The GrammyAward-winning Atlanta Symphony Orchestra announces the 2024-25 Delta Classical Concert season, the 80th Anniversary season and Music Director Nathalie Stutzmann’s third season at the helm of the orchestra.
“We are very much looking forward to the 2024-25 season, our 80th year of playing music for the city of Atlanta,” said Executive Director Jennifer Barlament. “The audiences in Atlanta have been incredibly supportive of Nathalie and the Orchestra these last two years – attendance is up, ticket sales are up, and we’ve welcomed a large number of new audience members.
“Nathalie has programmed a season focused primarily on the classical and early Romantic repertoire, and I know audiences will love to hear the major works of Beethoven, Haydn, and Mozart, as well as enjoy guest artists like the incomparable Yo-Yo Ma, who has been a friend of the Orchestra for many years.”
Stutzmann in the2024-25 Season
The 2024-25 season opens on September 19, 2024, with Stutzmann conducting Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, “Titan,” and cellist Edgar Moreau playing Schumann’s Cello Concerto, returning after a debut played “with dazzling accuracy and insouciant wit” (ArtsATL).
The following weekend, September 26 & 27, Stutzmann is joined by mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron and baritone Samuel Hasselhorn, both making their ASO debuts, for Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Boy’s Magic Horn), followed by Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 6.
Stutzmann returns to the podium on November 7, 9, and 10 to conduct an evening of Mozart, presenting his passionate Symphony No. 40 and the masterpiece Mass in C Minor. Joining the Orchestra for the Mass are Olga Kulchynska, soprano; Julia Lezhneva, soprano; Lunga Eric Hallam, tenor; and Harold Wilson, bass, as well as the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus.
On November 14 and 16, ASO Principal Flute Christina Smith takes center stage with Stutzmann conducting C.P.E. Bach’s Flute Concerto in D Minor, originally composed for King Frederick the Great. The same evening, after a well-received festival of his work in the 2023-24 season, Stutzmann returns to the “Architect of the Spirit,” Bruckner, and conducts his Symphony No. 4, “Romantic.”
Stutzmann welcomes 2022 Van Cliburn medalist Anna Geniushene, a pianist “with an exquisite touch and an almost infinite tonal palette” (La Scena), on April 10 and 12, 2025, to make her ASO debut playing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. The program also features Ravel’s Ma mère L’Oye (Mother Goose) and La valse.
Beethoven Project
In early 2025, Stutzmann begins the epic “Beethoven Project,” a series of concerts consisting of Beethoven’s first eight symphonies. The project allows audiences to follow the composer’s journey throughout his career:
- January 23 and 25 Symphonies No. 1 and No. 3, “Eroica.”
- January 30, February 1 & 2 Symphony No. 2 and the world-famous Symphony No. 5.
- February 27 and March 1 Symphony No. 8 and Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral.”
- March 6, 8, and 9 Symphonies No. 4 and No. 7
Stutzmann will conclude the cycle by performing Symphony No. 9 in the Fall of 2025. She has included other Beethoven masterpieces in the Project, with the composer’s Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano on April 3 & 4, 2025. The piece brings three different voices together, and the Orchestra’s own Concertmaster David Coucheron and Acting/Associate Principal Cello Daniel Laufer are joined by pianist Julie Coucheron, who is David’s sister and a highly sought-after recitalist.
Concluding the Beethoven Project for the season on May 10 and 11, Stutzmann conducts one of Beethoven’s most epic works for orchestra and chorus, the MissaSolemnis, with the Orchestra joined by the world-renowned Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus. The four featured soloists in this notoriously difficult piece are all highly acclaimed opera singers: Julia Grüter, soprano; Anna Goryachova, mezzo- soprano; Miles Mykkanen, tenor; and Lawson Anderson, baritone.
Yo-Yo Ma Returns to Atlanta Symphony Hall
Arguably one of the most famous musicians in the world, Yo-Yo Ma has a decades-long career that luckily has included stops in Atlanta with the Orchestra on numerous occasions. This year, Ma plays a special concert on December 5, 2024, with Eric Jacobsen conducting. Ma will play Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1, which has not been heard in Atlanta in some years, and Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 by Heitor Villa-Lobos, a Brazilian composer from the early 20th Century. Jacobsen, a member of the Silkroad Ensemble, makes his ASO debut conducting Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 and Slavonic Dance, as well as a piece from GRAMMY® nominated composer Curtis Stewart.
Music Director Laureate Robert Soano Returns
Esteemed Music Director Laureate Robert Spano, who was recently named Music Director of the Washington National Opera, in addition to holding the same title with the Fort Worth Symphony, returns to the ASO to conduct two weekends of some of Atlanta’s favorite pieces. Spano will conduct Copland’s buoyant Appalachian Spring Suite and Vaughn Williams’s Fifth Symphony on March 20 and 22 and is joined by ASO Principal Harp Elisabeth Remy Johnson for the GRAMMY®-winning harp concerto from Jennifer Higdon.
The following weekend, March 27 and 29, Spano will welcome pianist Jae Hong Park, winner of the 2021 Busoni International Piano Competition, in his ASO debut to perform Scriabin’s Piano Concerto. The program opens with Tapiola from Sibelius and closes with a Spano favorite, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade.
The Four Seasons Special Performance Returns
After two sell-out years, ASO Concertmaster David Coucheron will be back center stage to both play and lead Vivaldi’s masterpiece, The FourSeasons, on January 12. This year, he will also lead the Orchestra in Dvořák’s Serenade for Strings.
Guest Artists and Conductors
There are a number of thrilling debuts in the 2024-25 season, including conductor Earl Lee, who will lead the Orchestra in a European adventure, beginning with Haydn’s Symphony No. 104, “London,” and ending with Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, “Italian.” In between, ASO Principal Oboe Elizabeth Koch Tiscione plays the delightful oboe concerto from Françaix, L’horlogede flore (The Flower Clock).
Conductor Roderick Cox returns to the ASO after his “season high” (ArtsATL) debut in 2023 as a last- minute replacement. ArtsATL said the Georgia native has a “remarkably dynamic and daring presence onstage,” and on October 24 and 26 presents a program with fire, including John Adams’s Doctor Atomic Symphony, Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, and the heart-breaking Barber Adagio for Strings.
Rising star Geneva Lewis makes her ASO debut on November 21 and 23 playing Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3, with Nicholas Carter conducting a program that includes Haydn’s Symphony No. 96, “Miracle,” and Walton’s Symphony No. 1.
On January 16 and 18, the Orchestra welcomes the dazzling Uzbek conductor Aziz Shokhakimov back to the podium to conduct Polina Nazaykinskaya’s Winter Bells and Stravinsky’s Petrushka (1947). Joining him is fellow countryman Behzod Abduraimov, making his ASO debut playing Rachmaninoff’s show- stopping RhapsodyonaThemeofPaganini.
The powerful, world-class ASO Chorus performs under the baton of guest conductor Vasily Petrenko as they present Walton’s famous oratorio, Belshazzar’s Feast, a jazz-inspired work from the 20th Century that draws on the Old Testament story of Belshazzar and the “writing on the wall.”
The phenomenal cello virtuoso Sterling Elliott makes his ASO debut on February 20 playing Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 2, as part of an all-Haydn program from conductor Matthew Halls, who is also making his debut this weekend. The program, which is also performed on February 22, includes Haydn’s Symphony No. 101, “The Clock,” and the rarely-performed L’isoladisabitataOverture (The Uninhabited Island).
Guest conductor Andrew Manze returns to Atlanta on April 24 and 26 to conduct the ASO debut of violinist Clara-Jumi Kang, playing the Violin Concerto from Sibelius. Included in the program are three pieces from composer Khachaturian: “Sabre Dance” and “Lezghinka” from Gayane; and “Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia” from Spartacus. Manze concludes the program with the powerful Symphony No. 2 from Borodin.
At the beginning of May, on May 1 and 3, the ASO takes an Italian holiday with two exciting debuts – Italians Jader Bignamini, conductor, and Giuseppe Gibboni, violin. Bignamini opens his program with Bottesini’s IldiavolodellanotteOverture, and ends with two pieces from Italian composer Respighi: Fountains of Rome and Pines of Rome. In the middle, the sensational Gibboni, winner of the Paganini International Violin Competition, plays the composer’s wickedly difficult Violin Concerto No. 1.
Later in the month, the ASO welcomes a dear friend and an exciting new guest conductor, when Marc- André Hamelin returns to play Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 3, while conductor Marzena Diakun makes her ASO debut. Diakun also conducts Weinberg’s Rhapsody on Moldovan Themes and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 1, “Winter Daydreams.”
Conductor Stéphane Denève had an exciting debut with the ASO in the 2023-24 season and comes back May 29 and 31 to conduct Gershwin’s AnAmericaninParis, Ibert’s Escales, and Milhaud’s Lacréationdu monde (The Creation of the World). Joining Denève is audience favorite, pianist Kirill Gerstein playing Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand.
The 2024-25 season concludes on June 5 and 7 with two powerhouses in classical music and frequent ASO guest artists, conductor Peter Oundijian and pianist Inon Barnatan, presenting Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Oundijian closes the program – and the season – with the massive Mahler Symphony No. 7, which is a fitting ending to an 80th Anniversary season.
Subscriptions are now on sale. Details are available at aso.org/2425.
A full chronological listing with programming and artists can be found below.
2024/2025 AtlantaSymphonyOrchestraDeltaClassical Season
*DenotesanASO debut
SeasonOpenerwithNathalie Stutzmann
Thursday, September 19, 2024, 8pm
Saturday, September 21, 2024, 8pm
Nathalie Stutzmann, conductor
Edgar Moreau, cello
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
SCHUMANN: Cello Concerto
MAHLER: Symphony No. 1, “Titan”
NathalieStutzmannConductsMahler+ Shostakovich
Thursday, September 26, 2024, 8pm
Friday, September 27, 2024, 8pm
Nathalie Stutzmann, conductor
Fleur Barron, mezzo-soprano
Samuel Hasselhorn, baritone
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
MAHLER: DesKnabenWunderhorn (The Boy’s Magic Horn)
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 6
HaydnandMendelssohn Symphonies
Thursday, October 17, 2024, 8pm
Saturday, October 19, 2024, 8pm
Earl Lee, conductor *
Elizabeth Koch Tiscione, oboe
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
HAYDN: Symphony No. 104, “London”
FRANÇAIX: L’horloge de flore (The Flower Clock)
MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No. 4, “Italian”
RoderickCoxConductsBarber+ Rachmaninoff
Thursday, October 24, 2024, 8pm
Saturday, October 26, 2024, 8pm
Roderick Cox, conductor
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
BARBER: Adagiofor Strings
JOHN ADAMS: DoctorAtomic Symphony
RACHMANINOFF: Symphonic Dances
AllMozartwithStutzmann+ Chorus
Thursday, November 7, 2024, 8pm
Saturday, November 9, 2024, 8pm
Sunday, November 10, 2024, 3pm
Nathalie Stutzmann, conductor
Olga Kulchynska, soprano
Julia Lezhneva, soprano
Lunga Eric Hallam, tenor
Harold Wilson, bass
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
MOZART: Symphony No. 40
MOZART: Mass in C Minor
StutzmannConducts Bruckner
Thursday, November 14, 2024, 8pm
Saturday, November 16, 2024, 8pm
Nathalie Stutzmann, conductor
Christina Smith, flute
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
C.P.E. BACH Flute Concerto in D Minor
BRUCKNER Symphony No. 4, “Romantic”
Haydn+Mozart+Walton
Thursday, November 21, 2024, 8pm
Saturday, November 23, 2024, 8pm
Nicholas Carter, conductor
Geneva Lewis, violin*
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
HAYDN: Symphony No. 96, “The Miracle”
MOZART: Violin Concerto No. 3
WALTON: Symphony No. 1
Yo-YoMa+AtlantaSymphony Orchestra
Thursday, December 5, 2024, 8pm
Eric Jacobsen, conductor*
Yo-Yo Ma, cello
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
DVOŘÁK: SlavonicDance, Op. 46, No. 8
CURTIS STEWART: “M. Bett” from The Famous People
HAYDN: Cello Concerto No. 1
VILLA-LOBOS: Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 DVOŘÁK: Symphony No. 8
Coucheron+TheFour Seasons
Sunday, January 12, 2025, 3pm
David Coucheron, violin + director
DVOŘÁK Serenade for Strings, Op. 22
VIVALDI TheFourSeasons
Rachmaninoff+ Stravinsky
Thursday, January 16, 2025, 8pm
Saturday, January 18, 2025, 8pm
Aziz Shokhakimov, conductor
Behzod Abduraimov, piano*
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
POLINA NAZAYKINSKAYA: WinterBells
RACHMANINOFF: RhapsodyonaThemeof Paganini
STRAVINSKY: Petrushka(1947 Version)
BeethovenProject:Symphonies1+ 3
Thursday, January 23, 2025, 8pm
Saturday, January 25, 2025, 8pm
Nathalie Stutzmann, conductor
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 1
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 3, “Eroica”
BeethovenProject:Symphonies2+ 5
Thursday, January 30, 2025, 8pm
Saturday, February 1, 2025, 8pm
Sunday, February 2, 2025, 3pm
Nathalie Stutzmann, conductor
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 2
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 5
ASOChorus+Belshazzar’s Feast
Thursday, February 13, 2025, 8pm
Saturday, February 15, 2025, 8pm
Vasily Petrenko, conductor
Nathan Berg, bass-baritone
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 1
WALTON: Belshazzar’s Feast
AllHaydnwiththe ASO
Thursday, February 20, 2025, 8pm
Saturday, February 22, 2025, 8pm
Matthew Halls, conductor*
Sterling Elliott, cello*
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
HAYDN: L’isoladisabitataOverture (The Uninhabited Island)
HAYDN: Cello Concerto No. 2
HAYDN: Symphony No. 101, “The Clock”
BeethovenProject:Symphonies6+ 8
Thursday, February 27, 2025, 8pm
Saturday, March 1, 2025, 8pm
Nathalie Stutzmann, conductor
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 8
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral”
BeethovenProject:Symphonies4+ 7
Thursday, March 6, 2025, 8pm
Saturday, March 8, 2025, 8pm
Sunday, March 9, 2025, 3pm
Nathalie Stutzmann, conductor
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 4
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 7
RobertSpano Conducts
Thursday, March 20, 2025, 8pm
Saturday, March 22, 2025, 8pm
Robert Spano, conductor
Elisabeth Remy Johnson, harp
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
COPLAND: Appalachian Spring Suite
JENNIFER HIGDON: Harp Concerto
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Symphony No. 5
SpanoConducts Scheherazade
Thursday, March 27, 2025, 8pm
Saturday, March 29, 2025, 8pm
Robert Spano, conductor
Jae Hong Park, piano
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
SIBELIUS: Tapiola
SCRIABIN: Piano Concerto
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Scheherazade
BeethovenProject:StutzmannConductsTriple Concerto
Thursday, April 3, 2025, 8pm
Friday, April 4, 2025, 8pm
Nathalie Stutzmann, conductor
David Coucheron, violin
Daniel Laufer, cello
Julie Coucheron, piano
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
BEETHOVEN: Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano
STRAUSS: EineAlpensinfonie(An Alpine Symphony)
NathalieStutzmannconductsTchaikovsky+ Ravel
Thursday, April 10, 2025, 8pm
Saturday, April 12, 2025, 8pm
Nathalie Stutzmann, conductor
Anna Geniushene, piano
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano Concerto No. 1
RAVEL: MamèreL’Oye(Mother Goose) RAVEL: Lavalse
Sibelius ViolinConcerto
Thursday, April 24, 2025, 8pm
Saturday, April 26, 2025, 8pm
Andrew Manze, conductor
Clara-Jumi Kang, violin
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
KHACHATURIAN: “Sabre Dance” from Gayane
KHACHATURIAN: “Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia” from Spartacus
KHACHATURIAN: “Lezghinka” from Gayane
SIBELIUS: Violin Concerto BORODIN: Symphony No. 2
ItalianHolidaywiththe ASO
Thursday, May 1, 2025, 8pm
Saturday, May 3, 2025, 8pm
Jader Bignamini, conductor*
Giuseppe Gibboni, violin*
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
BOTTESINI: Il diavolo della notte Overture
PAGANINI: Violin Concerto No. 1
RESPIGHI: Fountains of Rome
RESPIGHI: Pines of Rome
BeethovenProject: Missa solemnis
Thursday, May 8, 2025, 8pm
Saturday, May 10, 2025, 8pm
Sunday, May 11, 2025, 3pm
Nathalie Stutzmann, conductor
Julia Grüter, soprano
Anna Goryachova, mezzo-soprano
Miles Mykkanen, tenor
Lawson Anderson, baritone
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
BEETHOVEN: Missa solemnis
Tchaikovsky SymphonyNo.1
Thursday, May 15, 2025, 8pm
Saturday, May 17, 2025, 8pm
Marzena Diakun, conductor*
Marc-André Hamelin, piano
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
WEINBERG: Rhapsody onMoldovanThemes
BARTÓK: Piano Concerto No. 3
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 1, “Winter Daydreams”
An American in Paris
Thursday, May 29, 2025, 8pm
Saturday, May 31, 2025, 8pm
Stéphane Denève, conductor
Kirill Gerstein, piano
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
IBERT: Escales
RAVEL: Piano Concerto for the Left Hand
MILHAUD: La création dumonde (The Creation of the World)
GERSHWIN: An American in Paris
Oundjian Conducts Mahler Symphony No. 7
Thursday, June 5, 2025, 8pm
Saturday, June 7, 2025, 8pm
Peter Oundjian, conductor
Inon Barnatan, piano
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
SHOSTAKOVICH: Piano Concerto No. 1
MAHLER: Symphony No. 7
Photo: Cellist Yo-Yo Ma returns to Atlanta in December. Photo by Jason Bell
