Preconcert Conversations
Preconcert Conversations are free to all ticket holders and start one hour prior to each classical concert. Learn about the music and musicians from experts in musicology.
2026/27 Season Preconcert Conversations
- Opening Weekend: Italian Splendor (Sep 26-27) with Peter Henderson, SLSO Principal Keyboard
- Debussy’s La Mer: Stories in Sound (Oct 2 & 4) with Erin Freeman, Director of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus
- Mozart and Schumann: Scenes from the Rhine (Oct 16-17) with Samuel Hollister, SLSO Assistant Conductor
- Beethoven’s Pastoral: Reflections of Home (Oct 30-31) with Peter Henderson, SLSO Principal Keyboard
- Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky: Passion and Fate (Nov 6-8) with Samuel Hollister, SLSO Assistant Conductor
- Shostakovich’s Eighth: Beauty in Darkness (Nov 14-15) with Erin Freeman, Director of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus
- Pictures at an Exhibition: A Lyrical Tour (Nov 28-29) with Samuel Hollister, SLSO Assistant Conductor
- Dvořák’s Eighth: Bohemian Dreams (Dec 4-5) with Peter Henderson, SLSO Principal Keyboard
- Brahms’ Third: Fierce Longing (Jan 8-10) with Samuel Hollister, SLSO Assistant Conductor
- Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances: Living Portraits (Jan 16-17) with Amy Greenhalgh, violist and Secretary-Treasurer at Musicians’ Association of St. Louis
- Salomé and Elektra: Legendary Women (Jan 29-30) with Peter Henderson, SLSO Principal Keyboard
- Prokofiev and Connesson: Myth and Mischief (Feb 6-7) with Peter Henderson, SLSO Principal Keyboard
- Ravel and Poulenc: Charm and Wonder (Feb 12-13) with Samuel Hollister, SLSO Assistant Conductor
- Bruckner’s Fourth: The Romantic (Feb 26-27) with Samuel Hollister, SLSO Assistant Conductor
- Marsalis’ Fifth: A Jazz Symphony (Mar 12-14) with Samuel Hollister, SLSO Assistant Conductor
- Haydn and Ortiz: Resistance and Revolution (Mar 20-21) with Erin Freeman, Director of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus
- Shostakovich and Sibelius: Power and Drama (Apr 3-4) with Peter Henderson, SLSO Principal Keyboard
- Bernstein and Copland: American Rhapsody (Apr 8-10) with Christopher Stark, composer and Associate Professor at Washington University in St. Louis
- Brahms and Vaughan Williams: Tenderness and Turmoil (Apr 16 & 18) with Samuel Hollister, SLSO Assistant Conductor
- Bartók and Kodály: Mosaics in Motion (Apr 30-May 1) with Samuel Hollister, SLSO Assistant Conductor
- Mahler’s Third: The World in Symphony (May 7 & 9) with Erin Freeman, Director of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus
Noted Podcast
Aren’t able to make it to the preconcert conversation but still want to learn more about the music? Listen to our new Noted Podcast, a quick look into what’s on stage this week at the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.