Single Tickets Now on Sale for the Schenectady-Saratoga Symphony Orchestra 2025-26 Season
This season explores the powerful intersections of literature and music, from Shakespeare and Whitman to Bob Dylan and Martin Luther King Jr.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Aug. 18, 2025
Single tickets are now on sale for the Schenectady-Saratoga Symphony Orchestra's 2025–26 season, “In Other Words” — a series of concerts inspired by the written word. This season explores the powerful intersections of literature and music, from Shakespeare and Whitman to Bob Dylan and Martin Luther King Jr.
Led by Artistic Director and Conductor Glen Cortese, the season features four dynamic orchestral programs and the annual holiday favorite, Poinsettia Pops. Each concert spotlights musical works that draw from or respond to great literary voices — bringing words to life through symphonic sound.
The season opens with a powerful program Oct. 11 at the Zankel Music Center at Skidmore and Oct. 12 at Proctors, when internationally acclaimed pianist Philip Edward Fisher joins SSSO for Bernstein's Symphony No. 2, “The Age of Anxiety,” inspired by the poem by W.H. Auden. The concert also features Beethoven's commanding Egmont Overture and Strauss' dramatic Macbeth.
The holiday spirit fills Universal Preservation Hall Dec. 6 and 7 with Poinsettia Pops, a joyful tradition featuring festive favorites and special guest artists, perfect for music lovers of all ages.
The new year begins with an exciting world premiere at UPH Jan. 25, when SSSO presents the full concert performance of “221B: A Sherlock Holmes Opera,” composed by Glen Cortese and inspired by the legendary detective stories of Arthur Conan Doyle. The performance boasts an all-star cast, including sopranos Brittany Palmer and Sylvia Stoner, tenor Casey Gray, baritones Joseph Kyungjin Han and Andrew Burger, bass Andrew Boisvert, and mezzo-soprano Ann Marie Adamick.
The orchestra explores freedom, spirit, and imagination with a moving program that includes Debussy's “La Cathédrale Engloutie “(after Albert Le Grand), Schwantner's “New Morning for the World: Daybreak of Freedom” (with texts by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.), and Corigliano's “Mr. Tambourine Man” (after the poetry of Bob Dylan) March 29 at Proctors. Guest soloist Mia Mandineau joins the orchestra as soprano.
The season concludes April 18 at UPH and April 19 at Proctors with a poetic finale, presented in collaboration with Saratoga Voices. The program weaves together Florence Price's “Four Songs from the Weary Blues” (texts by Langston Hughes), Vaughan Williams' “Towards the Unknown Region” (texts by Walt Whitman), and Mendelssohn's “A Midsummer Night's Dream” (texts by William Shakespeare).
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