SPCO announces its 2025-26 season

The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s 67th concert season, announced this week, will feature collaborations with new and returning artists, and allows SPCO’s own musicians to help shape the ensemble’s artistic vision.

“In our musician-led artistic model, the musicians function as the music director and are involved in every aspect of the programming and what happens on stage,” SPCO Managing Director and President Jon Limbacher said in a news release.

The season, which begins Sept. 12, reflects this sentiment from composer Robert Schumann, whose music is of particular focus of the season: “To send light into the depths of the human heart — this is the artist’s calling!”

The music of Robert and Clara Schumann will be featured throughout the season, as well as Johann Sebastian Bach’s four orchestral suites. These classical touchstones will be performed alongside newer works by composers who were inspired by these musicians.

Featured guest artists this season include pianist Jonathan Biss; violinist Alia Ibragimova; cellist Kiegan Ryan; conductor Mei-Ann Chen; former artistic partner Thomas Zehetmair, and vocalists Mark Billy, Federico De Michelis and Roderick Williams.

This year’s Sandbox series composer in residence is Gabriela Lena Frank, whose premiere composition will be performed in January.  

SPCO commissions having their world premieres are Kiegan Ryan’s Cherokee Song Cycle: Kanohelvsgi Tsunilosvhi and Native Flute Concerto, and new work by Charles Shadle, both in February.

Following the SPCO’s typical performance model, concerts will be held at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in downtown St. Paul, as well as at various venues throughout the Twin Cities and surrounding suburbs. Subscription ticket packages ($16-$70 per concert for adults, free for children and students) are now available; more information is available through the SPCO ticket office at 651-291-1144 or on the SPCO website. Individual tickets will go on sale in August. A brochure can be requested via email at tickets@spcomail.org.

The 2025-26 season

• Sept. 12-14, Ordway Concert Hall, St. Paul
  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Jupiter Symphony, conducted by Thomas Zehetmair
  Johannes Brahms, Double Concerto for Violin and Cello
  Thomas Zehetmair, Passacaglia, Burlesque and Chorale

• Sept. 19, Wooddale Church, Eden Prairie (11 a.m. and 7 p.m.); Sept. 20, Saint Paul’s United Church of Christ, St. Paul; Sept. 21, Saint Andrew’s Lutheran Church, Mahtomedi
  Johann Sebastian Bach, Partita No. 2 in C Minor
  Germaine Tailleferre, Choral et Deux Variations
  Jean Françaix, Divertissement for Bassoon and String Quartet
  Bach, Orchestral Suite No. 1
  François Couperin, Le Tic-Toc-Choc ou Les Maillotins

• Sept. 26-27, Ordway Concert Hall; Sept. 28, Ted Mann Concert Hall, Minneapolis
  Gabriella Smith, Carrot Revolution
  Shawn Okpebholo, Zoom!
  Abel Selaocoe, Hymns of Bantu (“Ngalala Phantsi,” “Emmanuele,” “Ibuyile iAfrkam,” “Ndikhokhele Bawo”)

• Oct, 17 (11 a.m. and 7 p.m.), Oct. 18, Ordway Concert Hall
  Benjamin Britten, Phantasy, Quartet for Oboe, Violin, Viola and Cello
  Leoš Janáček, Concertino for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, clarinet, Horn and Bassoon
  Janáček, Idyll for Strings
  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 14, with conductor/pianist Richard Goode 

• Oct. 23, Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, Apple Valley; Oct. 24, Capri Theater, Minneapolis
  Antonín Dvořák:, Terzetto
  Jlin Patton, Little Black Book
  Dorthy Rudd Moore, Transcension
  Wynton Marsalis, Meeelaan

• Oct. 31-Nov. 2, Ordway Concert Hall
  Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Sinfonia No. 1
  John Adams, The Wound-Dresser for Baritone and Orchestra (Roderick Williams, baritone)
  George Butterworth, Six Songs from A Shropshire Lad
  Joseph Haydn, Symphony No. 93

  

• Nov. 7-8, Ordway Concert Hall; Nov. 9, Ted Mann Concert Hall
  Jean Françaix, Seven Dances after the ballet “Les malheurs de Sophie”
  Camille Saint-Saëns: Violin Concerto No. 3 (Eunice Kim, violin)
  Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 1

• Nov. 21, Wooddale Church, Eden Prairie (11 a.m. .and 7 p.m.); Nov. 22, Ordway Concert Hall
  Henry Purcell, Ceremonial Music
  William Byrd, Sellinger’s Round
  Michael Tippett, Divertimento on Sellinger’s Round
  Johann Sebastian Bach, Canon and Fugue from “Art of the Fugue”
  Bach, Orchestra Suite No. 3

• Nov. 28-30, Ordway Concert Hall
  Aaron Copland, Three Latin-American Sketches
  Mary Lou Williams, Zodiac Suite
  Sergei Prokofiev, Violin Concerto No. 2 (Kyu-Young Kim, violin)

• Dec. 12-14, Ordway Concert Hall
  Johann Sebastian Bach, Brandenburg Concertos No. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6

• Dec. 18-19, Basilica of Saint Mary, Minneapolis; Dec. 20-21, Ordway Concert Hall
  George Frideric Handel, Messiah (with Dinis Sousa, conductor; Liv Redpath, soprano; Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, countertenor; Hugo Hymas, tenor; John Chest, baritone; the Singers, conducted by Matthew Culloton)

• Jan. 16 (11 a.m. and 7 p.m.), Jan. 17, Ordway Concert Hall
  Alfred Schnittke, Moz-Art à la Haydn for Two Violins and Strings
  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Violin Concerto No. 3 (Alina Ibragimova, violin)
  Jean Françaix, Quartet for Winds
  Joseph Haydn, Symphony No. 45

• Jan. 30-Feb. 1, Ordway Concert Hall
  Arthur Honegger, Pastorale d'éte for Chamber Orchestra
  Gabriela Lena Frank, Sandbox premiere
  Robert Schumann, Prophet Bird
  With Mei-Ann Chen, conductor; Federico de Michelis, baritone

  

• Feb. 6 (11 a.m. and 7 p.m.), Wooddale Church, Eden Prairie; Feb. 7, Saint Paul’s United Church of Christ, St. Paul; Feb. 8, Saint Andrew’s Lutheran Church, Mahtomedi
  Domenico Scarlatti, Sinfonia No. 7
  Francesco Geminiani, Sonata, Opus 4, No. 9
  Johann Sebastian Bach, Orchestral Suite No. 2
  Arcangelo Corelli, Concerto Grosso, Opus 6, No. 10
  With Alicia McQuerrey, flute, and Steven Copes, violin

• Feb. 12, Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, Apple Valley; Feb. 13, Capri Theater, Minneapolis
  Claude Debussy, Sonata en trio for Flute, Viola and Harp
  Kiegan Ryan, Cherokee Song Cycle: Kanohelvsgi Tsunilosvhi
  Ryan, Native Flute Concerto
  Charles Shadle, new work
  With Mark Billy, baritone and Native American flute, and Kiegan Ryan, cello

  

• Feb. 20-21, Ordway Concert Hall, Feb. 22, Ted Mann Concert Hall
  George Frideric Handel, Selections from Water Music
  Johann Sebastian Bach, Orchestral Suite No. 4
  Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 4

• March 13 (11 a.m. and 7 p.m.), Wooddale Church, Eden Prairie; March 14, Saint Paul’s United Church of Christ, St. Paul, March 15, Saint Andrew’s Lutheran Church, Mahtomedi
  Grace Williams, Sea Sketches
  Ralph Vaughan Williams, The Lark Ascending (Nina Tso-Ning Fan, violin)
  William Walton, Henry V: Two Pieces for Strings
  Joseph Haydn, Symphony No. 80

• March 27-28, Ordway Concert Hall; March 29, Ted Mann Concert Hall
  Sally Beamish, Viola Concerto No. 1 (Tabea Zimmermann, viola)
  Franz Schubert, Symphony No. 2

• April 10 (11 .am. and 7 p.m.), Ordway Concert Hall; April 11, Saint Paul’s United Church of Christ, St. Paul
  Edvard Grieg, Lyric Pieces
  Quinn Mason, Princesa de la Luna for Harp and String Orchestra
  Claude Debussy, Children’s Corner for Woodwind Quintet
  Richard Strauss, Duet-Concertino for Clarinet and Bassoon with String Orchestra (Sang Yoon Kim, clarinet; Andrew Brady, bassoon)

• April 24-26, Ordway Concert Hall
  Claude Debussy, Syrinx for Solo Flute (Julia Bogorad-Kogan, flute)
  Sofia Gubaidulina, Reflections on the Theme B-A-C-H
  Sergei Prokofiev, Visions fugitives (Mimoletnosti)
  Mauricio Kagel, Pan for Piccolo and String Quartet (Alicia McQuerrey, piccolo)
  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Serenade No. 12: Nachtmusik

• April 30, Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, Apple Valley; May 1-2, Ordway Concert Hall; May 3, Saint Andrew’s Lutheran Church, Mahtomedi
  Joseph Haydn, Symphony No. 67
  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Clarinet Concerto (Sang Yoon Kim, clarinet)

• May 8, Capri Theater, Minneapolis
  Amy Beach, String Quartet (In One Movement)
  Arthur Foote, A Night Piece
  Shawn Okpebholo, Lullaby | Ballad | Spiritual
  Charles Ives, String Quartet No. 1, “From the Salvation Army”

• May 15-17, Ordway Concert Hall
  Osvaldo Golijov, Lullaby and Doina for Winds and Strings
  Ernest Bloch, Nigun for Violin
  Maurice Ravel, Kaddish from Two Hebrew Songs
  Martin Fröst, Klezmer Dance No. 2
  Dmitri Shostakovich, String Quartet No. 9

• May 22 (11 a.m. and 7 p.m.), May 23, Ordway Concert Hall; May 24, Ted Mann Concert Hall
  Pérotin, Viderunt Omnes
  Caroline Shaw, Punctum
  François Couperin, Pieces en Concert
  John Cage, Dream
  Julius Eastman, The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc (Abel Selaocoe, cello)

• June 4, Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, Apple Valley; June 5-6, Ordway Concert Hall
  Augusta Read Thomas, Clara’s Ascent
  Clara Schumann, Trio in G Minor for Violin, Cello and Piano (Jonathan Biss, piano)
  Robert Schumann, Introduction and Allegro appassionato (Konzertstuck)
  György Kurtág:, Hommage a Robert Schumann for Clarinet, Viola and Piano
  Kurtág, Selections from Jatekok (Games)
  Robert Schumann, Piano Concerto

  

• Jun 12-14, Ordway Concert Hall
  Zoltán Kodály, Summer Evening
  Richard Strauss, Metamorphosen
  Robert Schumann, Symphony No. 3, Rhenish
  With Gábor Takács-Nagy, conductor