2025-26 Classical Music Series Announced At The Arsht

The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County has announced the 2025-26 CLASSICAL MUSIC SERIES which features a four-show lineup in the acoustically brilliant Knight Concert Hall.

The new season boasts four extraordinary evenings with the legendary PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA, led by music and artistic director YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN in his Arsht debut; the ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA and music director VASILY PETRENKO, joined by passionate violinist RAY CHEN; Arsht favorites Joshua Bell and his thrilling ACADEMY OF ST MARTIN IN THE FIELDS; and the long-awaited return of superstar tenor JUAN DIEGO FLÓREZ with a lively recital of operatic hits and songs in Spanish.

South Florida classical music lovers will have the opportunity to savor many favorite overtures, concertos and symphonies by some of the best-loved composers of all time: Nielsen, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Brahms, Saint-Saëns and Schumann.

To enhance the musical experience, the Arsht will continue to offer free Classical Conversations led by Miami-based classical music experts and musicians. The pre-concert lectures are hosted in the Adrienne Arsht Center's Peacock Education Center (inside the Knight Concert Hall) prior to every concert in the series.

SEASON SUBSCRIPTIONS

Four-show subscription packages are available now at an early bird rate ranging from $134 to $584* until May 2. Starting May 3, packages will range from $154-$624*. To renew a subscription or become a subscriber, visit ArshtCenter.org or call the Adrienne Arsht Center box office at 305.949.6722. The deadline to renew a subscription is May 30. Tickets for individual performances will be announced at a later date.

For guests with accessibility needs, the Arsht provides accessible seating and complimentary assistive listening devices for all performances, along with sign language interpretation, open captioning, and audio description at select shows to ensure an inclusive experience for all guests.

The new Classical Music four-show subscription series at the Arsht is as follows:

January 18, 2026 at 8 p.m.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Vasily Petrenko, Music Director

Ray Chen, Violin

Repertoire:

NIELSEN Helios Overture
TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concerto (Ray Chen)
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 2

Music director Vasily Petrenko, 2017 Gramophone Awards Artist of the Year, “has brought style and excitement to the RPO … since taking over three seasons ago” (The Guardian). These qualities will be showcased brilliantly in their performance of Sibelius' grand and luminous Symphony No. 2. With its gorgeous melodies, luxurious harmonies and a finale that is pure joy, it's easy to see why the Second Symphony has become one of the composer's most celebrated works.

Joining them on the first half of the program is the enormously popular Ray Chen, who is known to play a “virtuoso lick with a rock 'n' roll stance, making it look mighty cool to be a violinist” (Violinist.com). He's sure to be the coolest dude in the room when he takes on Tchaikovsky's sweeping, melodious and virtuosic Violin Concerto, an undisputed crown jewel of the repertory. But first, the evening opens with Carl Nielsen's life-affirming Helios Overture, the Danish composer's radiant evocation of the sun god and his chariot journeying across the sky.

February 15, 2026 at 8 p.m.

Juan Diego Flórez in Recital
Tenor

“This is Bel Canto singing with added modern muscle” (The New York Times). Don't miss this highly anticipated recital by Juan Diego Flórez, an electrifying superstar tenor with a voice likened by Opera News to “the engine of a Porsche 911—when you hear it, you know you're in the presence of something finely tuned and luxurious.” At the Knight Concert Hall, Flórez (JDF to his legions of fans) will treat us to a rousing evening of operatic hits as well as songs in Spanish.

Flórez was crowned “the King of the High Cs” by no less than Luciano Pavarotti. Today, the distinctive Peruvian tenor is more than that, surely one of the finest singers of our time. His sold-out concerts around the world have audiences of all ages “exploding in joy” (The New Criterion), not only for the “laserlike and fresh as ever” (Financial Times) virtuosity on display, but perhaps foremost for the sensuality, tenderness and heart-piercing humanity of his singing.

February 19, 2026 at 8 p.m.

The Philadelphia Orchestra

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Music and Artistic Director and Conductor

Repertoire:

BRAHMS Symphony No. 2
BRAHMS Symphony No. 4

Since its creation in 1900, The Philadelphia Orchestra has been a global symbol of artistic excellence and an essential part of American musical life. Now in his 13th season with this legendary ensemble, music and artistic director Yannick Nézet-Séguin has nurtured and transformed the brilliant “Philadelphia Sound” in bold and revolutionary ways. The New York Times has called him “phenomenal,” adding that “the ensemble, famous for its glowing strings and homogenous richness, has never sounded better.”

What better artists, then, to interpret and perform two of the mightiest symphonic masterpieces of the repertory: Brahms' Second and Fourth Symphonies, with their miraculous fusion of classical clarity and Romantic passion. Listening to the Second Symphony is like taking a lovely, contemplative hike through forests and meadows that is occasionally threatened by ominous clouds. The Fourth Symphony, perhaps Brahms' best-loved and most often performed, is darker, almost tragic, but also transcendental and considered the pinnacle of his symphonic achievements.

March 14, 2026 at 8 p.m.

Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Joshua Bell, Music Director and Violin

Repertoire:

SAINT-SAËNS Violin Concerto No. 3

SCHUMANN Symphony No. 1 (“Spring”)

Superstar violinist Joshua Bell, returns to the Knight Concert Hall with his exceptional Academy of St Martin in the Fields. They will perform two glorious masterworks of the Romantic repertory: Schumann's buoyant Symphony No. 1 and Saint-Saëns' elegant and brilliant Violin Concerto No. 3.

Bell takes center stage as conductor and soloist for the Saint-Saëns concerto, a dazzling virtuoso showcase for this musician. After an intermission, the concert comes to an enchanting close with Schumann's First Symphony, a seasonal celebration of renewal, hope and optimism, which the composer himself gave the radiant name of “Spring.”

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