What To Expect In The 2024-2025 Season
The first Masterworks performance kicks off Neal Gittleman’s 30th anniversary season with orchestra heavyweights Dvořák, Stravinsky, and Brahms. Acclaimed worldwide for his exceptional talent and magnificent tone, Chad Hoopes has wowed DPO audiences since he was 15. He returns to perform Stravinsky’s joyful Violin Concerto in D. Dvořák’s bold and brilliant Carnival Overture opens the concert while Brahms’s energetic Symphony No. 4 adds passion to the evening. (Sept. 13 and 14, 2024; Schuster Center).
In November, Beethoven, London, and a World Premiere takes audiences on a melodious trip to London courtesy of British composers Malcolm Singer and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Singer’s world premiere “London Landscape” takes a contemporary look at the city, bustling with commerce, culture, and politics, while Vaughan Williams shares a more historical and romantic account in his Symphony No. 2, “A London Symphony.” Pianist Emile Naumoff add a bit of German flair to this London journey as he performs Beethoven’s bold and beautiful Piano Concert No. 1 in C major, Op. 15. (Nov. 8 and 9, 2024; Schuster Center).
Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto continues the Masterworks Series in January 2025. Inspired by paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe, composer Elena Ruehr’s “Sky Above Clouds” is the middle movement of a musical triptych and perfectly captures O’Keeffe’s flair for sweeping contemporary tableaus. The dramatic evening continues with two orchestral heavyweights: Brahms’s Symphony No. 3 and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, “Emperor,” performed by pianist Ian Parker. (Jan. 10 and 11, 2025; Schuster Center).
Requiem showcases the Dayton Philharmonic, the Philharmonic Chorus, soprano Kayla Oderah, and baritone Benjamin Taylor in March. They combine to present Joel Thompson’s “Seven Last Words of the Unarmed” inspired by the final words of seven unarmed black men: Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., Trayvon Martin, Amadou Diallo, Michael Brown Jr., Oscar Grant III, John Crawford III, and Eric Garner. Bookending the piece are two contrasting works by Lili Boulanger, “Of a Spring Morning” and “Of a Sad Evening,” and Faure’s expressive and beautiful Requiem. The concert concludes with a discussion moderated by Reverend Joshua Ward of Omega Baptist Church. (March 14 and 14, 2025; Schuster Center).
In April, Neal Gittleman and the Philharmonic welcomes cellist Adrian Daurov to perform the Dvořák Cello Concerto, one of the most lyrical and monumental concertos in the cello repertoire. Surrounding the piece are two brilliant works that are comedic, though a tad eerie—Stravinsky’s Petrushka ballet score and Mozart’s Don Giovanni Overture. (April 25 and 26, 2025; Schuster Center).
The final concert of the 2024-25 Masterworks season features organist Grant Wareham performing two masterful organ works. Saint-Saëns’s Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78, “The Organ Symphony” is known as “THE organ symphony” and for good reason: the sweet and familiar melodies hung between moments of blazing climactic glory will have audiences at the edge of their seats. Each movement is better than the last! Leading up to this epic work is Handel’s Organ Concerto, which has inspired composers for centuries. Also on the program is a new work by Derrick Skye, “Nova Plexus,” co-commissioned by DPAA, the Berkeley Symphony, and BBC Radio 3. (June 13 and 14, 2025; Schuster Center).