Music: The Strongest Form of Magic
The Philharmonic closes its 2026-27 season with a kaleidoscopic program of 19th- and 20th-century masterpieces. A trio of orchestral excerpts from the operas of Richard Wagner opens the program, including the famous Ride of the Valkyries. Beloved Czech master Antonín Dvořák is represented by his romantic and beguiling Nocturne for string orchestra. A longtime friend of the Philharmonic, the effervescent pianist Sophie Lippert, will be featured soloist in Peggy Glanville-Hicks’ intriguing Etruscan Concerto. Composer Briar Prastiti, whose Ákri was a hit with the orchestra and our audience in October of 2025, returns to our stage with another rousing symphonic poem, Pegasus. We will conclude the concert, and the season, with the greatest of all musical primers, Benjamin Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, featuring a surprise special guest narrator.
WAGNER | Selections from Opera
“Entry of the Guests” from Tannhäuser
Prelude to Act I of Lohengrin
“Ride of the Valkyries” from Die Walküre
PRASTITI | Pegasus (U. S. premiere)
GLANVILLE-HICKS | Etruscan Concerto
Soloist | Sophie Lippert, Piano
DVOŘÁK | Nocturne
BRITTEN | The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra
June 5th
2 pm
Benaroya Hall
Tickets for this event are not yet on sale.
Upcoming
Demons, Vampires, Witches... A Philharmonic Halloween
The Seattle Philharmonic presents a concert celebrating Halloween in all its spine-tingling glory. Orchestral favorites include Camille Saint-Saëns Danse macabre, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Fli
"The Mountains and the Sea, Gnomes and Giants" Grieg's Peer Gynt
In the world of incidental scores written for the theater, Edvard Grieg’s music for Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt has been a consistent favorite with audiences since the play’s premiere in 1876; Grieg’s evocations of morning, death, a storm at sea, and vengeful trolls never fail to excite, stir, and enchant. The Philharmonic presents both of the suites the composer drew from his score, as well as its seldom-heard overture. Philharmonic Concertmaster Luke Fitzpatrick and Music Director Adam Stern are agreed that Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto is the greatest written for the instrument in the 20th century, and they are excited to bring their mutual adoration for the piece to our audience. American composer Vivian Fine’s Elegaic Song opens this program of passion and lyricism.
Capriccio!
Composers have always enjoyed sharing memories of their various adventures and sojourns in their music. Two of the 19th century’s most time-honored tonal travelogues, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio Italien and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnole, are the bookends for this colorful and exciting program. Another beloved Tchaikovsky work, his Violin Concerto, will feature the radiant young soloist Leyan Gao, winner of the Philharmonic’s 2026 Don Bushell Competition. We will also present the Northwest premiere of Molly Luther’s Variants, a stunning orchestral essay receiving its first performance in over twenty-five years.