Performances

After their roaring UMS debut in 2023, México’s Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería and conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto return with trumpet soloist Pacho Flores.

Program

Franz Joseph Haydn Trumpet Concerto in E-flat Major
Paquito D’Rivera Venezuelan Concerto
Silvestre Revueltas Sensemayá
Alberto Ginastera Dances from Estancia, Op. 8a
Arturo Márquez Danzón No. 2 (version 2012)

An audience favorite from UMS’s 23/24 season was the US debut of México’s Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, led by the dynamic conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto. This first time School Day Performance will feature The Night of the Mayas by Silvestre Revueltas, Sones de Mariachi by Blas Galindo, and other compositions by Mexican and Latin American composers.

Led by the celebrated vocalist Julia Keefe (Nez Perce), this 16-piece ensemble of Native musicians highlights an often overlooked but rich history of Indigenous bands that existed on reservations across the country in the early 20th century, and it both deepens and challenges our understanding of the “uniquely American” art form known as jazz.

Join Nicola Benedetti at the 18th annual Susan B. Meister Lecture in Child Health Policy.

Step into a world of rhythm and soul as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, led by the iconic trumpeter and cultural ambassador Wynton Marsalis, is back to close out our 25-26 School Day Performance series with a Big Band concert tailored for young people.

Wynton Marsalis and his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will be joined by orchestral musicians from the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance, in a performance of Marsalis’s Symphony No. 4, “The Jungle.”

Step into a world of rhythm and soul as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, led by the iconic trumpeter and cultural ambassador Wynton Marsalis, brings their unparalleled mastery to Hill Auditorium. The venerable ensemble takes the stage for a journey through some of Duke Ellington’s most iconic compositions.

Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti makes her UMS debut with an ensemble featuring guitar, accordion, and cello performing arrangements of popular classical works.

Program

Ernest Bloch “Prayer” from From Jewish Life
Manuel Ponce Estrellita
Pablo de Sarasate Carmen Fantasy, Op. 25
Pablo de Sarasate, Caprice Basque, Op. 24
Traditional, Ashokan Farewell
Peter Maxwell Davies Farewell to Stromness
Plus, works by Clara Schumann, Vaughan Williams, and Paganini, along with new commissions and arrangements of traditional Scottish music.

Violinist James Ehnes is joined by pianist Inon Barnatan, violist Jonathan Vinocour, and cellist Raphael Bell for a program of Gabriel Fauré’s piano quartets. Among his best-known chamber works, Fauré’s piano quartets are exquisitely crafted and ideal vehicles for these four superb artists and musical soulmates.

The esteemed Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir celebrates the transcendent contemporary classical music of composer Arvo Pärt, and the indelible mark he has left on music and choral singing over his 90 years.

The year 1926 saw the birth of two towering figures who reshaped the landscape of modern music: Miles Davis and John Coltrane. In this limited tour, two of today’s most visionary musicians come together to honor their legacies in a concert that is more than just a centennial tribute, but a living, breathing continuation of their spirit.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra returns to Hill Auditorium for the first time in more than a decade, under the leadership of their new music director, Klaus Mäkelä.

Program

Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92
Hector Berlioz Symphonie fantastique

The Karajan-Akademie of the Berliner Philharmoniker serves as the training ground for both the next generation of musicians for the Berliner Philharmoniker, but also for orchestras around the world. This concert, part of a larger residency that will include campus engagement and learning activities, will feature several Akademie scholars alongside Philharmoniker musicians in an evening of Beethoven, Shostakovich, and Bartók.

Program

Ludwig van Beethoven Septet in E-Flat Major for Winds and Strings, Op. 20
Dmitri Shostakovich Prelude and Scherzo for String Octet, Op. 11
Julia Wolfe Reeling*
Béla Bartók Divertimento for String Orchestra, Sz. 113

Legendary fiddler Martin Hayes leads a wide-ranging, family-friendly concert celebration a few days after St. Patrick’s Day, featuring an exciting variety of special guests, traditional sean-nós singing and dancing, and modern takes on Irish traditions.

Siblings Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Isata Kanneh-Mason bring their extraordinary musical chemistry to a program that bridges Romantic lyricism and 20th-century innovation. 

Program

Felix Mendelssohn Cello Sonata No. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 45
Nadia Boulanger Three Pieces for Cello and Piano
Robert Schumann Five Pieces in Folk Style, Op. 102
Rebecca Clarke Sonata for Viola (or Violoncello) and Piano

Five-time Grammy Award winner Angélique Kidjo returns to Ann Arbor for the first time since 2020 with her powerhouse voice, electrifying stage presence, and joyous music.

A century after the publication of The Great Gatsby, Elevator Repair Service’s GATZ comes to Ann Arbor after its sold-out run at New York’s Public Theater in November 2024. Told over a single 8-hour production (including dinner break), GATZ is not just a retelling of the Gatsby story, but an enactment of the novel in which Fitzgerald’s masterpiece is cleverly delivered word for word.

Brooklyn-born, Basel-based choreographer Jeremy Nedd delves into the complexities of dance ownership and cultural appropriation, taking inspiration from a rapper’s copyright infringement lawsuit against a video game company.

The superlative ensemble returns in a program that includes a UMS co-commission by University of Michigan alumna Clarice Assad, plus works by Franz Joseph Haydn and Claude Debussy.

Program

Franz Joseph Haydn String Quartet No. 59 in g minor, Op. 74, No. 3 (“Rider”)
Clarice Assad New Work (UMS co-commission)
Claude Debussy String Quartet in g minor, Op. 10 (L.91)

In a rare concert performance and evening of master piano works for the 21st century, 10 outstanding pianists will perform all 20 of Philip Glass’s études on the Hill Auditorium stage.

MacArthur Genius Grant recipient and Pulitzer Prize winner Rhiannon Giddens has made a singular, iconic career out of stretching her brand of folk music into just about every field imaginable. Join us as the U-M Arts Initiative’s inaugural artist-in-residence takes the Hill Auditorium stage with her latest musical exploration.

Short in length but limitless in imagination, all 24 of Claude Debussy’s magical Preludes for piano are performed by one of their supreme living interpreters, Jean-Yves Thibaudet.