Programming announced for 2026/27 Season

Programming for the 2026/27 Season offers listeners an incredible range of concert experiences featuring the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in its 136th season, as well as musical encounters with exceptional artists from around the world. The new season is shaped by defining moments: exciting debuts, dazzling virtuosity and the timeless power of Beethoven woven throughout. From soaring symphonies to intimate solo showcases, each concert reveals the power of music in the present and its enduring influence on the future.

Anticipating his first season as the CSO’s 11th music director in 2027/28, Zell Music Director Designate Klaus Mäkelä returns to Chicago in the 2026/27 Season to lead five distinct programs building on the palpable energy and excitement of his critically acclaimed performances with the CSO in recent years. In September and October, Mäkelä leads three CSO programs featuring Stravinsky’s Petrushka, Shostakovich’s Fourth Symphony, Sibelius’ Seventh Symphony and Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, as well as the dramatic cantata Belshazzar’s Feast by composer William Walton with the Chicago Symphony Chorus, prepared by Chorus Director Donald Palumbo, and renowned American baritone Thomas Hampson as soloist. Mäkelä and the CSO showcase their artistic collaboration on an eight-city European tour to Germany, Luxembourg, Austria and France in January 2027. In May, Mäkelä conducts a program featuring Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg’s Violin Concerto, performed by internationally renowned violinist Lisa Batiashvili, as well as a new, CSO co-commissioned work by Lindberg and Sibelius’ First Symphony. To cap the season in June, Mäkelä leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and distinguished soloists in Beethoven’s monumental Ninth Symphony alongside companion choral works by Beethoven and Boulez.

Riccardo Muti, the CSO’s music director emeritus for life, returns next season for three CSO programs. His two-week residency in December begins with a program that extends the tradition of welcoming CSO principal players as soloists, with Principal Oboe William Welter featured in Strauss’ technically virtuosic and highly lyrical Oboe Concerto. Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony and Bartók’s Two Pictures complete the program. The following week, Muti and the CSO welcome pianist Yefim Bronfman for performances of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 on a program that also celebrates the sparkle and elegance of Vienna with waltzes and polkas by members of the Strauss family. On an all-Rossini program in April 2027, Muti leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, prepared by Chorus Director Donald Palumbo, and internationally renowned soloists in Rossini’s transcendent choral masterwork Stabat mater, opening the program with selections from the ballet music and the iconic overture from the composer’s opera William Tell.

Jean-Yves Thibaudet has been named the CSO’s Artist-in-Residence for the 2026/27 Season, sharing his distinctive artistry in three concert programs. In October, he explores the rich juxtapositions of Shostakovich, Dvořák and Debussy with his longtime trio partners, violinist Lisa Batiashvili and cellist Gautier Capuçon. He joins the CSO and conductor Fabien Gabel as soloist in February 2027 performances of Khachaturian’s Piano Concerto. Thibaudet also collaborates with singer and pianist Michael Feinstein, who is widely known for championing the American Songbook, for Two Pianos: Who Could Ask for Anything More?, which surveys the music of George Gershwin. This concert is part of a fundraising event presented in partnership by the CSOA and the League of the CSOA. Proceeds benefit the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s artistic, educational and community engagement programs in Chicago and around the globe.

The Chicago Symphony Chorus marks its second season under the direction of Chorus Director Donald Palumbo in 2026/27 and is featured in some of the most beloved works in the choral repertoire.  In addition to its appearances in Walton’s Belshezzar’s Feast and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Klaus Mäkelä and Rossini’s Stabat mater with Riccardo Muti, the Chorus is featured in October performances of Brahms’ A German Requiem with guest conductor Nikolai Szeps-Znaider and December performances of Handel’s Messiah with guest conductor Masaaki Suzuki, one of today’s top Baroque interpreters in his CSO debut.

An array of contemporary orchestral music is a vital part of the CSO’s classical series programming next season, with works that celebrate cultures and musical influences from around the world from 10 of today’s leading compositional voices. In October, guest conductor and Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Grant Park Music Festival Giancarlo Guerrero leads a program with a pair of fandangos by composers Arturo Márquez and Roberto Sierra. Manfred Honeck conducts a February 2027 world premiere of The Escapist Symphony, a CSO-commissioned work by former CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence Mason Bates that takes its inspiration from Bates’ acclaimed opera The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, which opened the 2025/26 Season at the Metropolitan Opera. In May, the CSO welcomes composer and conductor Tan Dun in his CSO podium debut to lead the Orchestra in performances of three of his own works: the evocative Water Concerto with percussionist Yuri Yamashita in a CSO debut, as well as his Marco Polo concerto for orchestra and nature-inspired Passacaglia: Secret of Wind and Birds. In addition to the U.S. premiere of the new CSO co-commissioned work by Magnus Lindberg, the Orchestra also gives the U.S. premiere of a revised version of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s 2023 work Tiu with Salonen conducting. First CSO performances also include Michael Abels’ More Seasons, Philip Glass’ The Light, Arvo Pärt’s Summa and Julia Wolfe’s Liberty Bell.

More than 200 years after it was written, the music of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) still invites musicians and audiences alike to marvel at its brilliance, power and depth. 

This season, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra explores Beethoven’s enduring impact through performances of his iconic overtures, Symphonies Nos. 4 and 5 and the monumental Ninth Symphony with the Chicago Symphony Chorus in June 2027.

Internationally acclaimed pianist Lang Lang headlines three special CSO concerts showcasing Beethoven’s five piano concertos with Paavo Järvi conducting (March 24-27, 2027) and Isabelle Faust joins the CSO and guest conductor Maxim Emelyanychev, in his CSO podium debut, for Beethoven’s Violin Concerto (March 11-14, 2027). 

Today’s most revered interpreters take center stage in Symphony Center Presents (SCP) programs featuring Beethoven’s music including pianist Bruce Liu performing the Waldstein Sonata (November 1) and all-Beethoven piano recitals by Leif Ove Andsnes (March 21, 2027) and Evgeny Kissin (April 25, 2027), as well as an all-Beethoven piano trio program with Evgeny Kissin, violinist Maxim Vengerov and cellist Gautier Capuçon (May 18, 2027) and a series debut in November for Nemanja Radulovíc with his ensemble Double Sens performing an arrangement of the composer’s landmark Violin Sonata No. 9 (Kreutzer).  
 
Visit cso.org/Beethoven to find all the 2026/27 Season concerts at Symphony Center that feature music by Beethoven. 

Featured concerts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra next season include the return of internationally renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma on November 11 to perform Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto with Carlos Miguel Prieto conducting and a CSO debut for Grammy-nominated violinist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird in concerts on November 13-14. Bird celebrates the 20-year anniversary of his acclaimed record The Mysterious Production of Eggs in a concert that features a full album performance with orchestral arrangements, capping off with a suite of fan-favorite tunes from his nearly 30-year career.

Other 2026/27 Season programming announced on March 5 includes the eight-concert Symphony Center Presents Piano series with notable return appearance for keyboard luminaries Mitsuko Uchida and Yuja Wang. The CSO at the Movies series features three films next season — How to Train Your Dragon 2, West Side Story and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. As part of the CSO for Kids concert programming, The Second City joins guest conductor Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser and the Orchestra for a performance of Benjamin Britten’s iconic score, The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. Holiday programming is set to include the return of holiday movie Elf and seven performances of Merry, Merry Chicago! with Broadway star Mandy Gonzalez.

For full 2026/27 Season details, subscription and priority access concert ticket information, visit cso.org.

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