Throughout March 2025, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra explored music from the 1600s to today, film music and music with cinematic qualities, and symphonic works inspired by poetry. Families experienced the orchestra at Concerts for Kids and thousands of school children brought their recorders into the concert hall.
Meanwhile, progress continued on Powell Hall at the Jack C. Taylor Music Center, the orchestra’s home undergoing a transformational expansion and renovation.
Here’s a look back at the SLSO’s March.
Photos by Brendan Batchelor, Jon Gitchoff, Phillip Hamer, and Tyler Small.
On March 1, Gemma New led the orchestra in a program that included music by J.S. Bach and Kevin Puts before Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. New served as the SLSO’s Resident Conductor from 2016-2020.
Joining New, the orchestra, and the St. Louis Symphony Chorus for performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 were soloists Susanna Phillips, Sasha Cooke, Jamez McCorkle, and Nathan Berg.
The Stifel Theatre was packed for performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
An SLSO string quartet performs Shelley Washington’s Middleground at The Sheldon on March 6. This was the fourth of five chamber music concerts curated by the musicians.
Henry Rusten, left, a student at the University of Missouri, takes a bow with musicians following the world premiere of his piece for string orchestra.
In the auditorium, work continued to replace the floors, which will be the same stained white oak as before.
SLSO Principal Keyboardist Peter Henderson guides a Peer to Peer session on March 16. The education program partners a rising musician from Gateway Music Outreach with a member of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra for weekly learning sessions.
SLSO cellist Yin Xiong performed the solo part in John Williams’ Theme from Seven Years in Tibet on March 21, the same solo originally performed by internationally acclaimed musician Yo-Yo Ma.
Denève conducts
Principal Horn Roger Kaza uses a monitor to see the conductor during an off stage solo during Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Suite from On the Waterfront, March 22.
Assistant Conductor Samuel Hollister gestures to the orchestra after finishing an excerpt from Ethel Smyth’s Overture to The Wreckers at a Concert for Kids at the Touhill Performing Arts Center at UMSL.
At the March 23 Concert for Kids, a young audience member leads St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra musicians in a pre-concert activity.
Michael Spyres, foreground, sings the solo part to Benjamin Britten’s Les Illuminations on March 28 in a concert inspired by poetry.
The SLSO horn section performs Franz Liszt’s Les préludes on March 28.
Denève leads Franz Liszt’s Les préludes on March 28, the final piece on a program inspired by poetry.
Construction crews at the Jack C. Taylor Music Center enclosed the entry to the new foyer with glass.
