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Tim Fox and wife Hayley are both Patron Services associates for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association.
The 2025/26 seasons of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Center Presents are just weeks away, and members of the Sales and Patron Experience team are here to help. Subscriptions for all series are now on sale and can be ordered online or over the phone.
Can’t decide which concerts to select? Over the next weeks, CSO staffers will offer their own choices for must-see performances of 2025/26.
Tim Fox, a Patron Services associate, has selected concerts in the CSO Classical, CSO at the Movies and SCP Piano series as his must-see programs for next season.
1. Ravel, Piano Concertos & Suite from Carmen, CSO Classical (Sept. 25-28): Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major is an all-timer for me, especially the spellbinding Adagio assai. When I graduated from film school, I used a Martha Argerich recording of this piece in my final capstone project. It will always hold a special place in my heart, and I’m thrilled to hear this programmed with music from Bizet’s beloved Carmen and Ravel’s underperformed Piano Concerto for the Left Hand. Alice Sara Ott is the soloist in the Ravel concertos, and Mikko Franck conducts the program.
2. Mäkelä Conducts The Rite of Spring, a CSO Featured Concert (March 5-6, 2026): Tremendous music that will cause Symphony Center to riot! Well ... probably not. But it will probably result in an uplifting commotion in support of Klaus Mäkelä, the CSO’s music director designate! Stravinsky’s modernist masterpiece will surely be a highlight of the upcoming CSO season. (Note: This is a priority-access concert, which means subscribers will get to buy tickets to this program first.)
3. A Live Presentation of 2001: A Space Odyssey, CSO at the Movies (Jan. 9-10, 2026): The most iconic applications of Richard Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra and Johann Strauss’ The Blue Danube embolden this legendary movie. This score for Kubrick’s film is one of the best, and it will be an unforgettable evening with the CSO.
4. Conrad Tao, SCP Piano (June 7, 2026): Conrad Tao is one of my favorite pianists right now, and I will always make time to catch him in concert. He is performing one of the most distinctive programs of the season, with selections ranging from Schoenberg to Art Tatum!
5. An Evening with Chris Thile, an SCP Featured Concert (Oct. 24): One of the most virtuosic mandolin players performs Bach transcriptions — what more do you need! Chris Thile is a brilliant gem and a one-of-a-kind musician.
Note: Curated and create-your-own subscriptions are available now; tickets for individual concerts go on sale on Aug. 6.
