Name: Community Concert in Renton
Start: 2024-10-23T19:30:00
Location: Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center

Sunny Xia

Eden Pawlos

Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra

Mahler’s Seventh Symphony began with a journey on the water: “I got into the boat …. At the first stroke of the oars, the theme (rather, the rhythm and character) of the introduction came into my head.” This journey glides through the nocturnal world of a feverish imagination, with the composer’s genius always lighting the way. We pass through twilight realms of fairytales, of phantoms, of serenading guitar, before emerging to hear Mahler greeting the full light of a sunny day. It remains his most mysterious and rarely heard symphony. Drawn by its emotional complexity, Music Director Xian Zhang wanted her first Mahler symphony in Seattle to be his Seventh — our first performances of it in 20 years.

Xian Conducts Mahler 7

Benaroya Hall

Join us for a big musical party as all the families of the orchestra — the brass, the winds, the strings and the percussion — come together to perform!

Tiny Orchestra: All Together Now!

Our 2025/2026 season culminates with the ultimate symphony — Beethoven’s Ninth, featuring an all-star cast of soloists chosen by Music Director Xian Zhang and joined by the massed forces of the Seattle Symphony Chorale. Revolutionary, epic and at 200 years old, still as driven as Beethoven’s own sense of our shared destiny, he crowned this summit of his music with the stunning addition of voices in a song for humanity, hope and joy. Xian pairs it with Artist in Focus Steven Mackey’s RIOT, for chorus, vocalist and the composer himself on electric guitar. This inspiring music places race and resilience in the foreground with a setting of words by Tracy K. Smith — culminating in positive affirmation and a celebration of perseverance, commitment and community.

Xian Conducts Beethoven 9

The Seattle Symphony returns to the Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center for a FREE community concert of new and celebrated music for orchestra.