Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Announces 2026-27 Classics Season

The 2026-27 season opens with bravura, to the tune of Copland’s iconic FANFARE FOR THE COMMON MAN, followed by Brahms’s impassioned DOUBLE CONCERTO featuring MSO Concertmaster JINWOO LEE and Principal Cello SUSAN BABINI, and concluding with TCHAIKOVSKY’S sweeping SYMPHONY NO. 5 led by MICHAEL SANDERLING

New artistic partner and conductor DAVID ROBERTSON leads a program devoted to music created for movement and dance, including DEBUSSY’S playful JEUX and RAVEL’S lush DAPHNIS ET CHLOÉ featuring the MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY CHORUS

ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR RYAN TANI conducts KORNGOLD’S VIOLIN CONCERTO with JULIAN RHEE and BARBER’S MEDEA’S DANCE OF VENGEANCE, closing with RACHMANINOFF’S final orchestral masterpiece, SYMPHONIC DANCES

The MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY CHORUS returns in two monumental masterworks: MOZART’S sublime REQUIEM and WALTON’S theatrical BELSHAZZAR’S FEAST

The MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA and guest artists perform all five of BEETHOVEN’S PIANO CONCERTOS across the season, tracing the remarkable evolution of his style

HOLST’S majestic THE PLANETS arrives under STEPHANIE CHILDRESS with the Women of the MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY CHORUS, and MSO English horn MARGARET BUTLER performs
ROREM’S ENGLISH HORN CONCERTO

A one-of-a-kind GUITAR CELEBRATION transforms the stage as ROBERTSON leads ANOTHER NIGHT ON EARTH, a group of seven crossover guitarists, in a genre-spanning program from RODRIGO to ZAPPA

Symphonic landmarks anchor the spring, including PROKOFIEV’S SYMPHONY NO. 5, MAHLER’S SYMPHONY NO. 5, and SHOSTAKOVICH’S final SYMPHONY NO. 15

Guest artists this season include JOYCE YANG, DAVID FRAY, ZLATOMIR FUNG, BENEDETTO LUPO, SIMONE LAMSMA, SIMON TRPČESKI, ARISTO SHAM, MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN, and MASABANE CECILIA RANGWANASHA

MILWAUKEE, WI 3/13/2026 – The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra announced plans today for the 2026-27 Classics Season at the Bradley Symphony Center. The 20-program season features beloved masterworks, distinctive programs that invite fresh listening, and a wide-ranging roster of world-class conductors and guest artists. Subscriptions for the 2026-27 season are on sale now. Single tickets go on sale on August 3, 2026, for all concerts in the series.

Acclaimed conductor David Robertson appears throughout the 2026-27 season in his new role as artistic partner with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Robertson leads several distinctive programs, including a rhythm-driven exploration of music written for dance featuring Debussy’s Jeux and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé, as well as a genre-spanning Guitar Celebration with Another Night on Earth, a group of seven internationally recognized guitarists. He also returns to the podium to close the season with an all-Strauss program culminating in the composer’s luminous Four Last Songs.

A season of symphonic landmarks

Across the season, the MSO explores some of the repertoire’s most iconic symphonic statements, from Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony and Brahms’s Second Symphony to Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony, Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, and Shostakovich’s final Symphony No. 15.

A season-long journey through Beethoven’s piano concertos

Throughout the season, the MSO will present all five of Beethoven’s piano concertos, offering audiences the rare opportunity to experience the composer’s complete works for piano and orchestra over the course of a single season. Spanning Beethoven’s early Classical influences to the bold, expansive voice of his later years, the concertos showcase the composer’s evolving approach to the concerto form. The series features a distinguished lineup of soloists, including Orli Shaham, Benedetto Lupo, Ingrid Fliter, Simon Trpčeski, and Marc-André Hamelin, who each bring their distinctive artistry to one of Beethoven’s iconic works.

Monumental choral masterworks

The Milwaukee Symphony Chorus takes center stage in Mozart’s Requiem under Jaime Martín and returns later in the season for Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast, led by Michael Sanderling, and the Women of the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus also appear in Holst’s The Planets, conducted by Stephanie Childress.

Below is a full listing of the MSO’s 2026-27 Classics Season

CL – 1: Season Opener: Season Opening Fanfare

Fri, Sep 18, 2026 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Sep 19, 2026 at 7:30 pm

Michael Sanderling, conductor
Jinwoo Lee, violin
Susan Babini, cello

Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man
Brahms: Concerto for Violin and Cello
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5

CL – 2: Made in America: Korngold & Rachmaninoff

Fri, Oct 9, 2026 at 11:15 am
Sat, Oct 10, 2026 at 7:30 pm

Ryan Tani, conductor
Julian Rhee, violin

Barber: Medea’s Dance of Vengeance
Korngold: Violin Concerto
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances

CL – 3: Movements & Melody

Fri, Oct 23, 2026 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Oct 24, 2026 at 7:30 pm
Sun, Oct 25, 2026 at 2:30 pm

David Robertson, conductor
Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

Chopin/orch. Stravinsky: Grand valse brillante
Chopin/orch. Stravinsky: Nocturne in A-flat major
Debussy: Jeux
Ravel: Daphnis & Chloé

CL – 4: Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1

Fri, Oct 30, 2026 at 11:15 am
Sat, Oct 31, 2026 at 7:30 pm

Kristiina Poska, conductor
Orli Shaham, piano

Ülo Krigul: Proteus Pulse
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1
Schumann: Symphony No. 3, “Rhenish”

CL – 5: Royal Fireworks

Sat, Nov 14, 2026 at 7:30 pm
Sun, Nov 15, 2026 at 2:30 pm

Matthew Halls, conductor
Katherine Young Steele, oboe

Rameau: Suite from Les Boréades
Bach: Concerto for Oboe d’amore, BWV 1055
Muffat: Sonata No. 5 from Armonico Tributo
Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks

CL – 6: Brahms Symphony No. 2

Fri, Nov 20, 2026 at 11:15 am
Sat, Nov 21, 2026 at 7:30 pm

Iván López Reynoso, conductor
Joyce Yang, piano

Bernstein: Overture to Candide
Gershwin: Concerto in F
Brahms: Symphony No. 2

CL – 7: Guitar Celebration: From Rodrigo to Zappa

Fri, Jan 22, 2027 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Jan 23, 2027 at 7:30 pm

David Robertson, conductor
Another Night on Earth: Steve Mackey, Joe Gore, Gretchen Menn, Heiko Ossig,
Daniele Gottardo, Jiji Kim, James Moore, guitars

Gore/Robertson: Falling through Time Suite for electric guitar and orchestra
Mackey: Aluminum Flowers for guitar and orchestra
Gottardo: Concertino for Guitar and Orchestra
Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
Zappa: G-spot Tornado for orchestra and 7 electric guitars

CL – 8: Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony

Sat, Jan 30, 2027 at 7:30 pm
Sun, Jan 31, 2027 at 2:30 pm

Paolo Bortolameolli, conductor
David Fray, piano

Milhaud: La création du monde
Ravel: Piano Concerto
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7

CL – 9: Mozart & Shostakovich

Fri, Feb 12, 2027 at 11:15 am
Sat, Feb 13, 2027 at 7:30 pm

Yaniv Dinur, conductor
Zlatomir Fung, cello

Mozart: Overture to The Marriage of Figaro
Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1
Shostakovich: Chamber Symphony
Mozart: Symphony No. 36, “Linz”

CL – 10: Mozart Requiem

Fri, Feb 19, 2027 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Feb 20, 2027 at 7:30 pm

Jaime Martin, conductor
Milwaukee Symphony Chorus, directed by Cheryl Frazes Hill

Reger: Four Tone Poems after Arnold Böcklin
Mozart: Requiem

CL – 11: Labadie Conducts Beethoven

Fri, Mar 5, 2027 at 11:15 am
Sat, Mar 6, 2027 at 7:30 pm

Bernard Labadie, conductor
Benedetto Lupo, piano

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3
Mozart: Chaconne from Idomeneo
Beethoven: Symphony No. 1

CL – 12: Shostakovich Symphony No. 15

Sat, Mar 20, 2027 at 7:30 pm
Sun, Mar 21, 2027 at 2:30 pm

Andris Poga, conductor
Simone Lamsma, violin

Wagner: Prelude to Meistersinger
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 15

CL – 13: Holst’s The Planets

Fri, Apr 2, 2027 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Apr 3, 2027 at 7:30 pm
Sun, Apr 4, 2027 at 2:30 pm

Stephanie Childress, conductor
Women of the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus
Margaret Butler, English horn

Mary Kouyoumdjian: New work for strings
Rorem: English Horn Concerto
Holst: The Planets

CL – 14: Darkness into Dawn

Fri, Apr 9, 2027 at 11:15 am
Sat, Apr 10, 2027 at 7:30 pm

Kirill Karabits, conductor
Ingrid Fliter, piano

Karabits: Concerto Triptych for String Orchestra
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 2
Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2, “Little Russian”

CL – 15: Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony

Fri, Apr 16, 2027 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Apr 17, 2027 at 7:30 pm
Sun, Apr 18, 2027 at 2:30 pm

Delyana Lazarova, conductor
Simon Trpčeski, piano

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5

CL – 16: Mahler’s Fifth Symphony

Sat, May 8, 2027 at 7:30 pm
Sun, May 9, 2027 at 2:30 pm

Jader Bignamini, conductor

Mahler: Symphony No. 5

CL – 17: Postcards from Poland

Fri, May 21, 2027 at 11:15 am
Sat, May 22, 2027 at 7:30 pm

Anna Sułkowska-Migoń, conductor
Aristo Sham, piano

Bacewicz: Overture
Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1
Kilar: Orawa
Karlowicz: Eternal Songs

CL – 18: Enigma Variations

Fri, Jun 4, 2027 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Jun 5, 2027 at 7:30 pm
Sun, Jun 6, 2027 at 2:30 pm

Michael Sanderling, conductor
Will Liverman, baritone
Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

James MacMillan: Larghetto
Elgar: Enigma Variations
Walton: Belshazzar’s Feast

CL – 19: Schubert’s “Great” Symphony

Fri, Jun 11, 2027 at 11:15 am
Sat, Jun 12, 2027 at 7:30 pm

Kwamé Ryan, conductor
Marc-André Hamelin, piano

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4
Schubert: Symphony No. 9, “Great”

CL – 20: Season Finale: Four Last Songs

Fri, Jun 18, 2027 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Jun 19, 2027 at 7:30 pm

David Robertson, conductor
Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, soprano

R. Strauss: Serenade in E-flat
R. Strauss: Death and Transfiguration
R. Strauss: Metamorphosen
R. Strauss: Four Last Songs

ABOUT THE MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Led by Music Director Ken-David Masur, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is Wisconsin’s largest cultural institution and one of the nation’s leading orchestras. Since its founding in 1959, the MSO has performed more than 130 concerts annually, including classics, pops, family, education, and community programs throughout the state. The orchestra has premiered works by composers such as John Adams, Philip Glass, J.E. Hernández, Roberto Sierra, Marc Neikrug, Matthias Pintscher, and Dobrinka Tabakova, earning national recognition for artistic innovation. The MSO was also the first American orchestra to offer live recordings on iTunes.

In 2021, the MSO completed the restoration of a historic downtown movie palace, opening the Bradley Symphony Center. The venue has become a vibrant hub for music and community engagement, sparking renewal along West Wisconsin Avenue and serving as a catalyst for cultural activity in Milwaukee.

The MSO’s commitment to education and outreach reaches tens of thousands of students annually. Its nationally recognized Arts in Community Education (ACE) program, now in its 36th year, integrates music across subjects and provides vital opportunities in schools where arts programming may be limited. ACE offers lesson plans, classroom visits by MSO ensembles, and concerts tailored to each grade level. Along with Youth and Teen concerts, Family Series, and Meet the Music pre-concert talks, these programs provide students and families with meaningful, transformative experiences in music.

Through its artistic excellence, innovative programming, and community engagement, the MSO continues to inspire new audiences, nurture the next generation of musicians, and strengthen Milwaukee’s reputation as a vibrant center for music and the arts.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.