The Chattanooga Symphony & Opera (CSO) is orchestrating a season of rich and diverse musical experiences, catering to a wide audience with sensitivities through their Sensory Friendly and All-Accessible concerts, while also delighting classical enthusiasts with masterpieces such as Beethoven's Symphony No. 5. The CSO further showcases young talent with the Chattanooga Youth Symphony Concerts, and sets a romantic tone with their Big Band Valentine’s event. This season promises a harmonious blend of accessibility, tradition, and innovation.

Chattanooga Symphony & Opera: A Season of Inclusivity and Musical Mastery

The Chattanooga Symphony & Opera (CSO) presents a trio of unique musical events catering to diverse audiences. From the inclusive Sensory Friendly series to the iconic sounds of Beethoven's 5th, and the vibrant performances of the Chattanooga Youth Symphony, these events promise to engage and inspire. Each concert offers a distinct experience, whether you're a seasoned symphony attendee or new to orchestral music. Join us as we dive into the details of these remarkable events, celebrating the universal language of music in a welcoming and enriching atmosphere.

A Symphony for All: Chattanooga's Inclusive and Inspiring Concert Series

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

The CSO welcomes everyone to our performances, but we know that some families hesitate to bring their family members to a live concert without knowing how they might react. Our Sensory-Friendly: Orchestra Explorers Concert Series is designed to be a safe and accepting environment where our youngest patrons with disabilities or sensory sensitivities along with their family members are free to speak and move in reaction to the music being played.

EPSG:4326

Sensory-Friendly: Orchestra Explorers

Chattanooga Theatre Centre

Grab your headbands, leg warmers, and neon - it’s Back to the ‘80s! Back to the 80’s is a power packed evening of the decade’s #1 hit songs, including The Power of Love, Time After Time, Material Girl, Another One Bites The Dust, Footloose, Addicted to Love and many others.  Featuring the music of such 80’s iconic stars as Madonna, Debbie Gibson, Huey Lewis & The News, Phil Collins, Queen, Joe Cocker, and others, Back to the 80’s contains all new arrangements by Grammy-winner Jeff Tyzik and features three incredible vocalists.

DECADES: Back to the '80s

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium

Prepare a delicious meal alongside CSO Maestro Ilya Ram in a hands-on culinary class that blends symphonic flair with delicious flavor.

Cooking With Ilya

Sweet and Savory Classroom

Experience the talent and passion of the Chattanooga Youth Symphony with this unforgettable concert at the UTC Fine Arts Center (752 Vine St, Chattanooga, TN 37403) at 6 PM EST on October 27, 2025.

CYS Fall Concert

UTC Fine Arts Center

Join CSO Music Director Ilya Ram at Broad's Lounge for an open conversation and mingling. This event is FREE and open to the public.

Chitt Chatt With Ilya

Broads Lounge

This unforgettable evening is rooted in the past—its struggles, its stories, and the ways composers reflect on what came before. We begin with Brahms’ Tragic Overture—a storm of drama and complexity, full of weight and philosophical tension. From there, cellist Tae-Yeon Kim, winner of the Lutosławski Competition and not yet 20, brings lyrical fire to one of the cornerstones of the Cello Repertoire -  Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor. Towering and intimate, this is Romanticism at its most human. The program closes with Amy Beach’s “Gaelic Symphony”—a groundbreaking work rich in lush harmonies and folk-inspired themes. Written as a response to Dvořák’s New World Symphony, Beach chose to honor her own roots, weaving the songs and spirit of Irish immigrants into a sweeping symphonic landscape filled with all that we love about the Romantic Period. It’s music that remembers, reimagines, and reclaims.

Dvořák & Beach

Join the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera String Quintet for a FREE concert on the front porch of the Gordon-Lee Mansion as part of The City of Chickamauga’s Music at the Mansion concert series!

Music at the Mansion: CSO String Quintet

Gordon Lee Mansion

The Houston Museum of Decorative Arts and the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera team up for an evening of culture and celebration supporting the restoration of the Museum’s 1890s Victorian house, the oldest home in the Bluff View Art District.

Houston Museum Pop-Up Concert

Houston Museum of Decorative Arts

Enjoy the sounds of the talented members of the Chattanooga Youth Symphony!

Chattanooga Youth Symphony Spring Concert

UTC Roland Hayes Recital Hall

From its famous “ba-ba-ba-bum” opening to its blazing finish, Beethoven’s iconic 5th Symphony is one of the most powerful pieces of music ever written. Experience the monumental close to the 24-24 Season with the CSO and the powerful voices of the CSO Chorus. Discover your new favorite piece with Valerie Coleman’s Seven O’Clock Shout.

Beethoven's 5th

Grab those closest to you and celebrate Valentine’s Day with Big Band’s Best! Lace up those dancing shoes and get ready for a toe-tapping evening of the best swing and big band tunes. Get up and dance the night away or enjoy the show from the comfort of your seat at Big Band’s Best!

Big Band

Walker Theatre

Chattanooga Youth Symphony Winter Concert

The CSO welcomes everyone to our performances, but we know that some families hesitate to bring their family members to a live concert without knowing how they might react. Our All-Accessible Concert is designed to be a safe and accepting environment where patrons with disabilities or sensory sensitivities along with their family members are free to speak and move in reaction to the music being played. This concert features our full orchestra in the concert hall setting.

All-Accessible: The Orchestra Moves

Led by special guest conductor, Shira Samuels-Shragg, the talent and expertise of the musicians of the CSO is on full display in this program of smaller-ensemble works. You won’t be able to resist tapping your toes along to the irresistible playfulness of Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite. Then, bask in the plush melodies and dazzling virtuosity of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 as rising star and internationally-recognized concert pianist Tom Borrow takes center stage. Guest conductor Shira Samuels-Shragg was hand-picked by Music Director Designate Ilya Ram, and is assistant conductor of the world-renowned Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #3

The CSO welcomes everyone to our performances, but we know that some families hesitate to bring their family members to a live concert without knowing how they might react. Our Sensory-Friendly Concert Series is designed to be a safe and accepting environment where patrons with disabilities or sensory sensitivities along with their family members are free to speak and move in reaction to the music being played.

Sensory Friendly

Celebrate the season with Handel’s classic oratorio, Messiah, featuring the world-famous Hallelujah Chorus. Get your tickets early, these performances have sold out three years in a row!

Handel's Messiah

Collegedale Seventh-day Adventist Church

First Presbyterian Church of Chattanooga

Experience the talent and passion of the members of the Chattanooga Youth Symphony's Chamber Players program with this unforgettable concert at First Baptist Church of Chattanooga (401 Gateway Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37402) at 6 PM EST on December, 15, 2025.

CYS Chamber Players

First Baptist Church of Chattanooga

One of Chattanooga’s most treasured holiday events, Home for the Holidays is the perfect seasonal celebration for the whole family! The CSO is joined by the CSO Chorus, a variety of community groups, and even the big man himself!

Home for the Holidays

Elegance, History, and a kapuziner. Step into the salons of Vienna, where composers shaped generations of music. The afternoon begins with a hidden gem: Marianna Martines’ Sinfonia in C. A friend of Haydns and an extremely prolific composer in her time, Martines was one of the few women to compose symphonies in 18th-century Vienna—and her music bursts with elegance, vitality, and charm. Next comes a piece woven into CSO’s own history: Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony, the very first symphony performed by the orchestra in 1934. Mysterious, lyrical, and open-ended, it invites reflection—not just on what’s left unsaid, but on where we’ve come from.

Bohemian Viennese: Mozart's "Prague" Symphony

The Chattanooga Symphony & Opera presents Star Wars: A New Hope In Concert featuring the complete film with Oscar®-winning composer John Williams’ musical score performed live to the film. The concert will be led by acclaimed conductor Jamie Reeves.

Star Wars: A New Hope

For over 30 years, Link Up—a program of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute—has paired orchestras with students in grades 3–5 at local schools to explore orchestral repertoire and fundamental musical skills, including creative work and composition, through a hands-on music curriculum. Students explore melody in a range of colorful orchestral repertoire, sing, compose, and perform from their seats in a culminating concert with the CSO!

Young People's Concert: The Orchestra Rocks!

This musical journey travels from the American prairie to the cafés of Paris, the forests of Finland, and the rivers of Germany—blending local voices with global inspiration. We begin at home with Tim Hinck’s “Prairie Nightscape”, a quietly radiant snapshot of dawn breaking across wide open land. Then it’s off to Milhaud’s Le Bœuf sur le toit, a whirlwind of Brazilian melodies and French playfulness—quirky, jazzy, and irresistibly fun. Darius Milhaud’s playful and whimsical Le Bœuf sur le toit follows, a jazz-infused romp inspired by Brazilian melodies that brims with charm and rhythmic vitality. In celebration of its 40th anniversary, the Chattanooga Youth Symphony joins the CSO onstage for a powerful Side-by-Side performance. Together, they perform Sibelius’ Finlandia, a proud and urgent call for resilience, and Schumann’s “Rhenish” Symphony, an expansive, joyful work inspired by the majesty of the Rhine. With both CSO conductors sharing the podium and generations of musicians sharing the stage, this evening is about exploration, connection, and the enduring power of music—across borders and across time.

Finlandia Side-by-Side

The Chattanooga Symphony & Opera hosts The Atlanta Opera's Studio Tour Production of Gilbert and Sullivan's opera The Pirates of Penzance - For Families at the UTC Roland Hayes Recital Hall in Chattanooga. Developed as a family-friendly abridged version of this modern-day masterpiece, this comedic production tells the tale of a young pirate apprentice who grapples with duty, love, and absurd misunderstandings amidst a quirky band of pirates and peculiar policemen.

Family Opera: The Pirates of Penzance

The Velvet Chair is more than just a show, it's an experience! The musicianship of the CSO with Dexter Bell and friends combined with the powerhouse vocals and creative wit of Chattanooga’s own Karen Collins is sure to bring you a night you will never forget!

Velvet Chair Experience

Some would call it Verdi’s best opera, his Messa da Requiem is one of the most profound works ever written for orchestra, chorus, and soloists. Written in memory of a friend, this sacred work carries the expressive weight of Verdi’s dramas — at once intimate and monumental. It isn’t a spectacle, but a deep exploration of human emotion: mourning, questioning, hope.

Verdi Requiem

Made possible by the City of Chattanooga, the Family Concert Series brings classic children's books every child should read with classical music every child should hear. This concert's story is The Gruffalo. Doors will open one hour early for pre-concert activities that includes an instrument petting zoo and interactive, story-related craft making. Each 45-minute show begins with a mini-concert performed by CSO's top musicians and then progresses into a magical storybook performance with live narration. At the end of each performance families are welcome to stay for a brief puppet meet and greet. Each family will receive a copy of the book to take home and enjoy again and again.

The Gruffalo

Downtown Branch - Chattanooga Public Library

Glenwood Community Center

Red Bank Community Center

Experience the talent and passion of the Chattanooga Youth Symphony with this unforgettable concert at the UTC Fine Arts Center (752 Vine St, Chattanooga, TN 37403) at 6 PM EST on May 4, 2026.

Chattanooga Symphony & Opera

5 - 7 Dec, 2025

Handel's Messiah

Dec 15, 2025

CYS Chamber Players

20 - 21 Dec, 2025

Home for the Holidays

Jan 25, 2026

Bohemian Viennese: Mozart's "Prague" Symphony

Jan 31, 2026

Star Wars: A New Hope

Nov 16, 2025

Second to None: The Second Symphonies of Beethoven and Farrenc

Nov 11, 2025

Sensory-Friendly: Orchestra Explorers

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Chattanooga Symphony & Opera