Emily Hancock, Patron Services associate, opts for concerto soloists

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, staff members will offer their own choices for the must-see performances of 2025/26.

Emily Hancock, Patron Services associate, says, “For next season, I’m most excited to hear the wonderful soloists who will be featured in concerts with the CSO, so all of my top concert picks include a concerto soloist I’m looking forward to hearing": 

Piccolo Play & Adagio for Strings, CSO Classical (Oct. 3-4): I LOVE a Jennifer Gunn piccolo moment (so icy, so smooth, so beautiful!) whenever I go to CSO concerts, so I’m beyond excited to hear her as a concerto soloist in Piccolo Play! I’ve never heard this piece by Thea Musgrave, so I’m looking forward to discovering what it’s like. On the same program, I’m also excited to hear the piece by Carlos Simon, Fate Now Conquers.

Hadelich, Dvořák & Brahms 2, CSO Classical (Oct. 9 and 11): Augustin Hadelich is one of my favorite violin soloists, so I am thrilled to see him performing again with the CSO. I’m not super familiar with Dvořák’s Violin Concerto, but I honestly would be excited to hear him play anything. I’m also really looking forward to hearing Principal Clarinet Steve Williamson in Kodály’s Dances of Galánta on this program; it might as well be considered a clarinet mini-concerto!

Mäkelä Conducts Symphonie fantastique, CSO Classical (Oct. 16-18): I am so happy to see Antoine Tamestit (as soloist in Berlioz’s Harold in Italy) back on the schedule for 2025/26 because I so enjoyed his performance of the Walton Viola Concerto this season. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen the CSO clap as enthusiastically for a concerto soloist as it did when Tamestit walked on the stage; it’s clear that the CSO musicians love working with him. He really blew me away with that performance, so I’m excited to hear him again.

Klaus Mäkelä & Yunchan Lim, CSO Classical (Dec. 18-20): I’ll be honest; at first, this concerto and soloist (Yunchan Lim in the Schumann Piano Concerto) did not catch my eye, but after Patron Services got a bunch of requests for Create Your Own subscriptions with only the three concerts from this run included, I knew I needed to check out what was up! After some listening, I am now so excited to hear Yunchan Lim live — he is such a phenomenal player. I also love how the CSO performs whenever Klaus Mäkelä is here, and the rest of the program is super fun, too! Really excited for Unsuk Chin’s subito con forza.

Sibelius 2 & Tüür Accordion Concerto, CSO Classical (April 2-4, 2026): This program, with guest soloist Ksenija Sidorova, has really sparked my curiosity because I have never heard an accordion concerto live before. I love hearing concertos with less typical  instruments, like the Montgomery Percussion Concerto with Cynthia Yeh from last season, or the Salonen Organ Concerto this season, or the upcoming Piccolo Play by Thea Musgrave. I also think this concerto, Prophecy, has a very compelling title. I’m really looking forward to the program because it’s definitely going to be a unique CSO concert experience.

Honorable mentions:

All the opera soloists coming next season! Especially the CSO Classical programs An Opera Night with Riccardo Muti (March 19-21, 2026) and soprano Erin Morley in Poulenc’s Gloria (May 14-16, 2026). And of course, superstar mezzo Joyce DiDonato will be the CSO’s Artist-in-Residence next season.

Canellakis, Tao & Tchaikovsky 5, CSO Classical (April 30-May 3, 2026): Piano Concert No. 3 is such a crazy concerto, and Conrad Tao is such a creative and innovative performer!

Ravel Piano Concertos & Suite from Carmen, CSO Classical (Sept. 25-28): Alice Sara Ott is the soloist in Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G and Concerto for the Left Hand. That’s a crazy amount of notes for one person in one concert; I can’t wait!

Note: Curated and create-your-own subscriptions are available now; tickets for individual concerts go on sale Aug. 6.