Harry’s last year at Hogwarts™ is here, part one of the epic finale Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows™ in Concert! Experience the loss and the love of this series’ finish all over again as Harry and his friends rush to face the Dark Lord Voldemort™ for the last time. With the full film set to a live symphony orchestra, the final battle for Hogwarts™ School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has never been so emotional

EPSG:4326

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows™ Part 1 in Concert with the Seattle Symphony

Benaroya Hall

Yellowstone National Park’s two million acres of wilderness have many stories to tell, from the original native peoples who lived on the land to the epic supervolcano that powers the park’s iconic geysers. But Yellowstone is also a case study in wildlife conservation, from bison to wolves. Now, join National Geographic Explorer Doug Smith on a behind-the-scenes look at the ecosystem and his decades-long quest to reintroduce wolves to the world’s first national park. Return to the wild and witness the beauty, wonder, and science behind America’s greatest wilderness

Wild Wolves of Yellowstone | National Geographic Live

The incomparable Joshua Bell performs the innovative Elements Concerto, a modular work written for him by five of today’s leading composers. The orchestra ushers in summer with Brahms’ sunny Second Symphony

Joshua Bell Plays Elements Concerto

Darius Milhaud’s Suite for Violin, Clarinet and Piano was taken from the incidental music he wrote for Jean Anouilh’s 1937 play, Le voyageur sans bagage (The Traveler Without Luggage). The Trio by Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian features his characteristic style of composing classical music with folk-inspired rhythms and melodies, all emphasized by colorful instrumentation. Mendelssohn’s self-assured Piano Trio in C minor is the composer’s final chamber work

From Mendelssohn to Milhaud

Explore the music of Seattle-based composer Ken Benshoof, longtime collaborator with the Kronos Quartet and members of the Seattle Symphony. Composed during a summer vacation in Iowa, Dvořák’s twelfth string quartet drew inspiration from American folk music and birdsong

From Dvořák to Benshoof

Over the course of 15 weeks, students of the Merriman-Ross Family Young Composers Workshop worked closely with composer and specialist in the electronic field, Marcin Pączkowski, to create works combining acoustic instrumentation with electronic sounds. At this concert, Seattle Symphony musicians will perform the world premieres of these electroacoustic works

Merriman-Ross Family Young Composers Workshop Concert: Electroacoustic Edition

Sharks have roamed the planet’s waters since before the dinosaurs and have evolved into more than a thousand species. But only recently have we begun to understand their lives in the ocean—and how our actions can threaten their survival. National Geographic Explorer Dr. Jess Cramp will take audiences on a journey through the National Geographic archives to discover the work of pioneering women in shark science and storytelling before she dives into her work on the frontier of shark research and conservation. We’ll journey through the vibrant waters of the South Pacific in search of elusive breeding grounds and find out what it truly means to save sharks while working with communities struggling to maintain their traditional ways of life

The Untold Story of Sharks | National Geographic Live

DRUM TAO was established in 1993 with the dream of creating the best show in the world featuring Japanese Taiko drums, an instrument with a rare and distinctive variety of expressive sounds. DRUM TAO is based in Oita, Japan and create their own music, stage setups and costumes to produce their one-of-a-kind brand of entertainment

DRUM TAO 30th Anniversary THE TAO 夢幻響

Alisa Weilerstein plays the Seattle Symphony premiere of Lutos³awski’s Cello Concerto, a transcendent work composed in 1970. The trailblazing Shiyeon Sung, who has made headlines as the first female conductor from South Korea to reach the international stage, leads the orchestra through the program, which also includes Dvořák’s luminous Sixth Symphony

Dvořák Symphony No. 6

Centered around everyday objects, one can find at home, explore new and exciting ways to experience rhythm with our friends in the percussion section! Perfect for families with children from birth to 5 years of age. Engage your youngest music lovers with these 35-minute interactive programs featuring musical games, stories, and songs. Pre-concert activities will begin 30 minutes before each concert in the Samuel & Althea Stroum Grand Lobby

The Percussion: Sounds from Home

The swelling ocean pounds rocky cliffs in this concert of Scandinavian greats. Ning Feng, a “wonderful player with a creamy, easy tone and an emotional honesty” (Washington Post), makes his long-awaited Seattle Symphony debut playing Sibelius’ ethereal Violin Concerto. Danish composer Carl Nielsen believed that music is life, and the will of life is “inextinguishable.” This idea inspired his rich and urgently expressive Fourth Symphony.

Sibelius & Nielsen

With landscapes spanning the towering Himalaya, arid plains, and dense jungles, India is home to an unmatched diversity of wild cats. While many of the big cats are well known and thoroughly documented, photographer, filmmaker and National Geographic Explorer Sandesh Kadur is on a mission to highlight the country’s lesser known felines in order to protect their future. Discover the tiny, grumpy-faced Pallas’s cat, the fishing cat that jumps into water to catch its prey, and the ancient, elusive clouded leopard. Through Kadur’s captivating images and video, you’ll get an up-close look at a world of wild cats you’ve never seen before.

Wild Cats Revealed | National Geographic Live

Residents of a coastal town in Italy were enjoying afternoon snacks of walnuts and dried figs in A.D. 79 when nearby Mount Vesuvius erupted after centuries of dormancy. National Geographic Explorer Andrés Ruzo will explore the fiery portals to Earth’s core, and reveal how smoking peaks have shaped civilizations across the globe, from Iceland to the deep Amazon. Journey to far-off lava fields and hidden boiling rivers.

Hunt for Sleeping Giants | National Geographic Live

Mozart’s familiar Overture to The Magic Flute and Beethoven’s Sextet round out a chamber program that also features Rachel Matthews’ Voices of Trees, which explores the clarinet’s tonal qualities, inspired by the idea that its music is like “the sound of a tree singing.”

From Mozart to Matthews

Each year, Celebrate Asia brings the vibrant Asian communities and classical artists of Seattle into the limelight through unique and captivating programs at Benaroya Hall. The 2024 concert includes Chuseok Overture for Orchestra by Korean-American composer and Young Composers Workshop graduate August Baik, as well as Paul Chihara's Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orchestra "Concerto Fantasy" as performed by Vietnamese-American pianist Quynh Nguyen, lauded by the Boston Globe as a "musical and expressive player" with a "sensitive and poetic" touch. This family-friendly event promises a delightful experience for all ages, complete with pre- and post-concert performances by local dancers and music ensembles.

Celebrate Asia9

In the Arctic north, sea ice is synonymous with the sand in the desert. The ice is vital for transportation, for food, for living. And while the temperatures seem inhumane, the Arctic is teeming with life. Indigenous tribes call this frosty land home, but they’re not alone. Polar bears, musk ox, whales and caribou are some of the Arctic animals co-existing with more than 40 different ethnic groups in the north. Through beautiful images and awe-inspiring moments, National Geographic Live takes you on a journey with our first Indigenous National Geographic Explorer Kiliii Yüyan to understand the native peoples and their relationship to a frigid land and its animals.

Life on Thin Ice | National Geographic Live

Pablo Ferrández makes his Benaroya Hall debut performing Dvořák’s shining Cello Concerto. Conductor Alpesh Chauhan leads Rachmaninov’s expansive Second Symphony, from its brooding and solemn opening to an inspired and timeless Adagio and a resounding finale of pealing bells and joyous energy.

Dvořák & Rachmaninov

Legendary dancer, director and choreographer Gene Kelly changed the look of dance on film, blazing a trail that has inspired generations of new artists to pursue dance. Kelly’s wife and biographer Patricia Ward Kelly has crafted a deeply personal one-woman show to take fans behind the scenes, sharing an intimate portrait of the inimitable song and dance man.

GENE KELLY: THE LEGACY – An Evening with Patricia Ward Kelly

Pulitzer Prize-nominated photojournalist and Nikon Ambassador Robin Layton presents her new book, rain — a limited edition coffee table book featuring 100+ evocative photographs that explore rain in all its vastness and intimacy. She will be sharing images and behind the scenes stories from the book with audiences at Benaroya Hall. Layton is teaming up with Todd Boston, Billboard Top Ten Guitarist/Multi-Instrumentalist, who will be playing live in front of her videos of rain.   

rain: An Evening with Robin Layton and Special Guest, Guitarist Todd Boston

Get ready to join Dumbledore's Army™! When Professor Umbridge™ takes over Hogwarts™ School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, what else can Harry do to resist her terrible rule? Find out in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix™ in Concert, accompanied by the Seattle Symphony performing Nicholas Hooper's dramatic score live in the concert hall.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Relive the mythic storytelling of the Star Wars saga like never before with this very special presentation. This concert features the complete film Star Wars: Return of the Jedi on a giant screen while the Seattle Symphony performs John Williams' iconic score live in the pitch-perfect acoustics of Benaroya Hall.

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in Concert

In recognition of your generous support, Symphony Club donors are invited to our summer edition of Soundbites in Octave 9: Raisbeck Music Center, Benaroya Hall’s home for innovative musical experience. Join us before the Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi concert for happy hour and conversation with fellow music lovers.

Soundbites: Summer

Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony encompasses eternal questions of life and death and the ultimate power of love to illuminate darkness. The journey begins with the funereal, followed by a respite of nostalgic innocence, which leads to a finale full of hope and transcendence.

Mahler Resurrection

In Songfest, Leonard Bernstein’s exuberant and radically inclusive portrait of the United States at its bicentennial, a cast of powerhouse voices interpret four centuries of American poetry. Bernstein offers an irrepressible optimist’s vision of eclectic, raucous unity.

Bernstein Songfest Seattle Symphony

Join us to dance around the world! We will visit Hungary, China, Mexico and the United States with music by Johannes Brahms, Florence Price, Chen Yi, Ruth Crawford Seeger and Arturo Márquez.

Dances Around The World

Celebrated singer-songwriter Ann Hampton Callaway takes you on a musical journey through Linda Ronstadt’s iconic songbook, tracing the many aspects of love through songs like “Different Drum,” “Desperado” and “You’re No Good.” Callaway brings a songwriter’s sensibility to this crowd-pleasing program, having penned songs for the likes of Carole King and Barbra Streisand. Presented as part of the Seattle Pops Series.

The Linda Ronstadt Songbook

In this free community concert, the Seattle Symphony and Yakima Music en Acción share the stage at Benaroya Hall for an exciting side-by-side performance.

Side-by-Side with Yakima Music en Acción

Dance along with the brass family as they play everything tango! Join the trumpets, horn, trombone and tuba on this Argentinian adventure.

Your family’s musical adventures begin here! Seattle Symphony musicians share their favorite stories, songs and musical games in a series that introduces your youngest listeners to the instruments of the orchestra. These interactive and fun concerts are approximately 30 minutes, and are recommended for ages 0–5.

The Brass: Time to Tango

Conductor Emeritus Ludovic Morlot transports us to France for a program featuring the sublime “Organ” Symphony by Saint-Saëns. Dedicated to Franz Liszt, the Third Symphony is haunting in nature, with the organ adding luscious depth to the orchestral texture. Leading organist and composer Thierry Escaich also performs his own La Barque solaire.

Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony

oin Conductor Emeritus Ludovic Morlot and your Seattle Symphony for an Open Rehearsal in preparation for their performances of Camille Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony. Symphony supporters are invited to go behind the scenes at Open Rehearsals throughout the 2022/2023 season. At these popular events, you’ll enjoy an insider’s view of a working rehearsal and witness the unique interplay between conductor and musicians that goes into each breathtaking performance.

Open Rehearsal: Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony

During the pandemic, Han Lash composed six songs inspired by Bach’s inventions for a series called Notes from Exile — wistful, poignant and disarmingly direct. Now they introduce six new pieces to add to them, to create a set of 12 pieces: The Art of Leaving.

The Art of Leaving

Join the Seattle Symphony for the 30th anniversary edition of the Merriman-Ross Family Young Composers Workshop Concert! This FREE community concert features world premieres by student composers performed by the Seattle Symphony. This concert is the capstone of a 15-week composition course led by composer, clarinetist, Merriman-Ross Family Young Composers Workshop alumna and Artist in Residence Angelique Poteat.

The Merriman-Ross Family Young Composers Workshop Concert

With perfect family fun for kids of all ages, Shrek 2 in Concert will make all your musical fairytales come true! See Shrek 2 projected on the big screen, accompanied by the Seattle Symphony live in the concert hall performing the enchanting orchestral score by acclaimed composer Harry Gregson-Williams.

Shrek 2

Join the Seattle Symphony for a very special community concert at Benaroya Hall featuring the world premiere of Dear Humanity for Youth Chorus and Orchestra, a work composed by Artist in Residence Angelique Poteat and the 2020 Community Youth Chorus that centers around the theme of climate change.

Dear Humanity

Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 silent masterpiece Battleship Potemkin remains one of the most influential films of all time. Eisenstein tells a powerful story of oppression, mutiny and triumph. Silent film expert Frank Strobel has created a striking collage of Shostakovich’s symphonies for the film’s soundtrack. Experience Battleship Potemkin projected on the big screen with a full symphony orchestra performing the accompanying soundtrack live to the film.

Battleship Potemkin with the Seattle Symphony

Hear the glamorous yet haunting ballroom waltzes, a dramatic march to the scaffold and the cackle of witches in Berlioz’s thrilling orchestral showpiece, Symphonie fantastique. This exhilarating work is paired with the U.S. premiere of a new work by South African cellist Abel Selaocoe, whose genre-crossing style is redefining the parameters of the cello.

Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique

World renowned violinist Midori marks her 40th anniversary as a performer with a celebrated return to Benaroya Hall. A 2021 Kennedy Center Honoree, Midori remains in constant demand by orchestras around the world. No matter what she's playing, Midori brings new life and vision to each performance.

In Recital: Midori

n big band history, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra is recognized as one of the best all-around dance bands. Jazz trombonist Tommy Dorsey led his band to 17 number one hits in the 1930s and 1940s, and a young Frank Sinatra cut his teeth singing with this legendary band. Now, under the baton of clarinetist Terry Myers, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra brings that classic, sentimental big band sound to the Benaroya Hall stage. Presented as part of the Seattle Pops Series.

Tommy Dorsey Orchestra

Composer Caroline Shaw and choreographer Vanessa Goodman present a performance installation exploring memory as a reconstructed process, not a fixed recollection of events.

Graveyards and Gardens

The Peasant Prince is based on the true story of Li Cunxin’s extraordinary life, told in the best-selling memoir Mao’s Last Dancer. This remarkable and inspiring story comes to life with music by Katy Abbott. Li’s journey of courage and determination is told with the power and simplicity of a great fairytale.

The Peasant Prince

O fortuna! So begins Carl Orff’s famous work for chorus and orchestra, Carmina burana. But there’s more to this epic masterpiece than the thunderous opening chorus, known far and wide for its use in Hollywood films and advertisements. Drawn from medieval poems that vividly celebrate the secular topics of love, lust, excess and indulgence, Carmina burana spans the full range of musical styles, ranging from the power and majesty of full orchestra and chorus to the delicate intimacy of a single human voice.

Carmina Burana

Go behind the scenes with guest conductor Xian Zhang and your Seattle Symphony at a rehearsal as they prepare for their performances of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. Symphony supporters are invited to go behind the scenes at Open Rehearsals throughout the 2022/2023 season. Principals Club donors and above have the unique opportunity to join the orchestra on stage for this rehearsal! Enjoy an insider’s view of a working rehearsal and witness the interplay between conductor and musicians that goes into each breathtaking performance.

Onstage & Open Rehearsal: Carmina Burana

Seattle Symphony's horn players showcase unique timbre & directional properties in Octave 9, featuring new piece by Shanyse Strickland & other spatial sound compositions for horn quartet.

The Living Horn

Premiered in 2019, the dynamic Three Continents Cello Concerto celebrates musical styles across a vast cultural space: three composers from three different continents and of nearly three generations. Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra is a thrilling masterpiece that puts the orchestra's virtuosity on full display.

Three Continents Cello Concerto

Gene Kelly was defined by music and now with reconstructed musical arrangements, you can witness him dance on the big screen accompanied live by the Seattle Symphony. Hosted by his wife and biographer, Patricia Ward Kelly, this Seattle Pops event offers an inside look into Gene Kelly's creative process.

Gene Kelly: A Life in Music

Richard Egarr Plays & Conducts

Explore new and exciting ways to experience rhythm with our friends in the percussion section! We’ll shake, we’ll rattle and we’ll clap along to the beat.

Your family’s musical adventures begin here! Seattle Symphony musicians share their favorite stories, songs and musical games in a series that introduces your youngest listeners to the instruments of the orchestra. These interactive and fun concerts are approximately 30 minutes, and are recommended for ages 0–5.

The Percussion: Lost & Found

The Seattle Symphony returns to the Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center for a FREE community concert of new and celebrated music for orchestra. A pre-concert performance will feature students of the Key to Change Studio.

Community Concert in Renton

Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center

David Robertson returns to conduct a program of music from Romania, Hungary and Russia. Seattle Symphony Concertmaster Noah Geller takes center stage with Bartok’s dramatic Second Violin Concerto, which veers between mystery, exuberance and transcendence. Ligeti’s Romanian Concerto brims with tuneful folk-inspired melodies.

Rachmaninov Symphony No. 1

Freida Abtan’s music uses spectral processing to transform the sounds of the cello into immersive media choreography — specially created for Octave 9. We welcome back Seth Parker Woods for this new, extended version of Freida Abtan’s My Heart is a River.

My Heart is a River

The Seattle Symphony performs a FREE community concert of new and celebrated music for orchestra in collaboration with Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra’s MY Southeast program.

Community Concert in Rainier Valley

Aki Kurose Middle School

Violinist Arabella Steinbacher takes on Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, beloved for its brilliant virtuosity and finesse. R. Strauss’ early tone poem Aus Italien evokes the charm of Italy, at last receiving its Seattle Symphony debut. Tianyi Lu conducts fellow New Zealander Salina Fisher’s Tupaia, inspired by the Polynesian navigator who aided James Cook’s Pacific voyage.

Arabella Steinbacher Plays Mendelssohn Violin Concerto

Experience the Seattle Symphony with guest conductor Tianyi Lu at an Open Rehearsal. See Arabella Steinbacher play Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and Richard Strauss' Aus Italien in its Seattle debut. Observe the behind-the-scenes rehearsal process and the conductor-musician dynamic at Open Rehearsals during the 2022/2023 season and get an insider's view of each performance.

Open Rehearsal: Mendelssohn Violin Concerto

In recognition of your generous support, Symphony Club donors are invited to celebrate Valentine’s Day with a special concert featuring Seattle Symphony musicians and enjoy happy hour with fellow music lovers at The Collective in Seattle’s vibrant South Lake Union neighborhood. Soundbites events are thoughtfully curated for the next generation of supporters.

Soundbites: Valentine

The Collective

In his “Pastoral” Symphony, Beethoven flings open the doors of the concert hall, attuning his symphonic craft to the natural world like never before. Optimism, joy and thankfulness combine in the face of Nature’s raging storms. Charles Corey’s Together, This Journey was originally commissioned and composed in collaboration with members of Northwest Center and Best Buddies communities to be part of its 2020 Beethoven Festival celebrating the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth. And João Guilherme Ripper’s Cinco poemas de Vinicius de Moraes for soprano and orchestra links together five poems by Moraes to create a biographical journey of the man nicknamed "O Poetinha."

Beethoven Pastoral Symphony

For his seventh and final symphony, Sibelius distilled all his powers down to a succinct, momentous closing statement — an odyssey contained in just over 20 minutes. A newly commissioned work from Dai Fujikura takes its inspiration from this enigmatic work. We welcome back Augustin Hadelich to perform Britten’s Violin Concerto, composed in the growing shadows of World War II.

Sibelius Symphony No. 7

The Seattle Symphony’s 15th annual Celebrate Asia shines a spotlight on Seattle’s vibrant Asian communities and its superstar classical artists in one-of-a-kind programs that celebrate Asian heritage in the arts, dance and music. Join us for pre- and post-concert festivities with local dancers and music ensembles alongside a beautiful and diverse concert program.

Celebrate Asia

Dvořák’s optimistic Carnival Overture was written shortly before he left for his infamous travels to the United States. Martinů’s deeply personal Sixth Symphony originated in New York while he was in exile from Czechoslovakia. Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto unfolds with a sense of drama and romance in the hands of Nobuyuki Tsujii, “the definition of virtuosity” (The Observer).

Nobuyuki Tsujii Plays Rachmaninov

Acclaimed pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet returns to the Seattle Symphony as conductor and soloist for a program devoted to Classical piano concertos. Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, all geniuses of their time, left an indelible mark on the keyboard repertoire. Each composer elevated the genre and standard by which all concertos are measured.

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet Plays & Conducts Haydn, Mozart & Beethoven

After making his acclaimed Seattle Symphony debut as part of Celebrate Asia in 2019, rising star Seong-Jin Cho returns to Benaroya Hall in a solo recital that showcases the Romantic sound worlds of Johannes Brahms and Robert Schumann.

Seong-Jin Cho

Michelle Cann performs Mozart’s refined, radiant Piano Concerto No. 23 with former Seattle Symphony Conducting Fellow Lina González-Granados. Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony was written to satisfy Stalin’s regime, yet within the complex beauty, forceful sonorities and triumphant conclusion, the true voice of the artist cannot be denied. Nina Shekhar’s Lumina explores the spectrum of light and dark.

Michelle Cann Plays Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23

Start your New Year off right with the grandeur of Beethoven's monumental Ninth Symphony! The beauty and drama of this uplifting masterpiece, with its crowning jewel of the "Ode to Joy" chorus, is a wonderful way to end the calendar year and look boldly to the year ahead.

New Year's Eve Concert, Countdown & Party

The beauty and drama of Beethoven's monumental Ninth Symphony returns to Benaroya Hall! This alternately awe-inspiring and uplifting masterpiece, with its crowning jewel of the "Ode to Joy" chorus, is a wonderful way to end the calendar year and look boldly to the year ahead.

Beethoven's Symphony No. 9

A triumph of music and text, Handel’s Messiah is a matchless December tradition. The exquisite choral writing and the exultant “Hallelujah” chorus — featuring the Seattle Symphony, Chorale and a strong cast of soloists — honor Handel’s greatest work.

Handel's Messiah with the Seattle Symphony

There’s no place like Benaroya Hall for the holidays! Join conductor Stuart Chafetz and vocalist Dee Donasco for this dazzling program full of holiday favorites, traditional carols and plenty of yuletide cheer. All of the heartwarming sounds of the season await you at this lighthearted and joyful concert, part of the Seattle Pops Series.

Holiday Pops

Scheherazade wove her web of tales within tales for 1,001 nights — stories which are wise, witty, bawdy and heroic. The collected Arabian Nights stories inspired Rimsky-Korsakov to compose his epic symphonic poem. Ravel also turned to the tales in his own version for soprano and orchestra.

Tales of 1,001 Nights

Tan Dun’s Ghost Opera evokes the spirits of Bach and Shakespeare, standing with the ancient folk traditions of traditional shamanistic Chinese Opera. Written for string quartet and pipa, the performers also play percussion, cymbals and stones, water and paper, invoking ‘a dialogue between past and future, nature and spirit.’

Tan Dun Ghost Opera

Tan Dun’s Buddha Passion is the first of its kind in a centuries-old tradition: a passion not inspired by a Christian narrative, but rather, a Buddhist one. Stirred by the city of Dunhuang and its ancient caves, Tan Dun created a powerful score that weaves chants, stories and sounds into a breathtaking vocal masterpiece, capturing the Buddha’s teachings and timeless concepts of love, forgiveness, sacrifice and salvation.

Tan Dun Buddha Passion

Together with our Assistant Conductor Sunny Xia, the Seattle Symphony explores the great outdoors, inspiring creativity, excitement, and wonder. Nature, which surrounds us and which we care for, resounds through this performance, featuring Tan Dun’s beautiful interactive piece, Secret of the Winds and Birds.

Nature Resounds

Enrico Chapela’s brand-new concerto Antiphaser fuses the sound world of electric violin, in the hands of the brilliant Pekka Kuusisto, with symphony orchestra. Enfolding this music are the dreamy seascapes of Debussy’s brilliant La mer along with his fantastical "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun."

Ravel & Debussy

Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet is hailed as one of the best pianists in the world for his profound artistry, poetic musicality and dazzling technical prowess. A beloved Seattle favorite, he returns to the Benaroya Hall stage to perform Debussy’s stunning Préludes, a picturesque collection of 24 vignettes that showcase the composer’s colorful approach to connecting sound, mood and image.

Jean-Yves Thibaudet

We welcome back Hilary Hahn to perform Brahms’ epic Violin Concerto. The Polish composer Witold Lutosławski used folk melodies to intriguing effect in his Concerto for Orchestra, making instrumental colors the engine of a virtuosic vehicle for the entire ensemble.

Hilary Hahn Plays Brahms

Latin Fire is an energetic celebration of Latin American orchestral hits paired with musical fireworks from acclaimed Costa Rican trumpeter José Sibaja and vocalist Mónica Ábrego. In addition to being the lead trumpet of the Boston Brass, Sibaja has recorded with artists such as Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan and Celia Cruz, and has performed on television at the MTV Awards, GRAMMY® Awards, and Saturday Night Live, among many others. This high-octane concert sizzles with danceable rhythms on the Benaroya Hall Stage.

Latin Fire

Dark and stormy French skies dominate this program, with Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice opening the concert. Ravel's lush orchestration of Mussorgsky’s original work for solo piano vividly brings these images to life. Richard Strauss’ Duet Concertino is a surprising ‘first performance’ for the Seattle Symphony. Imagined as a dialogue between beauty and the beast, it highlights the lyricism of the clarinet and the gruffer solo bassoon, performed by Benjamin Lulich and Seth Krimsky.

Pictures at an Exhibition

The Octave 9 series begins with intriguing works by two contemporary composers. Gina Gillie brings us two works including To the Seasons, a set of four poems by William Blake. Artist in Residence Angelique Poteat’s Six Seasons closes out this first night of new works.

Visions of the Season

Conductor Jonathon Heyward returns for the Seattle Symphony premiere of Esa-Pekka Salonen's Cello Concerto, which was inspired by science fiction and outer space, chaos and comets. Cellist Nicolas Altstaedt joins the orchestra to perform this exciting work. Then, we travel back to Earth and the musical landscape of Bohemia with Dvořák’s stormy and dramatic Seventh Symphony.

Dvořák Symphony No. 7

Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique” is a declaration of forbidden love shrouded in mystery. Grieg's Piano Concerto endures as a popular piece equally recognized for its use in TV and film as in the concert hall. Gabriella Smith’s Tidalwave Kitchen rounds out the program, creating an orchestral sound world that reflects the danger and beauty of nature.

Tchaikovsky Pathétique Symphony

It’s our biggest season kick-off celebration yet! Conductor Emeritus Ludovic Morlot joins the Seattle Symphony on stage for the Opening Night Concert of our 2022/2023 season — an evening of French favorites by Ravel and Saint-Saëns, exquisite Chopin selections with pianist Jan Lisiecki, and a world premiere by Artist in Residence Angelique Poteat.

Opening Night Concert

This high energy orchestral evening celebrates the work of legendary rock star and composer Stewart Copeland, and focuses on the epic rise of his music career that has spanned over four decades. Copeland is a unique figure in music: renowned as the founder of The Police, a band that became a defining force in rock music from the ‘80s to the present day, he is also a prolific orchestral composer. This one-night-only concert features Copeland himself on drums alongside the Seattle Symphony, a guest guitarist and vocalists, and dives into The Police’s biggest hits including "Roxanne," "Don’t Stand So Close to Me" and "Message in a Bottle."

Stewart Copeland: Police Deranged For Orchestra

Alternating between sublime lyricism and dramatic power, Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem offers the thrill and drama of a grand opera, from muted sorrow in the opening movement to the sheer terror of the work’s infamous Dies irae. The Seattle Symphony has gathered an extraordinary cast of soloists to join the orchestra and Seattle Symphony Chorale for this monumental work.

Verdi Requiem

Nothing encapsulates the high-class fashions and devil-may-care attitudes of the Jazz Age like George Gershwin’s music for the concert hall. Conducting these virtuoso showpieces from the piano, Wayne Marshall leads the orchestra through Gershwin’s affectionate, jazz-filled postcard from 1920s Paris.

Wayne Marshall Plays & Conducts

Messiaen’s Des canyons aux étoiles... (“From the Canyons to the Stars...”) takes inspiration from the rock spires, birdsong and night sky of Utah’s national parks. Experience Messiaen’s starry-eyed journey through nature and the divine with luminous videography designed by artist Deborah O'Grady, creating a spectacular and interactive landscape across the concert stage.

Morlot Conducts Messiaen

Nathalie Stutzmann conducts the Seattle Symphony and Chorale in Brahms’ German Requiem, one of the great Romantic choral works of the 19th century. Instead of setting the traditional mass for the dead, Brahms' selected texts from the Lutheran Bible create a unique and beautiful offering of hope and comfort.

Stravinsky & Brahms

A conductor who is “paving the way” (NBC News) and a “trailblazer” (Minnesota Star Tribune), Roderick Cox returns to the Seattle Symphony. He’s joined onstage by Concertmaster Noah Geller for Glazunov’s Violin Concerto, followed by Bartók’s lurid Miraculous Mandarin.

The Miraculous Mandarin

The Seattle Symphony spotlights famed Finnish composer Jean Sibelius with his popular Second Symphony. Conductor Emeritus Ludovic Morlot joins the orchestra to bring this magnificent work to life, full of sweeping melodies and rich orchestration. A bold, world premiere work by Puerto Rican-born composer and multi-instrumentalist Angélica Negrón responds to Sibelius and captivating violinist Isabelle Faust performs a sensational violin concerto by Igor Stravinsky.

Sibelius Symphony No. 2

The full forces of the Seattle Symphony mass on stage under the baton of Conductor Emeritus Ludovic Morlot for Mahler’s immense masterpiece, his Sixth Symphony. Music of heart-rending tragedy, intense romance, and unwavering emotional intensity builds to the cataclysmic ‘hammer blows of Fate’ which end the piece. But before this great journey, the orchestra performs a musical farce – Richard Strauss’ cheeky and irreverent Burleske, featuring Swiss virtuoso Francesco Piemontesi at the piano.

Mahler Symphony No. 6

Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony triumphs over fate, a journey through troubles into joy and ecstasy — and some of the greatest melodies ever given to us. Korngold’s lush Violin Concerto prefigures the Hollywood sound with high romance and gorgeous melodies — played for us by the masterful James Ehnes. And to begin the program, William Grant Still’s Poem takes us from darkness into light.

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5

Finnish conductor Dalia Stasevska makes her debut with the Seattle Symphony in a riveting program featuring Bartók’s Second Piano Concerto and Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony. The concert begins with Adolphus Hailstork’s piece Epitaph for a Man Who Dreamed, which commemorates the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dvořák New World Symphony

The Seattle Symphony brings together a program of music reflecting on the end of life. Mahler was inspired by Chinese poetry for his valedictory masterwork, Das Lied von der Erde. George Walker offers introverted and deeply personal reflections on four spiritual melodies in Folksongs for Orchestra. His Lyric for Strings, a touching tribute to the memory of his grandmother, is one of his best-loved works.

Songs of the Earth

Uniquely pioneering sound worlds of Florence Price and Samuel Barber frame a brand new work by firebrand composer Joel Thompson. Ravel looked to the fresh rhythms of jazz to create his Piano Concerto, a joyful showcase for stunning pianist Hélène Grimaud.

Ravel Piano Concerto in G

Brahms’ First Symphony was decades in the making. His loyal public waited years to hear it and were rewarded with a towering masterpiece of emotion — noble, tender and heroic, clothed in orchestral garments. Saint-Saëns’ Second Piano Concerto begins stern and serious, but quickly shifts to joyous French panache, taking a stylistic journey from Bach to Offenbach.

Dausgaard Conducts Brahms

Ray Chen makes his Seattle Symphony debut with Tchaikovsky’s enchanting Violin Concerto, one of the most beloved works for the violin. Brimming with irresistible melodies, the concerto dazzles from its gorgeous opening to its pyrotechnic finale. Shostakovich’s Eleventh Symphony marks the events of the brutally crushed 1905 Russian Revolution — protest and defiance against oppression rendered in thrilling music.

Ray Chen Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto

The most compelling interpreters of Baroque music take the Benaroya Hall stage to play and conduct in the popular Baroque & Wine Series! For this first program, acclaimed harpsichordist Jory Vinikour explores the masters of the Baroque era, beginning with selections from two masterpieces for the operatic stage. Then it’s on to J.S. Bach with two showy works for harpsichord and solo instruments — his first Keyboard Concerto and the irrepressible Fifth Brandenburg Concerto.

From Bach to Rameau

Composers often look over their shoulders. To memorialize friends who had died in World War I, Ravel took refuge in the airy, graceful forms of the French Baroque. In Pulcinella, Stravinsky melded Classical poise with modern rhythms and harmonies. And in Carlo, Brett Dean elaborates on music of love, death and guilt by the notorious madrigalist (and murderer!), Carlo Gesualdo.

Ravel & Stravinsky

The Seattle Symphony shine in Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances, evoking church bells and Russian Orthodox chants — the composer reminiscing about his homeland. Anne Akiko Meyers joins us with a brand-new violin concerto hot off the press: Fandango celebrates the joy and fire of Mexican musical traditions.

Seattle Symphony

27 - 29 Jun, 2024

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows™ Part 1 in Concert with the Seattle Symphony

23 - 25 Jun, 2024

Wild Wolves of Yellowstone | National Geographic Live

20 - 22 Jun, 2024

Joshua Bell Plays Elements Concerto

Jun 18, 2024

From Mendelssohn to Milhaud

Jun 7, 2024

From Dvořák to Benshoof

Seattle Symphony