Classical Music in 2026/27

The 2026/27 classical music season unfolds across Symphony Hall, NEC's Jordan Hall, Groton Hill, and Longy's Pickman Hall, in programs shaped with intention, played by musicians of fierce conviction.

Beethoven, 200 years later

In 1827, Ludwig van Beethoven died in Vienna. Two hundred years later, artists still grapple with the questions that he asked, the statements that he made. The anniversary runs like a thread through the season, inspiring artists to go all-in or engage Beethoven in fascinating conversation.

All-Beethoven Programs

Pianist Igor Levit makes his Symphony Hall recital debut under the plaque that bears the composer's name, with an all-Beethoven program that charts a composer's inner life: early swagger, the despair of encroaching deafness, a moment of reprieve, and the luminous faith of the “Waldstein” sonata. Violinist Gil Shaham and pianist Akira Eguchi—one of the great recital partnerships of our time—offer all three Opus 30 violin sonatas at Groton Hill Music Center.

Beethoven in Conversation

The London Symphony Orchestra arrives at Symphony Hall for the first time since 2009, under the electrifying Sir Antonio Pappano, with violin virtuoso Maxim Vengerov bringing the Beethoven Violin Concerto to life before Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben sweeps the evening to a breathless close.

The Brentano String Quartet’s “Flights of Fugue” program pairs late quartets by Beethoven and Shostakovich, both massive in scale and revelatory in intensity. Jeremy Denk offers the final two piano sonatas in unexpected, illuminating conversation with Bach, Unsuk Chin, and the long-neglected Hélène de Montgeroult.

And Beethoven echoes further still: in the Junction Trio’s “Ghost” Trio, pianist Anna Geniushene's Eroica Variations, Zlata Chochieva's "Appassionata" sonata, and pianist Bruce Liu's "Moonlight" Sonata.

A season of pianists

It would be extraordinary enough to have Mitsuko Uchida at Symphony Hall for her first Boston solo recital in a generation, in a program of peerless architectural intelligence encompassing Haydn, Schoenberg, Kurtág, and a luminous late Schubert. And yet, true to our legacy, this season’s piano roster is one of the deepest we’ve ever assembled.

Víkingur Ólafsson returns to Symphony Hall marking Philip Glass’s 90th birthday, weaving Glass’ etudes through Rameau and Debussy in one of the season’s most imaginative evenings. Seong-Jin Cho brings elegance and theatrical wit to a Symphony Hall program that crackles with contrast. Zlata Chochieva, whose 2025 debut here was a sold-out triumph, returns with a program of overwhelming intensity.

Debut Series pianists Avery Gagliano—powerful, audacious—and Lukas Sternath—praised for his vocally-inflected pianism—round out a season that, taken together, amounts to a survey of the instrument’s full expressive range.

Fascinating chamber MUSIC

Violinist Nemanja Radulović leads his Paris-based Double Sens Chamber Orchestra on its U.S. debut tour, performing Vivaldi's The Four Seasons with the directness and freedom that have made it one of Europe’s most captivating ensembles.

A fan favorite, the Dover Quartet pairs Brahms and Dvořák with contemporary Indigenous selections in a program that asks what voices, separated by centuries and cultures, can say to one another. 

The Pavel Haas Quartet—one of BBC Music Magazine’s top 10 string quartets of all time—offers an all-Czech program of extraordinary emotional range, and the Isidore Quartet teams with pianist Jeremy Denk for a Britten-Mendelssohn-Brahms program of wit, grief, and searching intensity. And the outstanding young Leonkoro Quartet, nine-prize winners at the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition, make their Vivo Performing Arts debut in the Debut Series.

In collaboration

This season, Vivo Performing Arts joins forces with two of Boston’s most distinguished arts organizations to bring you events that neither could offer alone.

In association with the Boston Early Music Festival, violinist Isabelle Faust and harpsichordist Kristian Bezuidenhout illuminate the Baroque violin sonata—weaving works by Bach with the composers who shaped him—with gutsy brilliance and conversational depth. 

In association with Boston Lyric Opera, tenor Lawrence Brownlee and soprano Erin Morley bring vocal fireworks and irresistible chemistry to an evening of bel canto arias and duets at Jordan Hall. And soprano Nadine Sierra — following triumphant debuts at the Met, La Scala, the Paris Opera, and the Staatsoper Berlin — returns to Boston for a one-night-only recital alongside pianist Bryan Wagorn.

Free and Open to All

This year, our Neighborhood Arts series offers must-see classical events for the whole family, no ticket or admission price required! Hear an All-Cello Orchestra pay tribute to Pablo Casals for his 150th birthday commemoration, Boston's renowned Black arts collective Castle of Our Skins perform spirituals and sacred songs, and the Borromeo Quartet lead a Stringfest concert, mentoring young strings players while performing alongside them.