Looking Ahead: SLSO Musicians Preview the 2026/27 Season
By Iain Shaw
Excitement is building for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s 147th season, and audiences are invited to join the orchestra at Powell Hall at the Jack C. Taylor Music Center for a year of exceptional programming, artistry, and music that connects and inspires. We asked SLSO musicians and artistic leaders to reflect on what makes this season special.
Subscribe to the 26/27 season here.
Celebrating today’s composers
One of the SLSO’s roles as a 21st-century American orchestra is championing new music and providing a platform for today’s composers, reflecting a range of voices and perspectives. Music by living composers forms an important strand of next season’s programming, with four SLSO commissions or co-commissions featured in 2026/27.
Contrabassoonist Ellen Connors says performing new works as an ensemble can be both challenging and rewarding.
“One cool part of this job is getting to play brand-new music by some of the great living composers,” she said. “There’s always a chance one of them will write something funky for the contrabassoon.”
Connors is excited for the world premiere of Christopher Stark’s Violin Concerto “Vesper Flights” (April 9–11), commissioned by the SLSO, as well as SLSO co-commissions like 25/26 Composer in Residence Kevin Puts’ Bassoon Concerto (February 26–27) and legendary trumpeter Wynton Marsalis’ Symphony No. 5, “Liberty” (March12–14).
Extraordinary guest artists
The 26/27 season will see a roster of acclaimed guest artists perform with the SLSO, including pianist Yefim Bronfman, mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, conductor Dalia Stasevska, pianist Daniil Trifonov, and many more.
For Aleck Belcher, Associate Principal Double Bass, the chance to perform with Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will be one of 26/27’s standout moments.
“The last time I played in big band was in high school, and I miss it a lot, so it’ll be really cool to perform alongside the best big band in the world,” he said.
Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (October 30–31) brings an SLSO debut for vocalist and St. Louis native Julia Bullock. It’s a work that has deep resonance for both Connors and Belcher.
“I won’t be on stage for it, but I’m excited to be in the audience,” Connors said. “As a teenager, I listened to Kathleen Battle’s recording of the piece over and over…. I was just crushed by it. The piece still crushes me.”
Connors had the chance to perform Knoxville: Summer of 1915 during her time with the Knoxville Symphony, her first orchestral job.
“It will be a treat to hear Julia Bullock perform the work,” she said.
“I remember I first performed the piece over a decade ago, and in preparation for that performance I listened to Dawn Upshaw’s recording,” Belcher added. “I then proceeded to listen to it like a billion times and was shocked at how beautiful it was and how illustrative it was of the text.”
Every musician playing their part
In approaching a new season’s programming, musicians bring the specific perspective of their own instrument or section of the orchestra.
“As the contra player, I’m usually on stage for the largest-scale works, so I’m biased toward those,” Connors said.
In terms of scale, the 26/27 season finale—a performance of Gustav Mahler’s heart-stirring Symphony No. 3 (May 7 & 9, 2027)—ranks among the truly epic.
“I love Mahler and am excited to play his Symphony No. 3,” Connors said. “It’s a tremendous piece, in every sense. The contrabassoon doesn’t get equal treatment from all composers, but Mahler writes for the instrument really energetically and colorfully.”
On a similar note, Richard Strauss’ Elektra Symphonic Suite (January 29–30) will be another highlight for the contrabassoonist.
“As a bass player, I look forward to preparing Beethoven’s Sixth with Stéphane [Denève],” Belcher said. The symphony’s fourth movement, “Thunder, Storm,” is demanding of the bass section, yet equally thrilling for the audience.
“There are a lot of rapid 16th-note passages in the low register to emulate the rumbling of a storm,” Belcher said. “It’s borderline unplayable—but don’t worry, we’ll bring the thunder.”
Celebrating the St. Louis Symphony Chorus’ half-century
Another theme of the 26/27 season celebrates the impact of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus as the ensemble marks its 50th anniversary.
“I think next season shows that the chorus is an important piece of the entire fabric of the organization,” said SLSC director Erin Freeman.
The SLSC performs a varied repertoire with the SLSO across the 26/27 season, from Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms (November 14–15) and Maurice Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges (The Child and the Spells, February 12–13) to the Mercy Holiday Celebration (December 17–20) and the season-ending performance of Mahler’s Third Symphony. A special concert honoring the SLSC’s 50th anniversary will also be held on May 2, 2027, with Freeman conducting a kaleidoscopic program of symphonic choral repertoire.
In March, musicians from the SLSC will showcase their versatility in a program featuring both Gabriela Ortiz’ 2023 work Revolución diamantina (Glitter Revolution) and Joseph Haydn’s Missa in angustiis (Mass for Troubled Times), composed in 1798. The works are separated by centuries, but both speak to themes of resistance and protest. While Ortiz’ work gives a group of soloists an opportunity to shine, the Haydn Mass will represent a powerful statement of the SLSC’s attributes.
“It’s a lot of choral singing, some beautiful solos as well. It’s just shy of Mozart’s Requiem in terms of weight and significance,” said Freeman.
Music for everyone
The 26/27 season also delivers the SLSO’s signature variety of bold, eclectic programming, from genre-blending specials and film concerts to family-centric events, our new Powell Hall Presents series of non-orchestral concerts, and chamber series like Live at The Sheldon and Live at the Pulitzer.
For anyone testing the waters of live orchestral music, Belcher recommends the Playlist: Symphony Happy Hour series. The 26/27 Playlist lineup includes performances of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, and Claude Debussy’s La Mer.
“It’s a shorter concert where the conductor explains the form, harmony, and historical context of the piece, complete with demonstrations from the orchestra,” Belcher said. “In general, I just find music easier to appreciate if I understand the context surrounding the composition.”
The SLSO’s 26/27 season is filled with a compelling combination of well-loved masterpieces, bold new works by contemporary composers, and iconic music drawn from genres and cultural threads stretching beyond the traditional orchestral repertoire. It’s music that will resonate and connect, creating profound, moving, and memorable experiences. As Music Director Stéphane Denève says, “Music is the most direct path from one heart to another.”
Iain Shaw is the SLSO’s Content Manager.
