Jan Vogler was soloist in Schumann’s Cello Concerto with the Seattle Symphony and music direcctor Xian Zhang. (Photos by James Holt/The Seattle Symphony
Xian Zhang with Seattle Symphony musicians; photo by Carlin Ma
Seattle Symphony has just announced its 2026–27 season, the second under music director Xian Zhang.
She describes the year as shaped by “two sources of inspiration… nature and community,” invoking Seattle as “a city embraced by mountains, water and forests.” The rhetoric frames a three-week spring festival devoted to “monumental works” inspired by landscape.
Beyond that framing, the season’s center of gravity lies in the late-Romantic and early 20th-century canon: Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Brahms, Wagner, Shostakovich and Mahler dominate the symphonic offerings, with Yuja Wang opening the season in Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto and appearances by Emanuel Ax, Gil Shaham, and Itzhak Perlman reinforcing a roster built on established appeal.
Zhang herself will lead twelve programs in all – including Tchaikovsky’s less frequently heard Manfred Symphony – and has cited Seattle artist Dale Chihuly as an influence on the season’s visual identity, another signal of her effort to root the orchestra’s presentation in local culture.
As for contemporary composers, the season includes co-commissions from Joe Pereira (a new concerto for timpani) and Steven Mackey – the latter now a recurring presence in the Symphony’s programming – alongside Samuel Adams, whose No Such Spring receives its Seattle premiere under Ludovic Morlot this fall, with soloist Conor Hanick. I’m especially interested to hear it in Benaroya Hall. Having studied the score around its world premiere by the San Francisco Symphony a few years ago, I know it’s a piece of real substance.
Adams’s presence extends into the Octave 9 series, where Conor Hanick joins percussionist Mari Yoshinaga and a quartet of Symphony musicians for Etudes and Devotions, featuring Adams’s Etudes for Piano and the U.S. premiere of his Devotions for String Quartet and Percussion.
The Elwha River project – a collaboration between flutist Claire Chase and composer Annea Lockwood inspired by the restoration of the Olympic Peninsula river – will be featured in April and stands out immediately to me as one of the season’s most compelling offerings. Adam Tendler’s Inheritances, built from commissions by Laurie Anderson, Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly, Pamela Z, Sarah Kirkland Snider and Devonté Hynes, also looks promising, and a centenary homage to György Kurtág is most welcome. (Why I’ve listed these in reverse chronological order is anyone’s guess.)
The series ranges further, from Pamela Z’s solo work for voice and electronics to a closing appearance by the Brandee Younger Trio (harp, bass, and drums).
The “community” emphasis also extends beyond the stage. The Symphony is set to reopen Benaroya Hall’s renovated public spaces at the start of the season, marking the completion of its Amplify capital campaign. The upgrades – new gathering areas, expanded concessions, and reconfigured lobby spaces — underscore an effort to position the hall as more than a performance venue at the outset of Zhang’s second year.
Music Director Xian Zhang and the Symphonic Series
Xian and James Ehnes (September 24, 26 & 27), featuring Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique.
Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto and Zarathustra (November 12, 14 & 15), pairing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra.
Mozart’s Requiem with Xian (November 19, 21 & 22), presenting a Seattle Symphony co-commission and World Premiere of Joe Pereira’s Timpani Concerto, followed by Mozart’s Requiem with the Seattle Symphony Chorale.
Xian and Emanuel Ax (January 28 & 30), featuring Haydn symphonies and Mozart favorites, including his Piano Concerto No. 25.
Tchaikovsky’s Manfred with Xian (February 4, 6 & 7), with saxophonist Steven Banks performing a work by Ibert and his own composition, Come As You Are.
Xian Conducts the Sounds of Spain (February 11 & 13), spotlighting Lalo, Ginastera and Rimsky-Korsakov while featuring Concertmaster Noah Geller.
Xian Conducts Scheherazade (March 11 & 13), featuring Smetana’s The Moldau, Steven Mackey’s Concerto for Orchestra(a Seattle Symphony Co-commission and World Premiere) and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade.
Grieg’s Peer Gynt with Xian (April 8 & 10), with music by Vaughan Williams, Webern, Scriabin and Grieg, and featuring Associate Concertmaster Helen Kim.
Beethoven’s Pastoral and Gil Shaham (April 15, 17 & 18), pairing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 with Dvořák’s Violin Concerto.
Pines & Fountains of Rome with Xian (April 22, 24 & 25), featuring Gabriela Montero’s Piano Concerto No. 1, “Latin” and Respighi’s Roman tone poems.
Xian Conducts Brahms (June 17, 18 & 20), encompassing Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 and his Violin Concerto.
Wagner’s The Ring Without Words (June 24 & 26), closing the season with Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Wagner’s purely symphonic Ring cycle.
On Thursday night, for the first time since early October, Seattle Symphony Music Director Xian Zhang returned to the Benaroya Hall podium, this time with a program of striking contrasts. The first half ventured into unfamiliar territory with a contemporary work for which she has been a leading advocate, while the second turned to one of the 20th century’s blockbuster symphonies…. continue
Xian Zhang, Seattle Symphony’s new music director, conducts during a Seattle Symphony rehearsal in September. Next up, Zhang will lead the Symphony in “Iris Unveiled” Feb. 12-15. (Kevin Clark / The Seattle Times, 2025)
For my latest story in The Seattle Times, I spoke with Xian Zhang about this week’s program featuring Iris dévoilé by Qigang Chen:
As her first season at the helm of the Seattle Symphony moves into its second half, what Music Director Xian Zhang is hoping to achieve with the orchestra — and with the local audience — is beginning to crystallize….
Xian Zhang, Seattle Symphony music director designate, conducts the Symphony in its “Holst: The Planets” program March 27. (James Holt / Seattle Symphony)
I reviewed Xian Zhang’s first concert with Seattle Symphony since being named music director designate :
With just a few gestures, Xian Zhang began conjuring a cosmos.
Returning to Benaroya Hall for her first full program since being named Seattle Symphony’s incoming music director, Zhang drew the nearly sold-out concert hall Thursday night into her orbit with her focused, magnetic conducting.
MEMETERIA by Thomas May 