Orchestre symphonique de Montréal tours California with conductor Rafael Payare this fall (Oct 25–30); releases fifth Pentatone album (Oct 30)

Rafael Payare conducts OSM (photo: Antoine Saito)

“There is tangible chemistry between Payare and the orchestra that adds an extra shot of adrenaline and vibrancy to this performance.” 
– The Classic Review on OSM’s release of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5

(September 2026) — Canada’s Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (Montreal Symphony Orchestra/OSM) embarks on its 61st international tour this fall, visiting three destinations on the West Coast of the U.S.: San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego (Oct 25–30). Led by Music and Artistic Director Rafael Payare, whose contract was recently extended through the 2031–32 season, they perform as guests of the San Francisco Symphony (Oct 25) and the Los Angeles Philharmonic (Oct 27) for the first time in 37 years, joined by violinist Leonidas Kavakos for Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major in the former city and Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor in the latter. Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 is also on both programs, and in Los Angeles the orchestra adds Elysium by Montreal composer Samy Moussa. Finally, Payare takes the OSM to his other home territory of San Diego, where they reprise Moussa’s Elysium and the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with Kavakos, as well as performing Stravinsky’s complete Firebird ballet (Oct 29). A more direct collaboration between Payare’s two orchestras will also take place in San Diego: the OSM will be hosted at San Diego’s Rady Shell, SDSO’s summer home on the waterfront, for a joint performance with both orchestras. OSM will perform Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé by themselves, as heard on the upcoming Pentatone recording that will be released that same day; the SDSO will perform Bartók’s Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin; and members of both orchestras will participate in two works scored for particularly large forces: Prokofiev’s Scythian Suite and Respighi’s Pines of Rome (Oct 30).

Immediately after the tour, Payare and the OSM release a new album on Pentatone that marks their fifth recording together, featuring Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring (Le sacre du printemps) (Oct 30). These two landmark works have in common that they were both created for Sergei Diaghilev’s legendary Ballets Russes, a groundbreaking ballet company that played a decisive role in ushering in the norm-challenging artistic modernity of the early decades of the 20th century. When Payare led a performance of The Rite of Spring with the Cleveland Orchestra and members of the New World Symphony in Florida this past spring, the South Florida Classical Review found that “Payare’s brisk, headlong drive kept the excitement level unabated,” while also noting: “Glints of tonal coloring that are often overwhelmed by the orchestral mass were brought to the fore with x-ray detailing and the constant changes of meter were deftly accomplished.”

Previous releases arising from the exclusive recording partnership between Payare, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, and the Pentatone label are Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 (2023) – named an Editor’s Choice by both Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine – Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder featuring Sonya Yoncheva along with Richard Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben (2024), Schoenberg’s Pelléas und Mélisande and Verklärte Nacht (2024), and Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique and Le carnaval romain (2025).

Rafael Payare and OSM: Ravel Daphnis et Chloé; Stravinsky Le sacre du printemps

Release date: Oct 30, 2026
Format: Digital and CD
Label: Pentatone

RAVEL: Daphnis et Chloé
STRAVINSKY: Le sacre du printemps

Rafael Payare and OSM: 61st international tour

Oct 25
San Francisco, CA
Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall
Leonidas Kavakos, violin
TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 35
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93

Oct 27
Los Angeles, CA
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Leonidas Kavakos, violin
Samy MOUSSA: Elysium
MENDELSSOHN: Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93

Oct 29
San Diego, CA
Jacobs Music Center
Leonidas Kavakos, violin
Samy MOUSSA: Elysium
TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 35
STRAVINSKY: The Firebird (full ballet)

Oct 30
San Diego, CA
Rady Shell (free concert)
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal:
RAVEL: Daphnis et Chloé
San Diego Symphony:
BARTOK: Miraculous Mandarin Suite
Both orchestras, side-by-side:
PROKOFIEV: Scythian Suite, Op. 20
RESPIGHI: Pines of Rome, P. 141