Choral Union

The Cleveland Orchestra and music director Franz Welser-Möst return to Ann Arbor for the first time in 15 years, opening the 26/27 season with works by Liszt, Martinů, and Brahms.

Program

Franz Liszt Orpheus
Bohuslav Martinů Symphony No. 2, H. 295
Johannes Brahms Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73

2021 International Chopin Piano Competition winner Bruce Liu makes his UMS debut with a powerful recital program that includes masterworks by Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, and more.

György Ligeti Etude No. 4: Fanfares
Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 14 in c-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 (“Moonlight”)
Frédéric Chopin Nocturnes, Op. 27, Nos. 1 and 2
Maurice Ravel Alborada del Gracioso (from Miroirs)
Claude Debussy Rêverie, L. 68
Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major, Op. 53 (“Waldstein”)
Federico Mompou Glossa sobre Au clair de la lune
Isaac Albéniz “El Puerto” from Iberia
Franz Liszt Rhapsodie espagnole, S. 254, R. 90

The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, UMS Choral Union, and outstanding soloists perform Mozart’s final composition, his Requiem Mass, widely considered one of his most sublime achievements.

Legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma reunites with pianist Emanuel Ax for an evening of masterful collaboration, celebrating decades of shared artistry and musical connection.

Members of the Berlin Philharmonic brass section join together with celebrated American organist Paul Jacobs for a special Hill Auditorium concert.

Joyce DiDonato returns with Il Pomo d’Oro and conductor Maxim Emelyanychev for a concert performance of Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, also featuring tenor and U-M alumnus Nicholas Phan in the role of Aeneas. The first half of the program features Giacomo Carissimi’s Jephte, a rarely performed Baroque masterpiece for tenor, soprano, continuo orchestra, and choir.

Bach specialist Masaaki Suzuki returns to conduct one of the composer’s great masterpieces with the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir.

This first of two UMS presentations with the LSO features violinist Maxim Vengerov performing Beethoven’s exquisite violin concerto 200 years after the composer’s death, followed by Shostakovich’s tragic and powerful Symphony No. 8, composed during World War II.

Program

Ludwig van Beethoven Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61
Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony No. 8 in c minor, Op. 65

Cellist Alisa Weilerstein returns to the Hill Auditorium stage as soloist for Elgar’s iconic Cello Concerto. Richard Strauss’s glorious tone poem Ein Heldenleben closes the program with its sensational color and imaginative orchestration — a musical depiction of a hero constantly at battle with its critics.

Program

Elizabeth Maconchy Nocturne
Edward Elgar Cello Concerto in e minor, Op. 85
Richard Strauss Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40

Pianist Seong-Jin Cho returns to Ann Arbor following his remarkable all-Ravel performance in 2024. This wide-ranging program includes two works by Prokofiev, whose ten pieces from Romeo and Juliet were arranged for piano even before the full ballet premiered.

Program

Jörg Widmann Sonatina facile
Sergei Prokofiev Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet, Op. 75
W.A. Mozart Fantasia in c minor, K. 396 (completed by Maximilian Stadler)
Sergei Prokofiev Piano Sonata No. 8 in B-flat Major, Op. 84

Piano superstar Yuja Wang returns to UMS for the first time in nearly a decade with her charismatic artistry, emotional honesty, and captivating stage presence.