill on violin with the first movement of the Violin Concerto in D minor by Jean Sibelius, and 15-year-old André Previn Peck impressively performing the first movement of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in F minor. 

Celebration of Liberty

The FWSO’s Concert on the Lawn at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art returns for a second year! Enjoy the bold sounds of brass with Sousa marches like The Stars and Stripes Forever, along with classic Broadway tunes, including “Seventy-Six Trombones” from The Music Man and iconic tunes from South Pacific. Grab your blankets and lawn chairs, pack your snacks, and join us for a night filled with upbeat music and activities, perfect for the whole family.

Concert on the Lawn @ The Carter

Amon Carter Museum of American Art

The American Sound

Orpheum Theatre, Galesburg

Now in its fourth season, the 96-Hour Opera Festival celebrates emerging creative talents. The competition pairs composers and librettists to write ten-minute operas, which are developed over 96 hours and presented in a public showcase, with a winning team selected by judges.

2025 96-Hour Opera Project

Morehouse College

### Event Description: Juneteenth - Minnesota Orchestra

**Event Title:** Juneteenth with the Minnesota Orchestra

**Date & Time:** Thursday, June 19, 2025

**Venue:** Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN 55403

**Duration:** 2 hours, including intermission

**Event Overview:**
In celebration and remembrance of Juneteenth, the annual commemoration of the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, the Minnesota Orchestra, alongside guests and members of the Twin Cities community, will perform a program featuring music by African American composers. This special event aims to honor the historical significance of Juneteenth through a rich and diverse musical experience.

**Program:**
- **JOHNSON:** Victory Stride
- **WATKINS:** Soul of Remembrance, from Five Movements in Color
- **ABELS:** Delights and Dances
- **LEE:** Freedom’s Genuine Dawn
- **COLEMAN:** Umoja
- **SIMON:** Ring Shout, from Four Black American Dances

**Artists:**
- **Minnesota Orchestra:** The Grammy Award-winning Minnesota Orchestra, now in its second century, ranks among America’s top symphonic ensembles. The orchestra is known for its acclaimed performances, award-winning recordings, broadcasts, educational engagement programs, and a commitment to featuring works by composers of color.
- **Jonathan Taylor Rush, Conductor:** An accomplished and visionary conductor, Jonathan Taylor Rush's musical journey is rooted in his upbringing within the church, incorporating elements of gospel and soul music. He is a passionate advocate for living and underrepresented composers.

**Ticket Information:**
Tickets for this concert are available now when you purchase a package. Save up to 15% and receive subscriber perks when you buy 3 or more concerts. Individual tickets go on sale on July 29.

**Accessibility Services:**
- Armless & Bariatric Chairs
- Assistive Listening Devices
- Noise-Cancelling Headphones
- Service Animals
- Wheelchair & Accessible Seating
- Additional services are available upon request.

**Additional Information:**
Plan your visit to Orchestra Hall and subscribe for more updates and events. 

**Sponsored by:** [Sponsor Information]

Join us for an evening of powerful music and community as we celebrate Juneteenth with the Minnesota Orchestra.

Composer, Music Director

Carlos Simon

Events

Upcoming events

6 - 8 Nov, 2026

Laura Jackson conducts Tchaikovsky · Overture Center for the Arts

Nov 16, 2026

Takács Quartet · Wigmore Hall

Nov 17, 2026

Seth Alexander, Miguel Flores-Padilla, Boss Lee, and Everest Li, saxophone · Northwestern Bienen School of Music

Nov 19, 2026

Peace & Remembrance: Ravel & Vaughan Williams · Symphony Nova Scotia

20 - 22 Nov, 2026

Rush Conducts Brahms 4 · Hartford Symphony Orchestra

Past events

Oct 30, 2026

Gil Shaham Plays Tchaikovsky · Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

Oct 25, 2026

Northern Spirits: Sibelius Symphony No. 2 · Diablo Symphony Orchestra

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