The 2025–2026 season of the Albany Symphony begins today. The two-time GRAMMY award-winning symphony’s new season will feature Dvořák’s masterful Cello Concerto, the electrifying world premiere of Look Up by Alex Berko, and Sibelius’s stirring Finlandia, kicking off its season at the historic Palace Theatre in downtown Albany on Saturday, October 11, beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Inspired by the enchanting folk operas of his teacher Rimsky-Korsakov, Stravinsky’s The Firebird fuses orchestral brilliance with the spirited energy of Russian folk traditions, creating a vivid and magical soundscape. Composed at just 27 years old, this groundbreaking work—premiered by Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes—catapulted Stravinsky to international fame.
Though Dvořák had been asked to create a cello concerto for years, the composer declined because of the instrument’s insufficiency in command as a solo instrument and lamented its nasal high notes and mumbling bass. It was only after hearing Victor Herbert’s Cello Concerto No. 2 in E minor in New York that Dvořák was inspired to compose a cello concerto of his own. He wrote the piece during his third term as Director of the National Conservatory in New York City, completing it on February 9, 1895. The concerto has since been dubbed the greatest cello concerto of all time.
Alex Berko’s world premiere, Look Up, is inspired by the celebration, freedom, and fleeting beauty of fireworks. In this sparkling and imaginative work to commemorate the Albany Symphony’s opening concert, Look Up pays homage to America250, the founding of our country, and is a powerful reminder that this fragile American project relies on our collective attention.
Lastly, the majestic Finlandia, one of Jean Sibelius’s most widely recognized compositions, will be featured in the new season’s October program. With its iconic hymn-like passage and triumphant finale, Finlandia has become a lasting emblem of Finnish national pride, instantly familiar even to casual listeners. Composed in the autumn of 1899 for a series of historical tableaux celebrating Finland’s past, the work embodies steadfast patriotism and bold resistance to Russian rule, securing its place as a powerful and timeless masterpiece.
The 2025–2026 season begins this October and will run through the American Music Festival in June. The season will also include the Water Music NY: More Voices Festival celebrating the Erie Canal Bicentennial, a Symphony Side-by-Side with the Empire State Youth Orchestra (ESYO), Magic of the Season, Tiny Tots concerts for young people, and more.
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Albany Symphony 2025/2026 Season
**Artists, programs, venues, and dates subject to change
Alex Berko + Stravinsky’s Firebird
Palace Theatre, October 11, 2025
David Alan Miller, conductor
Zlatomir Fung, cello
Jean Sibelius: Finlandia
Antonín Dvořák: Cello Concerto
Alex Berko: New Work
Igor Stravinsky: The Firebird Suite (1919)
Bobby Ge + Holst’s The Planets
Palace Theatre, November 8, 2025
David Alan Miller, conductor
Keila Wakao, violin
Albany Pro Musica
Bobby Ge: Violin Concerto
Gustav Holst: The Planets
Issac Thomas + Haydn’s “Surprise” Symphony
Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, December 13 + 14, 2025
David Alan Miller, conductor
Yi-heng Yang, fortepiano
Christina Bouey, violin
Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5
Issac Thomas: New Work
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20
Franz Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 94, “The Surprise”
André Raphel Conducts Shostakovich 10 + Midori
Palace Theatre, January 17, 2026
André Raphel, guest conductor
Midori, violin
Jennifer Higdon: TenFold
Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Concerto
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10
Lauren Loiacono + Tchaikovsky & Mahler
Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, February 14 + 15, 2026
David Alan Miller, conductor
Kara Dugan, mezzo-soprano
John Brancy, baritone
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: The Tempest
Gustav Mahler: Songs of a Wayfarer
Loren Loiacono: New Work
Robert Schumann: Symphony No. 3, “Rhenish”
Francisco del Pino + Beethoven & Bruckner
Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, March 14 + 15, 2026
David Alan Miller, conductor
Anwen Deng, piano
Francisco del Pino: New Work
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4
Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 7
Joel Thompson + Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Piano Concerto
Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, April 18 + 19, 2026
David Alan Miller, conductor
Garrick Ohlsson, piano
Joel Thompson: To See the Sky
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2
Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations
American Music Festival: Cuong, Theofanidis & Assad
Full festival line-up to be announced
EMPAC in Troy, June 6, 2026
David Alan Miller, conductor
Sandbox Percussion
Daniel Matsukawa, bassoon
Clarice Assad: Terra, Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra
Christopher Theofanidis: New Work
Viet Cuong: New Work for Percussion Ensemble
America250 Commissions by Brittney Benton, Jihyun Kim, and Max Vinetz
Additional Concerts include:
Magic of the Season
Palace Theatre, December 7, 2025
David Alan Miller, conductor
Celebrate the season with family and friends with Albany Symphony’s holiday spectacular. The orchestra is joined by a sleighful of hometown talent to perform sparkling carols, classical holiday favorites, and more!
Music of John Williams
Proctors in Schenectady, May 9, 2026
David Alan Miller, conductor
His music has transported us beyond our imagination. To new worlds. Through heart-pounding adventures. Be there as Albany Symphony and David Alan Miller perform all your John Williams favorites.
Dogs of Desire
EMPAC in Troy, June 5, 2026
David Alan Miller, conductor
Dogs of Desire, the orchestra’s electrifying, genre-bending new music group, presents newly penned works by some of today’s most adventurous American composers. Hear them here first – almost before the ink dries. Make the evening more impactful by supporting the Albany Symphony’s annual Summer Soiree, and delight in an exclusive dinner with composers and musicians.
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