New Additions Expand the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s 2026/27 Season

By Eric Dundon

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s 2026/27 season was already shaping up to be one of remarkable breadth. Monumental symphonies by Gustav Mahler, Dmitri Shostakovich, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Johannes Brahms, and Ludwig van Beethoven, anchor the orchestra’s 147th season, while a landmark residency with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the 50th anniversary of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus promise defining moments throughout the year.

Now, with a slate of newly announced concerts, the season has become even more expansive—offering audiences fresh ways to experience the orchestra while deepening its connections with music, film, visual art, popular culture, and the broader St. Louis community.

On July 15, single tickets for all 2026/27 season concerts went on sale.

Perhaps the most significant addition is the return of the SLSO’s piano recital series. Following a successful introduction of piano recitals in the 2025/26 season, three internationally acclaimed pianists—Janice Carissa, Paul Lewis, and Yefim Bronfman—will each take the Powell Hall stage for intimate solo recitals that showcase the instrument in all its expressive possibilities. Rather than hearing these artists in front of an orchestra, audiences will encounter them alone, revealing the nuance, poetry, and virtuosity that have made each a celebrated performer on the world’s great stages.

The orchestra is also continuing to strengthen one of its most distinctive artistic partnerships. For more than two decades, the Live at the Pulitzer series has transformed the Pulitzer Arts Foundation into a chamber music venue where contemporary music and visual art intersect. This season’s three programs, curated by composer Christopher Stark, respond directly to exhibitions at the museum, creating conversations between sound, architecture, and visual expression. Programs inspired by Olga de Amaral: Weaving the Infinite and later exhibitions weave together works by composers including Julia Wolfe, Caroline Shaw, Jonny Greenwood, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Shawn Okpebholo, and Fred Onovwerosuoke, many receiving their first SLSO performances. The result is chamber music that feels inseparable from the space in which it is heard.

The orchestra’s popular specials lineup continues to blur the boundaries between musical genres. Fans of legendary film composer Joe Hisaishi can experience Symphonic Dreamscapes: Hisaishi and Beyond, a concert celebrating the beloved music behind Studio Ghibli classics while exploring its connections to the symphonic tradition. Pop audiences can hear singer-songwriter Andrew McMahon’s (lead singer for the bands Something Corporate and Jack’s Mannequin) catalog transformed through lush orchestral arrangements, while Grammy-nominated vocalist Sheléa pays tribute to the incomparable Aretha Franklin in Natural Woman. Later in the spring, audiences can travel from Nashville to Hollywood with concerts celebrating country music’s greatest hits and the extraordinary legacy of Quincy Jones.

The season also continues the SLSO’s commitment to serving audiences of every age. Family concerts invite young listeners to howl alongside wolves, dive beneath the waves, discover Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, and explore orchestral storytelling through imaginative programs designed specifically for children and teens. These performances reflect the orchestra’s long-standing belief that introducing young audiences to live music today helps cultivate lifelong concertgoers tomorrow.

Beyond performances featuring the orchestra itself, Powell Hall remains an active destination for live entertainment throughout the year. Among the newest additions is Black Jacket Symphony’s performance of Led Zeppelin IV, bringing one of rock music’s most iconic albums to the historic hall as part of the Powell Hall Presents series. Alongside previously announced appearances by Branford Marsalis, Dianne Reeves, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, the series continues to position Powell Hall as one of the region’s premier venues for artists across genres.

These additions illuminate an orchestra continuing to redefine what a modern symphony orchestra can be. The traditional concert hall remains home to Beethoven and Mahler, but it is equally a place for Studio Ghibli, indie rock, jazz, soul, contemporary chamber music, family discovery, and legendary popular artists.

As the SLSO enters its ninth season under Music Director Stéphane Denève, the message is clear: today’s orchestra is not simply preserving tradition—it is broadening it. Each new concert invites audiences to hear familiar sounds in unexpected ways, discover new artistic voices, and experience Powell Hall as a cultural home where musical curiosity has no boundaries.

Eric Dundon is the SLSO’s Public Relations Director.