Tuesday, April 23, (2024) — The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra (A2SO) has announced their 2024/25 season, the 96th in the Symphony’s history. Designed from the ground up to showcase the unique qualities of the city named the best in the U.S. for quality of life (CNBC), the A2SO’s 24/25 season themes reflect the orchestra’s heritage of service throughout Southeast Michigan.
From September 2024 through May 2025, the A2SO’s season will feature internationally acclaimed soloists, thoughtfully selected venues, dynamic and soul-nourishing programming, and exceptional performances from some of the Midwest’s finest regional musicians. Beginning his third season as Music Director of the A2SO, Maestro Earl Lee (recipient of the 2022 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award) was the principal artistic leader behind the orchestra’s upcoming programming. Lee and A2SO Executive Director Sarah Calderini comment:
“There’s so much to Ann Arbor and the greater Southeast Michigan region—the resiliency and determination of our sports teams; the academic excellence of our universities; the vibrancy of the arts and culture landscape that inspires us every day; the way we greet and welcome and take care of each other. When we sat down to plan this season, we asked ourselves one question: what is the soundtrack that best resonates with Ann Arbor’s distinctive energy, diversity, and character?”
Highlights of the 24/25 season include Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 on Opening Night with 2018’s Van Cliburn Competition winner Yekwon Sunwoo, the Ann Arbor debut of cellist and 2024 Sphinx Organization Medal of Excellence winner Sterling Elliott, the A2SO’s return to Detroit’s Orchestra Hall in January with acclaimed flutist Demarre McGill, and a February 2025 concert with violinist Stella Chen (winner of the 2019 Queen Elisabeth Competition and Gramophone Magazine’s 2023 Young Artist of the Year). 17th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition medalist Kate Liu rounds out the season’s illustrious guest artist roster with a performance of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in April 2025, programmed alongside Beethoven’s triumphant “Eroica” Symphony with guest conductor Andrew Grams. The A2SO’s season draws to a close the following month with Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, a work that contains the composer’s most memorable writing in the famed Adagietto movement .
Aligned with Music Director Lee’s deep commitment to the work of current composers, the music that first kicks off the season is William Bolcom’s Ann Arbor Saturday, commissioned and premiered by the A2SO in 2018. Across the remainder of 24/25, works by Andrea Casarrubios, Jessie Montgomery, and Katherine Balch (joint A2SO commission) spotlight the rich and transformative artistry of some of the most compelling voices active today.
After the A2SO’s 23/24 Pops series that set new post-pandemic audience benchmarks, the orchestra’s new season of Pops programs rewards audience enthusiasm with the return of established classics while also showcasing reimagined family-friendly concepts. Kicking things off is a celebration of John Williams, as acclaimed actor and conductor Damon Gupton (Whiplash, La La Land, Criminal Minds, Prime Suspect) makes his Ann Arbor conducting debut in music by the movie score icon. Holiday Pops returns to Hill Auditorium in late December, with Music Director Earl Lee directing this much-loved seasonal spectacular of choirs, guest soloists, and full symphony orchestra. Following two back-to-back concert sellouts in Fall of 2022, music from the beloved Tokyo-based animation group Studio Ghibli rounds out the Pops season at Michigan Theater with featured guest conductor Wilbur Lin.
Subscriptions are now available, with a new and simplified design making tailoring and saving on ticket packages easier than ever before. Audience members can select four or more concerts of the Pops or MainStage variety and save 10% off published ticket prices. Students and kids save a further 50% off subscriptions, and all new subscribers get a complimentary subscription to welcome friends and family to the thrills of live orchestral music.
Single tickets will go on sale in Summer of 2024. To explore the full season, visit a2so.org/24-25.
Full details are available below, and any questions can be directed to Kemper Edwards, A2SO Director of Marketing & Communications.
1) September MainStage (Season Opener)
Friday, September 27, 2024 Hill Auditorium // 8 PM
Sponsored by University of Michigan Health
Yekwon Sunwoo, piano
Earl Lee, conductor
William Bolcom: Ann Arbor Saturday
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2
Camille Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 “Organ”
2) October Pops (A Celebration of John Williams)
Saturday, October 19, 2024 Michigan Theater // 8 PM
Damon Gupton, conductor
John Williams: selections from Star Wars, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Schindler’s List, Harry Potter, and more.
3) November MainStage
Saturday, November 9, 2024 Michigan Theater // 8 PM
Sterling Elliott, cello
Earl Lee, conductor
Antonín Dvořák: Cello Concerto
György Kurtág: Ligatura
Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 3
4) Holiday Pops
Saturday, December 21, 2024 Hill Auditorium // 7 PM
Co-sponsored by Bank of Ann Arbor and Tom & Debby McMullen
Earl Lee, conductor
Music from The Nutcracker, festive classics, new arrangements and more!
5) January MainStage
Friday, January 24, 2025 Orchestra Hall (Detroit) // 8 PM
Saturday, January 25, 2025 Michigan Theater // 8 PM
Demarre McGill, flute
Earl Lee, conductor
Andrea Casarrubios: Herencia
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Flute Concerto No. 1
Mozart: Symphony No. 39
6) February MainStage
Saturday, February 22, 2025 Michigan Theater // 8 PM
Stella Chen, violin
Earl Lee, conductor
Jessie Montgomery: Overture
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10
7) March Pops (The Music of Studio Ghibli)
Saturday, March 15, 2025 Michigan Theater // 8 PM
Wilbur Lin, conductor
Joe Hisaishi: My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Hisaishi: Spirited Away (2001)
Hisaishi: Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
8) April MainStage
Saturday, April 5, 2025 Michigan Theater // 8 PM
Kate Liu, piano
Andrew Grams, conductor
Louise Farrenc: Overture No. 2
Fryderyk Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 3
9) May MainStage (Season Finale)
Saturday, May 17, 2025 Hill Auditorium // 8 PM
Earl Lee, conductor
Katherine Balch: musica pyralis
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 5