The Philadelphia Orchestra Embarks on Tour of the Midwest with Concerts and Community Engagement
March 24, 2026The Philadelphia Orchestra Embarks on Tour of the Midwest with Concerts and Community Engagement
March 24–28, 2026
Final domestic tour celebrating the Orchestra’s 125th anniversary and America’s 250th Birthday
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Philadelphia, March 23, 2026)—The Philadelphia Orchestra is sharing the world-renowned “Philadelphia Sound” across the nation throughout the 2025–26 season, commemorating the ensemble’s 125th anniversary and America’s 250th birthday celebration. As one of the nation's leading cultural ambassadors and one of the most-traveled American symphonic ensembles, The Philadelphia Orchestra continues its long and distinguished history of touring and connecting with communities across the United States and around the world. Following two successful, critically acclaimed tours in North Carolina and Florida, the Orchestra is heading to the Midwest for the final domestic tour of the season, in which it celebrates its 125th anniversary.
Principal Guest Conductor Marin Alsop will lead the Orchestra on its tour of the Midwest. A trailblazing figure in classical music, Alsop is renowned for her artistry and advocacy and was the first woman to lead major orchestras in the United States, South America, Austria, and Great Britain. Together, Alsop and the Orchestra will make stops in Bloomington, Indiana; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Stillwater, Oklahoma, performing four concerts and engaging with local communities through a variety of educational activities.This tour marks the Orchestra’s return to Indiana University for the first time since 1983, as well as its first appearance at the Lied Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of the University of Nebraska—Lincoln since 2001 and the McKnight Center for the Performing Arts at Oklahoma State University since 2022.
“Touring has always been central to The Philadelphia Orchestra’s identity as a cultural ambassador,” said Ryan Fleur, president and CEO of The Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts. “In celebration of the Orchestra’s 125th anniversary, we have already brought the famed ‘Philadelphia Sound’ across the nation, connecting with and inspiring audiences in North Carolina and Florida. This tour of the Midwest marks a fitting culmination of our domestic travels this season, celebrating the Orchestra’s legacy as a musical innovator and its commitment to engaging with local communities through music education. We are grateful to our partners at Indiana University, the Lied Center for the Performing Arts, and the McKnight Center for the Performing Arts for their collaboration and shared belief in the transformative power of music.”
The Philadelphia Orchestra is commemorating its 125th anniversary and America’s 250th anniversary by performing works that were originally given their world or United States premieres by the Orchestra throughout its history. Audiences in Stillwater, Oklahoma, will have the opportunity to hear John Adams’s The Rock You Stand On on Saturday, March 28, at the McKnight Center. Adams wrote the work, which was co-commissioned by The Philadelphia Orchestra and Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, specifically for Alsop, who led its world premiere with the Orchestra in Philadelphia in October 2025, where it was called “highly entertaining ... with a dramatic profile that feels cinematic” (Broad Street Review).
The March 28 performance will also feature a performance of Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F with Hayato Sumino, who made his Philadelphia Orchestra debut earlier this month in Marian Anderson Hall at the Kimmel Center. Rounding out the evening in Stillwater are selections from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, connecting beloved classics with contemporary American voices in one special concert.
Additional repertoire to be performed on the tour includes Beethoven’s triumphant Leonore Overture No. 3, Brahms’s brilliantly witty Variations on a Theme of Haydn, and Schumann’s vital and introspective Symphony No. 2, all of which offer a variety of entry points for new listeners and longtime fans of the Orchestra.
Engaging with the next generation of musicians is a cornerstone of the Orchestra’s touring tradition. In each city, musicians of the Orchestra will step off the concert stage and into classrooms and rehearsal halls to work alongside and coach young musicians and share their professional experiences with local students and community members.
Musicians of the Orchestra will participate in a side-by-side rehearsal and performance with members of the Indiana University Philharmonic Orchestra in Bloomington. Additionally, Alsop and Orchestra musicians will teach over a dozen master classes with elementary, high school, and college students in all three cities. The Orchestra’s stop in Indiana serves as a homecoming for the several Orchestra musicians who are graduates of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.
The Philadelphia Orchestra has toured the United States extensively, with over 100 U.S. tours throughout its history. In 1936 it became the first American orchestra ever to make a transcontinental tour. This tour marks the Orchestra's long-awaited return to Indiana University and its second and third appearances at the McKnight Center and Lied Center respectively, allowing the ensemble to deepen its relationship with these venues and universities as part of its nationwide 125th anniversary celebration.
The Philadelphia Orchestra at Indiana University Auditorium March 25 at 8:00 PM—Wednesday evening—Indiana University Auditorium
Marin Alsop Conductor
Beethoven Leonore Overture No. 3 Brahms Variations on a Theme of Haydn Schumann Symphony No. 2
The Philadelphia Orchestra at the Lied Center for the Performing Arts March 26 at 8:00 PM—Thursday evening—Main Stage, Lied Center for the Performing Arts
Marin Alsop Conductor
Beethoven Leonore Overture No. 3 Brahms Variations on a Theme of Haydn Schumann Symphony No. 2
The Philadelphia Orchestra at the McKnight Center for the Performing Arts at Oklahoma State University March 27 at 7:30 PM—Friday evening—Performance Hall, McKnight Center for the Performing Arts at Oklahoma State University
Marin Alsop Conductor
Beethoven Leonore Overture No. 3 Brahms Variations on a Theme of Haydn Schumann Symphony No. 2
The Philadelphia Orchestra at the McKnight Center for the Performing Arts at Oklahoma State University March 28 at 7:30 PM—Saturday evening—Performance Hall, McKnight Center for the Performing Arts at Oklahoma State University
Marin Alsop Conductor Hayato Sumino Piano
Adams The Rock You Stand On Gershwin Piano Concerto in F Prokofiev Selections from Romeo and Juliet