The Philadelphia Orchestra Adds Concerts and Special Events for 2025–26 Season

The Philadelphia Orchestra has announced new programs and updates for its 2025–2026 season under the leadership of Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, as the ensemble prepares to celebrate its 125th anniversary.

The season coincides with the launch of America's 250th anniversary and includes premieres, collaborations, and expanded programming for audiences of all ages. Tickets go on sale to the public July 31.

Among the season’s additions is a three-part return of the Orchestra After 5 happy hour series, with performances themed as Alpine Adventure (Oct. 9), Italian Getaway (Jan. 15), and Postcards from Spain (May 14), featuring conductors Stéphane Denève and Dalia Stasevska, and repertoire ranging from Strauss and Mendelssohn to Bizet and Ravel.

The Family Concert Series expands to five events, including the Children’s Halloween Spectacular (Oct. 18), Holiday Spectacular (Dec. 20), Peter and the Wolf (Feb. 7), The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (Mar. 14), and the genre-blending Hip-Hop Orchestra (May 2). All performances are led by Assistant Conductor Naomi Woo, who also helms a new “Musicians’ Choice” program (May 7–9), featuring Principal Bass Joseph Conyers in Tan Dun’s Contrabass Concerto: Wolf Totem.

Film fans will enjoy the Orchestra’s live performance of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, with John Williams’s score performed in sync with the film, September 26–28 at Marian Anderson Hall.

The Orchestra will return to Carnegie Hall for four performances, including:

• October 31: Emanuel Ax celebrates 50 years with the Orchestra performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3

• March 10: Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Ying Fang and Joyce DiDonato

• March 31: Marin Alsop conducts the New York premiere of John Adams’s The Rock You Stand On

• May 29: The NY premiere of Wynton Marsalis’s “Liberty” Symphony, co-commissioned with Jazz at Lincoln Center

Additional highlights include:

• The Four Seasons, led by Concertmaster David Kim, featuring Principal Cello Hai-Ye Ni and Associate Principal Cello Priscilla Lee (solo debut) – Nov. 7

• A cross-generational collaboration between the Orchestra and Interlochen Arts Academy students conducted by Cristian Măcelaru, featuring Yo-Yo Ma in Wynton Marsalis’s new Cello Concerto (Mar. 13)

• Changes to key repertoire including the addition of Julia Wolfe’s Pretty for Opening Night (Sept. 25)

• A revised Handel’s Messiah cast including debuts by Jakub Józef Orliński, Frédéric Antoun, and Quinn Kelsey (Dec. 12–14)