Petr Popelka & Hilary Hahn
Petr Popelka, conductor · Hilary Hahn, Violin
Symphony Center · Chicago, IL · 3 performances
Major orchestra · Chicago, Illinois · founded 1891
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Conducted this season by Klaus Mäkelä, Petr Popelka, Giancarlo Guerrero and 3 more · Symphony Center
41 concerts
23 programs
Sep to Mar 2027
Next up
Whole season ↓Thu17Sep
Petr Popelka & Hilary Hahn
Thu24Sep
Mäkelä Conducts Sibelius & Shostakovich
- Sibelius: Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 105
- Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Op. 43
Tue29Sep
CSO Chamber Music at the Driehaus Museum: City Rhythms
- Gershwin: Lullaby, for string quartet
- Price: Adoration
- Ives: Largo Risoluto No. 1
- +3 more
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The season
23 programs · 41 performancesSeptember 2026
Mäkelä Conducts Sibelius & Shostakovich
Sibelius: Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 105 · Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Op. 43
Klaus Mäkelä, conductor
Symphony Center · Chicago, IL · 3 performances
CSO Chamber Music at the Driehaus Museum: City Rhythms Chamber
Gershwin: Lullaby, for string quartet · Price: Adoration · Ives: Largo Risoluto No. 1 · Ives: Largo Risoluto No. 2 · Ives: Hallowe'en, for string quartet, piano and optional drum · Bloch: Piano Quintet No. 1
Yuan-Qing Yu, Violin · Ni Mei, Violin · Danny Lai, Viola · Katinka Kleijn, Cello · Kuang-Hao Huang, Piano
Murphy Auditorium at Driehaus Museum · Chicago, IL
October 2026
Mäkelä Conducts Mahler 9
Mahler: Symphony No. 9 in D major
Klaus Mäkelä, conductor
Symphony Center · Chicago, IL · 4 performances
Mäkelä, Petrushka & Belshazzar's Feast
Stravinsky: Petrushka · Walton: Belshazzar's Feast, for baritone, double chorus and orchestra
Klaus Mäkelä, conductor
Symphony Center · Chicago, IL · 2 performances
CSO Chamber Music at the University of Chicago Chamber
Beethoven: Clarinet Trio in B flat major, Op. 11 · Martinů: La Revue de cuisine, jazz suite and ballet for clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, cello and piano, H.161 · Schoenfield: Cafe Music · Brahms: Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114
Keith Buncke, Bassoon · Patrick Godon, Piano · Tage Larsen, Trumpet · Kenneth Olsen, Cello · John Bruce Yeh, Clarinet · Yuan-Qing Yu, Violin
Mandel Hall at University of Chicago · Chicago, IL
Guerrero Leads Fandangos & Enigma Variations
Elgar: Enigma Variations, Op. 36
Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor
Symphony Center · Chicago, IL · 3 performances
CSO Chamber Music: Trillium Ensemble Chamber
Haydn: Keyboard Trio in E flat major, Hob.XV:22 · Schubert: Notturno in E flat major for Piano Trio, D.897, op. posth.148 · Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50
Baird Dodge, Violin · Karen Basrak, Cello · Daniel Schlosberg, Piano
Symphony Center · Chicago, IL
Sleeping Beauty & Dvořák Cello Concerto
Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66 · Dvořák: Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104
Symphony Center · Chicago, IL · 2 performances
CSO at Wheaton: Sleeping Beauty & Dvořák Cello Concerto
Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66 · Dvořák: Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104
Wheaton · Wheaton, IL
Sleeping Beauty & Dvořák Cello Concerto
Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66 · Dvořák: Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104
Symphony Center · Chicago, IL · 2 performances
November 2026
Andrew Bird & the CSO Pops
Jacomo Bairos, conductor · Andrew Bird, Violin and vocals
Symphony Center · Chicago, IL · 2 performances
Symphonic Superheroes Family
Rossini: Guillaume Tell · Haydn: Symphony No. 94 in G, Hob.I:94 · Gounod: Funeral March of a Marionette in D minor · Dukas: Fanfare pour précéder La Péri · Tchaikovsky: The Swan Lake, Op. 20 · Williams: Star Wars: Cantina Band · Herrmann: Psycho: The Murder · Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings in C major, Op. 48 · Holst: St. Paul's Suite, for strings, Op. 29, No. 2, H.118 · Rouse: Ku-Ka-Ilimoku · Jr.: Unter Donner und Blitz, Op. 324 · Mason: Shine Time · Offenbach: Orphée aux Enfers
Alastair Willis, conductor · Members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra · Kasey Foster
Symphony Center · Chicago, IL
How to Train Your Dragon 2 in Concert Film
Symphony Center · Chicago, IL · 3 performances
December 2026
Once Upon a Symphony: Stone Soup Family
Symphony Center · Chicago, IL
Elf in Concert Film
Debney: Elf score
Justin Freer, conductor · Members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Symphony Center · Chicago, IL · 3 performances
January 2027
West Side Story Film with Orchestra Film
Symphony Center · Chicago, IL · 2 performances
February 2027
CSO at Wheaton: Rana Plays Tchaikovsky
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36
Beatrice Rana, Piano
Wheaton · Wheaton, IL
Once Upon a Symphony: Stone Soup Family
Symphony Center · Chicago, IL
March 2027
The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra Family
Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Op. 34
Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, conductor · The Second City
Symphony Center · Chicago, IL
About the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is one of the country's major orchestras, performing most of its season at Symphony Center on Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago. A first-time visitor can expect a full-sized orchestra playing everything from core classical repertoire to film scores with live orchestra, family concerts, and smaller chamber programs. The orchestra is closely identified with its brass section, which has a reputation for a big, bright, precisely blended sound that carries even in loud passages. Beyond its downtown home, the orchestra this season also brings programs to Wheaton, to the Murphy Auditorium at the Driehaus Museum, and to Mandel Hall at the University of Chicago, so listeners outside the Loop have chances to hear it closer to home.
History
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1891 by the conductor Theodore Thomas, who had spent years touring American cities with orchestras and wanted a permanent, resident ensemble in Chicago. Thomas led the orchestra until his death in 1905, and the hall built for the orchestra downtown was later named Orchestra Hall in his honor; it remains the heart of what is now called Symphony Center.
Over the twentieth century a series of music directors shaped the orchestra's identity, including Frederick Stock, who succeeded Thomas and led the orchestra for decades, and later Fritz Reiner, whose recordings from the 1950s with the orchestra are still cited as benchmarks of orchestral precision and color. Georg Solti became music director in the 1970s and led the orchestra on numerous international tours and in a large body of recordings that brought the orchestra worldwide recognition, particularly for the brass playing. Daniel Barenboim followed Solti, and later Riccardo Muti held the post, continuing the orchestra's tradition of touring abroad and recording widely, including live recordings issued under the orchestra's own label.
The orchestra has given premieres of works by American and international composers across its history and has long maintained an association with contemporary composers through commissioning and residency programs. Its recordings have won numerous Grammy awards over the decades, and it is regarded as one of the most recorded American orchestras.
Today the Chicago Symphony Orchestra continues to perform a full subscription season of classical concerts alongside film-with-orchestra screenings, family programs, and chamber music, drawing on the depth of its full roster to fill out varied programming across genres.
Over the twentieth century a series of music directors shaped the orchestra's identity, including Frederick Stock, who succeeded Thomas and led the orchestra for decades, and later Fritz Reiner, whose recordings from the 1950s with the orchestra are still cited as benchmarks of orchestral precision and color. Georg Solti became music director in the 1970s and led the orchestra on numerous international tours and in a large body of recordings that brought the orchestra worldwide recognition, particularly for the brass playing. Daniel Barenboim followed Solti, and later Riccardo Muti held the post, continuing the orchestra's tradition of touring abroad and recording widely, including live recordings issued under the orchestra's own label.
The orchestra has given premieres of works by American and international composers across its history and has long maintained an association with contemporary composers through commissioning and residency programs. Its recordings have won numerous Grammy awards over the decades, and it is regarded as one of the most recorded American orchestras.
Today the Chicago Symphony Orchestra continues to perform a full subscription season of classical concerts alongside film-with-orchestra screenings, family programs, and chamber music, drawing on the depth of its full roster to fill out varied programming across genres.