Name: Bolero and Don Juan
Start: 2026-04-25T00:00:00
Location: Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

Dive into an eclectic celebration of innovative music through a series of captivating events. From genre-defying performances by Time for Three to the enchanting compositions of Mason Bates and the evocative voice of Joyce DiDonato, these gatherings showcase the brilliance of contemporary and classical music. With performances spanning from chamber music to orchestral masterpieces, distinguished conductors like Robert Moody and Teddy Abrams lead audiences through an unforgettable auditory experience.

Exploring Musical Horizons: A Journey with Time for Three and Notable Symphonies

The acclaimed string trio, Time for Three, is set to enchant audiences with their genre-bending performances as they join forces with renowned orchestras across the United States and Canada. From the intricate compositions of Mason Bates to the iconic melodies of Aaron Copland, these upcoming concerts promise a vibrant blend of classic and contemporary sounds, celebrating the versatility of chamber and orchestral music. With performances spanning a year and featuring a diverse repertoire, Time for Three is poised to leave audiences inspired and enthralled.

Time for Three: A Symphony of Strings and Innovation

Dive into the world of Time for Three, where classical music meets contemporary innovation. This exciting ensemble joins forces with renowned conductors and orchestras, from the San Francisco Symphony to the Philadelphia Orchestra, delivering a unique blend of genres and emotions. Experience the fusion of classical pieces like Beethoven's Fifth Symphony with modern compositions by Mason Bates, creating an unforgettable musical journey that defies convention and captivates audiences worldwide.

Time for Three: A Symphony of Innovation and Passion in Music

As 2026 unfolds, a series of exceptional musical events are set to captivate audiences across the United States. Showcasing the fusion of classic and contemporary compositions, these events highlight the mastery and creativity of renowned artists, including mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, the string trio Time For Three, and a host of accomplished orchestras. From the evocative poetry of Emily Dickinson set to music to the legendary strains of Beethoven, each performance promises a unique musical experience that resonates with audiences and celebrates the enduring magic of orchestral music.

A Symphony of Artistry: Exploring Timeless Musical Journeys

Embark on a melodious journey with a series of captivating musical events that bring together the grandeur of orchestral symphonies, the innovative spirit of crossover genres, and the intimate charm of chamber music. From Beethoven's timeless Fifth Symphony performed by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra to Copland's Appalachian Spring celebrating American sound and movement with the Louisville Orchestra, and Time for Three's electrifying performances, these events promise an unforgettable exploration of music's diverse landscape.

A Symphony of Melodies: Celebrating Music and Innovation Across America

Join the Philadelphia Orchestra as they take you on an unforgettable musical journey from March to May 2026. With an eclectic line-up of events, including Mahler's 'Resurrection' Symphony, Liszt's Piano Fireworks, and Lang Lang's one-night-only engagement, the orchestra brings together world-renowned conductors and performers to present classical works that have shaped the musical landscape. Explore these events and their significance, as they unfurl a tapestry of emotion, virtuosity, and timeless beauty at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts.

Philadelphia Orchestra: A March to May of Musical Masterpieces

Marin Alsop

Philadelphia Orchestra

Time for Three

Yannick continues the Orchestra’s exploration of Mahler with one of the composer’s most enduring classics. Shaking the heavens, Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony is a vast, spectacular work requiring a large orchestra as well as organ, chorus, two soloists, and multiple offstage musicians. In its sublime ending, majestic and awe-inspiring, a heavenly choir sings and in that moment, Mahler wrote, “a feeling of overwhelming love fills us.”

Mahler’s Symphony No. 2

Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

Liszt’s piano concertos challenge even the most virtuosic pianists, and his passionate Second is no exception, traversing the keyboard with knuckle-cramping, breakneck passages that render the player’s hands a blur. Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin, a “marvelous, moving” artist (The New York Times) whose “technical finesse borders on the supernatural” (The Seattle Times), is more than equal to the challenge. Buckle up for a wild ride in this virtuoso display! 

Liszt’s Piano Fireworks

One of today’s most sought-after artists, this extraordinary Icelandic pianist’s recordings on Deutsche Grammophon have drawn nearly a billion streams and won many awards including BBC Music Magazine Album of the Year. In live performance, Olafsson is “a hypnotic presence at the keyboard; listeners might be held back in thrilling anticipation one moment or tumbled headlong into the maelstrom” (The Guardian). Discover an artist who draws “the kind of whooping ovation usually reserved for rock stars” (The Guardian). 

Víkingur Ólafsson

Composed during a tumultuous period in his life, the great Romantic composer Robert Schumann’s Second Symphony is a musical journey, as he called it, “of many joys and sorrows.” Principal Guest Conductor Marin Alsop leads this beautiful masterwork, on a program with Rachmaninoff’s blazing Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, performed by a pianist of “enchanting, sensitive lyricism” (The Jerusalem Post).

Marin and the Many Moods of Schumann

There are artists who seize the public imagination, and perhaps none has done so as spectacularly as Lang Lang. Whether he’s performing for billions, as at the 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony, or for a small group of school children, his artistry and passion is on full display. In this one-night-only engagement, the celebrated pianist joins Yannick and the Orchestra in Beethoven’s lyrical Piano Concerto No. 2. Tickets will fly for this concert; order early to avoid missing out. 

Lang Lang and Yannick

A pair of masterworks from a prodigiously gifted composer who shaped the music of his lifetime and centuries thereafter. Bold and brilliant, Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 is a cyclone of dramatic energy that leaves listeners on the edge of their seats. In his Requiem, Mozart summoned all the fire and brimstone hell could hold, making ominously real the awful majesty of death and the miracle of redemption.  

Mozart: Great and Glorious

Seduction is the subtext in this program that pairs Richard Strauss’s portrait of the famous fictional philanderer and Ravel’s Bolero, whose relentless pulse mirrors the beat of desire. Beyond the bedroom, we turn our gaze to galaxies far, far away, as Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Kevin Puts’sContact imagines encounters with other beings.

Bolero and Don Juan

Copland captured the American spirit in his music, so evocative of windswept prairies, mountain hollows, and the optimism and resilience idealistically attributed to the inheritors of the new world. Like Appalachian Spring, Billy the Kid, and Rodeo, his Third Symphony—the source of his Fanfare for the Common Man—summons that irrepressible spirit in a deeply satisfying listening experience.

Copland’s American Inspiration

Itzhak Perlman brings his foot-stomping, heartbeat raising collection of klezmer music to audiences around the country with "In the Fiddler's House," a live presentation of is Emmy Award–winning PBS special, Great Performances: In the Fiddler's House. Almost 30 years later Perlman still leaves audiences dancing in the aisles with this unique and unforgettable cultural music experience.

Itzhak Perlman: In the Fiddler’s House

Bach’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 are at the heart of this concert of classics. The program also features a pair of captivating masterworks inspired by folk dances, by Hungarian composers Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály.

Bach and Mozart Piano Classics

Mahler’s Fifth Symphony is a sonic banquet, five spectacularly different movements that come together in an overwhelmingly brilliant whole. When rehearsing for the premiere, Mahler called the work “primeval, this foaming, roaring, raging sea of sound.” The program opens with a new work by acclaimed Philadelphia-based composer Tyshawn Sorey, written for Aaron Diehl, a pianist of “melodic precision, harmonic erudition and elegant restraint” (The New York Times). 

Mahler and Sorey

Composer, trumpeter, and standard-bearer for the art form, jazz legend Wynton Marsalis has earned scores of awards including the Pulitzer Prize for Music. In 1983, he became the first and only artist ever to win both a Classical and Jazz Grammy in the same year; in 1984 he did it again. Joined by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra performs Marsalis’s newest work on a program with Beethoven’s lively, melodic Seventh Symphony.

Bolero and Don Juan

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