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Montreal
Andrew Staples
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal kicks off its season on Sept. 17 and 18 with Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust conducted by Music Director Rafael Payare. The masterful work, inspired by Goethe’s myth, features soloists mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill (Marguerite), tenor Andrew Staples (Faust), and British bass-baritone Sir Willard White (Méphistophélès) and baritone Ashley Riches (Brander). Maestro Payare thus reunites with the French composer following the success of Symphonie fantastique during the OSM’s most recent European tour.
In October, the Venezuelan conductor returns to the podium to conduct music by another of his favorite composers, Mahler, to whom he has dedicated a series of concerts with his Montreal forces. This time, it will be Mahler’s Symphony No. 9, the last one completed by the composer (Oct. 15 & 16). The OSM will continue in the same post-Romantic vein with a concert featuring Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra and Ernest Bloch’s Schelomo (Oct. 22 & 25). International guests include soprano Véronique Gens in recital with a program of French mélodies (Nov. 12 & 13) and cellist Nicolas Altstaedt in Elgar’s famous Concerto (Nov. 26 & 27). In early 2026, OSM audiences will see the return of Emanuel Ax in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 (Jan. 15-17) and the “flamboyant” Barbara Hannigan. This time, the Canadian conductor and soprano has put together two original programs which centre on dance, featuring works by Offenbach, Kurt Weill and Glenn Miller (Feb. 4 & 5). www.osm.ca
Joyce DiDonato. Photo: Simon Pauly Photography
For its 2025-26 season, Orchestre Métropolitain invites us to experience an eclectic musical universe. “A new universe opens up to us. Grandiose. Unique. Sublime. With his third symphony, Mahler paints the creation of the world in a thousand colours,” reads the description of the opening concert on Sept. 23. To perform this masterpiece of the Romantic repertoire, under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the musicians will be joined by a distinguished guest, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, as well as the Chœur Métropolitain and the Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal. The concert also includes a work by composer Sonny-Ray Day Rider, further demonstrating its commitment to Indigenous music.
In October, OM’s series dedicated to Sibelius will come to a grand finale with performances of the Finnish composer’s sixth and seventh symphonies (his last). Sibelius’s Violin Concerto will round out this rich program. Maestro Nézet-Séguin will be reunited for the occasion with violinist Lisa Batiashvili, with whom he has shared the stage on several occasions.
A later season highlight is a concert conducted by Kensho Watanabe, combining Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 with Airat Ichmouratov’s Bassoon Concerto, a world premiere and commission by the orchestra performed by Michel Bettez (Feb. 26). www.orchestremetropolitain.com
Yegor Dyachkov. Photo: Elizabeth Delage
I Musici de Montréal’s 42nd season will be unlike any other: a new collective artistic direction, a new conductorless concert experience, new general management, and a new venue. Concerts will now take place at Espace JAX, near Concordia University. To kick things off on Oct. 9, the musicians are offering a return to their roots. They will highlight the cello, the instrument of choice of I Musici founder, Yuli Turovsky. Soloist Yegor Dyachkov will perform Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme as the centrepiece of this concert, which also includes a contemporary work for strings by Quebec composer Denis Gougeon. www.imusici.com
Cris Derksen. Photo: Tanja Tiziana
Orchestre classique de Montréal has announced not only its 86th season, but also the arrival of its new music director, Andrei Feher. The opening concert at Maison symphonique features three Indigenous soloists: Innu soprano Elisabeth St-Gelais, Mohawk violinist Tara-Louise Montour, and Cree cellist Cris Derksen. The program will include the Quebec premiere of Derksen’s Spider Being, and songs by Tomson Highway (Oct. 5). After four concerts at Salle Pierre-Mercure, and the traditional Handel’s Messiah at Saint Joseph’s Oratory, OCM will end its season on a high note, also at the Maison symphonique, by celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal (May 30). Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Gloria, RV 589, will feature violinist Marc Djokic as soloist. www.orchestre.ca
Quebec City
Nils Wanderer
Orchestre symphonique de Québec opens 2025–26 with a program inspired by several great operas from the repertoire: Wagner’s Tannhäuser, Bizet’s Carmen, and R. Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier. Music Director Clemens Schuldt will be joined by violinist Kerson Leong for Ernest Chausson’s Poème pour violon et orchestra (Sept. 18). A few days later, he will welcome internationally renowned pianist Alexandre Tharaud for a romantic program including Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 (Sept. 24 & 25). French pianist Lise de la Salle will join the OSQ for Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 (Nov. 26 & 27). At the beginning of 2026, audiences will see the return of countertenor Nils Wanderer, who made his mark at the 2022 edition of the Montreal International Music Competition (Jan. 28 & 29). www.osq.org
Toronto
Toronto Symphony Orchestra opens 2025-26 with a grand musical celebration featuring Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana and Wynton Marsalis’s Concerto for Orchestra, a jazz-infused TSO commission. The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and soloists Julie Roset, Andrew Haji, and Sean Michael Plumb will join Music Director Gustavo Gimeno (Sept. 18, 20 & 21). The celebration will continue with a special appearance by pianist Lang Lang, who will perform Beethoven’s Concerto No. 5, “Emperor” (Sept. 24). Several composers will be featured in name-titled concerts: Mozart and R. Strauss (Oct. 16-18), Debussy and Sibelius (Oct. 30, Nov. 1 & 2), and Bruch and Beethoven (March 26, 28 & 29).
María Dueñas
Later in the season, the orchestra performs Mahler’s final Symphony No. 9 (Feb. 19-22), as well as Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7 and Cello Concerto (Mar. 7-14). Tchaikovsky and Beethoven will also be well-represented among the season’s concerts, with the German composer’s Ninth Symphony rounding off the year (June 11-14). When it comes to guest artists, the TSO is making a big splash by opening the doors of Roy Thomson Hall to TwoSet Violin—two content creators with nearly 4.5 million subscribers on YouTube—for a unique evening on Nov. 5. We will also see the return of Joshua Bell in the Canadian premiere of Thomas de Hartmann’s Violin Concerto (Nov. 13 & 15), Bruce Liu in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 (Jan. 22 & 23) and María Dueñas in Korngold’s Violin Concerto (Jun. 4-7). www.tso.ca
Lina Tur Bonet. Photo: Pablo F. Juarez
Tafelmusik opens with two symphonies by Mozart and Schubert, conducted by violinist and principal guest conductor Rachel Podger (Sept. 26-28). Spanish violinist Lina Tur Bonet will then conduct a concert which pairs music by Vivaldi with works by his contemporaries from Italy and Austria (Oct. 23-26). Ivars Taurins will take the podium to lead two settings of the same liturgical text, the Dixit Dominus by Lotti and Handel, with the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir (Nov. 28-30). Podger will return to conduct an ambitious program consisting of Bach’s first four Brandenburg concertos and the Prelude and Fugue in E-flat major, BWV 552, transposed for orchestra (Jan. 29-Feb. 1). The final concert of the season will feature Joseph Bologne’s Violin Concerto, Op. 3, No. 2 performed by Shunske Sato of the renowned Bach Society of the Netherlands. Sato will also conduct Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 (May 29-31). www.tafelmusik.org
Earl Lee
The Royal Conservatory of Music offers a busy new season, including some exciting orchestral concerts with the Glenn Gould School’s Royal Conservatory Orchestra. Conductor JoAnn Falletta leads them in John Adams’s Short Ride in a Fast Machine, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with soloist Jonathan Alter, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade (Oct. 10). Taiwanese-American conductor Mei-Ann Chen will take the podium for a program of varied works, including the world premiere of Stewart Goodyear’s Seasons and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. Added to this is Ginastera’s Harp Concerto, which draws inspiration from guitar gestures, and will be performed by Zane Mallett (Nov. 21). In early 2026, Maestro Peter Oundjian will take us on a romantic journey with Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2, performed by Eric Guo, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 “Pathétique” (Feb. 6). Finally, Korean-born Canadian conductor Earl Lee will lead the orchestra in a program inspired by the romanticism of Gustav Mahler’s “Titan” Symphony No. 1, as well as the modernity of Samy Moussa’s Elysium and Ernest Bloch’s Hebrew Rhapsody, featuring cellist Sabina Sandvoss (May 1). www.rcmusic.ca
Ottawa
Mélanie Léonard. Photo: Kelly Lawson
The Ottawa Symphony Orchestra will present four concerts next season, including two large-scale productions, beginning with an eclectic program conducted by Mélanie Léonard combining Rossini’s William Tell Overture, Machines, Mannequins, and Monsters by Kelly Marie Murphy, and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 15 (Oct. 5). At the end of the season, the OSO presents two performances of Haydn’s Creation in collaboration with the Ottawa Choral Society, which is celebrating its 85th anniversary this year (May 2 & 3). www.ottawasymphony.com
Matthew Cairns. Photo: Dario Acosta
National Arts Centre Orchestra opens its season with a concert version of Puccini’s opera Tosca, featuring soprano Ailyn Pérez in the title role and tenor Matthew Cairns as Mario Cavaradossi (Sept. 10-12). Also under the baton of Alexander Shelley, NACO will welcome Canadian violinist Blake Pouliot who will play Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in a program that also includes Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2 in D Major (Sept. 17 & 18). The orchestra’s concertmaster, Yōsuke Kawasaki, will be featured in Brahms’s Concerto in D major, on a program which includes Dvořák’s New World Symphony and Kodály’s Dances of Galánta (Oct. 15 & 16). Maestro Shelley has chosen to cap the season off with Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, in collaboration with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (June 24 & 25). www.nac-cna.ca
Translation: Eva Stone-Barney
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