St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s March 2025 concerts include two U.S. premieres, film with live score, chamber, and family programming

(January 23, 2025, St. Louis, MO) – Today, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra announced details of its March concerts, featuring two U.S. premieres of new works, programming for the entire family, and one of the most popular pieces of classical music: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

Tickets are on sale now and may be purchased at slso.org or by calling the Box Office at 314-534-1700.  A full concert calendar is available at slso.org or on the SLSO’s mobile app (available for iOS or Android).

While the transformational expansion and renovation of Powell Hall continues, the SLSO will perform February concerts at Stifel Theatre (March 1-2, 8-9), The Sheldon (March 6 and 29) and the Touhill Performing Arts Center at the University of Missouri–St. Louis (March 14 and 16, 21-23, 28 and 30). Shuttle service will be available for all classical concerts starting at $15 per seat. Shuttles will depart from Plaza Frontenac. Free parking is available on the UMSL campus.

Beethoven’s Ninth: Ode to Joy
Saturday, March 1, 7:30pm CST
Sunday, March 2, 3:00pm CST
Stifel Theatre
1400 Market Street, St. Louis, MO 63103

Gemma New, conductor
Susanna Phillips, soprano
Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano
Jamez McCorkle, tenor (SLSO debut)
Nathan Berg, bass-baritone
St. Louis Symphony Chorus | Erin Freeman, director

Kevin Puts Hymn to the Sun (First SLSO performances)
J.S. BachFantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 537 (First SLSO performances)
Arranged by Edward Elgar                                 
Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 9

Ludwig van Beethoven’s final symphony—Symphony No. 9—changed music forever. Based on the popular Friedrich Schiller poem, “Ode to Joy,” Beethoven broke the mold with this symphony. Aside from its vastness that redefined symphonic performances when it debuted in 1823, Beethoven was the first to combine orchestra with chorus and soloists. Gemma New, who served as the SLSO’s Resident Conductor from 2016 through 2020, returns to lead this symphony alongside the St. Louis Symphony Chorus and soloists Susanna Phillips, Sasha Cooke, Jamez McCorkle, and Nathan Berg. The concerts begin with two pieces new to the SLSO. Kevin Puts sets a sunrise on the horizon to music in his Hymn to the Sun. J.S. Bach calls upon the entire orchestra to create a mood of intensity in his Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, arranged by Edward Elgar.

Live at The Sheldon: Echoes of Home
Thursday, March 6, 7:30pm CST
The Sheldon
3648 Washington Ave., St. Louis, MO, 63108

Celeste Golden Andrews, curator and violin
Melissa Brooks, curator and cello
Kristin Ahlstrom, violin
Alejandro Valdepeñas, viola
David DeRiso, double bass

G.F. Handel Passacaglia for Violin and Cello
Arranged by Johan Halvorsen
Ralph Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending for string quartet
Arranged by Martin Gerigk
Henry Rusten New Work (World premiere)
Shelley Washington Middleground
Antonín Dvořák String Quintet in G Major

Chamber music curated by Celeste Golden Andrews (Second Associate Concertmaster) and Melissa Brooks (Associate Principal Cello).
Sponsored by the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. Welcomed by Classic 107.3.

Memories and traditions echo throughout this program, the fourth of five Live at The Sheldon chamber music concert of the 24/25 season. Curated by Second Associate Concertmaster Celeste Golden Andrews and Associate Principal Cellist Melissa Brooks, this chamber music concert spotlights SLSO string players. A radical arrangement of a G.F. Handel suite makes a new home for classical traditions. Shelley Washington’s string quartet evokes—in the composer’s own words—“where we gathered. Home of the heart, heart of the home.”Antonín Dvořák retains his Bohemian roots in his String Quintet and G major while Vaughan Williamsharkens back to memories of birds taking wing in The Lark Ascending, arranged for string quartet. A new work by award-winning Missouri teenage composer Henry Rusten invites listeners to hear echoes from a new generation.  

Casino Royale in Concert
Saturday, March 8, 7:00pm CST
Sunday, March 9, 2:00pm CDT
Stifel Theatre
1400 Market Street, St. Louis, MO 63103

Jason Seber, conductor

David Arnold  Casino Royale

The SLSO provides the soundtrack for a night of action and suspense with Casino Royale in concert. Led by conductor Jason Seber, the SLSO performs David Arnold’s score as the film—featuring Daniel Craig in his debut as James Bond—plays in its entirety. In the film, Bond is on assignment to play against a private banker funding terrorists in a high-stakes poker game at the Casino Royale in Montenegro.

Lintu Conducts Schumann: Nordic Love Letter
Friday, March 14, 7:30pm CDT
Sunday, March 16, 3:00pm CDT
Touhill Performing Arts Center at the University of Missouri–St. Louis 
1 Touhill Circle, St. Louis, MO 63121 

Hannu Lintu, conductor
Lawrence Power, viola (SLSO debut)

Kaija Saariaho Ciel d’hiver
Magnus Lindberg Viola Concerto (U.S. Premiere, SLSO co-commission)
Robert Schumann Symphony No. 2

Hannu Lintu, a frequent guest conductor of the SLSO, leads a journey from a cold night into a radiant morning. In a performance honoring the pathbreaking composer Kaija Saariaho, who died last year, Ciel d’hiver (Winter Sky) begins with the orchestra’s highest voices. The SLSO then gives the U.S. premiere of Magnus Lindberg’s new Viola Concerto, performed by Lawrence Power in his SLSO debut. The SLSO was a co-commissioning ensemble for this new work. The program concludes with music by Robert Schumann, who struggled with illness but found the warm light of dawn in the murmured fanfares of his Second Symphony.

Bernstein and Williams: Cinematic Visions
Friday, March 21, 10:30am CDT*
Saturday, March 22, 7:30pm CDT
Touhill Performing Arts Center at the University of Missouri–St. Louis 
1 Touhill Circle, St. Louis, MO 63121 

Stéphane Denève, conductor
Yin Xiong, cello
Akiko Suwanai, violin

John Williams Theme from Seven Years in Tibet (First SLSO performances)
Guillaume Connesson Lost Horizons Violin Concerto (U.S. premiere)
Adolphus Hailstork An American Port of Call (First SLSO performances)
Leonard Bernstein Symphonic Suite from On the Waterfront

*Coffee Concert series supported by Lutheran Senior Services. Refreshments provided by Kaldi’s Coffee and Eddie’s Southtown Donuts.

Music Director Stéphane Denève takes audiences on a journey in this program, including music for film and with cinematic qualities. Music by John Williams for the film Seven Years in Tibet opens the program, featuring SLSO cellist Yin Xiong. Guillaume Connesson’s Lost Horizons Violin Concerto, a musical depiction for the quest to reach the mythical Shangri-La of Tibet, receives its U.S. debut with the SLSO and violinist Akiko Suwanai. From the Himalayas, the orchestra ventures to the 1950s, gripped by the action and adventure of America’s bustling ports in music by Adolphus Hailstork and Leonard Bernstein’s On the Waterfront.

Concerts for Kids: Mo Willems’ Because
Sunday, March 23, 3:00pm CDT
Touhill Performing Arts Center at the University of Missouri–St. Louis 
1 Touhill Circle, St. Louis, MO 63121 

Samuel Hollister, conductor

Ethel Smyth  Overture to The Wreckers (First SLSO performances)
Jessie Montgomery Because, A Symphony of Serendipity (First SLSO performances)
Antonín Dvořák Largo from Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”
Pinar Toprak Captain Marvel (First SLSO performances)

Created in partnership with Metro Theater Company. Most enjoyed by ages 5+. Concerts for Kids are inclusive of people with sensory sensitivities. Accommodations will be provided so that everyone may enjoy the experience of live orchestral music.  

The New York Times bestselling author and illustrator Mo Willems’ tale of a young girl’s journey to center stage comes to life through music and theater. Complemented by Amber Ren’s illustrations and Jessie Montgomery’s music, the SLSO and Metro Theater Company share the story of chance, persistence, and magic, revealing that sometimes the smallest moments can have the biggest impact. This Concert for Kids is best enjoyed by families with children ages 5-12. Pre-concert activities begin one hour before the concert.

Debussy and Liszt: Lyrical Daydreams
Friday, March 28, 7:30pm CDT
Sunday, March 30, 3:00pm CDT
Touhill Performing Arts Center at the University of Missouri–St. Louis 
1 Touhill Circle, St. Louis, MO 63121 

Stéphane Denève, conductor
Michael Spyres, tenor

Claude Debussy Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
Benjamin Britten Les Illuminations
Gustav Mahler Songs of a Wayfarer
Franz Liszt  Les préludes

SLSO Music Director Stéphane Denève leads a program of signature programming. Claude Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun imagines the hazy atmosphere of Mallarmé’s poem. Franz Liszt’s Les préludes whips the orchestra into a frenzy to capture the four elements in dramatic interplay. Tenor—and Missouri native—Michael Spyres, who last collaborated with the SLSO in 2023 performances as the title character in Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust, brings a chameleon-like voice to two passionate song cycles: Gustav Mahler’s lovelorn Songs of a Wayfarer and Benjamin Britten’s hallucinatory Les Illuminations.

Concerts for Kids: The Tortoise and the Hare
Saturday, March 29, 12:00pm & 3:30pm CDT
The Sheldon
3648 Washington Ave., St. Louis, MO, 63108

Kevin McBeth, conductor

With music by Ludwig van Beethoven, Antonín Dvořák, Edward Elgar, W.A. Mozart, and Gioachino Rossini, arranged by Adam Maness.
Created in partnership with Ready Readers and COCA. Most enjoyed by ages 3-6. Concerts for Kids are inclusive of people with sensory sensitivities. Accommodations will be provided so that everyone may enjoy the experience of live orchestral music.  

Set to the music of Ludwig van Beethoven, Gioachino Rossini, Edward Elgar, and Antonín Dvořák,  The Tortoise and the Hare comes to life as children dance and play along with the musicians of the SLSO. Based on the book The Tortoise and the Hare, written by Alison Ritchie and illustrated by Nahta Nój, this Concert for Kids is best enjoyed by families with Pre-K students.

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