Philadelphia at the Forefront

The Philadelphia Orchestra introduces its 127th season

Above photo by Jessica Griffin

By Paul J. Horsley

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s 2026–27 season is full of epic musical events, bold artistic experiences, and new musical journeys. It strikes a balance between the innovative and the beloved, the bold and the affirming, and includes world premieres from five of today’s most dynamic composers, eight pieces by women, over a dozen works being performed by the Philadelphians for the first time, large-scale symphonic masterpieces including four Mahler symphonies, guest appearances by internationally renowned artists, and a thrilling concert performance of Wagner’s Lohengrin.

The Orchestra’s long history of commissioning new works continues this season with Symphonic Rituals from MASS, an ingenious distillation of one of Leonard Bernstein’s greatest and most talked-about masterpieces. Composer and arranger Garth Edwin Sunderland, who is vice president for creative projects at the Leonard Bernstein Office in New York, has created an all-orchestral symphonic suite that reflects the full beauty and power of this music.

“MASS contains some of Bernstein’s absolutely best melodies and most imaginative writing,” said Jeremy Rothman, chief programming officer of The Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts. “And it is almost never heard because the forces required to mount it are so massive.” He presented the idea of a suite to Bernstein’s heirs “and they loved it,” he added. Sunderland has arranged several of Bernstein’s works in the past, including the opera A Quiet Place and the ballet Fancy Free. Symphonic Rituals from MASS is a 45-minute instrumental arrangement in the tradition of the composer’s own Symphonic Dances from West Side Story.

In the second half of the season the Orchestra will introduce The Party, an inventive collaboration between the Venezuelan-American conceptual artist Alex Da Corte and composer Austin Fisher. Born in Camden, New Jersey, Da Corte is a celebrated animation artist, and he has created a visually stunning stop-motion film “to which the Orchestra and an all-Latinx cast of singers will perform in sync with the animated scenes projected on a screen above the stage,” Rothman said. The Party appears on a program led by Principal Guest Conductor Marin Alsop with Arthur Honegger’s Pacific 231, which also includes the film created especially to be performed with the piece by Jean Mitry as a tribute to the steam locomotive.

In March the Orchestra presents the world premiere of Composer-in-Residence Joe Hisaishi’s Piano Concerto, on a program devoted entirely to the music of this Philadelphia favorite, whose initial fame grew from his compelling scores for Studio Ghibli films. “The musicians love playing his music, which is full of complexity, detail, and is masterfully created. And audiences are incredibly drawn to it, too,” Rothman said. “We are fortunate to be building this relationship with a truly historic artist.”

Reena Esmail, whose RE/Member made a very strong impression at Philadelphia Orchestra performances in 2023, has been commissioned to write a work to be performed in the spring. “The Concerto for Orchestra is a large-scale orchestral piece that has long been in her imagination and will now come to life on stage,” Rothman said. And the final program of the season features Florence Price’s “Rainbow Waltz,” originally for solo piano, in a world-premiere orchestration by composer Valerie Coleman.

The season also includes over a dozen Philadelphia Orchestra premieres, including new arrangements and hidden gems, among them the “Sirens Songs” Polka-Mazurka of Josephine Weinlich, proof that there were highly accomplished women composers in the Austria of Johann Strauss, Jr. The 2026–27 season also includes works that The Philadelphia Orchestra introduced to the world—such as Anton Webern’s Im Sommerwind and the revised version of Samuel Barber’s Symphony No. 1. “The highlighting of world and United States premieres is a reminder of the incredible achievements and history of The Philadelphia Orchestra, and of its broader impact on the history of music,” Rothman said.

The Symphony No. 3 (“The Sunday Symphony”) by William Grant Still—perhaps the most significant Black composer of the 20th century—will also be receiving its first Philadelphia Orchestra outing, after very successful performances of his Second and Fourth symphonies over the past few seasons. Among other local premieres are Anna Meredith’s Nautilus, Gabriela Ortiz’s Clara, Unsuk Chin’s subito con forza, Erkki-Sven Tüür’s Aditus, Christopher Rouse’s Rapture, John Williams’s Piano Concerto, Julia Wolfe’s Liberty Bell, and Caroline Shaw’s The Observatory. A recent and hugely popular album of Gabriela Ortiz’s works garnered three GRAMMY Awards. “She creates a sound world that is relatable and immersive,” Rothman said. “You can hear a range of influences from her cultural background—and an imaginative use of the orchestra that audiences connect with immediately.”

In addition to works by women composers, the line-up of prominent conductors includes Marin Alsop, Dalia Stasevska, and Jane Glover and soloists such as J’Nai Bridges, Yuja Wang, Alice Sara Ott, and Karen Cargill. There is no shortage of large-scale orchestral masterworks on the season, beginning with Mahler’s gigantic Third Symphony and including Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9; Carl Orff’s Carmina burana; Harmonielehre by the American composer John Adams, led by guest conductor Simon Rattle who is returning for the first time in a decade; and Gustav Holst’s The Planets, led by Yannick for the first time here. The Rattle performances are among his rare United States appearances. “Simon loves The Philadelphia Orchestra,” Rothman said. “And any time he is coming to guest conduct in America, he always prioritizes collaborating with our amazing orchestra.”

During the holiday season the Orchestra presents, for the first time in its history, Bach’s complete Christmas Oratorio—“in addition to, not instead of, Handel’s Messiah,” Rothman said. Indeed, Messiah will still hold a prominent place in the season, in performances featuring guest conductor and Baroque music specialist Bernard Labadie. Also featured is the holiday favorite The Glorious Sound of Christmas and the New Year’s Eve Celebration.

Opera in concert has become a staple of the Orchestra’s recent seasons, and in the wake of the success of Wagner’s epic Tristan and Isolde last spring, Yannick and the Orchestra will corral forces for a semi-staged version of that composer’s Lohengrin. These first-ever complete Philadelphia Orchestra performances of Wagner’s masterpiece, first presented in Weimar in 1850, follow the Metropolitan Opera’s magnificent new production in 2022–23, which Yannick also led. The Teutonic legend tells the tale of a mysterious knight who arrives on a swan-drawn boat and declares to his beloved Elsa that they can indeed be together—but only if she never asks who he is or where he’s from. Curiosity gets the better of her, and he reluctantly reveals he is Lohengrin, the son of King Parzival; thus the surly knight departs on the same boat, leaving a devastated Elsa. And let’s not forget that memorable single from this opera, the famous “Bridal Chorus.”

These concert operas generate an aural and dramatic spectacle that can hardly be experienced in the opera house. “You hear these amazing scores in every vivid detail, because the Orchestra is on stage and not in an opera pit,” Rothman said. “What The Philadelphia Orchestra is able to do with this music creates a concert experience like no other—there is a clarity and a color that you have never heard before.” The renowned soloists for these performances include tenor Stanislas de Barbeyrac (Lohengrin), soprano Elza van den Heever (Elsa), soprano Rebecca Nash (Ortrud), baritone Brian Mulligan (Telramund), bass Soloman Howard (King Heinrich), and the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir.

The regular-season programming also includes, among others, favorites of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, Bruckner, Tchaikovsky, Dvořák, Prokofiev, Sibelius, Respighi, Ravel, Strauss, Rachmaninoff, and Stravinsky. And the Orchestra’s popular film series features Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Stars Wars: A New Hope in its 50th anniversary year. The Brodsky Star Spotlight Series continues, giving audiences the opportunity to hear the world’s greatest artists in recital. Next season’s offerings include Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax (The Philadelphia Orchestra’s 2026–27 artist of distinction), Yuja Wang, and Itzhak Perlman and Friends (Ax, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and the Juilliard String Quartet).

In the 2026–27 season, the Orchestra explores music across borders and generations, weaving together rare works, daring artistic conversations, and moments of discovery—an extraordinary celebration of music performed by one of the world’s finest ensembles.

Paul J. Horsley is performing arts editor of The Independent in Kansas City. Previously he was music and dance critic for The Kansas City Star and program annotator and musicologist for The Philadelphia Orchestra. He holds a Ph.D. in musicology from Cornell University and has contributed to The New York Times, Symphony, Dance Magazine, Chamber Music, and many other publications.