Welcome to the 2024/25 Season of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Classical series!
Delve into the timeless works of Tchaikovsky, Mahler and Beethoven under the baton of world-renowned conductors, including Music Director Emeritus for Life Riccardo Muti, Marin Alsop, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jaap van Zweden and newly announced Zell Music Director Designate Klaus Mäkelä.
Legendary guest artists bring unique talent and perspective to the stage — from the exquisite violin mastery of Hilary Hahn to the electrifying piano virtuosity of CSO Artist-in-Residence Daniil Trifonov.
Join us for a season filled with musical brilliance and unforgettable moments that resonate long after the final note has faded.
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Table of Contents
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SEPTEMBER
Andrés Orozco-Estrada & Hilary Hahn
19 THU C | C2 7:30
20 FRI A | A1 1:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Andrés Orozco-Estrada CONDUCTOR
Hilary Hahn VIOLIN
TILSON THOMAS Agnegram
first cso performance
BARBER Violin Concerto
BERNSTEIN (ARR. PERESS)
Overture to West Side Story
TCHAIKOVSKY Romeo and Juliet
GINASTERA Four Dances from Estancia
Forbidden love is in the air with Tchaikovsky’s passionate take on Shakespearean Verona, Ginastera’s vivid Argentine romance and Bernstein’s tale of rival street gangs.
Hilary Hahn solos in Barber’s masterpiece.
Tchaikovsky 4
26 THU A | A2 7:30
27 FRI A | A2 1:30
28 SAT A | A1 7:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider CONDUCTOR
Antoine Tamestit VIOLA cso debut
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Overture to The Wasps
WALTON Viola Concerto
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 4
Tchaikovsky pours his soul into his Fourth Symphony, with its surging melodies and dazzling colors. Antoine Tamestit brings his “gorgeous smoky sound” (The Guardian) to Walton’s Viola Concerto.
Andrés Orozco-Estrada
OCTOBER
Eschenbach with Lucas & Arthur Jussen
4 FRI A | A1 1:30
5 SAT B | B2 7:30
6 SUN A 3:00
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Christoph Eschenbach CONDUCTOR
Lucas Jussen PIANO cso debut
Arthur Jussen PIANO cso debut
R. STRAUSS Dreaming by the Fireside from Intermezzo
MOZART Concerto for Two Pianos
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 6 (Pastoral)
Lose yourself in the idyllic landscapes of Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony and the teamwork of brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen, who make two pianos “sound for all the world like a single instrument” (Gramophone).
Alsop & Vondráček
10 THU B | B2 7:30
11 FRI A | A2 1:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop CONDUCTOR
Lukáš Vondráček PIANO
LEE III Chuphshah! Harriet�s Drive to Canaan first cso performance
CHOPIN Piano Concerto No. 2
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5
The brilliant Marin Alsop conducts a captivating work about Harriet Tubman, a beloved piano concerto by Chopin and a work of art embedded with the makings of a Soviet double agent.
Mozart
Coronation Mass
17 THU A | A1 7:30
18 FRI B | B1 7:30
19 SAT C | C1 7:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Nicholas Kraemer CONDUCTOR
Amanda Forsythe SOPRANO
Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen
COUNTERTENOR cso debut
Josh Lovell TENOR cso debut
Michael Sumuel
BASS-BARITONE cso debut
Chicago Symphony Chorus
HANDEL Water Music, Suite No. 2
HANDEL Selected arias and duets from Agrippina, Joseph and his Brethren, Theodora and Alexander’s Feast
HANDEL Intro to Act III and Entrance of the Queen of Sheba from Solomon
BEETHOVEN Elegy
MOZART Mass in C Major (Coronation)
Handel’s brilliant and soul-stirring arias share a program fit for a king with the composer’s Water Music Suite No. 2 and Mozart’s grand Coronation Mass.
Don Quixote
24 THU C | C1 7:30
25 FRI A | A1 1:30
26 SAT A | A2 7:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Sir Donald Runnicles CONDUCTOR
John Sharp CELLO
BEETHOVEN Overture to
The Creatures of Prometheus HUMPERDINCK
Suite from Hansel and Gretel
R. STRAUSS Don Quixote
Strauss’ fantastical interpretation of Don Quixote anchors a storybook program that also features Beethoven’s incisive take on the Prometheus myth and musical highlights from Humperdinck’s
Hansel and Gretel
Muti, Uchida, Emperor & Eroica
OCT 31 THU B | B1 7:30
2 SAT B | B1 7:30
3 SUN A 3:00
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Riccardo Muti CONDUCTOR
Mitsuko Uchida PIANO
BEETHOVEN
Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor)
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3 (Eroica)
Music Director Emeritus for Life Riccardo Muti returns with Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony, with its themes of heroism, struggle and triumph.
Mitsuko Uchida — one of today’s great Beethoven interpreters — presents his Emperor Concerto.
Muti & the CSO
8 FRI B | B2 7:30
9 SAT C | C2 7:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Riccardo Muti CONDUCTOR
DONIZETTI Overture to Don Pasquale
VERDI The Four Seasons from I vespri siciliani
CHABRIER España
GOLIJOV Megalopolis Suite world premiere, cso commission FALLA Suite No. 2 from The Three-Cornered Hat
Be transported to the landscapes of Spain and Riccardo Muti’s native Italy. 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.
Liszt & Bruckner 3
14 THU C | C1 7:30
15 FRI A | A2 1:30
16 SAT A | A2 7:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Marek Janowski CONDUCTOR
Francesco Piemontesi PIANO
WEBER
The Ruler of the Spirits Overture
LISZT Piano Concerto No. 2
BRUCKNER Symphony No. 3
Experience the cathedral-like grandeur of Bruckner’s Third Symphony, with its awed silences and towering brass chorales.
Francesco Piemontesi brings power and panache to Liszt’s Second Piano Concerto.
Tchaikovsky
Swan Lake
21 THU A | A1 7:30
22 FRI WHEATON A 7:30 edman memorial chapel
23 SAT C | C1 7:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Hannu Lintu CONDUCTOR
Vilde Frang VIOLIN cso debut
JOHN ADAMS Slonimsky�s Earbox
STRAVINSKY Violin Concerto
GUBAIDULINA Fairytale Poem first cso performance
TCHAIKOVSKY Suite from Swan Lake
Tchaikovsky’s resplendent Suite from Swan Lake caps a program of musical storytelling that includes works by Adams and Gubaidulina. Vilde Frang takes on Stravinsky’s neoclassical Violin Concerto.
DECEMBER
Grieg & Rachmaninov
5 THU B | B2 7:30
6 FRI A | A1 1:30
7 SAT B | B2 7:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Dima Slobodeniouk CONDUCTOR
Johannes Moser CELLO
GRIEG Suite No.1 from Peer Gynt
LUTOSŁAWSKI Cello Concerto
RACHMANINOV Symphony No.1
Rachmaninov’s majestic First Symphony and Grieg’s popular Peer Gynt Suite No.1 bookend Lutosławski’s enchanting Cello Concerto, featuring the commanding soloist Johannes Moser.
The Tempest & The Sea Hawk
12 THU C | C2 7:30
13 FRI A | A2 1:30
14 SAT A | A1 7:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Fabien Gabel CONDUCTOR
Konstantin Krimmel BARITONE cso debut
BRITTEN Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes
MAHLER Songs of a Wayfarer
TCHAIKOVSKY The Tempest
KORNGOLD (ARR. RUSS)
Suite from The Sea Hawk first cso performance
Embark on a seafaring journey with works portraying Shakespeare’s magical island, a rough-hewn fishing village in England and a Hollywood tale of swashbuckling sailors.
Johannes Moser Hannu Lintu
Save 15% when you create your own series of all three programs featuring Trifonov
CSO ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE
DANIIL TRIFONOV
NOV 17
Piano Recital
MAR 9
Chamber Music with Leonidas Kavakos
MAY 1-4
Mäkelä & Trifonov
Concerto with the CSO
Stepping into the prestigious position of CSO Artist-in-Residence, Daniil Trifonov — celebrated as one of “the finest pianists in the business today” (Chicago Classical Review) — unveils his artistic genius. With a riveting combination of technical virtuosity and interpretive sensitivity, Trifonov enriches the cultural fabric of Chicago, offering audiences profound musical experiences.
DECEMBER
Shani, Shostakovich & Brahms
19 THU A | A2 7:30
20 FRI A | A1 1:30
21 SAT B | B1 7:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Lahav Shani CONDUCTOR AND PIANO cso solo debut
BEETHOVEN Overture to Egmont
SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Concerto No. 2
BRAHMS Symphony No. 1
Brimming with wry wit and affectionate warmth, Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto spotlights Lahav Shani, who conducts from the keyboard. Brahms’ First Symphony combines melting lyricism and stormy intensity.
JANUARY
Bartók Concerto for Orchestra
30 THU B | B1 7:30
31 FRI A | A2 1:30
FEB 1 SAT C | C2 7:30
4 TUE 7:30 — Part of THU C | C2
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Esa-Pekka Salonen CONDUCTOR
Iveta Apkalna ORGAN cso debut
R. STRAUSS Don Juan
SALONEN Sinfonia concertante for Organ and Orchestra first cso performance
BARTÓK Concerto for Orchestra
Revel in the sonic splendor of the CSO as Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts Strauss’ brash portrait of the infamous libertine, Bartók’s virtuosic tour de force and Salonen’s own showpiece.
FEBRUARY
Salonen Conducts Bluebeardʼs Castle
6 THU A | A1 7:30
7 FRI B | B1 7:30
8 SAT A | A1 7:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Esa-Pekka Salonen CONDUCTOR
Ekaterina Gubanova
MEZZO-SOPRANO ( JUDITH )
Christian Van Horn BASS ( BLUEBEARD )
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 2
BARTÓK Bluebeard�s Castle
A taut and gripping thriller, Bartók’s one-act opera traces the ill-fated marriage of Duke Bluebeard and his wife Judith. Beethoven’s joyful Second Symphony opens the program.
Tetzlaff Plays Sibelius
14 FRI B | B2 7:30
15 SAT B | B1 7:30
16 SUN A 3:00
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
David Afkham CONDUCTOR
Christian Tetzlaff VIOLIN
WAGNER Prelude to Act 3 of Lohengrin
SIBELIUS Violin Concerto
SCHOENBERG Pelleas and Melisande
The rugged, windswept beauty of Sibelius’ Violin Concerto is a perfect showcase for Christian Tetzlaff. Schoenberg’s lush, quintessentially romantic tone poem Pelleas and Melisande caps the program.
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Lahav Shani Christian TetzlaffGlover Conducts
English Classics
20 THU B | B2 7:30
21 FRI A | A2 1:30
22 SAT A | A2 7:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Dame Jane Glover CONDUCTOR
Robert Chen VIOLIN
ELGAR Serenade for Strings
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
The Lark Ascending BRITTEN Suite on English Folk Tunes
RAVEL Tzigane
HAYDN Symphony No. 104 (London)
Mixing ceremonial pomp with pastoral splendor, this survey of British classics features Vaughan Williams’ idyllic evocation of the English countryside, Haydn’s grandest symphony and gems by Elgar and Britten.
Seong-Jin Cho Plays Prokofiev
27 THU C | C1 7:30
28 FRI WHEATON A 7:30
edman memorial chapel
MAR 1 SAT B | B2 7:30
2 SUN A 3:00
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Santtu-Matias Rouvali CONDUCTOR cso debut
Seong-Jin Cho PIANO
TCHAIKOVSKY Capriccio Italien
PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 2
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5
The cool of the Arctic meets the warmth of Italy. Sibelius’ Fifth Symphony and Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio Italien frame
Prokofiev’s incendiary Second Piano Concerto featuring Seong-Jin Cho.
Robert Chen
Dame
Jane Glover
MARCH
Stephen Williamson
Ravel Daphnis and Chloe
6 THU A | A2 7:30
7 FRI B | B2 7:30
8 SAT C | C2 7:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Gustavo Gimeno CONDUCTOR
Stephen Williamson CLARINET
BARBER Second Essay
THEOFANIDIS Indigo Heaven
world premiere, cso commission
RAVEL Rapsodie espagnole
RAVEL Suite No. 2 from
Daphnis and Chloe
Hear why Ravel was a classical music master with a suite from his ravishing Daphnis and Chloe. CSO Principal Clarinet Stephen Williamson solos in a new work written for him by Christopher Theofanidis.
Haydn Mass in Time of War
13 THU B | B1 7:30
14 FRI A | A2 1:30
15 SAT B | B1 7:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Manfred Honeck CONDUCTOR
Joélle Harvey SOPRANO
Jennifer Johnson Cano MEZZO-SOPRANO
Andrew Haji TENOR cso debut
Joshua Hopkins BARITONE
Chicago Symphony Chorus
MACMILLAN Larghetto
first cso performance
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 1
HAYDN Mass in Time of War
first cso performance
Composed as Napoleon’s forces were threatening Austria, Haydn’s Mass in Time of War is presented along with Beethoven’s auspicious debut as a symphonist.
MARCH
Hrůša, Trpčeski & Rachmaninov
20 THU A | A1 7:30
21 FRI A | A1 1:30
22 SAT A | A1 7:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Jakub Hrůša CONDUCTOR
Simon Trpčeski PIANO
RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No.1
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No.11 (The Year 1905)
Commemorating the 1905 Russian Revolution, Shostakovich’s Eleventh Symphony unfolds with the immediacy of a newsreel. Rachmaninov’s virtuosic concerto features the captivating pianist Simon Trpčeski.
Bruch & Schumann
Rhenish
27 THU B | B1 7:30
28 FRI WHEATON A 7:30 edman memorial chapel
29 SAT C | C1 7:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider
CONDUCTOR AND VIOLIN
BRUCH Violin Concerto No.1
BOULEZ Livre pour cordes
SCHUMANN Symphony No. 3 (Rhenish)
Journey up the Rhine River, as lovingly portrayed in Robert Schumann’s Rhenish Symphony. To begin, Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider leads and performs the rich and alluring melodies of Bruch.
APRIL
Canellakis Conducts
Rachmaninov
3 THU C | C1 7:30
4 FRI A | A1 1:30
5 SAT B | B2 7:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Karina Canellakis CONDUCTOR
SIBELIUS The Oceanides
DVOŘÁK The Wild Dove
RACHMANINOV Symphonic Dances
Karina Canellakis presents Sibelius’ majestic portrait of the sea, Dvořák’s tone poem about a dove’s prophetic song and Rachmaninov’s sumptuous, autumnal masterpiece.
CSO x The Joffrey Ballet
10 THU A | A1 7:30
11 FRI B | B1 7:30
13 SUN A 3:00
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Harry Bicket CONDUCTOR
The Joffrey Ballet
Ashley Wheater MBE
THE MARY B. GALVIN ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
BOLOGNE, CHEVALIER DE SAINT-GEORGES Symphony No.1
first cso performance
HAYDN Symphony No. 45 (Farewell)
PERKINSON Sinfonietta No.1
first cso performance
New Ballet WORLD PREMIERE
Amy Hall Garner CHOREOGRAPHER
MILHAUD Le Bœuf sur le toit
New Ballet WORLD PREMIERE
Nicolas Blanc CHOREOGRAPHER
Dancers from Chicago’s world-renowned Joffrey Ballet bring to life two newly commissioned choreographies in a program that features the playful wit of Haydn and Bologne and Milhaud’s rollicking Brazilian postcard.
Karina Canellakis
The Joffrey Ballet
Jakub Hrůša
Mahler 7 with Jaap van Zweden
17 THU B | B2 7:30
18 FRI A | A1 1:30
19 SAT A | A2 7:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Jaap van Zweden CONDUCTOR
MAHLER Symphony No. 7
Experience an exclusive Chicago preview of Jaap van Zweden conducting Mahler’s Seventh Symphony before the CSO appears at the Mahler Festival in Amsterdam.
Mäkelä Conducts Mahler 3
24 THU C | C2 7:30
25 FRI B | B2 7:30
26 SAT B | B1 7:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Klaus Mäkelä CONDUCTOR
Wiebke Lehmkuhl CONTRALTO cso debut
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Uniting Voices Chicago
Josephine Lee ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
MAHLER Symphony No. 3
Zell Music Director Designate Klaus Mäkelä leads Mahler’s monumental Third Symphony in which the composer sets out to portray the whole of earthly existence, spanning fanfares and marches, folk dances and choirs of angels.
Wiebke Lehmkuhl
MAY
Mäkelä & Trifonov
1 THU B | B1 7:30
2 FRI B | B1 7:30
3 SAT C | C1 7:30
4 SUN A 3:00
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Klaus Mäkelä CONDUCTOR
Daniil Trifonov PIANO
BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 2
BOULEZ Initiale first cso performance
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 7
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. Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony is a lyrical tribute to the Czech spirit.
Mahler 6 with Jaap van Zweden
8 THU A | A2 7:30
9 FRI A | A2 1:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Jaap van Zweden CONDUCTOR
MAHLER Symphony No. 6
Experience the soaring emotional peaks and valleys of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony, with its fateful hammer blows and nostalgic sounds of mountain pastures.
An American Suite
31 SAT A | A1 7:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
James Gaffigan CONDUCTOR
Janai Brugger SOPRANO
DVOŘÁK American Suite first cso performance
BERNSTEIN Three Dance Episodes from On the Town
GERSHWIN Summertime from Porgy and Bess
GERSHWIN My Man’s Gone Now from Porgy and Bess
GERSHWIN An American in Paris
BERNSTEIN Overture to Candide
Janai Brugger
Riccardo Muti & Esteban Batallán
12 THU A | A2 7:30
13 FRI A | A2 1:30
14 SAT B | B2 7:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Riccardo Muti CONDUCTOR
Esteban Batallán TRUMPET cso solo debut
Symphonic show-stoppers by Bernstein, Dvořák’s radiant salute to the New World and a pair of bluesy Gershwin standards featuring Janai Brugger propel this American road trip.
JUNE
Elder, Goosby & Price
5 THU C | C2 7:30
6 FRI A | A1 1:30
7 SAT C | C2 7:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Sir Mark Elder CONDUCTOR
Randall Goosby VIOLIN cso debut
PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 7
PRICE Violin Concerto No. 2 first cso performance
WAGNER Suite from
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
In Randall Goosby, the pioneering American composer Florence Price “has her ideal champion,” writes The Guardian. Goosby performs Price’s beguiling violin concerto on a program with Prokofiev’s enchanting Seventh Symphony.
HAYDN Symphony No. 48 (Maria Theresa)
TELEMANN (ARR. GREBE)
Trumpet Concerto in D Major
M. HAYDN Trumpet Concerto in D Major first cso performance
SCHUBERT Symphony No. 4 (Tragic)
Esteban Batallán, the CSO’s principal trumpet since 2019, makes his much-anticipated debut as a soloist with the Orchestra. Symphonies by Joseph Haydn and Schubert frame the program.
Muti Conducts
The Damnation of Faust
19 THU B | B2 7:30
21 SAT A | A2 7:30
24 TUE 7:30 — Part of THU C | C1
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Riccardo Muti CONDUCTOR
Marianne Crebassa
MEZZO-SOPRANO ( MARGUERITE )
John Osborn TENOR ( FAUST ) cso debut
Ildebrando DʼArcangelo
BASS-BARITONE ( MEPHISTOPHELES )
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Uniting Voices Chicago
Josephine Lee ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
BERLIOZ The Damnation of Faust
No work delivers such dizzying pleasures while going to hell — and back — as Berlioz’s dramatic opera. Riccardo Muti conducts this vividly kaleidoscopic score.
