Fabio Luisi’s fall 2025: Dallas Symphony turns 125 with Mahler 4 and three world premieres, including Angélica Negrón’s for everything you keep losing; Danish National Symphony turns 100 with Langgaard’s Music of the Spheres; Beethoven concertos and Fujikura premiere with NHK Symphony; much more

(August 2025) — Grammy- and ECHO Klassik Award-winning conductor Fabio Luisi embarks on his sixth season as Louise W. & Edmund J. Kahn Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) this fall as the orchestra celebrates its 125th anniversary. Highlights of the fall include Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with soprano soloist Sofia Fomina(Oct 2 & 5) and three world premieres: an anniversary commission from former Composer-in-Residence Angélica Negrón titled for everything you keep losing (Oct 16–18); Dallas-based composer Jon Cziner’s Clarinet Concerto featuring DSO Principal Clarinet Gregory Raden, and composer/pianist Moni Jasmine Guo’s new work titled the sound of where i came from 乡音 (Nov 20–22). Luisi also serves as Principal Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra (DNSO), which celebrates its 100th anniversary this season. The celebration begins with Luisi leading Danish composer Rued Langgaard’s Music of the Spheres for soprano, mixed choir, and two orchestras, along with Hans Abrahamsen’s orchestration of three of Langgaard’s Gitanjali Hymns for piano and Schoenberg’s Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte and A Survivor from Warsaw (Oct 23). A week later, the celebrations continue with performances of Mahler’s monumental Eighth Symphony (Oct 30 & 31). As Chief Conductor of Tokyo’s NHK Symphony Orchestra, Luisi leads two September programs featuring music of Beethoven: soloist Yefim Bronfmanplaying the “Emperor” concerto alongside Franz Schmidt’s Symphony No. 4 (Sep 13 & 14), and celebrated young violinist María Dueñas performing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto on a program with Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony and Toru Takemitsu’s Three Film Scores (Sep 18 & 19). Luisi returns to Tokyo in December to lead the world premiere of the NHK-commissioned Ocean Breaker for orchestra by London-based Japanese composer Dai Fujikura, along with Franck’s Symphonic Variations for piano and orchestra featuring young Israeli pianist Tom Borrow, and Saint-Saëns’s “Organ” Symphony (Dec 4 & 5). Luisi also has two guest conducting engagements this fall, in both cases leading Franz Schmidt’s oratorio The Book with Seven Seals. At the end of September, he conducts the Wiener Symphoniker in the piece (Sep 27 & 28), and the following month performs it with the Orquesta Nacional de España (Nov 14–16).

Dallas Symphony Orchestra

To celebrate its 125th anniversary season, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra revisits some significant milestones in its history even while it looks to the future with new commissions. Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 shares the bill with Haydn’s witty and elegant “Oxford” Symphony No. 92, which the composer conducted at Oxford University in 1791 to celebrate his honorary Doctor of Music degree. This symphony is of special significance to the DSO’s history as it was featured on the orchestra’s first concert in 1900 (Oct 2 & 5).

Also in celebration of the anniversary, the DSO commissioned former Composer-in-Residence Angélica Negrón’s for everything you keep losing: a new requiem for orchestra, SATB chorus, and four soloists that explores sonic loss and the erasure of sonic diversity, tied to habitat destruction, species extinction, and climate change. The piece weaves together traditional Requiem text; poetry by Roque Raquel Salas Rivera, Ricardo Alberto Maldonado, Nicole Cecilia Delgado, and Amanda Hernández; orchestral music; and the recorded sounds of some of the species and elements that have been or are in danger of being lost. It also reflects on the loss of language due to colonialism, the displacement of communities, and the silencing of voices, particularly those impacted by the climate crisis. Soprano Lauren Snouffer, mezzo-soprano Kimberly Gratland James, countertenor Key’mon Murrah, and tenor Paul Appleby will be the soloists for the world premiere alongside the Dallas Symphony Chorus, and the program is rounded out by Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue featuring pianist Inon Barnatanand Morton Gould’s Latin-American Symphonette (Oct 16–18).

Luisi leads two more world premieres this fall on the same program: Dallas-based composer Jon Cziner’s Clarinet Concerto featuring DSO Principal Clarinet Gregory Raden; and composer/pianist Moni Jasmine Guo’s new work titled the sound of where i came from 乡音, which was commissioned by the League of American Orchestras with the generous support of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program for women composers. Also on the program is Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 and Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3 (Nov 20–22).

Danish National Symphony Orchestra

Following performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the BBC Proms and to open the DNSO’s 100th anniversary season in Copenhagen (Aug 28–30), Luisi continues with Danish composer Rued Langgaard’s magnum opus Music of the Spheres for soprano, mixed choir, and two orchestras. Though the work was composed from 1916–18, the first complete performance in Denmark was not until 1980, when it was performed by the DNSO under the baton of Thomas Dausgaard. The same orchestra and conductor performed the British premiere at the BBC Proms 30 years later, and the DNSO has recorded the work twice, along with all 16 of Langaard’s symphonies. Luisi complements the piece with Hans Abrahamsen’s orchestration of three of Langgaard’s Gitanjali Hymns for piano, inspired by Indian poetry, as well as Schoenberg’s Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte and A Survivor from Warsaw. These provide a preview of Luisi and the orchestra’s upcoming collaboration with Deutsche Grammophon to record Schoenberg’s complete orchestral works, honoring the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth (Oct 23).

The following week, Luisi and the DNSO perform another towering work, Mahler’s Eighth Symphony. They will be joined by the Danish National Concert Choir, the BBC Singers, the Copenhagen Boys’ Choir, sopranos Jacquelyn Wagner, Valentina Farcas, and Liv Redpath; mezzo-sopranos Wiebke Lehmkuhl and Jasmin Etezadzadeh; tenor David Butt Philip; baritone Christoph Pohl; and bass David Steffens (Oct 30 & 31).

NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo

Luisi’s third major post is as Chief Conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra, which made history this past spring at Amsterdam’s Third International Mahler Festival by being the first Asian orchestra to participate. In September Luisi reunites with the orchestra for two Beethoven concerto collaborations. Pianist Yefim Bronfman is on hand for the first to perform Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto No. 5, and the conductor pairs that work with the Fourth Symphony of Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Schmidt, whose works he has long championed (Sep 13 & 14).

Luisi’s second appearance of the season with the NHK Symphony features young violinist María Dueñas performing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, her recent recording of which – with her own cadenzas – earned her the 2024 Opus Klassik award as Young Artist of the Year. Also on the program is Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony No. 4 and Three Film Scores by Toru Takemitsu (Sep 18  &19).

In a December performance with the NHK Symphony, Luisi conducts the world premiereof the NHK-commissioned Ocean Breaker for orchestra by London-based Japanese composer Dai Fujikura. The program also includes Franck’s Symphonic Variations for piano and orchestra featuring young Israeli pianist Tom Borrow, and Saint-Saëns’s “Organ” Symphony No. 3 (Dec 4 & 5).

Guest conducting engagements

Luisi is a longtime admirer and advocate for the works of Franz Schmidt, especially his magnum opus oratorio, The Book with Seven Seals. When Luisi conducted the piece last December with the DSO in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Schmidt’s birth, the Dallas Morning News raved: “It’s hard to imagine a performance more compellingly conceived and lovingly detailed than Luisi’s.” This season he performs the oratorio twice as a guest conductor, first with the Wiener Symphoniker, of which he is a former Music Director and which is celebrating its own 125th anniversary this season (Sep 27 & 28). He reprises the same work in November with the Orquesta Nacional de España(Nov 14–16).

Fabio Luisi: fall 2025 engagements

Aug 28–30
Copenhagen, Denmark
Danish National Symphony Orchestra
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 9

Sep 13 & 14
Tokyo, Japan
NHK Hall
NHK Symphony Orchestra
Yefim Bronfman, piano
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat, Op. 73, “Emperor”
SCHMIDT: Symphony No. 4

Sep 18 & 19
Tokyo, Japan
Suntory Hall
NHK Symphony Orchestra
María Dueñas, violin
TAKEMITSU: Three Film Scores
BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 61
MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No. 4 in A, Op. 90, “Italian”

Sep 27 & 28
Vienna, Austria
Wiener Symphoniker
Maximilian Schmitt (John)
David Steffens (Voice of the Lord)
Giulia Semenzato, soprano
Catriona Morrison, mezzo-soprano
Patrick Grahl, tenor
Alexander Grassauer, bass-baritone
Vienna Singakademie
Singing Club of the Society of Music Friends
SCHMIDT: The Book with Seven Seals, Oratorio for Soloists, Choir, Organ and Orchestra

Oct 2 & 5
Dallas, Texas
Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Sophia Fomina, soprano
HAYDN: Symphony No. 92, “Oxford”
MAHLER: Symphony No. 4

Oct 4
Dallas, Texas
Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Gala
Leonidas Kavakos, violin

Oct 9, 11, 12
Dallas, Texas
Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Bruce Liu, piano
Sophia JANI: What do flowers do at night? (DSO Premiere)
SAINT-SAËNS: Piano Concerto No. 5, “Egyptian”
RESPIGHI: Vetrate di chiesa (“Church Windows”)
RESPIGHI: Le fontane di Roma (“The Fountains of Rome”)

Oct 16–18
Dallas, Texas
Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Inon Barnatan, piano
Lauren Snouffer, soprano
Kimberly James, mezzo-soprano
Key’mon Murrah, countertenor
Paul Appleby, tenor
Dallas Symphony Chorus
Anthony Blake Clark, chorus director
Angélica NEGRÓN: for everything you keep losing (world premiere)
GERSHWIN: Rhapsody in Blue
GOULD: Latin-American Symphonette

Oct 23
Copenhagen, Denmark
Danish National Symphony Orchestra
Hans ABRAHAMSEN: 3 Pieces From Gitanjali Hymns
SCHOENBERG: Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte
SCHOENBERG: A Survivor From Warsaw
LANGGAARD: Music of the Spheres

Oct 30 & 31
Copenhagen, Denmark
Danish National Symphony Orchestra
Jacquelyn Wagner, soprano
Valentina Farcas, soprano
Liv Redpath, soprano
Wiebke Lehmkuhl, mezzo-soprano
Jasmin Etezadzadeh, mezzo-soprano
David Butt Philip, tenor
Christoph Pohl, baritone
David Steffens, bass
Danish National Concert Choir
BBC Singers
Copenhagen Boys’ Choir
MAHLER: Symphony No. 8

Nov 6 & 7
Copenhagen, Denmark
Danish National Symphony Orchestra
Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin
BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 2
“Extra number” In the foyer after the concert

Nov 14–16
Madrid, Spain
Orquesta Nacional de España
Michael Laurenz (John)
Christof Fischesser (Voice of the Lord)
Louise McClelland, soprano
Valentina Stadler, mezzo-soprano
Tae Hwan Yun, tenor
Brent Michael Smith, bass
SCHMIDT: The Book with Seven Seals

Nov 20–22
Dallas, Texas
Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Gregory Raden, clarinet
BEETHOVEN: Leonore Overture No. 3
Jon CZINER: Clarinet Concerto (world premiere)
Moni Jasmine GUO: “the sound of where i came from” 乡音 (world premiere of Toulmin commission)
MOZART: Symphony No. 40 in G minor

Nov 29 & 30
Tokyo, Japan
NHK Hall
NHK Symphony Orchestra
Leonidas Kavakos, violin
SHOSTAKOVICH: Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 77
ZEMLINSKY: Die Seejungfrau, fantasy (“The Mermaid”)

Dec 4 & 5
Tokyo, Japan
Suntory Hall
NHK Symphony Orchestra
Tom Borrow, piano
Dai FUJIKURA: Ocean Breaker for Orchestra (2025)(world premiere of NHK commission)
FRANCK: Variations symphoniques for Piano and Orchestra
SAINT-SAËNS: Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78, “Organ Symphony”

Dec 12 & 13
Tokyo, Japan
NHK Hall
NHK Symphony Orchestra
Winner of the 19th International Chopin Piano Competition
CHOPIN: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11 or No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21
NIELSEN: Symphony No. 4, Op. 29, “The Inextinguishable”

Dec 18 & 19
Valencia, Spain
Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía (Dec 18)
Auditori de Castelló (Dec 19)
Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana
BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 8 in C minor