When young Goldilocks stumbles upon a quaint cottage and goes inside to explore, she has no idea it belongs to three bears who are on their way home! With this classic story as a guide, young audiences are invited to experience the wide and wonderful world of the forest through Goldilocks’ eyes and playfully explore some of the responsibilities that come along with growing older. Perfect for ages 3-5.

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Once Upon a Symphony: Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Symphony Center

The 19th century’s most enduring oratorio, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, sung here in English, depicts the story of the biblical prophet Elijah, complete with his ascent to heaven on a flaming chariot. James Conlon leads the assembled forces, including Chicago favorite Lucas Meachem in the mighty title role and the Chicago Symphony Chorus performing the work’s pensive and ecstatic ensembles.

Mendelssohn Elijah

Marking his first season as its chief conductor, Sir Simon Rattle leads the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Mahler’s mighty Sixth Symphony. Sir Simon has been celebrated for his “complete command” (The New York Times) of this piece, one of the composer’s darkest and most impassioned symphonies. Its vast panorama includes cowbells to evoke the Austrian countryside and fateful hammer blows in its final movement.

BRSO Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks

Elim Chan leads Rimsky-Korsakov’s sumptuous symphonic suite Sheherazade, inspired by the legendary heroine and tales of One Thousand and One Nights. Paul Jacobs, “a virtuoso of dazzling technical acumen” (The New York Times), performs Barber’s Toccata festiva, an exuberant showcase for organ containing echoes of J.S. Bach.

Sheherazade

Immerse yourself in Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi masterpiece with John Williams’ pioneering score performed by the CSO. The film stars Richard Dreyfuss as an Indiana utility worker who experiences a close encounter with a UFO. Nominated for eight Academy Awards including Best Original Score, Close Encounters of the Third Kind remains as powerful and engrossing today as it did at its 1977 premiere.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind in Concert

How does your community uplift and inspire you? What can be achieved when you forge positive relationships with others? Guest conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a program that demonstrates how artists throughout history have been empowered by collaboration and how we can all fulfill our dreams with support from the people around us.

School Concert: Empowered by Music

Orchestra Hall

The versatile Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider leads the CSO as soloist in Mozart’s richly melodic Violin Concerto No. 2 and Kreisler’s wistful Liebesleid. Trading violin bow for baton, Szeps-Znaider conducts Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite, a neoclassical gem that shines a spotlight on the orchestra’s principal players, and Mozart’s Prague Symphony, a work of grand gestures and profound, melodious depth.

Mozart & Stravinsky

Join guest conductor Tania Miller and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for a concert that dives into the wonder and symbolism of water. Flow through majestic rivers, stormy seas and galactic ice as the musicians use sound to convey the source of life. Perfect for ages 5-12.

Sound Waves

For one night only, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, composer, arranger and Chicago-area native Cody Fry brings his “unique blend of pop and cinematic classical music” (WUNC) to a special collaboration with the CSO conducted by Steven Reineke. Fry’s “simultaneously familiar and breathtaking” sound (American Songwriter) is likened to the rush of emotion felt the moment your favorite old movie changes from black-and-white to technicolor.

Cody Fry with the CSO

Known for its ongoing legacy of excellence, the CSO Brass Quintet has been performing at near-capacity events for decades. Its mission, says quintet member and CSO Principal Trumpet Esteban Batallán, is “to make sure that the tradition of the CSO brass … prevails and stays alive for generations to come.” The ensemble brings a glorious display of skill to a program including Fred Mills’ arrangement of Bach’s richly detailed Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C Major and Verne Reynolds’ jubilant Suite for Brass.

CSO Brass Quintet Plays Bach & More

Martin Helmchen, “who brings both freshness and expressive depth to everything he plays” (Chicago Classical Review), takes on Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto, a work of youthful bravura and pensive elegance. To open the program, Kazuki Yamada conducts Takemitsu’s shimmering How slow the Wind and Franck’s D Minor Symphony, featuring a mix of soaring lyricism and brooding intensity.

Helmchen Plays Beethoven

Experience the unparalleled power of preeminent vocalist and NEA Jazz Master Dianne Reeves, Afro-Cuban jazz icon Chucho Valdés and the “restlessly creative” (Jazz at Lincoln Center) saxophonist Joe Lovano as they join forces for an unforgettable evening of duets at Symphony Center.

Duets: Dianne Reeves, Chucho Valdés & Joe Lovano

An Evgeny Kissin recital is unfailingly an event, showcasing the Russian pianist’s “formidable blend of technical prowess and exploratory fervor” (San Francisco Chronicle). This season in Orchestra Hall, Kissin surveys the lyrical charm and invention of Beethoven’s Op. 90 Sonata, Brahms’ deeply melodic Four Ballades, Rachmaninov’s ruminative, jewel-like Moments musicaux and Prokofiev’s incisive and hard-driving Sonata No. 7.

Evgeny Kissin

In his Second Symphony, Mahler constructs a universe all his own, exploring themes of death and afterlife using a massive orchestra, offstage brass and percussion, chorus and vocal soloists. Conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen guides listeners on this journey from the great, tragic opening march, through pastoral dances and gentle songs to a final tableau of trumpet calls, percussive thunderbolts and the hymn of resurrection.

Mahler Resurrection

Conductor Manfred Honeck leads the CSO in two captivating works. Principal Percussion Cynthia Yeh takes the spotlight in the premiere of a new concerto by Jessie Montgomery, the CSO’s Mead Composer-in-Residence. Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony awes with its breadth, drama and rapturous intensity. This enthralling score includes a radiant tribute to Bruckner’s idol, Richard Wagner, and a boisterous Austrian country dance.

Montgomery & Bruckner 7

The Guadagnini String Quartet presents three unusual works. Wolf’s single-movement Italian Serenade leaves an impression of playful irony. Beethoven’s G Major Quartet, subtitled “Compliments” due to its elegant phrasing and mood, emerges as a charming and witty work grounded in 18th-century musical tradition. Grieg’s String Quartet in G Minor, one of only a handful of the composer’s large-scale compositions, stands as a supreme achievement and, in his own words, “strives towards breadth, soaring flight and, above all, resonance for the instruments for which it is written.”

Guadagnini String Quartet at South Shore Cultural Center

South Shore Cultural Center

Following a meteoric rise “to rock-star status in the classical music world” (Globe and Mail) sparked by winning the 2021 International Chopin Piano Competition, Bruce Liu makes his much-anticipated Chicago debut. He brings to Symphony Center works by Liszt and Kapustin, inventive keyboard compositions by Rameau, Haydn’s delicate Sonata in B Minor and Chopin’s emotionally complex Sonata No. 2 in B-flat Minor.

Bruce Liu

Enjoy a concert featuring iconic music from the ageless James Bond movie franchise, including hits from Skyfall, Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever and more. John Morris Russell conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra alongside Broadway star and vocal powerhouse Capathia Jenkins in this salute to the notorious secret agent.

Shaken, Not Stirred

Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet brings his customary joie de vivre to Saint-Saëns’ Egyptian Concerto, inspired by a trip down the Nile in 1896. Conductor Stéphane Denève unpacks the French fascination with Spanish culture in Debussy’s sultry Ibéria and Ravel’s ever-popular Boléro, with its sensuously hypnotic theme building to a volcanic climax.

Ravel Boléro

CSO Artist-in-Residence and Musical America’s 2023 Artist of the Year Hilary Hahn returns to Symphony Center for an afternoon showcasing the intimate beauty of chamber music. Hahn “cuts a tightly controlled, even economical figure on stage, letting her multilayered tone — decadent, dense, yet ringing with an irresistible sheen — speak for itself” (Chicago Tribune).

Hilary Hahn & Friends

Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell presents The Elements, a suite of five works for violin and orchestra, commissioned by Bell and written by leading American composers Jake Heggie (Fire), Jennifer Higdon (Air), Edgar Meyer (Water), CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence Jessie Montgomery (Ether) and Kevin Puts (Earth). Conductor Juraj Valčuha frames the program with Weber’s Oberon Overture and Shostakovich’s jaunty, mischievous First Symphony.

The Elements with Joshua Bell

Brahms engaged the horn in only one chamber-music work. The Trillium Ensemble presents his Horn, Violin and Piano Trio, where the horn takes center stage and summons both its lyrical and dramatic sides. Included in the program is Fauré’s Piano Trio in D Minor — one of the composer’s last works, which features charming and elegant themes — and Reena Esmail’s Saans (Breath), a work infused with elements of North Indian classical music.

Trillium Ensemble Plays Brahms

Lahav Shani conducts Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique, a symphony that the composer premiered less than a week before his death and was later nicknamed for the passion and suffering it expresses. Daniil Trifonov takes the spotlight in former CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence Mason Bates’ Piano Concerto, a journey through three stylistic sound worlds, from Renaissance dance music to Romantic-era brooding to a contemporary finale imbued with strains of jazz and minimalism.

Tchaikovsky Pathétique & Trifonov

One of the most celebrated Japanese composers of our time, Joe Hisaishi has produced music for 10 Hayao Miyazaki films, including Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), and has also composed the music for Takeshi Kitano films. His credits include Sonatine (1993), the Oscar-winning Spirited Away (2001) and Departures (2008). Hisaishi conducts the CSO in his much-anticipated latest symphony alongside musical highlights from his most captivating compositions.

Hisaishi Conducts Hisaishi

Forbidden love is in the air as Andrés Orozco-Estrada takes listeners from the streets of Bernstein’s New York to Tchaikovsky’s fantasy on Shakespearean Verona. The Argentine Pampas region is the setting of Ginastera’s vibrant ballet about a city boy who wins the heart of a rancher’s daughter. Barber’s lush and virtuosic Violin Concerto features superstar Hilary Hahn.

Andrés Orozco-Estrada & Hilary Hahn

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Celebrate the 134th season of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with megastar pianist Lang Lang in a marvelous, one-night-only performance, complete with a red-carpet experience. The evening features Saint-Saëns’ exhilarating Second Piano Concerto, which begins with echoes of Bach and ends with a tarantella, a wild Italian folk dance. Kaleidoscopic works by Berlioz and Stravinsky frame the program.

Lang Lang & The Firebird

Starting with a ferocious fanfare representing fate, Tchaikovsky pours his soul into his Fourth Symphony, a fearless musical autobiography packed with surging melodies and dazzling colors. Antoine Tamestit brings his “gorgeous smoky sound” (The Guardian) to Walton’s Viola Concerto, a work of wistful beauty and quicksilver energy.

Tchaikovsky 4

Lose yourself in the idyllic landscapes of Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony. Inspired by the composer’s country hikes, the piece summons rippling streams, a raging thunderstorm and plenty of warmth. Mozart’s double piano concerto showcases the deft teamwork of Dutch brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen, who make two pianos “sound for all the world like a single instrument” (Gramophone).

Eschenbach with Lucas & Arthur Jussen

Musical time traveler, globe-trotting impresario, enterprising scholar and charismatic virtuoso: Jordi Savall is one of the most distinctive talents in the field of early music. Joined by his legendary instrumental and vocal ensembles, the prolific viol player explores the richness of the early Baroque era, highlighting the music of Monteverdi.

Jordi Savall — Monteverdi: A Baroque Revolution

With his Fifth Symphony, Shostakovich outwitted Soviet authorities with the finesse of a double agent. Threatened by Stalin’s regime, the composer skillfully appeased Soviet officials with this gripping work packed with triumphant Russian themes, but also subversive satire and daring irony. Chief conductor of the Ravinia Festival Marin Alsop also leads the CSO in a captivating work about Harriet Tubman and a beloved Chopin concerto featuring pianist Lukáš Vondráček.

Alsop & Vondráček

Animated film meets virtuosic concerto! Follow a magical sprite as it takes audiences inside musical instruments and shows how they work together as an orchestra. Created by former CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence Mason Bates and an Oscar-winning creative team, this film with live music builds to a spectacular finale.

School Concert: Philharmonia Fantastique

Join Nicholas Kraemer and four preeminent singers for a selection of Handel’s brilliant and soul-stirring vocal numbers, which explore the full spectrum of human emotions — from utmost sorrow to joy and sensuality. Plus, enjoy music fit for a king with Handel’s Water Music, composed for the royal court of George I, and Mozart’s grand Coronation Mass.

Mozart Coronation Mass

Join us for an enchanting musical journey with the "Philharmonia Fantastique" at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, set to captivate audiences on October 19, 2024. This unique performance, perfect for ages 5-12, combines the magic of an animated film with the virtuosity of a live concerto, offering an immersive experience into the world of music. 

Created by the talented former CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence Mason Bates, alongside an Oscar-winning creative team, "Philharmonia Fantastique" invites you to follow a magical sprite on an adventure inside musical instruments, revealing the intricate ways they come together to form an orchestra. The journey builds to a spectacular finale, with live music that promises to leave audiences in awe.

Under the baton of conductor Eric Jacobsen, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra will perform this CSO Co-commissioned piece, "Philharmonia Fantastique: The Making of the Orchestra," at the iconic Symphony Center. 

Tickets are priced between $15 and $65, making this extraordinary experience accessible to all. Mark your calendars, as individual concert tickets will be available for purchase starting August 2024. Don't miss this opportunity to introduce the younger generation to the wonders of orchestral music in a fun and engaging way.

Philharmonia Fantastique

The great John Williams conducts a selection of his iconic film scores and the first CSO performance of his magnificent Violin Concerto No. 2, featuring Anne-Sophie Mutter. Composed for Mutter in 2021, the concerto is “a hugely expressive, deeply atmospheric four-movement work,” writes BBC Music Magazine, in which “Mutter‘s singing, lilting, bluesy, scampering violin hungrily eats up the notes.”

John Williams, Anne-Sophie Mutter & the CSO

This storybook program opens with Beethoven’s incisive take on the Prometheus myth and musical highlights from Humperdinck’s fairy-tale adventure, Hansel and Gretel.  Strauss’ fantastical, symphonic interpretation of Don Quixote pits the befuddled “Man of La Mancha” — represented here by Principal Cello John Sharp — against a flurry of windmills, sorcerers and bleating sheep.

Don Quixote

Celebrate Día de los Muertos, Mexico’s Day of the Dead, with the Grammy-winning, Mexican-American singer Lila Downs. Joined by folklórico dancers and stunning visual projections, Downs brings her powerful voice and vibrant stage presence to songs in Spanish and English, as well as indigenous languages from her native Oaxaca.

Lila Downs: Día de los Muertos

Music Director Emeritus for Life Riccardo Muti returns with Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony, a work that shattered the symphonic conventions of its day, with themes of heroism, struggle and triumph. Beethoven’s majestic Emperor Concerto features Mitsuko Uchida, who brings “the unaffected wisdom and clarity that comes with decades of interpretive rigor and commitment” (The New York Times).

Muti, Uchida, Emperor & Eroica

Be transported to the landscapes of southern Spain with vivacious, dance-inspired works by Falla and Chabrier. The journey begins in Riccardo Muti’s native Italy with a boisterous overture by Donizetti and sumptuous ballet music by Verdi. Golijov’s Megalopolis Suite features music from his score to the 2024 release of Francis Ford Coppola’s epic film, in which the fate of Ancient Rome haunts a modern world.

Muti & the CSO

Experiencing a Bruckner symphony is often compared to walking around inside a massive gothic cathedral. Step inside this sacred space and experience its awed silences, reverent melodies and towering brass chorales. Francesco Piemontesi, “a performer in total, joyful command of his material” (The Guardian), brings power and panache to Liszt’s formidable Second Piano Concerto.

Liszt & Bruckner 3

Launching his tenure as the CSO’s Artist-in-Residence, Daniil Trifonov shows why he’s “arguably the mightiest of the under-40 generation of superstar pianists” (The New York Times). Trifonov’s virtuosity is given free rein in Tchaikovsky’s spellbinding works, the brooding, poetic waltzes of Chopin and the propulsive brilliance of Barber’s Sonata.

Daniil Trifonov

Swan Lake is the quintessential ballet score — a resplendent fable of dreamlike transformation. Tchaikovsky’s ballet suite caps a program of musical storytelling that includes Gubaidulina’s whimsical Fairytale Poem and Adams’ brightly colored Slonimsky’s Earbox. Vilde Frang makes her instrument sing and soar in Stravinsky’s neoclassical Violin Concerto.

Tchaikovsky Swan Lake

Wheaton College

In celebration of the 200th anniversary of Anton Bruckner’s birth, the Berliner Philharmoniker presents his Fifth Symphony — one of the composer’s grandest works. From the awestruck opening to the magisterial final chorale, the symphony showcases the plushness and precision of this revered orchestra. “Even at the very top of the field, playing this spectacular — this virtuosic, colorful, confident, unified and committed — is vanishingly rare” (The New York Times).

Berliner Philharmoniker

When you hear Judy Garland singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” accompanied by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, you might find yourself tapping your heels together three times as you think to yourself, “there’s no place like Orchestra Hall.” “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” with Dorothy and revel in Herbert Stothart’s beautiful score performed live by the CSO as MGM’s Technicolor classic plays on the big screen.

The Wizard of Oz in Concert

Cherished the world over for its purity of tone and centuries-old traditions, the Vienna Boys Choir conjures an Austrian landscape of snow-covered mountains and twinkling Christmas markets. Ring in the holiday season with this program of Austrian folk tunes, classical masterpieces and Yuletide favorites.

Vienna Boys Choir: Christmas in Vienna

Rachmaninov’s majestic First Symphony churns with youthful romantic fervor and ethereal mystery — perfect for a December outing. Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, inspired by Norway’s national folk hero, includes the instantly familiar dream-like fantasy of “The Hall of the Mountain King.” Johannes Moser brings his “remarkably visceral and vivid playing” (Gramophone) to Lutosławski’s wild and enchanting Cello Concerto.

Grieg & Rachmaninov

A cat, dog and mouse all turn down the Little Red Hen’s requests for help planting wheat, grinding flour and baking bread — and are disappointed when the hen eats the delicious bread all by herself. Featuring delightful musical portraits of animals, this classic children’s tale explores the importance of working together as a community.

School Concert: Once Upon a Symphony: The Little Red Hen

Spanning candlelit chant to buoyant gospel music, Chanticleer’s annual holiday programs have been a treasured part of the season for decades. For one night only at Symphony Center, the men’s vocal ensemble offers luminous arrangements of carols and other festive classics.

A Chanticleer Christmas

Embark on a seafaring journey as Tchaikovsky summons Shakespeare’s magical island and storm-tossed seas in The Tempest. Korngold evokes the swashbuckling sailors of the 1940 Hollywood epic The Sea Hawk, and Britten portrays the coastal village of his opera Peter Grimes. The voyage concludes as Konstantin Krimmel presents Mahler’s song cycle about a traveling journeyman.

The Tempest & The Sea Hawk

Buddy was accidentally transported to the North Pole as a toddler and raised to adulthood among Santa’s elves. Unable to shake the feeling that he doesn’t fit in, the adult Buddy travels to New York, in full elf uniform, in search of his real father. This holiday season, relive this heartwarming holiday classic on a giant screen with members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra playing John Debney’s wonderful score.

Elf in Concert

The world’s most celebrated orchestral brass section takes center stage in this annual December extravaganza. Experience traditional brass works and arrangements packed with virtuosity, warmth and splendor.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass

Gather with friends and loved ones at Symphony Center — decked with boughs of holly — for a program of familiar carols and festive holiday songs. With glorious arrangements conducted by Alastair Willis, the program is sure to inspire holiday cheer for all.

Merry, Merry Chicago!

Brimming with wry wit and affectionate warmth, Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto was a gift for his teenage son. Here, it’s a showcase for the brilliant Lahav Shani, who conducts from the keyboard. Beethoven’s powerful Egmont Overture captures the brave struggle for freedom and justice, while Brahms’ stormy and heroic First Symphony is the culmination of years of labor by the composer.

Shani, Shostakovich & Brahms

With its captivating scenery and gripping martial arts sequences, Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon tells the story of a 19th-century warrior (Chow Yun-Fat) who gives his sword to his secret love (Michelle Yeoh) for safekeeping. Watch the adventure and romance unfold as the CSO performs Tan Dun’s enchanting, Oscar-winning score.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in Concert

Once Upon a Symphony: The Little Red Hen

Jean-Yves Thibaudet combines his “unfaltering control of texture and sonority” (Classical Voice) with his consummate flair and sense of style. In a single performance, the French pianist elegantly traverses the magical colors and crystalline textures of Debussy’s 24 preludes.

Jean-Yves Thibaudet

The always-swinging Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra delivers a 21st-century take on the classic big-band sound. Led by trumpeter Wynton Marsalis — one of the most famous jazz musicians alive — this “virtuoso ensemble fluent in multiple jazz languages” (Chicago Tribune) performs everything from rare historic compositions to newly commissioned works.

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

Revel in the sonic splendor of the CSO with two of its signature works: Strauss’ brash symphonic portrait of the infamous libertine Don Juan and Bartók’s exhilarating Concerto for Orchestra, a virtuosic tour de force for every instrument. The organ in Salonen’s “boldly cinematic” (Los Angeles Times) Sinfonia concertante adds another thrilling aural dimension.

Bartók Concerto for Orchestra

Experience the passion of Alexandre Kantorow, “a fire-breathing virtuoso with a poetic charm and innate stylistic mastery” (Gramophone). Winner of the prestigious 2024 Gilmore Artist Award and the Gold Medal at the 2019 International Tchaikovsky Competition, the French pianist dazzles and enchants with a program that includes Rachmaninov’s whirlwind piano sonata and Liszt’s storm-tossed landscapes.

Alexandre Kantorow

A taut and gripping thriller, Bartók’s one-act opera follows Duke Bluebeard and his newest wife Judith as she opens the seven doors of his castle and discovers increasingly disturbing sights. Opera stars Christian Van Horn and Ekaterina Gubanova bring to life these ill-fated characters. Juxtaposed with this macabre folktale is Beethoven’s joyful Second Symphony.

Salonen Conducts Bluebeard’s Castle

The rugged, windswept beauty of Sibelius’ Violin Concerto is a perfect showcase for Christian Tetzlaff, whose “fiery and compelling” 2022 CSO performance was named one of the year’s 10 best by Chicago Classical Review. Schoenberg’s Pelleas and Melisande is a lush, quintessentially romantic orchestral portrait of Maeterlinck’s mysterious, symbolist play, while Wagner’s prelude delivers a thrilling opener.

Tetzlaff Plays Sibelius

Mixing ceremonial pomp with pastoral splendor, this survey of British classics features Haydn’s last and grandest symphonic statement, the London Symphony; exquisite gems by Elgar and Britten, and the soaring beauty of Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending with soloist CSO Concertmaster Robert Chen. Marking the 150th anniversary of Ravel’s birth, the program crosses the English Channel for the composer’s beguiling Tzigane.

Glover Conducts English Classics

Feel the power of the taiko drum! The master drummers of Kodo explore the boundless possibilities of this traditional Japanese instrument as they combine elegant music with striking physical feats. Over the last 40 years, Kodo has circled the globe, giving more than 7,000 thundering performances on five continents.

Kodo

Join Sphinx Virtuosi, the trailblazing 18-member string orchestra from the Detroit-based Sphinx Organization, in its Symphony Center debut. The group performs masterpieces by prominent Black and Latino composers — including Jessie Montgomery’s 2024 Grammy Award-winning Rounds — delivering an unforgettable performance lauded for its “joyous and uplifting” energy (Financial Times).

Sphinx Virtuosi

The cool of the Arctic meets the warmth of Italy. The brooding, majestic themes of Sibelius’ Fifth Symphony evoke the remote landscapes of conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali’s native Finland. Tchaikovsky transports listeners to a Roman carnival in his Capriccio Italien. Seong-Jin Cho, lauded for his “expert music-making … miraculous in its execution” (The New York Times), takes on Prokofiev’s incendiary Second Piano Concerto.

Seong-Jin Cho Plays Prokofiev

Celebrating 30 years, Pink Martini has taken audiences around the world, sashaying between French café music, Brazilian sambas, Cuban rumbas and a dash of jazz. Featuring the multilingual vocals of China Forbes, the ensemble from Portland, Oregon, presents a mixture of recent songs and vintage favorites.

Pink Martini featuring China Forbes: 30th Anniversary Tour

CSO at Wheaton: Seong-Jin Cho Plays Prokofiev

Hear why Ravel is a classical music master, whether capturing the sensuous allure of Spain in Rapsodie espagnole or summoning “the Greece of [his] dreams” in his ravishing suite from Daphnis and Chloe. Barber’s Second Essay reflects the turbulent emotions of wartime. CSO Principal Clarinet Stephen Williamson solos in the world premiere of Indigo Heaven, a work written for him by American composer Christopher Theofanidis.

Ravel Daphnis and Chloe

Discover how music can help us understand and share our feelings. Born of a life filled with joy and sorrow, love and pain, the music of Tchaikovsky pulses with strong emotions. Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser and members of the CSO present the Russian composer’s courageous journey and demonstrate how music helps all of us express our emotions.

School Concert: The Music of Our Emotions

A pair of superstars shares the Symphony Center stage. Leonidas Kavakos, “a commanding presence onstage” (The New York Times), teams up with CSO Artist-in-Residence Daniil Trifonov, “one of the most spectacularly virtuosic pianists of the day” (The New York Times), for a program that spans the restless outpourings of Beethoven and Brahms to the 20th-century fireworks of Poulenc and Bartók.

Leonidas Kavakos & Daniil Trifonov

Composed as Napoleon’s forces were threatening Austria, Haydn’s Mass in Time of War features an extraordinarily ominous use of timpani and ends with a plea for peace. Beethoven’s spirited First Symphony bears the influence of Haydn but also foreshadows the development of his own compositional style. MacMillan’s eloquent Larghetto is based on his choral setting of Psalm 51.

Haydn Mass in Time of War

Don’t miss this chance to hear one of today’s fastest-rising stars, as Japanese pianist Mao Fujita celebrates the music of Mozart — whose complete sonatas he recorded — along with pieces by Beethoven and Chopin. “It was obvious from the very beginning,” writes The Guardian of his Wigmore Hall debut, “that he does have something personal and fresh to bring to these works.”

Mao Fujita

Shostakovich’s Eleventh Symphony unfolds with the immediacy of a newsreel as it depicts the harrowing events of the 1905 Russian Revolution. Brimming with rebellious anthems and prisoners’ songs, the Cold War-era score is widely heard as a veiled critique of the Soviet regime. Rachmaninov’s First Piano Concerto, a farewell to Russia, features the captivating Simon Trpčeski.

Hrůša, Trpčeski & Rachmaninov

Journey up the Rhine River, as lovingly portrayed in Robert Schumann’s Rhenish Symphony. Listen for the flowing water and contemplate the majesty of the Cologne Cathedral. To begin, Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider leads and performs the rich and alluring melodies of Bruch’s First Violin Concerto. Pierre Boulez’s iridescent Livre pour cordes marks the centenary of the composer’s birth.

Bruch & Schumann Rhenish

Internationally acclaimed violinist Julia Fischer, who dazzled CSO audiences in 2023 with the “gorgeous singing tone” of her playing (Chicago Classical Voice), teams up with piano sensation Jan Lisiecki, “a player of exceptional poise and refinement” (BBC Music Magazine). Works by Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann showcase their dynamic partnership.

Julia Fischer & Jan Lisiecki

Earth, in all its marvelous vitality and fragility, has inspired generations of composers. In The Oceanides, Sibelius conjures the water nymphs of Greek mythology and the broad majesty of the sea. Dvořák’s The Wild Dove is based on a dark folktale about a dove’s prophetic song. Childhood memories shape Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances, his sumptuous, autumnal masterpiece.

Canellakis Conducts Rachmaninov

In this South African folktale adapted by singer-songwriter Pete Seeger, a boy and his father are banished from their town for making mischief. They are welcomed back when they find a way to make a monster named Abiyoyo disappear. This redemptive story features enchanting music performed by members of the CSO.

Once Upon a Symphony: Abiyoyo

Dancers from Chicago’s world-renowned Joffrey Ballet join the CSO with newly commissioned choreographies. Symphonies by Haydn and the Chevalier de Saint-Georges abound in witty and joyful melodies while two 20th-century works are full of popular influences: Perkinson’s jazz-tinted Sinfonietta No. 1 and Milhaud’s rollicking Brazilian postcard, The Ox on the Roof.

CSO x The Joffrey Ballet

Experience an exclusive Chicago preview of this program before the CSO appears at the Mahler Festival in Amsterdam as one of only five international orchestras on the lineup. Jaap van Zweden conducts Mahler’s Seventh Symphony, a shadowy, paranormal journey through the mysterious night and into the dawn of a new day.

Mahler 7 with Jaap van Zweden

Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain is one of India’s reigning cultural ambassadors, renowned for his joyful and captivating virtuosity. He returns with his long-running Masters of Percussion program, a gathering of great drummers and percussionists from numerous world traditions. “He’s a fearsome technician but also a whimsical inventor, devoted to exuberant play” (The New York Times).

Zakir Hussain & the Masters of Percussion

In his Third Symphony, Mahler portrays the whole of earthly existence. Its six movements — written for a massive orchestra, two choruses and a contralto soloist — explore humanity’s relationship with nature using fanfares, marches, folk dances and bird calls. Children’s voices portray angels while the sixth movement is a pantheistic love song to all of creation.

Mäkelä Conducts Mahler 3

Emanuel Ax, praised for “his seemingly effortless dexterity and the unnerving clarity of his artistic vision” (San Francisco Chronicle), navigates the intricate melodies of timeless compositions. Delve into the romantic depths of Beethoven’s hauntingly beautiful Moonlight Sonata and Schumann’s bold, soul-searching C Major Fantasy.

Emanuel Ax

CSO Artist-in-Residence Daniil Trifonov, “without question the most astounding pianist of our age” (The Times of London), takes on Brahms’ Second Piano Concerto, as remarkable for its rich orchestral writing as for its simultaneously glittering and muscular piano part. Dvořák’s turbulent Seventh Symphony is both an expression of the composer’s personal crises and a lyrical tribute to the Czech spirit.

Mäkelä & Trifonov

A community is a group of individuals working toward a common goal — just like an orchestra! Separately, each instrument is unique, but together they create a harmonious symphony of sound. Featuring the winner of the 2024 Crain-Maling Foundation CSO Young Artists Competition, this program pairs well-known classics with contemporary masterpieces to demonstrate the joy, power and beauty of coming together in service of something bigger than ourselves.

School Concert: Community Pride

Anne-Sophie Mutter, the “undisputed queen of violin-playing” (The Times of London), joins her protégé, cellist Pablo Ferrández, and Yefim Bronfman, “famous not only for his spectacular technique but also for the depth of his interpretations” (The Seattle Times). Beethoven and Tchaikovsky are perfect vehicles for this classical “power trio.”

Mutter, Ferrández & Bronfman

The CSO brings the soaring emotional peaks and valleys of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony to Chicago audiences before performing it on Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw stage. The “hammer blows of fate” in the finale seem to foreshadow the tragedies in Mahler’s life, including his own fatal illness. But the symphony brims with life’s pleasures, too, from memories of mountain pastures (listen for the cowbells) to a rapturous portrait of the composer’s wife, Alma.

Mahler 6 with Jaap van Zweden

Evgeny Kissin’s recitals “evoke an earlier era of great Romantic pianism” (Boston Globe) with their “formidable blend of technical prowess and exploratory fervor” (San Francisco Chronicle). Mixing grandeur and intimacy, Kissin presents signature repertoire by Beethoven and Chopin, plus a set of Shostakovich selections, each strikingly vivid in character and mood.

Distinguished Portuguese pianist Maria João Pires, hailed as “an elegant technician and probing interpreter” by The New York Times, returns to Symphony Center. Pires, whose “keyboard touch is a constant reward” (The Guardian), makes her appearance after receiving the Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance from Northwestern University in 2023.

Maria João Pires

The magic of baseball intertwines with the power of faith and second chances in this 1989 American sports fantasy drama. Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) builds a baseball diamond in his cornfield that attracts the ghosts of baseball legends, including Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) and members of the Chicago White Sox team from 1919. Watch Ray turn his ordinary cornfield into a place where dreams can come true as the CSO performs James Horner’s majestic score.

Field of Dreams in Concert

Dvořák’s radiant salute to the New World kicks off an American road trip with James Gaffigan at the wheel. Take in poignant selections from Gershwin’s landmark opera — sung by Janai Brugger — and the composer’s urbane and nostalgic love letter to Paris. A pair of symphonic showstoppers by Bernstein transports audiences to “New York, New York” and beyond.

An American Suite

In Randall Goosby, the pioneering American composer Florence Price “has her ideal champion,” writes The Guardian, “his playing full of old-school warmth and breadth but never schmaltzy.” Price’s beguiling violin concerto shares a program with Prokofiev’s enchanting Seventh Symphony, composed for a children’s radio broadcast. The suite from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg gathers stirring moments from Wagner’s opera. 

Elder, Goosby & Price

Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson has won legions of fans for his thoughtfully constructed, sublimely played recordings and videos. They have drawn accolades including Gramophone’s Artist of the Year and BBC Music Magazine’s Album of the Year in 2019. Ólafsson takes listeners through Beethoven’s final three piano sonatas, comprising one of music’s great spiritual journeys.

Víkingur Ólafsson

Esteban Batallán, the CSO’s principal trumpet since 2019, makes his much-anticipated debut as a soloist with the Orchestra in a pair of brilliant, high-flying concertos. Riccardo Muti frames the program with Joseph Haydn’s tempestuous Symphony No. 48 and Schubert’s Haydn-inspired Tragic Symphony.

Riccardo Muti & Esteban Batallán

No work delivers such dizzying pleasures while going to hell — and back — as Berlioz’s dramatic opera. Riccardo Muti conducts this kaleidoscopic work, with its timeless themes of temptation and redemption. An all-star cast joins the CSO and Chicago Symphony Chorus, which vividly portrays the hordes of peasants and soldiers, damned souls and demons.

Muti Conducts The Damnation of Faust

Great Scott! Join Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) and a time-traveling DeLorean for the adventure of a lifetime as they navigate the past to ensure the future. Experience the 1.21-gigawatt blockbuster as you’ve never seen and heard it before with the CSO performing Alan Silvestri’s rousing score alongside the film on the big screen.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Apr 28, 2024

BRSO Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks

2 - 4 May, 2024

Sheherazade

3 - 5 May, 2024

Close Encounters of the Third Kind in Concert

8 - 9 May, 2024

School Concert: Empowered by Music

9 - 11 May, 2024

Mozart & Stravinsky

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

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