The Toronto Symphony Orchestra has announced details of the organization’s 2025/26 concert season. Taking inspiration from Toronto’s upcoming role in the World Cup, Music Director Gustavo Gimeno’s programming emphasizes cross-border connections.
It’s a varied season and line-up that offers both crowd pleasers and new voices, a friendly space for young audiences, and more.
Highlights include a gala where Lang Lang will perform Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto, and the Canadian Première of a new, TSO co-commissioned Concerto for Orchestra written and conducted by Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi.
“Gustavo Gimeno has programmed a truly exceptional 2025/26 season, highlighting the power of music to transcend borders and transform listeners,” says Mark Williams, Beck Family CEO of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. “There is something for everyone at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and together we will enjoy the wide variety of classical, Pops, film, and family concerts that bring us together as a community of music lovers all season long and community is what it’s all about. Your presence, your energy, and your love for this orchestra — your orchestra — are what make everything we do possible. Whether you are a donor or a long-time subscriber, or are attending for the first time, I encourage you to explore what our 2025/26 season has to offer. There is something extraordinary waiting for you, and we would love for you to join us.”
“In the same spirit of excellence and passion that drives the international athletes vying for the World Cup, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra is poised to present music that resonates on a grand and global scale throughout our extraordinary 2025/26 season,” says Gustavo Gimeno.
“Forming an emotional and celebratory arc, the year begins with the exhilarating drama of Carmina Burana and concludes with Beethoven’s glorious ‘Ode to Joy’, and along the way we explore enduring works and compelling premières by living composers. Yet, what excites me most is the diversity of the programs we have crafted — there is something for every listener to discover and enjoy. The magic of live music is in the shared moment, the way it connects us to something greater, and I am greatly looking forward to exploring that connection with our wonderful audiences.”
The blockbuster opener spotlights Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. Gimeno and the orchestra will be joined by the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, the Toronto Children’s Chorus, and three soloists: soprano Julie Roset (an Operalia winner in her TSO début), tenor Andrew Haji, and baritone Sean Michael Plumb (also in his TSO début). Also on the program is the Canadian Première of a jazz-infused Concerto for Orchestra by the legendary Wynton Marsalis, co-commissioned by the TSO.
Other major works presented in this series:
Jonathan Crow curates the TSO Chamber Soloists performances, which offer early audience members five pre-concert performances at select concerts in the Masterworks series.
The TSO’s 2025/26 Spotlight Artists are Bruce Liu and Joshua Bell. Gustavo Gimeno selects the Spotlight Artists each year based on both technical virtuosity and versatility. Each will perform two programs.
Canadian pianist Bruce Liu performs Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in his highly anticipated return to the TSO stage after his acclaimed 2022 debut.
American violinist and conductor Joshua Bell will both perform and lead. He’ll perform the Canadian Première of a recently rediscovered Violin Concerto by mid-20th-century Ukrainian composer Thomas de Hartmann. He’ll lead and play Florence Price’s Adoration and Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1, and in the same program, he’ll conduct Beethoven’s overture to Egmont and Symphony No. 7.
The season closes with Beethoven’s Ninth, featuring as soloists soprano Ambur Braid, mezzo-soprano Ema Nikolovska, tenor Saimir Pirgu, and bass Jongmin Park. All will be making their debuts with the TSO.
TSO audiences will be able to experience the work of a number of prominent artists making their debuts with the organization in 2025/26:
The list of returning guest artists is varied, and includes violinist María Dueñas (Korngold’s Violin Concerto), and pianists Francesco Piemontesi (Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 27), and Denis Kozhukhin (Grieg’s Piano Concerto). Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet performs Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 5 “Egyptian” with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and conductor Alexander Shelley.
Two conductors make long-awaited returns to the TSO podium during 2025/26.
Toronto audiences will also welcome the return of conductors Elim Chan (Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 9), Dalia Stasevska (Sibelius’s Finlandia, with the TSO and TSYO performing side by side), former RBC Resident Conductor Earl Lee (Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5), and Conductor Emeritus Peter Oundjian (Elgar’s “Enigma” Variations).
Oundjian’s concert also includes the Canadian Première of Joan Tower’s suite from her Concerto for Orchestra.
The 2025/26 season’s programming includes a total of 16 premières:
Original pieces by RBC Affiliate Composer Liam Ritz, former NextGen Composer Bekah Simms, and three new NextGen Composers — Sophie Dupuis, Jesse Plessis, and Darren Xu — will also receive World Premières.
That covers the Masterworks programs only. The TSO also offers the Pops Series, Special Performances, Young People’s Concerts, Relaxed Concerts, the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, and even more than that.
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