As the year draws to a close, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) prepares to dazzle audiences with an enchanting array of holiday performances. Each event uniquely captures the essence of the season, from the rich tapestries of Baroque splendor to the heartwarming tunes of Christmas in Ireland. Featuring a diverse lineup of musical talents and genres, these concerts promise to be a feast for the senses, offering everything from timeless classics to innovative new works. Join us for a journey through music that celebrates tradition, innovation, and the joy of the holidays.

A Symphony of Stories: Celebrating the Holiday Season with SLSO

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra's 2025 season promises an exhilarating journey through the world's musical landscapes, from the enchanting sounds of Ravel and the emotive symphonies of Beethoven to an innovative fusion of pop and classical genres. With a host of talented performers and creative works, the season is set to captivate audiences with its diverse array of concerts that celebrate both tradition and innovation.

A Symphony of Cultures: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra's Vibrant 2025 Season

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is set to dazzle audiences in early 2025 with a series of captivating performances. From classical masterpieces by Ravel, Beethoven, and Brahms, to innovative blends of genres like 'Beethoven X Beyoncé,' the lineup offers something for every music lover. With renowned conductors like Stéphane Denève and soloists such as Kirill Gerstein and James Ehnes, these events promise to be both musically rich and emotionally resonant. Join us as we explore the highlights and unique features of these upcoming concerts that showcase the depth and diversity of the orchestral experience.

A Symphony of Sounds: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra's 2025 Highlights

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) is set to enchant audiences with a captivating series of events from February to March 2025. Featuring a diverse array of concerts that blend classical masterpieces with contemporary innovations and cultural celebrations, the SLSO's lineup promises a symphonic journey through love, struggle, and artistic expression. From Tchaikovsky's celebrated overture of Romeo and Juliet to Beethoven's groundbreaking Ninth Symphony, each performance highlights the brilliance of renowned conductors, soloists, and innovative composers. Join us as we delve into the details of these remarkable events and the artists bringing them to life.

A Symphony of Emotions: Exploring the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra's February-March Lineup

Step into the world of orchestral brilliance with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra's extraordinary March and April lineup. From Schumann's soul-stirring symphonies to a cinematic journey with Bernstein and Williams, every performance is a vibrant brushstroke on the canvas of culture. The series also brings enchanting stories to life for children and delves into the poetic depths with Debussy and Liszt. Whether you are an aficionado of classical pieces or a newcomer to the orchestral world, there's something for everyone in this dynamic and inclusive schedule.

A Symphony of Stories: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra's Cultural Canvas

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra presents a captivating series of concerts that promise to be a feast for the senses. From the intimate notes of chamber music to grand orchestral performances, the SLSO explores themes of nature, adventure, and human experience. With performances honoring composers like Kaija Saariaho and starring renowned soloists such as Lawrence Power and Akiko Suwanai, these events offer a rich tapestry of sound and emotion. Let’s dive into the details of each performance that make this series truly unforgettable.

Symphonic Explorations: A Journey Through Music with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Join your SLSO and Metro Theater Company for this moving tale of a young girl's journey to center stage told through music and theater. The New York Times bestselling author and illustrator Mo Willems has created a powerful symphony of chance, discovery, persistence, and magic. Amber Ren's illustrations and Jessie Montgomery's music beautifully bring Willems' story to life, reminding us that sometimes the smallest moments have the biggest impact.  

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Concerts for Kids Mo Willems' Because

Touhill Performing Arts Center

Music Director Stéphane Denève takes us on a cinematic journey. In this program, we climb the Himalayas in music by John Williams. Soloist Akiko Suwanai leads us through the shimmering mist of Guillaume Connesson’s Violin Concerto. Then we venture to the 1950s, gripped by the action and adventure of America’s bustling ports in music by Adolphus Hailstork and Leonard Bernstein’s On the Waterfront.  

Bernstein and Williams

University of Missouri-St. Louis

A cold night passes into a radiant morning. In a performance honoring the pathbreaking composer Kaija Saariaho, who died last year, Ciel d’hiver (Winter Sky) begins in the orchestra’s heights, haunted piccolo shimmering like the northern lights. Magnus Lindberg’s new Viola Concerto pushes the fearless violist Lawrence Power to epic limits. And Schumann, struggling with illness, finds the warm light of dawn in the murmured fanfares of the Second Symphony. 

Lintu Conducts Schumann

Get ready for a night of action and suspense as the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra presents Casino Royale in concert. Immerse yourself in the world of James Bond with Daniel Craig in his debut as 007 and David Arnold's gripping score performed live. In the film, Bond is on assignment to play against a private banker funding terrorists in a high-stakes poker game at the Casino Royale in Montenegro. This cinematic and musical journey will leave you shaken…not stirred. 

Casino Royale in Concert 

Stifel Theatre

Join us for this unique chamber music series curated and performed by SLSO musicians. Experience new and treasured repertoire masterfully brought to life on The Sheldon stage in a dynamic lineup of instruments and players.

Live at The Sheldon

The Sheldon

In a cramped apartment, a man hunches over papers. At 52, Beethoven looks older—he is in constant pain, and rarely appears in public. He is poring over a copy of the popular poem “Ode to Joy” by Friedrich Schiller. His new symphony will be an ambitious, experimental, political work. It will be without precedent, written for orchestra, chorus, and soloists. Its joyful celebration of community will cross the globe. It will change music forever.

Beethoven's Ninth 

Enterprise Center

Join your St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and the IN UNISON Chorus for this joyful celebration of Black History Month. The rich baritone of Tony Award®-winning guest artist Brian Stokes Mitchell resounds in this concert highlighting the magnificent variety and depth of Black musical expression.

Lift Every Voice

Celebrate two of St. Louis’ greatest loves—music and baseball—with your SLSO. Experience the thrill of the game as we team up with former All-Star St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright, who performs songs from his new country album. The evening features Americana classics and a special rendition of the poem “Casey at Bat” that conveys all the drama of America’s favorite pastime. 

Double Play featuring Adam Wainwright

Conductor David Afkham makes his SLSO debut in a program of struggle, then exultation. In The Ring of Fire and Love, Finnish composer Outi Tarkianen explores the earth-shattering moment of a child’s birth. Pianist Saleem Ashkar brings searching intelligence to Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24, dramatic music written at a time of personal joy. Brahms toiled over his First Symphony for decades, producing a life-affirming journey from darkness to light.  

Brahms' First Symphony

Music Director Stéphane Denève sends a valentine from the SLSO, saying, “Rachmaninoff’s music is a pure expression of love—the ecstasy of love, the light of love.” Nikolai Lugansky, among the supreme Rachmaninoff interpreters, is soloist in the Second Piano Concerto. Tchaikovsky celebrates the passionate connection of Romeo and Juliet, while Anna Clyne uses technology to enhance the sonic splendor of the SLSO. “With music,” says Denève, “we are never alone.”

Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet  

Experience Steve Hackman's thrilling new blend of pop/R&B’s queen and classical music’s king as Beyoncé’s iconic repertoire is seamlessly interwoven with Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. The symphonic world’s most joyful celebration of dance becomes the backdrop to fifteen of Beyoncé’s chart-topping hits—including “Girls,” “Crazy in Love,” “Single Ladies,” “Sorry,” “Halo,” “Cuff It,” and “Texas Hold ‘Em”—in this innovative new musical fusion. 

Beethoven X Beyoncé

Two life-affirming musical tales narrated by two passionate storytellers. James Ehnes says of the Beethoven Violin Concerto, “It’s an incredibly uplifting, optimistic piece of music, one that makes you feel good about mankind.” Mahler’s First Symphony expresses a vast range of human emotion, from innocence to sorrow to triumph. “In Mahler,” says Music Director Stéphane Denève, “there is nowhere to hide. You must live all of his emotions.”

Beethoven and Mahler  

Maurice Ravel’s music has been with Music Director Stéphane Denève his whole life. For him, Ravel locates the pure pleasure of sound, the pleasure of color. On this program we experience some of Ravel’s many sides, from childlike wonder in Mother Goose to orchestral virtuosity in Bolero. Kirill Gerstein sets himself a formidable challenge, playing both Ravel piano concertos on one program. The first is a brilliant ode to smoky jazz clubs, the other a virtuoso work for the left hand alone.  

Stéphane Conducts Ravel

The accordion takes center stage in this program. Hanzhi Wang has made it her goal to spread word of her novel solo instrument across the globe. She brings imagination and freedom to the premiere of Nina Shekhar’s new concerto. Barber’s teenaged School for Scandal Overture fizzes with energy. Dvořák’s beloved “New World” symphony searches for the musical soul of America. 

Dvořák's New World

Kick off your New Year's Eve festivities with a celebration of the year that was and the year to come, filled with surprise selections of classical and popular favorites. Stephanie Childress, former Assistant Conductor of the SLSO, returns to conduct this New Year's tradition.

New Year's Eve Celebration

DreamWorks’ How to Train Your Dragon combines humor, fire-breathing action, and epic adventure! In this captivating story, a young Viking defies tradition when he befriends one of his deadliest foes—a ferocious dragon he calls Toothless. Together, these unlikely heroes must fight against all odds to save both their worlds.

How to Train Your Dragon in Concert

Ring in the holidays with an afternoon of musical cheer. From sleigh bells to horse whinnies, your St. Louis Symphony Orchestra brings the sounds of the holidays to life as they perform seasonal standards and exciting twists on beloved classics. Norman Huynh returns to conduct this holiday tradition alongside the dazzling vocalist and star of stage and screen Capathia Jenkins. Experience why thousands of St. Louisans kick off their holiday season with the SLSO every year–traditions and surprises await!

Mercy Holiday Celebration

Lindenwood University

Experience Charles Dickens’ classic holiday tale as only the Muppets can tell it. Kermit and the gang help Ebenezer Scrooge, played by actor Michale Caine, find redemption and his holiday spirit one fateful Christmas Eve. Join your St. Louis Symphony Orchestra as they perform the memorable score while this delightful family film plays on Stifel Theatre’s big screen. 

The Muppet Christmas Carol in Concert

Ring in the holidays with this powerful performance by the Grammy Award®-winning acapella group Take 6 alongside your St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and the IN UNISON Chorus. Heralded by Quincy Jones as the “baddest vocal cats on the planet,” Take 6 bring their unparallel harmonies to this soulful celebration of the holidays, blending gospel, jazz, and traditional favorites—an unforgettable experience that will stay with you for years to come.

IN UNISON Christmas 

Join the SLSO for Christmas in Ireland. Multi-platinum Irish singing sensation Celtic Woman, Billboard's #1 World Music Artist of the Year six times, joins the orchestra for a joyful and captivating evening featuring some of the all-female ensemble’s favorite Yuletide songs. This dramatic collaboration combines centuries of Irish musical tradition with the thrill of a full symphonic orchestra, highlighting the artistry of the internationally recognized quartet. 

Celtic Woman

Bach heralds the holidays. The Orchestral Suite No. 3 gleams with the sound of trumpets and drums, while the Sinfonia from Christmas Oratorio captures a quiet pastoral beauty. Two SLSO musicians take center stage for concertos: Alejandro Valdepeñas on viola and Ann Choomack on piccolo. Start your December with Baroque splendor in the warmth of Washington University’s distinctive Art Deco building.

A Baroque Christmas

Washington University in St. Louis

Korean pianist Yeol Eum Son has cultivated a huge following, and she brings reserves of stamina to Prokofiev’s virtuoso powerhouse, the Second Piano Concerto. Jonathon Heyward, one of Time Magazine’s “Next Generation Leaders,” returns to the SLSO with Sibelius’ Fifth Symphony. Writing the work, Sibelius felt possessed, as if “God was throwing pieces of mosaic from the edge of heaven.”

Sibelius' Fifth

The second concert of our Mozart celebration captures a composer on the move. We meet Mozart as an eight-year-old, dashing off his First Symphony in London. Then he’s in Italy, writing the fun-loving opera Mitridate, rè di Ponto. A stop in France for the fizzing “Paris” Symphony leads us to his later home in Vienna, where he wrote the Piano Concerto No. 20, performed with intensity here by Behzod Abduraimov.

Mozart's Journey

Experience bold and adventurous chamber music by composers of today, selected in response to exhibitions on view at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation and performed within the museum galleries. 

Live at the Pulitzer 1

Pulitzer Arts Foundation

Our celebration of Mozart begins at the very end. The circumstances surrounding Mozart’s unfinished Requiem are shrouded in mystery, but the music’s sorrow and beauty speak across the centuries. The Adagio and Fugue, another late work, is a dark and almost mystical vision. Acclaimed bass-baritone Dashon Burton returns to the SLSO in Detlev Glanert's arrangement of Brahms’ final song cycle, the Four Serious Songs.

Mozart's Requiem

Mozart's Requiem Joy and Sorrow

Celebrate the ageless power of music with Disney/Pixar’s Coco on the big screen as your St. Louis Symphony Orchestra performs the movie’s magical score live. Inspired by the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead, the film follows 12-year-old Miguel as he enters the Land of the Dead to find his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer, and confront his family's ancestral ban on music. Don’t miss this evening where every melody is a memory, and every song is a bridge between worlds.

Coco in Concert

The community gathers to celebrate a milestone. Conductor Laureate Leonard Slatkin brings a lifetime of experience to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, music of deeply personal emotions. Cindy McTee winds the orchestra like a clock, then lets it spin. Daniel Slatkin reaches into the cosmos for a work that uses music from the spacecraft Voyager’s golden record. And five of Domenico Scarlatti’s sonatas are given new life in Leonard's arrangements.

Slatkin's Legacy

David Danzmayr returns to the SLSO with pleas for unity and progress from Felix Mendelssohn and James MacMillan. Mendelssohn’s radiant "Reformation" symphony culminates in a blazing hymn. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was just 23 when he wrote his lush Ballade, a work pointing to great things. And soloist Conrad Tao shares Camille Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2, a work he calls “both charming and dramatic.”

Mendelssohn's Reformation

The Sheldonian Theatre

Embark on a musical adventure with Dan Brown’s latest surprise, Wild Symphony. As the SLSO shares this captivating story from The New York Times bestselling author of The Da Vinci Code, illustrated by Susan Batori, we join Maestro Mouse and his animal friends for a very wild symphony indeed! Travel through the trees and across the seas to meet a wonderous whale and impatient ponies, busy beetles, and an eager elephant—each with a special secret to share.

Concerts for Kids Dan Brown’s Wild Symphony

Vibrant musical colors twist and dance in this varied program. Alberto Ginastera’s Variaciones concertantes and Gabriela Lena Frank’s Concertino Cusqueño explore the sights and sounds of South America, while showcasing the virtuosity of the SLSO musicians. Conductor Cristian Măcelaru illuminates the soul of Antonín Dvořák’s music, from the fireworks of Carnival Overture to the exuberant Sixth Symphony. “The only way we can eradicate darkness is by bringing light,” Măcelaru says.

Ginastera and Dvořák

The night club meets classical music in this unique fusion experience. DJ and composer Mason Bates, known as DJ Masonic, along with St. Louis DJ Alexis Tucci, create a genre-defying electronic dance music party with SLSO musicians and the audience. Bates is a Grammy award-winning composer who continues to break new ground in how classical music can be experienced through new sounds and technology

Symphonie Electronique

The Hawthorn

Music Director Stéphane Denève opens the season with the dreams and passions of Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, a work that tells the story of Berlioz’s obsession. Composer Mason Bates' new violin concerto, influenced by folk dances of Eastern Europe, is brought to energetic life by soloist Gil Shaham.

Symphonie Fantastique

Director Steven Spielberg's heartwarming masterpiece, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, follows the moving story of a lost alien who befriends a ten-year-old boy named Elliott. Experience all the mystery and fun of their unforgettable adventure in the beloved movie that captivated audiences around the world while your St. Louis Symphony Orchestra performs John Williams’ Academy Award®-winning score live to film. 

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial in Concert

Join us as we kick off the 24/25 season in our annual free concert in Forest Park. Music Director Stéphane Denève leads a program for everyone, featuring music from the upcoming year. Get comfortable on Art Hill with your drinks, snacks, and chairs and enjoy this St. Louis tradition.

Forest Park Concert

The Muny, in collaboration with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, revives a beloved tradition in 2024 by presenting its first live concert in more than 30 years — a one-night-only show starring Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony-winner John Legend.

This special performance will feature songs and stories with 12-time Grammy-winner John Legend. Experience intimate re-imaginings of his greatest hits (“All of Me,” “Ordinary People,” "Tonight"), unexpected stories from Legend's life and career, and selections from his most recent release, LEGEND ("Nervous," "Wonder Woman"). Don't miss this once-in-a-lifetime concert event.

John Legend

Municipal Theatre Association of St. Louis

Principal trumpet Steven Franklin and Associate Principal horn Thomas Jöstlein team up in recital in an iconic St. Louis church with organist James Marck, Director of Sacred Music and Master of the Choirs at St. Francis de Sales Oratory.

Brass & Organ Recital

St. Francis de Sales Oratory

Bring your chairs, blankets, picnic basket (or visit onsite food trucks), instruments and voices out to the park for this fun free concert with musicians from the SLSO. This hour-long concert will end with a community performance of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy and everyone is invited to play or sing with the SLSO.

Free Concert in St. Peters

370 Lakeside Park

Hear singer, composer, and TikTok star Cody Fry make his SLSO debut in this technicolor performance. Just like the nostalgia of your favorite old flick, this multi-talented artist will warm your heart with orchestral arrangements of his famous songs, including "I Hear A Symphony," "Underground," and his Grammy-nominated cover of "Eleanor Rigby." The St. Louis Children’s Choirs will accompany Fry on several pieces, adding 75 young choral voices to this lush symphonic pop performance.

Cody Fry

“What’s up, Doc?” In this thrilling blend of classical music and classic animation Bugs Bunny and his Looney Tunes pals join audiences of all ages at Stifel Theatre with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra for Bugs Bunny at the Symphony.

Warner Bros. Discovery presents Bugs Bunny at the Symphony

Don’t miss this inspirational and moving concert by the St. Louis Symphony IN UNISON Chorus featuring music by Dr. Emorja Roberson, Assistant Professor of Music and African American Studies at Oxford College of Emory University. The Chorus will be joined by a string quintet from the SLSO and students from the Peer to Peer program. 

IN UNISON Chorus Community Concert

Shalom Church

Any appearance by Yo-Yo Ma is an extraordinary event. Edward Elgar’s popular concerto is the perfect vehicle for Ma’s blend of keen intelligence and a firmly beating heart. And Stéphane Denève is on home soil for the delicate, multi-layered textures of Claude Debussy’s portrait of the ocean, La Mer. Subscribers have first access to tickets for this concert.

An Evening with Yo-Yo Ma

Verdi’s Requiem is electrifying. Opening with hushed intensity. Breaking loose in the famous "Dies Irae." Pushing these accomplished performers to the brink. Performed by an all-star cast and your St. Louis Symphony Chorus. In Stéphane Denève’s hands, you might hold your breath for 80 minutes. Don’t miss it.  

Verdi’s Requiem

Celebrated guest conductor Ian Passmore takes the podium to lead the YO in this impressive season finale.

St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra: Season Finale

Youth grows into experience. Pianist Marie-Ange Nguci, “one the most promising talents of her generation,” according to Le Figaro, makes her North American concerto debut. She brings a youthful spirit to Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto, music of an ambitious teenager. Finnish conductor John Storgårds leads us into the Nordic woods. The SLSO’s strings seduce us in Jean Sibelius’ The Lover, and then give shade in Per Nørgård’s Glade. Sibelius’s final symphony, the Seventh, leads us from dark forest into shining light.  

Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto

Reignite the spark of hope with Lucasfilm's Star Wars: The Last Jedi as our heroes brave the relentless pursuit of the First Order. Journey alongside Rey as she seeks the galaxy's last hope, the legendary Luke Skywalker. Experience the thrill, the fear, the anticipation, as the fate of the Resistance hangs in the balance. Get swept away into the Skywalker saga like never before as your St. Louis Symphony Orchestra breathes new life into John Williams’ Academy Award–nominated score, performed live along with the film. Dive into a universe of thrilling mysteries, daring missions, and earth-shaking revelations. May the Force be with you! 

Star Wars: The Last Jedi In Concert

People and Place. We celebrate dynamic musical practices from the Americas. Pulitzer Prize winner Raven Chacon tells a future creation story, while Clarice Assad introduces us to the vibrant folk melodies and dances of South America. Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov conjures the sounds of Brazil in memory of a close friend, and Molly Herron ponders the evolution of the sarabande and its roots in the new world.

Live at the Pulitzer: People and Place

Majestic horns herald the arrival of spring with a program of music including Beethoven’s enchanting Sextet in E flat major for two horns and string quartet, and Paul Hindemith’s masterly Sonata for Four Horns. 

Beethoven and Hindemith: Horns with Strings

This concert takes place at Lindenwood University's J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts.

What happens when the latest dance craze meets the orchestra? A giant dance party with your SLSO! Wear your dancing shoes—you won’t be able to keep still as you experience some of the greatest orchestral music of all time.

Family Concert: Dance Party!

Power takes many forms. It can be the majesty of Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto, known as the “Emperor.” Israeli pianist Tom Borrow, a world traveler at just 22, brings his “supremely incandescent” touch to the concerto, written at a time of war. It can be American composer Julia Wolfe’s Pretty, tearing down walls between musical styles, between players and audiences, between genders. It can be the sheer orchestral power and imagination of Hector Berlioz’s virtuosic overture to the comic Shakespearean opera Beatrice and Benedict.  

Beethoven’s Emperor Piano Concerto

Two classic ballet scores join an exciting new dance collaboration. Aaron Copland’s popular Appalachian Spring Suite ends with variations on “Simple Gifts,” while Sergei Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet captures the thrills and tragedy of a star-crossed love. American composer Adam Schoenberg writes music that sounds like a cross between Radiohead and Copland. The SLSO commissioned Adam Schoenberg for a new score to be danced by St. Louis’ own The Big Muddy Dance Company.  

Romeo and Juliet

Lose yourself in the enchanting world of the Madrigals with Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Academy Award-winning film, Encanto. Experience this heartwarming tale come alive on the majestic Stifel Theatre’s big screen, accompanied by your own St. Louis Symphony Orchestra performing the film's magical, chart-topping soundtrack live.  

Encanto In Concert

A diverse and dynamic program featuring Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale Suite, Martinů’s Quartet with snare drum, and a new work by Shannon Wood for English horn, cello, piano and timpani. 

Stravinsky, Martinů, and Shannon Wood: Percussion Spotlight

An operatic extravaganza. Stéphane leads us on a journey through 300 years of heart-stopping melodies, captivating drama, and thrilling dances. The fanfare from Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, one of the very first operas, sets us on a path through Mozart, Rossini, Puccini, Bellini, and Ponchielli’s “Dance of the Hours,” now best known as the hippopotamus ballet from Fantasia. The SLSO’s Associate Concertmaster Erin Schreiber gives a virtuoso turn in Sarasate’s Fantasy on Bizet’s Carmen. Associate Principal Cello Melissa Brooks performs Bellini’s mellifluous melodies  

Operatic Favorites

“Lift every voice and sing, till Earth and Heaven ring, ring with the harmonies of Liberty!” Join your SLSO and the inimitable IN UNISON Chorus—marking its 30th year in 2024—for this one-of-a-kind celebration of Black History Month, featuring Grammy- and NAACP Image Award winning vocalist BeBe Winans. Don’t miss this soulful celebration of unity, freedom, and Black musical expression. 

“O fortuna!” Right from its famous opening notes, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana shakes the Stifel to its foundation. Orff’s work charts the course of fate with songs of joy, love, and celebration. Stéphane crafts a first half trilogy of loss and fateful farewell. In Arvo Pärt’s Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten, pure sounds are as if directly descended from heaven, then Lera Auerbach brings us to the heat of the sun in Icarus. In the Love-death from Richard Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde we end with a salute to eternal love.  

Carmina Burana

Guest Conductor Norman Huyhn will lead the SLSO in a concert celebrating the Lunar New Year. Join us as we welcome in the year of the dragon. Tickets on sale soon.

Lunar New Year

SLSO Concertmaster David Halen leads a program that showcases the lush sounds of Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet and Antonín Dvořák’s masterpiece Piano Quintet in A major, featuring pianist Peter Henderson. 

Ravel and Dvořák: Strings with Piano

Two unlikely friends—the mighty lion and the little mouse—take us on an adventure that proves even the smallest acts of kindness can make a big difference. Familiar tunes from Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt bring the story to life as students dance and make music along with SLSO musicians. Based on the book The Lion and the Mouse by Jenny Broom, illustrated by Nahta Nój. Tickets are available for purchase here. 

Family Concert: Tiny Tunes: The Lion and the Mouse

A call for unity. Florence Price was a pioneer, a key figure in the Black Chicago Renaissance, championed by America’s finest performers. Price’s Third Symphony, written during the height of the Great Depression, combines deep passion with an ear for great tunes and danceable rhythms. Valerie Coleman’s Umoja seeks a union for family, community, nation, and race. Violinist Augustin Hadelich, an international sensation and a St. Louis favorite, plays Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto.  

Barber and Price

Inspired by our city’s past and present, we celebrate, we reflect, we relate. Music invites us to engage with the spirit of our city echoed through the sonic worlds of St. Louis-born Olly Wilson and current resident Christopher Stark. Allison Loggins-Hull prompts us to reflect on our homeland, while Laurence Crane and Cassie Wieland create gentle spaces for continued contemplation.

Live at the Pulitzer: Material and Memory

A feast for the eyes and ears. French animator Grégoire Pont conjures an entire world before our eyes. In Albert Roussel’s The Spider’s Feast, Pont's sketches dance on screen while the SLSO plays. Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf is accompanied by the Academy Award-winning short film, and the SLSO captures the energy of Francis Poulenc’s colorful musical fables, Les Animaux modèles.  

Musical Fables

We return to jazz’s American home for a program featuring Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. The Aaron Diehl trio makes its debut in Mary Lou Williams’ Zodiac Suite. John Alden Carpenter was an early classical composer to incorporate jazz in his ballet Krazy Kat, while Paul Turok channels a past St. Louis resident in A Joplin Overture. 

Rhapsody in Blue

Get your tickets today to experience the moment when our YO musicians take the stage to perform with their St. Louis Symphony Orchestra counterparts in a side-by-side concert led by Leonard Slatkin, SLSO Conductor Laureate and founder of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra. Slatkin leads the combined musicians through Johannes Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture followed by Joseph Schwantner’s evocative New Morning for the World (Daybreak of Freedom), which features narrator and Director of SLSO’s IN UNISON Chorus Kevin McBeth channeling the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s stirring Francesca da Rimini: Symphonic Fantasy after Dante brings the program to a powerful close.

St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra: SLSO Side-by-Side

We take a detour through jazz-mad Europe. Darius Milhaud, Igor Stravinsky, and Kurt Weill all fell in love with American jazz, and their sassy music bears its stamp. Victor Goines, jazz clarinetist and president of Jazz St. Louis, rocks and wails in Stravinsky’s Ebony Concerto. Kurt Weill’s Suite from The Threepenny Opera includes hits like “Mack the Knife,” and the program ends with the honking horns and swaggering tunes of Gershwin’s An American in Paris. 

An American in Paris

The SLSO and Jazz St. Louis come together for a very special festival. In three concerts over two weeks, Leonard Slatkin explores the ways jazz has enriched orchestral music. Each program ends with a work by George Gershwin, here suite from the opera Porgy and Bess. George Antheil’s Jazz Symphony is one of the first works of orchestral jazz, and Duke Ellington’s final work, The Three Black Kings was written as a eulogy for Martin Luther King, Jr. Violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins makes her SLSO debut in Emmy winner Jeff Beal’s new jazz-inflected Violin Concerto. 

Porgy and Bess

Celebrate 2023 in style at the SLSO’s annual bash—the New Year’s Eve concert. Revel in musical selections with Norman Huynh, a favorite of St. Louis audiences known for his humor and high spirits. What are we playing? It’s a surprise you’ll have to hear for yourself!

Recharge your flux capacitor…and get ready to celebrate this unforgettable movie classic as you’ve never seen and heard it before! Back to the Future is the 1.21-gigawatt blockbuster that topped the 1985 box office chart, spawned two wildly successful sequels, and stamped an enduring imprint on pop culture. Join Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd), and a time traveling DeLorean for the adventure of a lifetime as they travel to the past, present, and future—setting off a time-shattering chain reaction that disrupts the space-time continuum!  

Back to the Future In Concert

We think it’s lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you! Join your SLSO and conductor Stuart Malina for this cherished holiday tradition, full of favorite carols and sounds of the season. Even Santa makes time for this festive concert! 

Mercy Holiday Celebration at Stifel

Mercy Holiday Celebration at Lindenwood

Back by popular demand! The SLSO performs Williams’ iconic score live to the hilarious and heartwarming holiday classic. When the McCallisters leave for vacation, they forgot one thing: Kevin! Discover an experience the whole family can share. 

Home Alone In Concert

A celebration of strings, bringing together a quintet of SLSO string players performing a rich array of music by Jessie Montgomery and Christian Quiñones, as well as Franz Schubert’s Quintet in C major, op. 81. 

Schubert, Jessie Montgomery, Christian Quiñones: Strings

David Danzmayr’s 2021 SLSO debut delighted listeners and players. He returns with a program that thrills and sings. Danzmayr pushes Beethoven’s Second Symphony close to the edge, flirting with danger. SLSO Principal Oboe Jelena Dirks’ goal is to sing through her instrument. She has every opportunity in the songful, break-your-heart musical world of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Oboe Concerto. Strum by Jessie Montgomery, the in-demand American composer of this moment, salutes American folk music, its spirit of dance and movement. 

Beethoven’s Second Symphony

The St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra kicks off its 54th season at the Touhill Performing Arts Center at UMSL with a powerful program led by special guest conductor Jason Seber. The performance begins with Giuseppe Verdi’s dramatic overture from his opera La forza del destino followed by Valerie Coleman’s Seven O’Clock Shout, an anthem of gratitude to frontline workers of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s timeless Symphony No. 5 in E minor provides the emotional climax to the program.

St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra: Season Opener

Young American violinist Randall Goosby is the talk of the classical music world. His sensitive soul and stage charm are irresistible. He makes his SLSO debut with Korngold’s Violin Concerto, a work that sings with the beauty of the master film composer’s scores. Christian Reif, another rising star, makes his SLSO debut conducting two pieces with turbulently rousing folk music at their core: Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony, and Kaprálová’s Rustic Suite. 

Korngold and Dvořák

A six-term Republican congressman and US Air Force veteran, Kinzinger was a member of the Select Committee to investigate the January 6th US Capitol attack. Tickets are currently sold out. Click here to be added to the wait list.

St. Louis Speakers Series: Adam Kinzinger

SLSO string players summon intense color and bold abstraction. Quartets take us on kaleidoscopic journeys through Sky Macklay’s angular reimagination of the familiar cadence and Molly Joyce’s reflection on perfection. Michael Gordon and Leilehua Lanzilotti revel in the emotive beauty of solo instruments. A lone marimba breaks up the string party in Andy Akiho’s virtuosic and percussive banger.

Live at the Pulitzer: Line and Light

Sicily, 1900. A beautiful place with a passionate underbelly. The perfect setting for Pietro Mascagni’s legendary Cavalleria rusticana, a compelling story of love and betrayal. Turiddu and Lola have happily rekindled their old love, but Lola’s husband finds out, and Santuzza feels betrayed, all with dire consequences. Conductor James Gaffigan brings an international reputation as an opera conductor, and he tells this tale with white-hot intensity. 

Opera in Concert: Cavalleria rusticana

Orpheus was Greek mythology’s superstar musician. Stéphane brings two responses to the myth, the bewitching beauty of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice and Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto. Pianist Paul Lewis is among the world’s great Beethoven pianists, offering what Gramophone Magazine calls “shining musicianship.” The sprightliness of Prokofiev’s First Symphony and Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin refreshes us with a splash of colors, vivid lights, and rich tonal variety. 

Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto

SLSO’s Kevin McBeth leads an SLSO string orchestra in performance of music by Jewish composers including George Gershwin, Ben Steinberg, and Ernest Bloch. Guest singers Rabbi Amy Feder (Congregation Temple Israel) and Cantor Ronald Eichaker, Rabbi (United Hebrew Congregation) join the SLSO musicians to perform both sacred and secular selections. This hour-long concert is free but RSVPs are requested. Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors for the concert open at 5:00p.m.

Citywide Symphony Shabbat at The J

Jewish Community Center

SLSO wind and string musicians launch this new Live at The Sheldon chamber music series with a fascinating program including music by Valerie Coleman and Louis Spohr’s inventive and charming Nonet, op. 31, for wind quintet, violin, viola, cello and double bass. 

Valerie Coleman and Louis Spohr: Winds with Strings

CNN host, commentator, Emmy Award winner, and author of three bestsellers, Jones worked with both parties on green jobs and justice reform. He founded Dream.org. Tickets are currently sold out. Click here to be added to the wait list.

St. Louis Speakers Series: Van Jones

Dress up for Halloween and join your SLSO for an afternoon of fun. Through Peter Schickele’s “A Zoo Called Earth,” you’ll hear creatures ranging from fish and dinosaurs to kangaroos and elephants come to life from the perspective of an extraterrestrial tourist. Recommended for ages 5-10 years.

Family Concert: A Zoo Called Earth

Argentinian pianist Ingrid Fliter is a singular artist. She enters the emotional world of each composer, captivating listeners. Fliter returns to the SLSO with Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto, continuing the SLSO’s cycle. Conductor Elim Chan paints vivid natural landscapes. The bracing Scottish winds press against us in Mendelssohn’s Third Symphony, then the still night air of Elizabeth Ogonek’s Moondog sends us to a place of calm. 

Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto

The Philadelphia Inquirer calls young violinist Benjamin Beilman “monstrously talented.” He brings an engaging stage presence and effortless technique to the SLSO for the first time with Mozart’s playful Fifth Violin Concerto. Cristian Măcelaru, a St. Louis favorite, brings a study in contrasts. We feel the heat in Hannah Eisendle’s virtuosic heliosis, then warm ourselves by the autumnal glow and golden hue of Brahms’ richly pastoral Second Symphony. 

Mozart and Brahms

Join us for a spine-tingling experience as we revisit one of Tim Burton’s most adored films, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Feel the thrill as the film unfolds on the big screen with dialogue, singing, and effects accompanied by Danny Elfman’s hauntingly charming score, brought to life by your St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Bring your families, don your frightful costumes, and immerse yourselves in the macabre beauty of Halloween. Remember, every day is Halloween in our world! 

The Nightmare Before Christmas In Concert

Winner of two Academy Awards, an Emmy, and eight Golden Globes, Fonda recently starred in Grace & Frankie, Netflix's longest-running original series. Tickets are currently sold out. Click here to be added to the wait list.

St. Louis Speakers Series: Jane Fonda

In Beethoven’s world, you never know what is around each corner: terror or tenderness, joy or sorrow. American pianist Jonathan Biss plays the grand First Piano Concerto, opening a season-long Beethoven concerto cycle. In Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture, a Roman general swings between caring and warmongering. Unsuk Chin’s subito con forza memorializes Beethoven with shock and surprise. Come face-to-face with the drama of Schumann’s Fourth Symphony in the intimacy of Touhill. 

Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto

Discover stories of composers who were impacted by the Holocaust in this new collaborative project between the SLSO and the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum. In this first installment, Helen Turner, Director of Education and Interpretation for the Museum, will teach about composer Pavel Haas and his tragic Holocaust experience. The 20-minute composer story will be followed by a performance of Haas’ String Quartet No. 3 played live by musicians of the SLSO. This hour-long event is free but RSVPs are requested. Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors for the concert open at 6:30pm.

St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

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Live at the Pulitzer 3

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Brahms' Violin Concerto

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Bernstein and Williams

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