«Great Music» is back in Miami
After months of drought, finally great music returns to Miami. The wait is over. The new 2026–27 season brings an abundant harvest of major orchestras, soloists, and conductors, alongside chamber music, opera, and choral offerings. Here are some recommendations and a broad look at what lies ahead.
Adrienne Arsht Center
The Arsht’s classical season begins on October 17 with the arrival of the Teatro Real Orchestra of Madrid, making its Miami debut under the direction of Gustavo Gimeno. Guitarist Manuel Cañizares will be the soloist in Joaquín Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, while rising Nicaraguan-American soprano Gabriella Reyes will perform Manuel de Falla’s Canciones populares españolas. The program concludes with Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade.
Adrienne Arsht Center – Teatro Real
Knight Masterworks Series
The classical series maintains its customary level of excellence. On December 8, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe makes its Miami debut under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, with pianist Beatrice Rana in a major all-Brahms program featuring the Second Symphony and Second Piano Concerto.
The series continues on January 10 with Yo-Yo Ma, accompanied by pianist Solon Gordon. On February 16 comes the debut of the Munich Philharmonic, conducted by Lahav Shani, who will also be the soloist in Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto. The program is completed by Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony and Schubert’s Great Ninth Symphony.
Itzhak Perlman returns with Rohan de Silva on March 4, and on March 23 Yuja Wang makes her Arsht debut in a program certain to spark fireworks.
Knight Masterworks Series 2026–27
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra will celebrate two decades of its winter residency at the Arsht Center, as well as Franz Welser-Möst’s final season as music director. There will be four concerts, with one significant change: only a single Saturday performance will be offered instead of the customary two.
On Saturday, January 23, the program will feature Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3 and Fifth Symphony, alongside Richard Strauss’s Metamorphosen. The following Saturday, A Night in Vienna will include Schubert’s Sixth Symphonyand a selection of waltzes by Johann Strauss Jr.
On Saturday, March 13, Semyon Bychkov will conduct pianist Alexandre Kantorow in Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, followed by Elgar’s Enigma Variations and Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.
On Saturday, March 30, with fellows from the New World Symphony participating, Stéphane Denève will conduct Respighi’s Pines of Rome and Fountains of Rome, while Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider will be the distinguished soloist in Max Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy. There will also be an evening devoted to John Williams, conducted by Taichi Fukumura, on Friday, March 12, 2027.
Cleveland Orchestra Miami 2026–27
Florida Grand Opera
From November 14 to 17, Florida Grand Opera opens its season with Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, starring Marnie Breckenridge, Arturo Chacón-Cruz, and Daniel Scofield.
On January 30 comes Mozart’s Don Giovanni, with Michael Adams, Alessandra DiGiorgio, Yulan Piao, and Vladislav Buialskyi. The season concludes from April 17 to 20 with Verdi’s Nabucco, starring Andrew Manea and Vanessa Goikoetxea in the formidable role of Abigaille.
The Miami Symphony Orchestra
The The Miami Symphony Orchestra opens its season on November 15 with Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto, featuring Tian Jiang as soloist, alongside Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony and Shostakovich’s Festive Overture.
On February 21 comes the Florida premiere of LeFrak’s Lady Liberty Suite, together with Stravinsky’s Petrushka and Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos, featuring Vyacheslav Gryaznov and Kevin Kenner.
Kenner returns on April 11, joined by Viet Trung Nguyen and Shuguang Gong, for Mozart’s Concerto for Three Pianos, followed by Brahms’s Second Symphony.
The season concludes on May 23 with Khachaturian’s Piano Concerto, the premiere of Eduardo Marturet’s Miamivice for Six Pianos, and Liszt’s Hexameron, featuring Elisha Abas, Kevin Kenner, Kamil Pacholec, Harmony Zhu, Victoria Wong, and Ciro Fodere. All performances will be conducted by Eduardo Marturet, who marks twenty years at the helm of the organization.
New World Symphony
The New World Symphony opens its season October 3 and 4 under Stéphane Denève, with Ravel’s Boléro, Gabriela Ortiz’s Kauyumari, and Debussy’s Iberia. On October 10 and 11, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony will be presented in celebration of its bicentennial, with soloists and the Master Chorale of South Florida. The program will also include Michael Tilson Thomas’s Notturno and Mahler’s Adagietto.
In November, Stephanie Childress will conduct Mozart’s Requiem at the Arsht Center, while Denève takes on Prokofiev’s two violin concertos with the outstanding James Ehnes, followed by the Classical Symphony.
On December 18 and 19, Denève will conduct Brahms’s Third Symphony, Missy Mazzoli’s Sinfonia for Orbiting Spheres, and Kevin Puts’s Contact.
January brings the I Dream a World series, featuring Anthony and Demarre McGill, followed later in the month by the magic of Ravel—L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, with Isabel Leonard—and Stravinsky’s Petrushka in an innovative immersive program.
In February, Steven Isserlis will be the soloist in Walton’s Cello Concerto, conducted by Leonard Slatkin, who will also lead Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony. On February 20 and 21, Denève will conduct Gabriela Montero in Shostakovich’s First Piano Concerto and Mahler’s Titan, the composer’s First Symphony.
March brings Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, alongside Vivaldi and Mozart, under Jeannette Sorrell. Also arriving is Caroline Shaw’s Trees: A Live Cinema Documentary, with Sam Green and Denève on the podium.
In April, Sir Mark Elder will conduct works by Elgar with soprano Christine Goerke in selections from Wagner’s Götterdämmerung.
Denève closes the season on May 8 and 9 with works by Gershwin, Adams, and Connesson, while Xian Zhang conducts Joyce Yang in Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, alongside works by Webern and Schubert.
Of particular interest is the Sunday chamber music series at 2 p.m., as well as the unmissable Wallcasts, which allow audiences to enjoy highlights of the season outdoors.
New World Symphony – Events & Tickets
South Florida Symphony Orchestra
Three concerts at the New World Center, conducted by Sebrina María Alfonso, make up the South Florida Symphony Orchestra offering: Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, and Higdon in November; Barber and Florence Price in February; and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on March 23.
South Florida Symphony Orchestra – 2026–27 Season
Frost Symphony Orchestra – UM
Eight concerts at the Maurice Gusman Concert Hall at the University of Miami make up the season, including Mahler’s Third Symphony, Saint-Saëns’s Carnival of the Animals, Jake Heggie’s opera The Judgment of Paris, Stravinsky’s Petrushka, the premiere of Gemini Sun, a double concerto commissioned by the organization, and the premiere of Bryan Lynch’s Trumpet Concerto, all conducted by Maestro Gerard Schwarz.
The series concludes with Leonard Slatkin conducting works by Liszt, Prokofiev, and Daniel Slatkin.
Seraphic Fire
Seven programs make up the season of Seraphic Fire. On October 16, artistic director James Bass opens the season with Serenade to Music. On November 20 comes Blue Notes, a program that ventures into the world of jazz.
Following the traditional Christmas concerts from December 12 to 18, January 15 brings One for All, a journey through a thousand years of music written for male voices. On February 19, Northern Lights brings together works by Pärt, Górecki, and Philip Glass.
In March, a beautiful a cappella program will pay tribute to American Poets, while the season concludes in April with Ariel Ramírez’s Misa Criolla.
Friends of Chamber Music of Miami
Nine concerts between October and May make up the offering of this leading Miami chamber music organization.
The season includes Brahms’s quintets with the superb Ehnes Quartet and violist Jonathan Vinocour; the New York Philharmonic String Quartet with clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein; the Viano, Verona, and Balourdet quartets, with Asiya Korepanova and Arnaud Sussmann; and the eagerly awaited return of pianist Sir Stephen Hough.
Friends of Chamber Music of Miami – 2026–27 Season
IlluminArts
IlluminArts continues its distinctive approach, presenting performances in which music enters into dialogue with visual art and architecture in exceptional spaces.
On October 2, IlluminArts returns to The Bass Museum with the Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth in Earths to Come, a multimedia collaboration by composer inti figgis vizueta and media artist Rose Bond.
In February 2027, mezzo-soprano Amanda Crider will take on the formidable challenge of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire and Berio’s Folk Songs at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens.
In short, this is a season that gives Miami back something that has been missing for far too long: a calendar capable of feeding both the curiosity and the appetite of a demanding audience. After months of drought, music is once again taking the place it deserves.
