Boston Civic Symphony Begins Its Second Century With 2025–26 Season At Jordan Hall

The Boston Civic Symphony will begin its second century with the opening concert of its 2025–26 season on Sunday, November 9, 2025, at Jordan Hall, conducted by Music Director Francisco Noya. The orchestra’s 101st season continues its mission of uniting gifted student and amateur musicians in performances that pair time-honored masterworks with important works by living composers.

The season’s opening concert will reunite two Boston Symphony Orchestra members—violinist Sophie Wang, BSO Associate Concertmaster, and cellist Mickey Katz—who once performed with the Civic as students at the New England Conservatory. The pair will appear as soloists in Brahms’s Double Concerto for Violin and Cello. The program also includes Amanda Harberg’s Solis for Orchestra (2015) and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, “Pathétique.”

The annual Family Holiday Concert will return on December 14 at the Boston Latin School Auditorium, in partnership with the Boston Latin School Chorus under the direction of Ryan Snyder. The festive program will feature George Chadwick’s Jubilee, Vivaldi’s Gloria, selections from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, Russell Peck’s The Thrill of the Orchestra, and more. The concert will also spotlight this year’s Concerto Competition winner, cellist Hayden Ren, a senior at Newton North High School, performing Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor (first movement).

In the spring, the Civic will mark the 250th anniversary of the United States with a program on March 28 featuring Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait, a work combining Copland’s distinctively American style with texts from Abraham Lincoln’s speeches. The concert Will Close with Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, a testament to resilience and hope.

The season will conclude on April 26 with Jessie Montgomery’s Hymn for Everyone, Benjamin Britten’s Double Concerto for Violin and Viola featuring Grammy-nominated violinist Ariana Kim and BSO violist Daniel Kim, and Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations.

Founded in 1924 by educator, conductor, and composer Joseph Wagner, the Boston Civic Symphony remains one of the city’s most respected musical organizations. Wagner’s founding vision—to create an ensemble of talented students and skilled amateurs—continues to shape the orchestra’s identity today. Over the past century, the Civic has featured early performances by artists including Leonard Bernstein and Yo-Yo Ma, and its alumni have gone on to perform with leading orchestras around the world.

Music Director Francisco Noya, who has led the orchestra since 2017, is a prominent figure in the New England music community and a member of the conducting faculty at Berklee College of Music. A native of Venezuela, Noya began his career as conductor of the Youth Orchestra of Valencia, part of the country’s renowned El Sistema program. His extensive guest conducting credits include engagements with the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, Baltimore, Nashville, and San Antonio Symphony Orchestras, among others.

The Boston Civic Symphony’s 2025–26 season concerts will be held at Jordan Hall on November 9 at 3 p.m., March 28 at 8 p.m., and April 26 at 3 p.m. The Family Holiday Concert will take place on December 14 at 3 p.m. at the Boston Latin School Auditorium, 78 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston.