Brahms commands the spotlight in Atlanta Symphony’s 2026-27 season
This story was originally published by ArtsATL.
Beethoven is so last year.
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra recently announced its 2026-27 season, and, after wrapping up the Beethoven Project in November 2025 with a rousing rendition of the composer’s Symphony No. 9, the orchestra is on to new German pastures. Next season, Brahms takes the spotlight.
Before the season proper, the orchestra will host the return of violinist Joshua Bell. On Sept. 16, Bell joins conductor Michael Stern for a performance of Édouard Lalo’s “Symphonie espagnole,” a piece originally composed for the great 19th-century violin virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate. Despite the name “Spanish Symphony,” the work is basically a violin concerto. The program will also include Rachmaninoff’s “Symphonic Dances” and Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1 (“Classical”).
The official kickoff of the Delta Classical season comes Oct. 1, when Brahms takes center stage with the composer’s Symphony No. 1 and his sole Violin Concerto with soloist Johan Dalene. Music director Nathalie Stutzmann will also lead the orchestra in Handel’s regal overture to “Music for the Royal Fireworks.”
The exploration of the work of Brahms begins there, but it’s a thread that weaves through the entire season as the ASO tackles all four symphonies, both of his piano concertos, the Double Concerto for violin and cello, the seven-movement choral masterwork “Ein deutsches Requiem” and the “Academic Festival Overture.”
The soloists for the Double Concerto are cellist Johannes Moser and violinist Veronika Eberle (April 1 and 2), and pianist Benjamin Grosvenor takes the stage for the Piano Concerto No. 2 (May 27 and 29).
Brahms’ first piano concerto will be performed by Anna Genuishene on Nov. 5 and 7, marking the pianist’s first appearance as artist-in-residence for the season. It’s the first of three concerts for the 2022 Van Cliburn finalist, who made her ASO debut in April 2025. “The artist captivated us all during her first visit,” Stutzmann says in the season program. “I consider her to be one of the grande dames of today’s piano world.”
But the most striking thing about the ASO’s upcoming season is the sheer variety of the programming and a renewed sense of adventurousness. Music director laureate Robert Spano returns for a two-week stand next April (as he will this year) with programs that include English composer Thomas Adès’ “Inferno Suite” from 2019 (April 15 and 17) and the world premiere of Adam Schoenberg’s “Concerto for Body” (April 22 and 24).
In addition to Adès and Schoenberg, living composers are well represented next season with works by John Adams, Joan Tower, James MacMillan, Carlos Simon, Missy Mazzoli, Jasmine Barnes and Thea Musgrave scheduled. On Feb. 18 and 20, the orchestra will perform Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s “Ciel d’hiver” (“Winter Sky”) with pianist Tom Borrow, who also serves as soloist for Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2.
Speaking of Simon and Barnes, their contribution will be new works commissioned by the ASO for a celebration of Coretta Scott King, marking the centenary of her birth. That program, with performances on April 29 and May 1, will be led by conductor Kedrick Armstrong and includes Florence Price’s Symphony No. 1 and William Grant Still’s “Festive Overture.”
Works from the early 20th century are sprinkled throughout the season, too, represented by Ives, Nielsen, Hindemith, Korngold and others. British tenor Ian Bostridge, a Britten specialist, will join the orchestra and principal horn Ryan Little for the composer’s “Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings” on May 13 and15.
There’s no shortage of crowd-pleasing programs, though, as the ASO will offer two Wagner-heavy concerts: Jan. 14 and 16, along with Brahms Symphony No. 4, and Oct. 8 and 10, accompanying Brahms Symphony No. 3. There’s also a weekend devoted solely to Mozart (March 11 and 13). The season includes some of the most popular and beloved orchestral works, such as Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” (March 20 and 22) and Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” (Jan. 7 and 10, featuring concertmaster David Coucheron leading the orchestra).
The finale comes on June 3 through 6 with the time-tested beauty of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini” and Borodin’s “Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor,” as Stutzmann and the orchestra are joined by Geniushene and the ASO Chorus.
To view the complete list of 2026-27 season performances, go to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra website.
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