Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Join the students of Dayton Ballet School as we travel with Dorothy and other familiar friends down the yellow brick road to the land of the Emerald City! This full-length ballet features a colorful cast of characters.

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Dayton Ballet School Concert: Down the Yellow Brick Road

Victoria Theatre

DPAA’s Stained Glass Concert—the Norma Ross Memorial Community Concerts—is part of a series of community outreach efforts in honor of the late Mrs. Norma Ross.  The concerts are a wonderful opportunity for local church musicians and choirs to collaborate alongside DPO Artistic Director and Conductor Neal Gittleman and the Dayton Philharmonic, as well as other local arts groups.

Stained Glass Concert At New Season Ministry

New Season Ministry

Join Q the Music for this free event at Ruskin Elementary School.

Q the Music Strings May Concert

Ruskin Elementary School

Dance the night away! Broadway sensation Rashidra Scott joins Windborne and the Philharmonic to celebrate Whitney Houston’s extraordinary talent with an evening of her biggest hits, “Saving All My Love,” “How Will I Know,” and “I Will Always Love You.”

Windborne’s Music of Whitney Houston

Benjamin & Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center

Celebrate the end of a phenomenal season with Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra! You’ll hear some of the best compositions in the classical music repertoire by Dayton’s extremely talented youth musicians and celebrate with them as they bid farewell to their senior class.

Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra: Spring Concert

Join the Philharmonic for an exciting concert to celebrate Memorial Day! Bring your own seat—but leave the cooler at home—and enjoy patriotic tunes such as the “Armed Forces Salute.” This family-friendly festival is rounded out with special activities, costumed interpreters, and more!

Memorial Day Celebration Concert

Carillon Historical Park

Rock out to a full symphonic production featuring music from five-time Grammy Award-winning punk rock band Green Day! You’ll hear the band’s iconic hits, including their multi-million sellers, “Basket Case” and “Good Riddance,” performed by professional rock musicians and singers, plus your Rockin’ Orchestra.

The Music of Green Day

Called “one of the most versatile singing artists performing today” (Bachtrack), Grammy Award-winning baritone Will Liverman comes to Dayton fresh from his Metropolitan Opera premiere of Anthony Davis’s X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X. Liverman opened the Met’s 2021 season as the lead in Terence Blanchard’s acclaimed Fire Shut Up in My Bones, and recently co-created The Factotum (inspired by Rossini’s The Barber of Seville) for Lyric Opera of Chicago. In this recital, Liverman performs works from Black composers alongside other pieces from the classical music canon.

An Afternoon with Will Liverman

DPAA honors Black Music Month by celebrating African American musical traditions. Florence Price, the first Black woman to receive national attention as a symphonic composer, blends Joplin-esque ballroom and ragtime idioms into her Dances. Dvořák’s New World Symphony embraces Black folk music, fusing it with the composer’s Bohemian heritage. On the second half of the program, a community choir joins the orchestra to recognize and recount the African American experience in song.

New World Symphony

Grab your popcorn for an evening of beloved musical works from the silver screen! Featuring familiar songs from movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Casablanca, and The Lord of the Rings, this concert shines the spotlight on blockbuster film scores.

Soundtrack Magic: John Williams and Friends

Acclaimed worldwide for his exceptional talent and magnificent tone, Chad Hoopes has wowed DPO audiences since he was 15. He returns to perform Igor Stravinsky’s joyful Violin Concerto in D—a spectacular start to Neal Gittleman’s 30th anniversary season! Dvořák’s bold and brilliant Carnival Overture opens the concert, while Brahms’s melodic Symphony No. 4 adds energy and passion.

Dvořák, Stravinsky, and Brahms

In celebration of the 75th anniversary of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic musical, South Pacific, Dayton Opera and Wright State University present this award-winning classic. A favorite among opera and musical theatre fans alike, South Pacific features Dayton Opera artists alongside an ensemble from Wright State, with the Philharmonic performing its lush and beautiful score. Don’t miss beloved tunes such as “Bali Ha’i,” “Some Enchanted Evening,” “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair,” and many more!

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific

Dayton Ballet School Ensemble, DPAA’s pre-professional training program, presents Momentum, a repertoire of classical and contemporary works.

Dayton Ballet School Ensemble: Momentum

Wright State University

Described as “visually stunning” and “magnificent,” Robert Curran’s Coppélia reimagines a classic ballet. Set in a small Midwestern town, Coppélia tells the tale of a lifelike doll in a windowfront. Mistaken by the townspeople as a young, mysterious woman, she provides an escape for a community preoccupied with the realities of war. With beautiful choreography and comical toy characters, Coppélia is the perfect way to start the Ballet season!

Coppélia

Dayton Philharmonic’s Rockin’ Orchestra Series opens with a tribute to the iconic rock band Journey! Relive the 70s and 80s with The Music of Journey, another collaboration with Jeans ‘n Classics. Journey’s catchy, emotive pop-rock hits are paired with an orchestra, rock band, and brilliant vocals. Get ready to rock with some of Journey’s most popular songs, such as: “Any Way You Want It,” “Separate Ways,” and of course, “Don’t Stop Believin’!”

Don’t Stop Believin’: The Music of Journey

PhilharMonster is back! Every October, conductor Neal Gittleman and the DPO have a blast performing family-friendly Halloween tunes for audiences of all ages. You might hear escaped elephants, a musical nightmare, and out-of-control mopping buckets! Families and children are encouraged to come in costume one hour before the show to enjoy crafts, an instrument petting zoo, a costume parade, and more hosted by DPAA’s dedicated volunteer organization, EnCorps!

PhilharMonster

Take a trip to London courtesy of two British composers: Malcolm Singer and Ralph Vaughan Williams. In a world premiere, Singer presents a contemporary look at the city, bustling with commerce, culture, and politics, while Vaughan Williams shares a more historical and romantic account. In between the two works is Beethoven’s bold and beautiful First Piano Concerto, intended to be a showpiece for the composer himself.

Beethoven, London, and a World Premiere

SANTA! I KNOW HIM! Grab a bowl of spaghetti and syrup and run like a cotton-headed ninny-muggins to see the heartwarming holiday classic, Elf, on the big screen. Enjoy the movie while the Philharmonic performs the original score live. Relive the story of Buddy the Elf, who leaves the North Pole in search of his biological father. Along the way, he inspires everyone around him to rediscover the joys of Christmas.

Elf in Concert

Founded in 1937, the Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra brings together the area’s most gifted young orchestral musicians to study and perform a broad range of orchestral repertoire. The ensemble performs three times a year, beginning with their winter concert. Don’t miss this opportunity to witness the future of classical brilliance!

Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra Winter Concert

Amahl and the Night Visitors tells the story of three mysterious kings following a star to bring gifts to a wonderful child. They stop for a rest at the home of Amahl, a shepherd boy who lives with his mother, and when Amahl offers his simple gift to the child, a miracle happens. A heartwarming story of kindness and generosity, Amahl and the Night Visitors is the perfect beginner’s opera and a joyous way to usher in the holiday season for the entire family!

Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors

Associate Conductor Patrick Reynolds and the Philharmonic continue the 2024 Holiday Season with DPAA’s annual Hometown Holidays concert! Full of sing-a-longs, toe-tapping holiday melodies, and traditional carols, this festive concert will have even Ebenezer Scrooge humming a merry tune!

Hometown Holidays

Don’t miss the world premiere of the much-anticipated new production of Dayton’s most beloved Holiday tradition, The Nutcracker! From the creative minds of Artistic Director and choreographer Brandon Ragland, costume designer Lyn Baudendistel, and scenic designer Ray Zupp, the timeless story of Clara’s magical Christmastime journey returns to the stage, set to Tchaikovsky’s gorgeous score performed live by the Dayton Philharmonic.

The Nutcracker

Hallelujah! Take a break from the holiday hustle and bustle and celebrate the reason for the season with Handel’s glorious oratorio, Messiah. The masterwork tells the complete story of Christ, from prophecy, birth, and passion to crucifixion, resurrection, and second coming. As one of the most performed oratorios of all time, Messiah features a breathtaking orchestral score for orchestra and chorus and culminates in the popular “Hallelujah Chorus.”

Handel’s Messiah

One of DPAA’s favorite performances, The Nutcracker: Sensory-Friendly, is great for all families, but especially those with autism, sensory sensitivities, or other social, learning, or cognitive atypicality. This special performance features recorded music rather than a live orchestra and omits loud sounds and jarring effects. A sensory-friendly video guide and other educational materials are available to enhance the experience.

The Nutcracker: Sensory Friendly

Direct from Detroit—and featuring former members of The Capitols, The Miracles, and The Temptations—the Motortown All-Stars stop in Dayton for a night jam-packed with timeless Motown grooves, impeccable harmonies, and dazzling choreography. The All-Stars perform hits by The Temptations, The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and more, with the unmistakable Motown sound that has inspired us since the 1950s.

The Motortown All-Stars

Inspired by paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe, composer Elena Ruehr’s “Sky Above Clouds” is the middle movement of a musical triptych and perfectly captures O’Keeffe’s flair for contemporary sweeping tableaus. The dramatic evening continues with two orchestral heavyweights: Brahms’s Symphony No. 3 and Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto, widely considered to be among his greatest works.

Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto

Songs from Nashville is a honky-tonkin’ celebration of Country music, past and present! The night features classic Country hits from legendary stars Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, and Johnny Cash to contemporary artists like Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, and Kacey Musgraves. Brand new symphonic arrangements performed by the Dayton Philharmonic—along with Nashville’s brightest vocalists and instrumentalists—reignite your favorite tunes.

Country Hits: Songs from Nashville

Experience the ultimate tribute to the legendary crooner, Tony Bennett. Arranged for multiple singers and performed by the Dayton Philharmonic, the concert includes a multi-media display of images and videos from throughout his career. Hits such as “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” “Because of You,” “The Best is Yet to Come,” and more fill the Schuster Center, saluting Bennett’s 60-plus year career.

The Music of Tony Bennett

In 1990, three great operatic tenors gave a legendary concert of the best arias in the canon. More than 800 million viewers tuned in, and the recording of this concert became the best-selling classical album of all time! Dayton Opera pays homage to this historic event as three rising stars on the operatic stage perform much of the same repertoire of the original concert, led by Dayton’s own, Howard Watkins, as music director and pianist. Featuring opera’s greatest arias to Broadway, Neapolitan, and Zarzuela songs, this concert will have you yelling “Encore!”

Three Tenors, Encore!

Have a royal ball at this classic retelling of Cinderella, choreographed by Artistic Director Brandon Ragland to Prokofiev’s sparkling score. Cinderella yearns to escape from her life as a scullery maid to her mean and jealous stepsisters. Enter her Fairy Godmother, a handsome prince, a little help and a lot of magic, and Cinderella gets a glimpse of living happily ever after!

Cinderella

Grab some popcorn and enjoy the sounds of the Philharmonic as they present selections of the most majestic and beautiful music written for some of the world’s greatest films! Experience the thrill of blockbuster movie themes from “Gone with the Wind,” “The Magnificent Seven,” “Dr. Zhivago,” “Lawrence of Arabia,” “James Bond,” “The Pink Panther,” “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Dances with Wolves,” “Ben-Hur,” and many more! The DPO is the star of this memorable evening of iconic and beloved film music classics!

Hollywood Hits

Brush away those winter blues and celebrate spring early with BUGS!! In this fun interactive concert, the Philharmonic and Dayton Ballet School Ensemble mimic the wiggle, flutter, and leap of crawly insects, butterflies, beetles, and even grasshoppers! Selections include Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee,” Grieg’s “Morning” from Peer Gynt, and music from Spider-Man (Elfman).

Magic Carpet Concerts: BUGS!!

Twist & Shout celebrates The Beatles in America, beginning with their 1964 appearance on the “Ed Sullivan Show” and following their journey to the Shea Stadium and Hollywood Bowl appearances that brought Beatlemania and the British invasion into the hearts of Americans everywhere. Enjoy a night of early hits like “She Loves You,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Ticket to Ride,” “Yesterday,” and many more!

Twist & Shout: The Music of the Beatles

“Seven Last Words of the Unarmed” is inspired by the final words of seven unarmed black men: Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., Trayvon Martin, Amadou Diallo, Michael Brown Jr., Oscar Grant III, John Crawford III, and Eric Garner. Bookending the piece are two contrasting works by Lili Boulanger and Fauré’s expressive and beautiful Requiem.

Requiem

At its heart, Verdi’s majestic opera, Aida" class="css-u850">Aida, is an intimate story of love—forbidden and unrequited—enmeshed in a struggle for imperial power between Egypt and Ethiopia. Aida, an Ethiopian princess held in captivity, secretly falls in love with the handsome general leading the war against her homeland. Full of large, lush musical moments, a massive chorus, grand sets, and dazzling costumes, Aida transports you to a time of romance and spectacle.

Verdi’s Aida

Cellist Adrian Daurov returns to the Schuster to perform the Dvořák Cello Concerto, one of the most lyrical and monumental concertos in the cello repertoire. Surrounding the piece are two brilliant works that are comedic though a tad eerie—Stravinsky’s Petrushka ballet score and Mozart’s Don Giovanni Overture.

Dvořák’s Cello Concerto

By any definition, music moves! Soundwaves move through time and space from high to low. Composers and performers use expressive qualities to move us emotionally. Music also compels us to move physically through dance. In this exuberant, interactive program, Patrick Reynolds and the Philharmonic perform music inspired by dance to discover all the ways in which the orchestra moves—and can move us! Along the way, audiences are encouraged to sing, move and groove, and even make a little music of their own.

Young People’s Concert: The Orchestra Moves

Tony-nominated pop/jazz singer-songwriter, Ann Hampton Callaway joins Neal Gittleman and the Philharmonic on the DPO stage for a night of classics made famous by some of the biggest names in the business—Barbra Streisand, Carole King, Patti LuPone, Liza Minnelli, Karrin Allyson, and Michael Feinstein, to name a few! Spoil yourself with a spellbinding show of rousing showstoppers, exquisite ballads, and lovely symphonic harmonies.

Ann Hampton Callaway

A kaleidoscope of musical brilliance awaits as the talented young musicians of the DPYO take the stage for the pinnacle performance of the season! The Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra unites the area’s most gifted young orchestral musicians to study and perform a broad range of orchestral repertoire. Support the youth in our community and see the classical music stars of tomorrow!

Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra Spring Concert

Enjoy a night of classical and contemporary ballet and witness the astounding talent of Dayton Ballet’s dancers. Pointes of View showcases choreography from one of the most influential choreographers of the 20th Century, George Balanchine, to up-and-coming choreographers making their mark in today’s ever-evolving ballet stages.

Pointes of View

Immerse yourself in the enchanting world of Magic Mirror, a captivating story ballet inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairytale, Snow White. The beautiful princess and her lovable forest friends embark on a magical journey in a story of love, friendship, and the struggle between good and evil. This performance is a celebratory capstone for the talented dancers of the Dayton Ballet School.

Dayton Ballet School Concert: Magic Mirror

Celebrate Memorial Day weekend at Carillon Park with a sensational concert by the Philharmonic! Bring your chair or blanket—but leave the cooler at home—and enjoy patriotic tunes, rousing marches, and more at this family-friendly festival full of fun activities, food, and more!

Electric guitars and drum kits meet the rich sounds of orchestral instruments in the Rockin’ Orchestra series! This is not just a rock concert; it’s a symphonic rock spectacle of sound and light that will leave you with a newfound appreciation for the power of musical fusion. The series closes with this special performance, to be announced soon.

To Be Announced

Saint-Saëns’s symphony is known as “THE organ symphony” and for good reason: the sweet and familiar melodies hung between moments of blazing climactic glory will have audiences at the edge of their seats. Each movement is better than the last! Leading up to this epic work is an organ concerto by Handel, which has inspired composers for centuries. Also on the program is a new work by Derrick Skye, “Nova Plexus,” co-commissioned by DPAA, the Berkeley Symphony, and BBC Radio 3.

Dayton Performing Arts Alliance

May 4, 2024

Dayton Ballet School Concert: Down the Yellow Brick Road

May 5, 2024

Stained Glass Concert At New Season Ministry

May 7, 2024

Q the Music Strings May Concert

May 18, 2024

Windborne’s Music of Whitney Houston

May 19, 2024

Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra: Spring Concert

Dayton Performing Arts Alliance

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