Composer

Bring the whole family to the San Francisco Symphony’s first Music for Families concert of the new season—a vibrant exploration of the animal kingdom through music! Experience music from Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee,” Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, Saint-Saëns’s Carnival of the Animals, and more, as prowling cats, lumbering elephants, chirping birds, buzzing bumblebees, and all your favorite animals come to Davies Symphony Hall. Resident Conductor of Engagement and Education Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser conducts this engaging concert with the SF Symphony—the perfect outing to spark musical curiosity in all ages!

EPSG:4326

Music for Families

Davies Symphony Hall

The ECSO opens its 2026–27 season with an evening designed to thrill. Shadows & Spirits embraces the dramatic and the mysterious, pairing two works that pulse with dark energy and theatrical flair.

Concert competition winner violinist Isabella Diaz takes center stage for Prokofiev’s blazing Violin Concerto No. 1, a work of fierce rhythmic momentum and soaring Armenian melody. Prokofiev’s writing is unabashedly cinematic, moving from brooding intensity to exhilarating virtuosity, and Juilliard student Diaz brings all of it to life with commanding stage presence and technical brilliance.

ECSO Concertmaster Stephan Tieszen conjures one of music’s most beloved supernatural scenes: Saint-Saëns’s Danse macabre, in which Death himself plays violin as skeletons rise and dance at midnight. This iconic tone poem is hauntingly beautiful and irresistibly fun, the perfect curtain-raiser for a season full of discovery.

An evening of drama, dazzle, and just a hint of the otherworldly. Don’t miss it.

Opening Night

The Garde Arts Center, Inc.

Dinis Sousa leads a voyage across the English Channel, celebrating four visionary French masters. In tribute to the wit and beauty of Couperin’s keyboard music, Thomas Adès adds layers of sparkling instrumental texture. Georgian superstar Mariam Batsashvili is the soloist in Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No.2, with its pretty cascading melodies and dramatic twists and turns. Debussy lulls us with washes of impressionistic orchestral colour that conjure the different states of the sea, from calm to storm, and Ravel’s Boléro reminds us of a legendary moment in Olympic figure skating history.

Boléro

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic

Guest performance in Salzburg | Tour with Marie Jacquot

Great Festival House

Guest performance in Innsbruck | Tour with Marie Jacquot

Congress Innsbruck

Guest performance in Linz | Tour with Marie Jacquot

Brucknerhaus Linz

Rachel Cocks is a trombone student in her final year of undergraduate study at the Conservatoire, under the tutelage of Rich Watkin, Tony Howe and Edward Jones. During her degree studies, orchestral and chamber music have become her main passions. She has been selected for the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's training scheme and gained first prize in the Bernard Brown Chamber Ensemble Prize.

Lunchtime Music

Royal Birmingham Conservatoire

Celebrate the 60th anniversary of the prestigious Concertino Praga competition with an evening of virtuosity and distinguished musical figures. Under the baton of Robert Kružík, Bach’s Double Concerto in D minor will be performed by Dmitry Sitkovetsky and Václav Hudeček; Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1 by Jan Čmejla together with Filippo Lombardi; Glière’s Horn Concerto by Radek Baborák; and Saint-Saëns’s Étude in the Form of a Waltz, performed by the violinist Daniel Matejča.

Concertino Praga 60 Year

Rudolfinum

Halloween Spooktacular

Robinson Center

Programmed and led by A2SO Concertmaster Aaron Berofsky, the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra’s Concertmaster Chamber Series features free, intimate performances in some of Southeast Michigan’s most enthralling and engaging spaces. 

These concerts are free with reserved tickets. 

Concertmaster Chamber Series: Berofsky & Friends

First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor

First Presbyterian Church of Ypsilanti

Cello superstar Sheku Kanneh-Mason, whose albums have sold over 100,000 copies worldwide, joins our very own Royal Northern Sinfonia.

Sheku Kanneh-Mason plays Saint-Saëns

The Glasshouse International Centre for Music

Westmorland Hall, Kendal

Two classical music stars grace this extraordinary program: Latvian organist Iveta Apkalna elevates Camille Saint-Saëns' sublime "Organ Symphony," while French violist Antoine Tamestit takes center stage in Thierry Escaich's sophisticated viola concerto "La Nuit des Chants." Composed especially for him, the work explores the dazzling expressive possibilities of his instrument. The concert opens with Richard Wagner's majestic "Tannhäuser" Overture.

Majestic - Marie Jacquot & Iveta Apkalna

Cologne Philharmonie

Cello superstar Sheku Kanneh-Mason, whose albums have sold over 100,000 copies worldwide, joins Royal Northern Sinfonia and their Music Director Dinis Sousa for this not to be missed concert.

Middlesbrough Town Hall

WDR Happy Hour - Marie Jacquot

Konzerthaus Dortmund

It is easy to be carried away by Camille Saint-Saëns' elegant and at the same time dramatic music – not least the composer's most breathtaking work, the Organ Symphony . With this work, Saint-Saëns set out to create a great symphony that would reignite the French symphonic tradition. He succeeded – and the composer was immediately nicknamed “the French Beethoven”.

Kavakos & Saint-Saëns

DR Koncerthuset

Marta Gardolińska leads the Swedish world-renowned cellist Jakob Koranyi and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Camille Saint-Saëns' beloved first cello concerto – a work that combines virtuoso elegance and dramatic heat. This is followed by Grazyna Bacewicz's colorful and powerful Musica sinfonica in tre movimenti , full of drive, sharpness and modern brilliance. The finale is a pure dance party, when Antonín Dvořák's Slavonic Dances fill Berwaldhallen with vitality and infectious energy.

From cello glow to Slavonic dances

Berwaldhallen

IMS Prussia Cove brings world-class chamber music to venues across the UK, showcasing young artists alongside celebrated performers. Artistic Director Steven Isserlis invites musicians from across the world, creating unique chamber groups which combine different generations and nationalities to bring audiences unforgettable performances inspired by an exceptional tradition of music making.

IMS Prussia Cove

Wigmore Hall

Akiko Fujimoto is Music Director of the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas (SoNA) and Music Director of the Mid-Texas Symphony. Known for evoking dynamic performances, she has earned praise for her “powerhouse performance” from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Rites of Renewal: The Firebird

Walton Arts Center

Anita Rachvelishvili

San Carlo Theatre

The extensive concert program presents itself with dazzling diversity and a variety of formats. The Zurich Opera Orchestra, in full force, will perform in seven Philharmonic Concerts, alternating between the Opera House and the Tonhalle. Internationally renowned soloists and guest conductors will dedicate themselves to major works from Beethoven to Strauss, as well as fascinating discoveries from the concert repertoire. A special highlight is the Prokofiev Cycle, created in collaboration with the Tonhalle Orchestra. Three concerts by the Orchestra La Scintilla on period instruments, as well as a series of gala and special concerts – including one with the Children's Opera Orchestra – further enrich the diverse offerings. The musicians of the Zurich Opera Orchestra can be heard in smaller, more intimate ensembles in the popular Chamber Concerts, held every Sunday morning and Monday evening. The Ensemble Opera Nova brings works from the late 20th and 21st centuries to the Studio Stage. The concert program is rounded off by the song recitals, in which some of the most beautiful and characteristic voices of our time can be heard.

1. Chamber Concert

Opernhaus Zürich

A concert filled with brilliant virtuosity and symphonic splendor awaits as Emilia Hoving leads the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in a program that ranges from raw folk pulse to orchestral grandeur. Béla Bartók’s Dance Suite opens with its colourful cityscapes and rhythms from Central Europe, before trumpet master Håkan Hardenberger takes the stage in Karen Tanaka’s newly written Trumpet Concerto – a work filled with sparkling technical power. After the intermission, the evening culminates in Camille Saint-Saëns’ monumental Organ Symphony , where orchestra and organ together build a sound cathedral of majestic energy.

Hardenberger in Tanaka’s trumpet concerto

This lustrous evening brings together exquisite sound paintings for piano, strings and horn, showcasing the range and reach of our resident Ensemble 360.

Debussy | La Mer

Crucible Theatre

Come and enjoy hearing talented music students from Geiko Music High School in Japan perform at the Royal Academy of Music. 

Little Gems from Geiko Music High School

Royal Academy of Music

When this musician sits down at the organ, it sounds as though a complete symphony orchestra is playing – including sophisticated solos on flutes, trombones and other wind instruments. This is because Shin-Young Lee loves programmes in which she can combine original repertoire with organ transcriptions of famous orchestral works. Alongside Marie-Pierre Langlamet, harpist of the Berliner Philharmoniker, the internationally renowned organist presents a spectacular programme at the Musikfest Berlin ranging from Liszt’s virtuoso concert etude Un sospiro  (creating the impression of three hands at the keyboard) to Louis Vierne’s showpiece Carillon de Westminster.

Matinee: Organ & Harp

Berliner Philharmoniker

Embark on a musical grand tour of Austria, America, and France with the WT Faculty Woodwind Quintet and pianist Dr. Sarah Rushing as they perform vibrant works by Mozart, Barber, Saint-Saëns, and Poulenc.

A Grand Tour: Music from Austria, America and France

Sensory-friendly concerts are adapted live music events for people with autism, sensory sensitivities, or other neurodivergent needs, featuring modified environments like lower sound, softer lighting, and opportunities to move freely or use fidgets; they offer a welcoming, non-judgmental space where audience members can be themselves, often with quiet areas and trained staff to ensure a comfortable experience for all ages. These concerts aim to make live music accessible, with accommodations like allowing talking, standing, or exploring instruments up close, making it fun for the whole family.

Family Concert: Carnival of the Animals

Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Stella Boyle Smith Music Center

The Franco-Belgian cellist Camille Thomas has been making music with radiant, instinctive joy since age four. Her deeply expressive performances—marked by a rare blend of technical refinement and emotional immediacy—have made her one of the most compelling artists of her generation. Highlights of the 2025–26 season include performances with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, Taiwan Philharmonic, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Residentie Orkest, Bochum Symphony Orchestra, and a five-city tour with Euskadiko Orkestra. In October 2025 Thomas curated a week of Paris-inspired concerts at the Viva Cello Festival in Switzerland. She embarked on a North American recital tour with pianist-composer Julien Brocal and continues to tour with clarinetist YOM.

Camille Thomas, cello; Julien Brocal, piano

Tippet Rise Art Center

Philippe Jordan, “the low-key maestro who’s taking French [music] to new heights” (The Guardian) brings a rejuvenating je ne sais quoi to a night of masterworks by three of the most popular composers from France.

Ravel, Debussy & Saint-Saëns

Hollywood Bowl

Hear phenomenal organist Anna Lapwood with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. We move from divine mysteries to cosmic melodies and the world of film in music by Richter, Zimmer, Arakelyan and Saint-Saëns.

Anna Lapwood plays Max Richter

Göteborgs Konserthus

Gen Z knows him as “Cateen,” the hip YouTuber and cat enthusiast with more than 1,5 million followers. Behind the social-media star — whose artful clips have racked up over 200 million views — is the Japanese pianist Hayato Sumino, born in 1995. And you can hear him live in the Concert Hall, now for the first time at Lucerne Festival, and marvel at what he can do at the piano. Sumino doesn’t shy away from the toughest virtuoso challenges, including the wild demands of Guido Agosti’s piano transcription of excerpts from Stravinsky’s Firebird. But the idea behind the program matters even more to him: he has built his Lucerne debut around Frédéric Chopin, interweaving Chopin pieces with his own neoclassically styled compositions and improvisations. Works by Thomas Adès and Camille Saint-Saëns also enter this “Chopin orbit” with ease. Teenagers and 20-somethings flock to his concerts — no surprise he recently won the “Opus Klassik” audience award. Yet Sumino is far more than a media phenomenon: he refined his artistry with Jean-Marc Luisada and also studied at IRCAM in Paris.

Hayato Sumino

KKL Luzern Concert Hall

Radu Ratoi is the winner of the 2024 Susan Wadsworth International Auditions. An extraordinary talent, he has been praised for his originality and virtuosity in the instruments, in both classical and contemporary repertoire. Ratoi continues to push the limits of the instrument through inventive transcriptions of Bach, Scarlatti, Rameau, Liszt, and many more, extending the repertoire possibilities for the accordion.

Wander Series: Radu Ratoi, accordion

The Cottonwood Campus

Fasten your seatbelts for a high-octane musical journey, from Hans Zimmer’s epic Gladiator score to Wagner’s imposing Die Walküre, via the jazzy swing of Artie Shaw’s Clarinet Concerto with Principal Clarinet Andrew Simon. The HK Phil trombone section – Jarod Vermette, Christian Goldsmith, Kevin Thompson, and Aaron Albert – performs Koetsier’s Concertino for Four Trombones, a playful showcase of brass virtuosity. From circus march to operatic fire, this musical thrill ride soars with energy and lands in unforgettable style.

Swire Denim Series: From Gladiators to Valkyries

Hong Kong Cultural Centre

She is just 21 years old and has already created a stir on the international stage: born in Sapporo, Japan, Yuki Hirano won the 2024 Vienna Classical Violin Competition at the Classical Violin Olympus and emerged in the spring of 2025 as the winner of the International Jascha Heifetz Competition in Vilnius, where she also received numerous special prizes. The secret to her success? “If the audience can enjoy the music, I’m happy,” says the student of Pavel Vernikov at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna. 

Yuki Hirano | Chizu Miyamoto

Reformierte Lukaskirche

High Festival Level

Imperial Baths

Concert of the Musikalischer Sommer: Carmen Fantasy, Saint-Saëns, Haydn and Brahms, among others. Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor, Op. 101.

Franziska König, Iwan König & Christoph Beyer

Kirche Reepsholt

We are back at Frogner hovedgård, and with French composers as the common thread, we dedicate the afternoon to chamber music from the late Romantic era and Impressionism. This is a concert where lyrical melodies and tonal colors are given free rein, and it is perfect for you if you have a heart for the harp.

French Focus

Frogner hovedgård

Landmarks’ 25th Anniversary season concludes with a celebratory program featuring Saint-Saëns’ majestic “Organ Symphony” and Beethoven’s triumphant Leonore Overture No. 3. Presented in partnership with the Esplanade Association, the concert also includes Respighi’s Fountains of Rome and Mendelssohn’s The Hebrides, setting the stage for an unforgettable evening of music in this jewel of a public park.

Organ Symphony & Fountains of Rome

Hatch Memorial Shell

A. Vivaldi

Orto Botanico di Palermo

Our annual visit to Mikkeli Music Festival in Finland is a highlight in the Philharmonia’s concert calendar.

Mikkeli Music Festival 2026

“The Land That Shapes Us” brings our American Adventures season to a sweeping close, reflecting on the landscapes that define our character and leave their imprint on our lives’ stories. A newly commissioned work by Tanner Porter, inspired by the Colorado River, traces the waterway’s power and poetry—its quiet source, surging currents, and life-giving presence across the West. Schuman’s New England Triptych reimagines early American hymn tunes with bracing energy and noble simplicity, while Respighi’s Pines of Rome paints towering trees and sunlit vistas in cinematic brilliance, culminating in a triumphant procession that feels elemental and unforgettable.

The Land That Shapes Us

Riverwalk Center

You don’t just hear Saint-Saëns’s “Organ” Symphony; you feel it. Experience the power of this magnificent music and the 6,025 pipes of Severance’s mighty Norton Memorial Organ. Kazuki Yamada contrasts this audience favorite with Haydn’s smaller, but no less delightful “London” Symphony. Principal Trombone Brian Wendel also steps into the spotlight for the dramatic Trombone Concerto of Nino Rota, best known for his score for The Godfather.

Saint-Saëns’s Organ Symphony

Severance Music Center

In French Reflections, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Fellows present a sophisticated selection of chamber works spanning Baroque splendour to 20th‑century brilliance. Lully’s regal dances open a program enriched by Saint‑Saëns’ elegant Septet and Poulenc’s refined lyricism. Martinů’s La Revue de cuisine brings rhythmic vitality and modern flair, complemented by Bernovsky’s striking Trio for Brass. This concert showcases the Fellows’ artistry across a vivid palette of ensemble colours and historical styles.

French Reflections

Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church

NSSO July 2026 Concert

Sydney Conservatorium of Music

Three mezzo-soprano voices: the same tessitura but timbres that could hardly be more different. Three young singers, Brenda Poupard, Anouk de Fontenay and Léontine Maridat-Zimmerlin, accompanied by pianist Anne Pagès, sing solo, in duets and in trios. World premiere of La Balade des Vierges by Jean-Marc Fouché.

One, Two, Three Voices

Jardins de la Salle Jean-Louis Herrault

Camille Saint-Saëns: Le carnaval des animaux (The Carnival of the Animals)

The Carnival of the Animals, the humorous musical suite for children by the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns, performed live accompanied by a crankie and artistic puppetry, each followed by an instrument petting zoo.

Carnival of the Animals

Maverick Concert Hall

Tonight's program offers a refined musical journey through the 19th and 20th centuries, highlighting the extraordinary expressive possibilities of the flute and harp duo. The combination of the two instruments, among the most evocative in chamber music, allows for the exploration of a rich palette of sound, capable of evoking intimate and contemplative atmospheres, but also virtuosic impulses and accents of intense theatricality.

Notes at the Museum

Palazzo Abatellis

The Anghiari Festival is a week of beautiful classical music, set in a quiet corner of the rolling Tuscan hills. If you’re looking for a taste of Italian summer, this hour-long concert is the best way to spend your lunch break – don’t miss out.

Anghiari Festival Chamber Music Preview

Smith Square Hall

Delirium Musicum

Central Park

Hostility, hatred and religious wars, power, helplessness and desire: in the Hebrew struggle for freedom, Samson, as God’s chosen one, rebukes the hostile Philistines. Samson seems invincible until his love for the Philistine Dalila exposes him. She finds out the secret of his extraordinary strength. The loss of his identity is at stake, and a race against time begins.

Samson et Dalila

Bebelplatz

Experience the magic of live music at NRO On the Lake, the NRO’s annual free concert at the breathtaking Dillon Amphitheater. Under the masterful direction of Music Director Michael Stern, this unforgettable evening blends classical masterpieces with modern favorites, creating a dynamic program that captivates audiences of all ages. Set against the stunning backdrop of Lake Dillon and the majestic Tenmile Mountain Range, whether you’re a devoted classical music enthusiast or simply looking for a perfect summer evening by the water, NRO On the Lake promises an inspiring and unforgettable experience.

NRO On the Lake

Dillon Amphitheater

After a long hiatus, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra (hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt) returns to the Bad Hersfeld Festival in 2026. Under the direction of chief conductor Alain Altinoglu, they will present a concert for the whole family against the impressive backdrop of the abbey ruins. The melodies have already captivated countless young and old with classical music. This program will feature a whole menagerie of animals, as well as colorful portraits of well-known fairytale characters such as Sleeping Beauty, Tom Thumb, and the Empress of the Pagodas.

Bad Hersfeld Festival

Stiftsruine Bad Hersfeld

Conductor Stéphane Denève joins the San Francisco Symphony for an extraordinary program featuring two powerhouses of the French symphonic organ tradition, performed by Olivier Latry. Poulenc’s Organ Concerto was inspired by the intricate organ fantasies of Buxtehude, Bach, and other Baroque composers. “This is not the happy-go-lucky Poulenc,” he confessed in a letter, “but a Poulenc en route to the cloister—a 15th-century Poulenc, if you like.” Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony has been a hit with audiences since 1886, when the composer led the Royal Philharmonic Society in its world premiere. His writing for the organ—quietly shaded at first, commanding later—is the perfect showcase for Davies Symphony Hall’s magnificent Ruffatti Organ.

Denève Conducts Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony

Join Bath Philharmonia under Kerem Hasan for an electrifying night: Mozart’s sparkling overture, Saint-Saëns’ lyrical Cello Concerto with Sterling Elliott, Ligeti’s folk-inspired Concert Românesc, and Ginastera’s fiery Dances from Estancia. Drama, rhythm, and brilliance—an evening not to miss!

Sterling Elliott & Bath Phil

The Forum Bath

Concert No. 02 of the Musikalischer Sommer in Ostfriesland. Dimitri Ashkenazy (clarinet), Barbara-Gabriella Bossert (flute) and Iwan König (piano).

Dimitri Ashkenazy, Barbara Bossert & Iwan König

Kirche Sillenstede

This year’s Free Family & Kids Concert stomps into the spotlight with a dinosaur theme, kicking off with an hour of free, hands-on dinosaur crafts courtesy of Frosted Flamingo. Young concertgoers can create their own prehistoric masterpieces before the music begins, setting the stage for a morning of imagination and discovery. Conductor Jason Seber returns to lead this lively and engaging program, guiding audiences of all ages through an entertaining musical adventure designed especially for families. Filled with energy, storytelling, and plenty of fun, this free community concert invites everyone to explore a Jurassic-sized celebration of music.

Free Family and Kids Concert

This concert combines diverse approaches to compositions for wind ensembles to create an ambitious sound experience. Franz Danzi's primary intention was to establish a love for the genre among music lovers of his time. Beethoven's Septet (as a chamber music solitaire), despite its status as an occasional composition, had an unintentional influence on subsequent generations. And in Maurice Ravel's Autobiographical Sketch, he notes that the Homage des Tombeau is "directed less to Couperin alone than to French music of the 18th century."

Windspiel

Augustusplatz

All stops are pulled when organist Sebastian Heindl plays our Eule organ, demonstrating the versatility of his instrument with a virtuosic program. As a modern representative of the centuries-old Leipzig music tradition, Heindl opens his program with Bach. After warming up his fingers – and the audience – with the virtuosic cascades of the Toccata in F major, he leads through a mini-panorama of organ music, in which he also presents his own compositions. The thrilling conclusion is formed by Camille Saint-Saëns' "Danse macabre," arranged for organ by Heindl himself – dance-like, grotesque, and dizzyingly virtuosic.

Toccata

Palace of Culture

The harp is the instrument of angels. But it is also the instrument of the French Impressionists. Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy weren't the only ones to write shimmering, sparkling, and sun-drenched music for the 47-stringed instrument. Camille Saint-Saëns, labeled a classicist but incredibly versatile, also left us wonderful harp music, as did Jean Cras, a contemporary of Jules Massenet and Gabriel Fauré, who was an admiral by profession. The sweeping view over the sea and the whisper of the wind definitely left their mark on his enchanting chamber music! 

La Harpe

Beethoven Orchester Bonn

A wonderfully vibrant evening to close the season! Is there a more shimmering, more thrilling piece of exotic music than the Bacchanale from Camille Saint-Saëns' opera "Samson et Dalila"? Hardly. This is followed by
Anna Clyne's "Quarter Days," which premiered only in 2023 and which the new Composer in Focus series describes as a reflection on the passage of time: "both within a minute, a day, the seasons, and even within an entire lifetime." And finally, the then-revolutionary "Symphonie fantastique" by the Frenchman Hector Berlioz, now indestructible as a clever popular hit, is a captivating evening with Nicholas Milton and the Elaia Quartet from Berlin, who know how to shape the profoundly human passage of time into soaring tones!

Fantastic

Stadthalle Göttingen

Following the tradition of the Musicians’ Choice Chamber Music Series, oral program notes will be given by the musicians, interspersed throughout the performance. The short format program is presented in an intimate, relaxed setting without intermission.

Tres Cordes

Arnot Art Museum

Season Finale – Pictures

Heritage Middle School

MSO Concertmaster Jinwoo Lee steps into the spotlight to perform Saint-Saëns’s Third Violin Concerto, a veritable showpiece for the instrument’s sparkling character and color. Conductor Iván López Reynoso, who made his U.S. orchestral debut with the MSO, returns to conduct Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony, rife with deliciously heartbreaking tunes and romantic melancholy.

Rachmaninoff & Saint-Saëns

Warner Grand Theater

Paolo Carlini and Fabrizio Datteri

Teatro La Fenice

"Camille Saint-Saëns' Cello Concerto is fantastic: very dramatic, in a way truly theatrical," enthuses star cellist Gautier Capuçon. And with his globally acclaimed, sonorous voice, the Frenchman is the perfect soloist for this Romantic masterpiece. It's no surprise that it's so dramatic: after all, Saint-Saëns wrote eleven operas, just two fewer than operatic giant Richard Wagner. And so it's fitting that the two composers perform side by side here—especially since the Staatskapelle Dresden is an orchestra whose DNA is, so to speak, written into its DNA. But the top-class ensemble also manages to illuminate the lucid brilliance of Claude Debussy's impressionistic soundscape "La mer" with "effortless excellence" and "overwhelming beauty" (Hamburger Abendblatt). An evening not to be missed! (And just as an aside: Debussy was also, of course, an opera composer.)

Saxon State Orchestra Dresden / Gautier Capuçon / Daniele Gatti

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

It is a young, but all the more beautiful tradition: shortly before the end of the season, great orchestral sound prepares a feast for the ears. The Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden is the orchestra of honour. In the 1840s, Richard Wagner referred to the orchestra, which he himself led as court conductor, with sincere affection as a 'wonderful harp'. Since then, the art-loving metropolis on the River Elbe has been a constant source of Wagnerian music. For the orchestra festival at the Alte Oper, the Dresdeners will continue to focus on Wagner, placing him in a surprising field of tension: Camille Saint-Saëns and Claude Debussy were among the German Romantic composer's greatest admirers and harshest critics. The Sächsische Staatskapelle, its principal conductor Daniele Gatti and Gautier Capuçon will devote themselves to these three magicians of sound par excellence.

Orchestra Festival: Saxon State Orchestra Dresden

Alte Oper

Leading French clarinettist Raphaël Sévère’s phenomenal rise on the international platform was marked by his Victoires de la Musique Classique nomination when he was aged just 15. Since then, he has been impressing audiences around the world with his technical mastery, translucent tone and mesmerising musicality. He will be returning to Hong Kong to bring a fantastic recital (27 May) of exquisite works by French giants Debussy, Poulenc and Saint-Saëns, before appearing in an unmissable concert with Hong Kong Sinfonietta and celebrated Estonian conductor Olari Elts, where Nielsen’s captivating Clarinet Concerto will take centre stage. The rest of the programme will see an evocative pairing of Nielsen’s and Sibelius’ works surrounding Pan, the mythical Greek god of wilderness, as well as the fresh and infectious energy of Sibelius’ Symphony No 3 (30 May).

Raphaël Sévère: A Rendezvous in Paris

Hong Kong City Hall

Under the baton of Music Director Designate Markus Poschner, known for his Bruckner expertise, the composer’s Symphony No. 4 sweeps audiences into a grand adventure through nature’s majesty and medieval romance. (Think wizards, knights and damsels in distress.) With bold brass blasting, the “Hunt Scherzo” gallops with excitement, while the triumphant finale takes you to an unforgettable peak—talk about a wild ride!

Markus Poschner’s Season Finale: Bruckner's Symphony No. 4

Salt Palace Convention Center

Dillon Huang, violin

Northwestern Bienen School of Music

Start your morning off right with a behind-the-scenes look at the process of bringing our concerts to the stage. Finishing Touches gives our audience the opportunity to observe working rehearsals; selections from the program will be rehearsed at the discretion of the conductor.

Under the baton of Music Director Designate Markus Poschner, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 sweeps audiences into a grand adventure through nature’s majesty and medieval romance. With bold brass blasting, the “Hunt Scherzo” gallops with excitement, while the triumphant finale takes you to an unforgettable peak—talk about a wild ride!

Bruckner's Symphony No. 4: Finishing Touches Rehearsal

Piano concert with Julia Marie Müller and Iwan König (piano), and Yara and Lorin König (narrators). Program: Camille Saint-Saëns' "The Carnival of the Animals" (arranged for piano four hands, with text by Loriot) and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake Suite, Op. 20" (arranged for piano four hands).

Castle Concert at Pentecost

Schloss Gödens

After writing two light but entertaining violin concertos, Saint-Saëns upped his game in 1880. In his Violin Concerto No. 3, he delivered a deliciously scored masterpiece characterised by its brilliant solo part, building intensity, room-stilling slow movement and finale inspired by the music of the country it was written in: Spain. Alexandra Conunova plays perhaps the greatest French violin concerto in between music that finds hope from grief: Ravel’s etched memorials to fallen comrades and the symphony in which Sibelius wrestles the most inspiring optimism from music born of tragedy.

Sibelius Symphony No. 2

University of Oxford

Sebastian Weigle is already a familiar name at the Munich National Theater, having performed in numerous operatic performances. With The Love of Danae, the internationally sought-after artist recently rehearsed his first new production at the Bavarian State Opera, and now he is conducting an Academy concert for the first time. The program features two orchestral works whose virtuosity and richness of color showcase the instrumental talent of an orchestra in every respect: Modest Mussorgsky's only original orchestral composition, A Night on Bald Mountain, a wild witches' sabbath, and Camille Saint-Saëns 's Organ Symphony   , in which the State Opera's new organ is able to unfold its splendor. In the fine tradition of the Bavarian State Orchestra of introducing its soloists in the Academy Concerts, principal trumpeter Johannes Moritz will interpret the Trumpet Concerto by Alexander Arutiunyan: a truly spectacular piece in which the Armenian composer combines elements of his homeland's folk music with late-Romantic, luxuriant harmonies and French flair – a captivating discovery.

6th Academy Concert: Sebastian Weigle

Max-Joseph-Platz

Since 2010, chamber music ensembles of the Staatskapelle have been performing at the Bode Museum, a jewel of Berlin's museum landscape. Matinee concerts lasting just over an hour in the Gobelin Hall, with diverse programs that include music from the Baroque and Classical periods as well as works from the Romantic and Modern periods, can easily lead into further hours in the museum—for example, with a guided tour of the exhibition and the "Artwork of the Day," a private tour, or a culinary finale in the stylish museum café.

Composer

Camille Saint-Saëns

Events

Upcoming events

Oct 31, 2026

Free Neighborhood Concert · Anchorage Symphony Orchestra

Oct 31, 2026

Hauntingly Halloween · Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra

Nov 1, 2026

Mozart, Bridge, and Saint-Saëns · San Francisco Symphony

Nov 1, 2026

Sorcery, Magic & Fireworks · Worthing Symphony Orchestra

6 - 7 Nov, 2026

La Vita D'eroe · Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana

Past events

Oct 24, 2026

Music for Families · San Francisco Symphony

Oct 24, 2026

Opening Night · Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra

About

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