In his 2019 CSO debut, Spanish guitarist Pablo Sáinz-Villegas thrilled with “the profundities of his art,” along with “the sheen of his tone and the nobility of his rhythms,” wrote the Chicago Tribune. Sáinz-Villegas joins the ensemble in two pieces with bright Mediterranean character. Bernard Labadie, making a welcome return to the CSO, conducts the program, which also features dark-hued symphonies by Mozart and Boccherini.

Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/boccherini-vivaldi-and-mozart-40

Thomas Wilkins conducts three works featuring unique musical visions of America, capped with Dvořák’s majestic New World Symphony, which draws on African American and Native American source materials. Coleridge-Taylor’s ballet suite captures the spirit of Longfellow’s epic poem The Song of Hiawatha. CSO Principal Clarinet Stephen Williamson performs Copland’s Clarinet Concerto, premiered by Benny Goodman, which features a rollicking blend of jazz and classical sounds.

Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/coleridge-taylor-copland-and-dvorak-9

Carl Orff’s choral celebration of love, lust and youthful excess in medieval times is as iconic as ever — at once gloriously bawdy and touchingly beautiful. Rautavaara’s ethereal “concerto for birds and orchestra” features bird calls recorded in arctic Finland. Banner, by CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence Jessie Montgomery, is a vibrant rhapsody on The Star-Spangled Banner.

Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/carmina-burana

Eminent Swedish American conductor Herbert Blomstedt leads two Dvořák landmarks — the restless, bucolic Eighth Symphony and the impassioned Cello Concerto — each imbued with the composer’s hallmark warmth and Bohemian charm. Joining the CSO is the young Romanian Andrei Ioniţă, “one of the most exciting cellists to have emerged for a decade” (The Times of London).

Explore the music in the free preconcert conversation featuring Carl Grapentine in Orchestra Hall 75 minutes before the performance. The conversation will last approximately 30 minutes. No additional tickets are needed.

Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/blomstedt-conducts-dvorak-8

Tchaikovsky’s turbulent Manfred Symphony takes its inspiration from Lord Byron’s dramatic poem about a world-weary traveler who wanders the Alps and is bewitched by supernatural forces. German violinist Julia Fischer, acclaimed for her “pure and fine-spun tone” (Chicago Tribune), joins Riccardo Muti and the CSO for Schumann’s poetic and autumnal Violin Concerto.

Explore the music in the free preconcert conversation featuring Daniel Schlosberg in Orchestra Hall 75 minutes before the performance. The conversation will last approximately 30 minutes. No additional tickets are needed.

Classic Encounter

Thursday, February 23: Preconcert lecture hosted by Chicago’s favorite radio DJ, WXRT’s Terri Hemmert, with co-host John Yeh, CSO assistant principal clarinet and E-flat clarinet.

You will have the opportunity to add Classic Encounter to your order after selecting your seats for the concert.

Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/muti-fischer-and-tchaikovsky-manfred

In his Fifth Symphony, Mahler embraces all aspects of life. After a tumultuous funeral march, the work’s five movements include folk-inspired dances, a tender love song and a boisterous finale. Noted for his "great affinity with Mahler" (Le Monde), Finnish conductor Klaus Mäkelä pairs the composer’s Fifth Symphony with the U.S. premiere of Aino by Peruvian American composer Jimmy López Bellido.

Explore the music in the free preconcert conversation featuring Steve Rings in Orchestra Hall 75 minutes before the performance. The conversation will last approximately 30 minutes. No additional tickets are needed.

Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/makela-conducts-lopez-and-mahler-5

In a program celebrating the 150th anniversary of Sergei Rachmaninov’s birth, Lahav Shani conducts the composer’s Symphonic Dances, which marries diabolical, jazzy melodies with plush, old-world grandeur. Italian pianist Beatrice Rana is soloist in Rachmaninov's Paganini Rhapsody, a set of 24 variations that crackle with wit and furious energy. Prokofiev’s delightful Classical Symphony opens the program.

Explore the music in the free preconcert conversation featuring Kyle Dzapo in Orchestra Hall 75 minutes before the performance. The conversation will last approximately 30 minutes. No additional tickets are needed.

Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/shani-conducts-rachmaninov-symphonic-dances

Conductor Marin Alsop leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in three pivotal works by 21st-century women composers. This Midnight Hour, a single-movement orchestral composition by former Mead Composer-in-Residence Anna Clyne, evokes a visual journey for the listener. Mead Composer-in-Residence Jessie Montgomery’s Rounds, commissioned for and performed by pianist Awadagin Pratt, is inspired by the constancy, rhythms and duality of life that impact all living things. Closing the program is Her Story, a CSO co-commission by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Julia Wolfe that captures the passion and perseverance of women who have led the fight for representation and gender equality. A 40-minute theatrical experience for orchestra and women’s vocal ensemble, the piece is the latest in a series of compositions by Wolfe that highlights monumental and turbulent moments in American history.

Explore the music in the free preconcert conversation featuring Max Raimi in Orchestra Hall 75 minutes before the performance. The conversation will last approximately 30 minutes. No additional tickets are needed.

Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/alsop-conducts-wolfe-her-story

Iconoclastic organist Cameron Carpenter, “one of the rare musicians who changes the game of his instrument” (Los Angeles Times), takes on Poulenc’s sparkling, Baroque-infused concerto, followed by the elegance and floor-shaking grandeur of Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony.

Ticket holders are invited to a free preconcert conversation featuring Carl Grapentine in Orchestra Hall 75 minutes before the performance. The conversation will last approximately 30 minutes. No additional tickets required.

Classic Encounter

December 15: Preconcert lecture hosted by Chicago’s favorite radio DJ, WXRT’s Terri Hemmert, with co-host Miles Maner, CSO bassoon and contrabassoon.

You will have the opportunity to add Classic Encounter to your order after selecting your seats for the concert.

Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/the-sorcerers-apprentice-and-saint-saens-organ-symphony

Dalia Stasevska leads the CSO in Bartók’s glittering late masterpiece — which shows off every section of the orchestra — and the scampering, playful sounds of Tarrodi’s Birds of Paradise II. CSO Artist-in-Residence Hilary Hahn joins the Orchestra for Tchaikovsky’s thrilling and tender Violin Concerto.

Ticket holders are invited to a free preconcert conversation featuring Carl Grapentine in Orchestra Hall 75 minutes before the performance. The conversation will last approximately 30 minutes. No additional tickets required.

Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/hilary-hahn-tchaikovsky-and-bartok