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These can’t-miss concerts bring together two Festival favorites: lauded composer Joan Tower, whose concerto A New Day premiered at the Festival to rave reviews, and saxophonist Steven Banks, who stunned audiences in 2021. Now these powerhouses unite to give the world premiere of Tower’s saxophone concerto Love Returns under the baton of Music Director Peter Oundjian. After intermission, the Festival Orchestra performs Brahms’ brilliant First Symphony, which helped the composer step out of Beethoven’s shadow; critic Eduard Hanslick claimed that “...even the layman will immediately recognize it as one of the most distinctive and magnificent works of the symphonic literature.”

These can’t-miss concerts bring together two Festival favorites: lauded composer Joan Tower, whose concerto A New Day premiered at the Festival to rave reviews, and saxophonist Steven Banks, who stunned audiences in 2021. Now these powerhouses unite to give the world premiere of Tower’s saxophone concerto Love Returns under the baton of Music Director Peter Oundjian. After intermission, the Festival Orchestra performs Brahms’ brilliant First Symphony, which helped the composer step out of Beethoven’s shadow; critic Eduard Hanslick claimed that “...even the layman will immediately recognize it as one of the most distinctive and magnificent works of the symphonic literature.”

There is something for everyone in these energetic concerts! Be among the first to hear a new showpiece for violin, The Pacific Has No Memory, composed by Eric Whitacre and commissioned by Latin Grammy-winning violinist Anne Akiko Meyers. Meyers, “the coolest thing to happen to the violin since Stradivari” (Denver Post), also performs Ravel’s fiery Tzigane. Music Director Peter Oundjian opens the program with Copland’s idyllic tribute to the American heartland, Appalachian Spring, and concludes with one of the most recognizable pieces of music ever written: the achingly romantic Fantasy-Overture to Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet.

There is something for everyone in these energetic concerts! Be among the first to hear a new showpiece for violin, The Pacific Has No Memory, composed by Eric Whitacre and commissioned by Latin Grammy-winning violinist Anne Akiko Meyers. Meyers, “the coolest thing to happen to the violin since Stradivari” (Denver Post), also performs Ravel’s fiery Tzigane. Music Director Peter Oundjian opens the program with Copland’s idyllic tribute to the American heartland, Appalachian Spring, and concludes with one of the most recognizable pieces of music ever written: the achingly romantic Fantasy-Overture to Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet.

The 2026 Festival opens with a once-in-a-generation violinist: Himari, a 14-year-old phenomenon who has already collected substantial awards and recognition, performs Sibelius’s Concerto for Violin, full of Nordic snow and moody skies. Just as Sibelius invokes his native Finland, Tchaikovsky’s dramatic Fifth Symphony is infused with Russian colors. Composer Carter Pann also unveils a brand new piece of music to celebrate the start of the Festival season.

The 2026 Festival opens with a once-in-a-generation violinist: Himari, a 14-year-old phenomenon who has already collected substantial awards and recognition, performs Sibelius’s Concerto for Violin, full of Nordic snow and moody skies. Just as Sibelius invokes his native Finland, Tchaikovsky’s dramatic Fifth Symphony is infused with Russian colors. Composer Carter Pann also unveils a brand new piece of music to celebrate the start of the Festival season.

Music Director Peter Oundjian helms one of music’s grandest spectacles: Holst’s The Planets. From the hammering “Mars, the Bringer of War” to the ethereal “Neptune, the Mystic,” this seven-planet suite lures the heavens into Chautauqua Auditorium. Electrifying pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii performs Rachmaninoff’s dreamy Second Piano Concerto. This monumental program begins with the world premiere by Leigha Amick, a composer who aims “to spark intellectual curiosity and express human experience.”

Music Director Peter Oundjian helms one of music’s grandest spectacles: Holst’s The Planets. From the hammering “Mars, the Bringer of War” to the ethereal “Neptune, the Mystic,” this seven-planet suite lures the heavens into Chautauqua Auditorium. Electrifying pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii performs Rachmaninoff’s dreamy Second Piano Concerto. This monumental program begins with the world premiere by Leigha Amick, a composer who aims “to spark intellectual curiosity and express human experience.”

Audiences raved about pianist Michelle Cann’s Festival debut in 2023; now Cann returns to Chautauqua to perform the world premiere of a piano concerto by esteemed composer Valerie Coleman. After intermission, Berlioz invites us on a psychedelic romp: his Symphonie Fantastique is a musical hallucination that evokes dark revels, an execution, and a visit to the underworld.

Audiences raved about pianist Michelle Cann’s Festival debut in 2023; now Cann returns to Chautauqua to perform the world premiere of a piano concerto by esteemed composer Valerie Coleman. After intermission, Berlioz invites us on a psychedelic romp: his Symphonie Fantastique is a musical hallucination that evokes dark revels, an execution, and a visit to the underworld.