91st Season

We begin with an invitation to dance the night away in Hill Auditorium on September 13 with Emanuel Ax and the Hungarian rhythms of Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Kodály’s Dances of Galánta, along with the great American ballet Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland. On October 12, we celebrate works Made in America, with the orchestral masterpiece of the same name by Joan Tower. We’ll hear Stravinsky’s ballet The Fairy’s Kiss in its revised 1950 version for the New York City Ballet, and the Cello Concerto that Dvořák penned during his time in New York City performed by Young Concert Artist Zlatomir Fung. A thrilling new work by New York composer Wang Jie opens the November 2 program at the Michigan Theater: the Symphonic Overture on “America, the Beautiful” takes us to the top of Pike’s Peak in Colorado. Anton Nel will mesmerize us with the pinnacle of pianistic writing in Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1, and Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony takes us to new melodic heights.

With the last installment of Star Wars set to hit theaters in December, we’re throwing one final Star Wars music bash. The music of John Williams from 8 Star Wars films will come to the Michigan Theater in November. For Holiday Pops, we’ll pull out all the stops and bring you Duke Ellington’s jazz adaptation of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker.

On January 18 we throw our annual Mozart Birthday Bash with the International Tchaikovsky Competition-winning violinist Itamar Zorman who plays the “Turkish” Violin Concerto. Mozart’s charming Symphony No. 29 concludes the celebration along with favorite Mozart Opera Choruses. We celebrate Latinx contributions to classical music in the Michigan Theater on March 21. Mexican composer Diana Syrse’s Colección de Realidades (Collection of Realities) is presented alongside the sensational Danzón No. 2 by Arturo Márquez. James Carter plays Roberto Sierra’s Concerto for Saxophones and Orchestra for the first time on the Michigan Theater stage, and the program concludes with a celebration of Puerto Rico in Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. We end our epic 91st season with a finale at Hill Auditorium on April 25, opening with Giuseppe Verdi’s Overture to La Forza del Destino. The glamorous opera sensation Measha Brueggergosman sings Cabaret Songs by Ann Arbor’s William Bolcom along with selections from Berlioz’s Summer Nights. Mahler’s “Titan” Symphony concludes the program.