Off To A Flying Start

Yannick Nezet-Seguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra start their brand new 2026/27 season as they mean to go on with a grand opening night featuring a rousing performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony "Choral" as well as the United States premiere of a brand new work by legendary Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi! Performing with the orchestra are the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir and the voices of star vocalists J'Nai Bridges, Leah Hawkins, Issachah Savage and Ryan Speedo Green, in an evening benefiting the Musicians' Retirement Fund.

Often hailed as the most central work of western classical music as well as 'the symphony to end all symphonies', Beethoven's Ninth is the apex of technical and compositional mastery as well as imagination. Composed and first performed in 1824, the Ninth would be Beethoven's final complete symphony, so it's fitting that it would contain his most well-known melody, the ever popular Ode To Joy finale. Joe Hisaishi, best known globally as the composer for many of the cinematic masterpieces from Studio Ghibli, composed the choral piece Orbis to sit alongside Beethoven's Ninth. The perfect way to open the season!