Philharmonics Season

Music that moves.
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To celebrate our Centennial Season, Music Director Andreas Delfs has put together a Philharmonics Series like no other—full of blockbuster performances, featuring world-renowned guest artists and soloists with close ties to your RPO and the Rochester community. See and hear internationally-acclaimed superstars Sarah Chang, Karen Gomyo, Eric Owens, Yefim Bronfman, and Olga Kern, as well as Rochester’s own Garth Fagan Dance and your RPO’s beloved concertmaster, Juliana Athayde... And, the world premieres of four new works commissioned specifically for our 100th Season!

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EXPLORE THE FULL SERIES

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September 2023 - January 2024

ANDREAS CONDUCTS BEETHOVEN’S EROICA

September 21 & 23, 2023
Andreas Delfs, conductor; Alisa Weilerstein, cello
Be there as your Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra opens its second century in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre! Andreas Delfs conducts one of Beethoven’s towering achievements—the mighty Symphony Number Three, the “Eroica.” The dazzling Alisa Weilerstein plays Elgar’s achingly poignant Cello Concerto. The concert begins with the world premiere of a new work by Aaron Jay Kernis written to celebrate your RPO’s Centennial Season.

THE FOUR SEASONS

September 28 & 30, 2023
Andreas Delfs, conductor; Sarah Chang, violin
Violin superstar Sarah Chang is “a musician of virtuosity and artistic insight,” says the San Francisco Chronicle. See her perform Vivaldi’s timeless and visceral “The Four Seasons,” music that blooms in perennial splendor. Plus, a newly commissioned piece by American-Iranian composer Gity Razaz. Her new work is conducted by Andreas Delfs along with Mendelssohn’s sunny “Italian” Symphony.
*Commissioned by the League of American Orchestras with the generous support of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation

DAVID ZINMAN RETURNS!

ANDREAS CONDUCTS MAHLER

October 26 & 28, 2023
Andreas Delfs, conductor; Eric Owens, bass-baritone
Music Director Andreas Delfs conducts Gustav Mahler’s savage and sublime Fifth Symphony, famed for its heart-wrenching Adagietto. And The New York Times reports that Eric Owens, “speaks to you even in his silences… and shakes you when he sings.” Hear him perform Mahler’s folk-poetry influenced “Songs of a Wayfarer.”

ALL-TCHAIKOVSKY WITH OLGA KERN

November 16 & 18, 2023
Andreas Delfs, conductor; Olga Kern, piano
Experience music of power. And of passion. Music Director Andreas Delfs leads this all-Tchaikovsky celebration. The “1812 Overture” roars through Kodak Hall. Music from Swan Lake enchants. And Olga Kern brings the romantic First Piano Concerto home to Rochester, where she made her acclaimed recording of the piece in 2003. “Blazing and breathtaking,” declared SF Gate.

THE RITE OF SPRING: FEAT. GARTH FAGAN DANCE!

January 11 & 13, 2024
Andreas Delfs, conductor; Garth Fagan Dance
More than a century has passed since its violent, scandalous premiere. And still, Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” continues to surprise and provoke, excite and enthrall. Andreas Delfs leads Stravinsky’s savage masterpiece. Rochester’s own Garth Fagan Dance will realize the rituals in Stravinsky’s score. And, Maestro Delfs conducts another symphonic blockbuster, Prokofiev’s pagan “Scythian Suite.” Plus, Andy Akiho’s theatrical work “Ricochet,” featuring two ping pong players on stage with the orchestra.

THE PLANETS: HD ODYSSEY FEAT. 35YRS OF NASA FOOTAGE

January 25 & 27, 2024
Peter Bay, conductor
Majestic in its scope. Dazzling in its sound. There is nothing to match the breathtaking audiovisual experience of hearing and seeing The Planets live in concert. Experience the ultimate trip through the galaxy as your RPO performs Gustav Holst’s sonic celestial showpiece to stunning NASA images with former RPO Associate Conductor Peter Bay. The performance also features Debussy’s impressionistic “Nocturnes.”

February 2024 - June 2024

FANTASTIC SYMPHONY

February 8 & 10, 2024
Andreas Delfs, conductor; Benjamin Beilman, violin
Andreas Delfs conducts Berlioz’s only symphony, the Fantastique, which was described by Leonard Bernstein as “the first musical expedition into psychedelia because of its hallucinatory and dream-like nature.” And, Benjamin Beilman, whom The New York Times described as “muscular with a glint of violence,” gives a passionate performance of Britten’s Violin Concerto, one of his most beautiful and emotionally complex works. Bright Sheng’s Tibetan Love Song and Swing, a work that evokes both the beauty and savageness of a Tibetan mountain dance opens the concert.

RHAPSODY IN BLUE @100! + RACHMANINOFF’S SECOND CONCERTO

February 29, & March 2, 2024
Jeff Tyzik, conductor, Jon Nakamatsu, piano
The fascinating rhythms of George Gershwin will fill Kodak Hall as Jon Nakamatsu joins Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik to celebrate the centennial of “Rhapsody in Blue,” which they recorded together with the RPO to great acclaim in 2006. They also perform Rachmaninoff’s ravishing Second Piano Concerto. And, Jeff Tyzik conducts two electrifying showpieces: the Danzón No. 2 of Márquez, and Respighi’s thundering “The Pines of Rome.”

WAGNER WITHOUT WORDS & THE LIFE OF GEORGE EASTMAN!

March 7 & 9, 2024
Andreas Delfs, conductor; Andrew Bogard, bass-baritone
Wagner’s thrilling music resounds in Kodak Hall! Andreas Delfs leads favorite selections from “The Ring of the Nibelung,” as arranged into a symphonic suite by Lorin Maazel. Plus, an RPO Centennial commission by composer David Hertzberg opens the concert—a symphonic monodrama inspired by the life and death of America’s premier picture-man, George Eastman.

CHRISTOPHER SEAMAN RETURNS

March 21 & 23, 2024
Christopher Seaman, conductor; Juliana Athayde, violin
Christopher Seaman, Music Director from 1998 to 2011, returns to Rochester to lead Dvořák’s lyrical, loving hymn to nature, the verdant Eighth Symphony. And, a solo performance by your RPO’s beloved concertmaster Juliana Athayde, who radiates the great joy of making music, a spirit that will be heard in every note of Bach’s glorious Violin Concerto.

PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION

April 18 & 20, 2024
Andreas Delfs, conductor
Few works can match it for orchestral color, sonic impact, or sheer excitement. And, no piece displays the virtuosity of your RPO like Pictures at an Exhibition. Experience it—live—along with Dukas’ magical The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (remember Mickey Mouse and the brooms?). Andreas Delfs also conducts a new multimedia work, in collaboration with visual designer Deborah Johnson, that muses on the life of George Eastman and Kodak.

BRONFMAN PLAYS BEETHOVEN

May 9 & 11, 2024
Andreas Delfs, conductor; Yefim Bronfman, piano
“A virtuoso with chops that defy comparison,” raves The New York Times. “Brings to mind stories of the young Rubinstein,” says The Washington Post. The legendary Yefim Bronfman joins Music Director Andreas Delfs and your Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra for Beethoven’s fourth piano concerto. And Dvořák’s and Brahms’ Slavonic and Hungarian Dances are some of the most enduring popular music ever conceived.

CENTENNIAL SEASON FINALE: ODE TO JOY (Subscribers Only)

May 30 & June 1, 2024
Andreas Delfs, conductor; Rochester Oratorio Society; Vocal Soloists TBA
A spectacular conclusion to an amazing Centennial Season celebration! Hear, live in concert, the epic power and timeless message of humanity and brotherhood when Music Director Andreas Delfs leads your RPO,
Rochester Oratorio Society, and soloists in Beethoven’s inspiring and monumental “Ode to Joy,” The Ninth Symphony. “All men become brothers.” And, for composer Derrick Skye, all music becomes one as he fuses diverse cultures into a colorful, new companion work, commissioned by the RPO for its 100th season.
AVAILABLE ONLY WITH SUBSCRIPTION!

PACKAGING + PRICING INFORMATION

Save up to 27% with a full series subscription!

All programs, dates, times, venues, prices, and performers are subject to change. Pricing only guaranteed until April 14, 2023. All applicable fees are bundled into published prices, including $15 per package handling fee and Kodak Hall facility fee ($3 per ticket over $25).