MD Fabio Luisi Leads Ten Dallas Symphony Programs in 2026-27, including first St. John Passion for conductor and orchestra, works of Mahler and Strauss, Don Giovanni in concert, Anne-Sophie Mutter in Golfam Khayam world premiere, much more

(April 2026) — The 2026–27 season marks the seventh for Grammy-winning conductor Fabio Luisi in his role as Louise W. & Edmund J. Kahn Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO), fresh from last season’s celebration of its 125th anniversary. Luisi helms ten programs in the coming season’s Texas Instruments Classical Series, with highlights including Bach’s St. John Passion – a first for the orchestra and Luisi’s first time conducting any of Bach’s Passion settings (Feb 12 & 13); monumental works of Mahler and Strauss, including the former’s “Titan” Symphony No. 1 (April 2–4) and DSO Principal Horn Daniel Hawkins’s (Howard E. Rachofsky Chair) solo debut with the orchestra in Strauss’s Second Horn Concerto (Oct 16–18); a concert performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni featuring Ildebrando D’Arcangelo in the title role (March 26 & 28); violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter featured in the world premiere of Golfam Khayam’s Triple Concerto (April 2 & 3); Daniil Trifonov performing Scriabin’s sole Piano Concerto (May 14–16); solo recitals by pianist Lang Lang (Sep 15) and organist Anna Lapwood (Oct 25); and much more. In addition, the DSO will continue its partnership with medici.tv to present important programs that will reach audiences around the world.

Luisi comments:

“As music director, one of my highest priorities is the connection between the orchestra and our audience. My goal is to make listeners both happy and curious. I hope they are deeply moved by the great works of the classical canon that we will perform, while also remaining open to new music from all styles and eras. Of course, there’s also a big responsibility toward my orchestra – to lead them forward and encourage growth based on my musical priorities. Since my first season in Dallas, they have been developing an awareness of the beauty of sound, the shaping of phrases and the joy of an inspired, spontaneous, and therefore truly authentic performance. The beauty of live symphonic music lies in being together, the orchestra with the audience. This shared experience will be at the heart of our 2026–27 season, which promises to be fantastic and thrilling.”

Michelle Miller Burns, Ross Perot President & CEO of the Dallas Symphony, comments:

“The 2026–27 season showcases the incredible range of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra — from spectacular classical programs featuring some of today’s most exciting guest artists in the Texas Instruments Classical Series to exhilarating movies in concert and other fan favorites in the Pops Series Presented by Capital One. This season reflects our commitment to artistic excellence and to creating experiences that are engaging, inspiring and welcoming for all.”

Luisi-led programs

Music Director Fabio Luisi conducts two large-scale vocal works this season, starting with a first for both conductor and orchestra: J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion. Though widely renowned for his interpretations of both opera and oratorio, Luisi has to date never had the opportunity to conduct any of Bach’s Passion settings, which he considers to be the pinnacle of the Baroque master’s works. The DSO has likewise never performed the St. John Passion. With vocal soloists to be announced at a later date, the performance will also feature the Dallas Symphony Chorus led by chorus director Anthony Blake Clark (Jean D. Wilson Chair) (Feb 12 & 13).

In the spring, Luisi and the DSO present opera-in-concert performances of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Italian baritone Ildebrando D’Arcangelo will be featured in the title role, alongside a stellar cast including Jacquelyn Wagner as Donna Anna, Siobhan Stagg as Donna Elvira, Luca Pisaroni as Leporello, Paul Appleby as Don Ottavio, Deanna Breiwick as Zerlina, Soloman Howard as the Commendatore, and Mihai Damian as Masetto, as well as the Dallas Symphony Chorus directed by Anthony Blake Clark (March 26 & 28). Luisi’s work in opera has encompassed nine years at the helm of the Zurich Opera and six years as Principal Guest Conductor of the Metropolitan Opera, during which he won a Grammy Award for his leadership of the last two operas of the Ring cycle. Texas Classical Review, reflecting on the DSO’s 2024–25 groundbreaking Ring cycle performances, called the cycle “a truly remarkable event and one that one can hope bodes well for similar operatic undertakings in the future.”

Beloved staples of the late-Romantic repertoire by Strauss and Mahler are also on the schedule for 2026–27. Richard Strauss’s An Alpine Symphony will be heard in the spring, on a program with pianist Daniil Trifonov featured in Scriabin’s Piano Concerto in F-sharp minor (May 14–16). Luisi’s first fall program in the Texas Instruments Classical Series features DSO Principal Horn and Texas native Daniel Hawkins (Howard E. Rachofsky Chair) – who was appointed to the DSO in September 2023 – making his solo debut with the orchestra in Strauss’s Second Horn Concerto. That program is rounded out by Luisi and the orchestra’s performance of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony (Oct 16–18). In February, Luisi conducts the Suite from Strauss’s opera Der Rosenkavalier along with waltzes by Johann Strauss and Liszt’s Second Piano Concerto performed by Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Though the two Strausses are unrelated, Richard acknowledged his debt to Johann when composing the waltzes in Rosenkavalier, saying “how could I forget the laughing genius of Vienna?” (Feb 4–7).

Luisi continues his cycle of Mahler symphonies in 2026-27 with the composer’s First “Titan” Symphony, following performances of the Second, Fourth, Fifth, and Eighth Symphonies over the course of the last three seasons (April 2–4). One of the Mahler performances will be offered in a new format within the Texas Instruments Classical Series: a one-hour-long “brunch” performance with no intermission for which special food and beverage offerings will be available (April 4). Another concert in the same format – except that it takes place during “happy hour” – features pianist Lise de la Salle in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.1, along with Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony (Oct 22). That same program will be repeated on subsequent days with the addition of Alan Hovhaness’s Symphony No. 2, “Mysterious Mountain” (Oct 23 & 24).

Since presenting its first world premiere in 1912, the DSO has amassed an impressive musical legacy of more than 100 world premieres and commissions, a legacy that continues this season. Following sold-out performances of John Williams’ Violin Concerto No. 2 across Germany, Austria and Belgium during the DSO’s 2024 European tour, violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter rejoins Luisi and the DSO this season – alongside violist Muriel Razavi and cellist Kian Soltani – to present the world premiere of a Triple Concerto by Iranian composer Golfam Khayam, sharing the bill with Mahler’s “Titan” Symphony. Khayam’s sound world fuses Persian and Western classical music in “a perfect testament to the universality of music” (Al Jazeera) (April 2 & 3).

Luisi is joined by three other stellar soloists this fall as well. Yo-Yo Ma takes center stage for one night only to perform Dvořák’s Cello Concerto, in his first appearance with the DSO since 2017. Also on the program is Mozart’s “Paris” Symphony No. 31 (Nov 20). Two more performances of the Mozart over the next two days complement a program featuring violinist Karen Gomyo in Samy Moussa’s 2019 “Adrano” Violin Concerto, as well as music of Dukas and Debussy (Nov 21 & 22); and pianist Tom Borrow joins Luisi and the DSO to perform Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, in an all-Tchaikovsky program that also includes the Suite from Swan Lake (Nov 27–29).

Other world premieres and guests

In the spring, the DSO will present another world premiere: 2023 Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Michael Abels’s new Cello Concerto, featuring the DSO debut of cellist Tommy Mesa. Conductor Samuel Lee, also making his DSO debut, is on the podium for the program, which also includes Bernstein’s Three Dance Episodes from On the Town and Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony (March 11–14).

Other notable debuts this coming season include conductor Elim Chan, joined by 2025 Van Cliburn Gold Medalist Aristo Sham, who makes his own DSO debut with Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto, on a program with Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra (April 9–11); and Susanna Mälkki, who leads a program of Sibelius and Beethoven (April 30–May 2). Conductors Michele Mariotti (Jan 14 & 15), David Danzmayr (April 22–24), and Emmanuel Tjeknavorian (May 27–29) also debut with the orchestra this season, as does genre-bending string trio Time For Three in performances of Kevin Puts’s Grammy-winning Contact concerto for string trio and orchestra, under the baton of Kevin John Edusei (Oct 2–4). Returning guest conductors include Jaime Martín (Sep 24 & 27), Stéphane Denève (Nov 12 & 13), Matthias Pintscher (Jan 22–24), and Matthew Halls (March 5–7).

Additional programming

Solo recitals in the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center this fall include pianist Lang Lang, praised by the Chicago Tribune for playing “so raptly beautiful that one [is] afraid to breathe for fear of missing anything” (Sep 15); and organist Anna Lapwood, a “dream ambassador” (Gramophone) for her instrument and classical music in general who boasts nearly four million followers on social media (Oct 25).

The Symphony Gala this season features Broadway icon Idina Menzel along with the DSO, led by Dallas Symphony Presents Principal Conductor Enrico Lopez-Yañez (Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Chair). This annual fundraising event supports the DSO all year long, from concerts on the Meyerson stage to its education and outreach initiatives across North Texas (Sep 26).

The DSO’s Pops Series Presented by Capital One features tributes to rock-and-roll legends, Y2K pop, Lin-Manuel Miranda and more, led by Lopez-Yañez and Principal Pops Conductor Emeritus Jeff Tyzik (Dot & Paul Mason Podium), as well as guest conductor William Eddins (Nov 6–8). Finally, the DSO presents five new movies-in-concert productions this season, including Disney’s Hocus Pocus and Barbie The Movie.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra, 2026–27 Season

(All concerts take place at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, TX unless otherwise noted)

DSO Gala

Sep 26
DSO Gala
Enrico Lopez-Yañez, conductor
Idina Menzel, vocals

Texas Instruments Classical Series and other highlights

Sep 15
Recital: Lang Lang, piano

Sep 24 & 27
Jaime Martín, conductor
Pablo Sáinz Villegas, guitar
GINASTERA: Four Dances from Estancia
MÁRQUEZ: Concierto Mistico y Profano
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Scheherazade, Op. 35

Oct 2–4
Kevin John Edusei, conductor
Time For Three string trio
Kevin PUTS: Contact: Concerto for String Trio and Orchestra
RACHMANINOFF: Symphony No. 2 in E minor

Oct 16–18
Fabio Luisi, conductor
Daniel Hawkins, horn
R. STRAUSS: Concerto No. 2 in E-flat for Horn and Orchestra
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 7 in A

Oct 22–24
Fabio Luisi, conductor
Lise de la Salle, piano
HOVHANESS: Symphony No. 2, “Mysterious Mountain” (Oct 23 & 24 only)
RACHMANINOFF: Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 1
SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D. 759, “Unfinished”

Oct 25
Recital: Anna Lapwood, organ

Nov 6–8
Ellington, Strayhorn & Gershwin
William Eddins, conductor
Lara Downes, piano

Nov 12 & 13
Stéphane Denève, conductor
Cédric Tiberghien, piano
ROUSSEL: Suite No. 2 from Bacchus et Ariane, Op. 43
RAVEL: Concerto in D for Piano (Left Hand Alone) and Orchestra
MILHAUD: La Création du monde, Op. 81
GERSHWIN: An American in Paris

Nov 20
Fabio Luisi, conductor
Yo-Yo Ma, cello
MOZART: Symphony No. 31 in D, K. 297, “Paris”
DVOŘÁK: Concerto in B minor for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 104

Nov 21 & 22
Fabio Luisi, conductor
Karen Gomyo, violin
MOZART: Symphony No. 31 in D, K. 297, “Paris”
Samy MOUSSA: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, “Adrano”
DUKAS: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
DEBUSSY: La mer

Nov 27–29
Fabio Luisi, conductor
Tom Borrow, piano
TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23
TCHAIKOVSKY: Suite from Swan Lake, Op. 20a

Jan 14 & 15
Michele Mariotti, conductor
David Buck, flute
Emily Levin, harp
MOZART: Concerto for Flute, Harp and Orchestra in C
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 1

Jan 22–24
Matthias Pintscher, conductor
Randall Goosby, violin
SCHUMANN: Symphony No. 1 in B-flat, “Spring”
BRAHMS: Violin Concerto in D

Feb 4, 6, 7
Fabio Luisi, conductor
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
J. STRAUSS: Selection of Waltzes (arr. Schoenberg)
LISZT: Piano Concerto No. 2 in A
R. STRAUSS: Suite from Der Rosenkavalier

Feb 12 & 13
Fabio Luisi, conductor
Guest Vocalists (to be announced)
Dallas Symphony Chorus (Anthony Blake Clark, chorus director)
J.S. BACH: St. John Passion, BWV 245

March 5–7
Matthew Halls, conductor
Dallas Symphony Chorus (Anthony Blake Clark, chorus director)
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
BRAHMS: Schicksalslied, Op. 54
SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 2 in D

March 11, 13, 14
Samuel Lee, conductor
Tommy Mesa, cello
BERNSTEIN: Three Dance Episodes from On the Town
Michael ABELS: Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (world premiere)*
DVOŘÁK: Symphony No. 8 in G
*generously funded by the Norma and Don Stone New Music Fund

March 26 & 28
Fabio Luisi, conductor
Ildebrando d’Arcangelo (Don Giovanni)
Jacquelyn Wagner (Donna Anna)
Siobhan Stagg (Donna Elvira)
Luca Pisaroni (Leporello)
Paul Appleby (Don Ottavio)
Deanna Breiwick (Zerlina)
Soloman Howard (Commendatore)
Mihai Damian (Masetto)
Dallas Symphony Chorus (Anthony Blake Clark, chorus director)
MOZART: Don Giovanni (complete opera in concert)

April 2–4
Fabio Luisi, conductor
Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin (April 2 & 3 only)
Muriel Razavi, viola
Kian Soltani, cello
Golfam KHAYAM: Triple Concerto* (April 2 & 3 only)
MAHLER: Symphony No. 1 in D, “Titan”
*generously funded by the Norma and Don Stone New Music Fund

April 9–11
Elim Chan, conductor
Aristo Sham, piano
PROKOFIEV: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16
LUTOSŁAWSKI: Concerto for Orchestra

April 22–24
David Danzmayr, conductor
Alexander Kerr, violin
BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto in D
MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No. 5 in D, “Reformation”

April 30–May 2
Susanna Mälkki, conductor
SIBELIUS: En Saga
SIBELIUS: Finlandia
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat, “Eroica”

May 14–16
Fabio Luisi, conductor
Daniil Trifonov, piano
SCRIABIN: Piano Concerto in F-sharp minor, Op. 20
R. STRAUSS: An Alpine Symphony, Op. 64

May 27–29
Emmanuel Tjeknavorian, conductor
Kiron Atom Tellian, piano
Bradley Hunter Welch, organ
GRIEG: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16
SAINT-SAËNS: Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78, “Organ Symphony”