2026/2027 CONCERT SCHEDULE of the
LaGrange Symphony Orchestra
(click one of these concert titles to skip to that section)
September 22, 2026 – Symphony Spectacular
October 27, 2026 – Rhapsodies and Dances
December 8, 2026 – Holiday Magic
March 23, 2027 – Symphony Superheroes!
April 20, 2027 – Musical Revolutionaries
FROM THE PODIUM:
This year, we explore musical moments that shape what comes next—celebration, storytelling, tradition, imagination, and innovation—revealing how music continues to influence our lives long after the final note has faded.
We begin this exhilarating season with Symphony Spectacular, a program celebrating the full expressive power of the orchestra. It features Shostakovich’s exhilarating Festive Overture, Britten’s brilliant Piano Concerto, featuring pianist Ruxi Wang, and Brahms’ magnificent Third Symphony. This opens the season with music of brilliance, virtuosity, and profound emotion.
Rhapsodies & Dances follows with a colorful journey through music inspired by culture, movement, and place. Joined by mezzo-soprano Emily Landa Levin and The Sons of Lafayette, we explore works by Chabrier, Liszt, Brahms, Holst, and Malcolm Arnold in a program rich with rhythm, character, and musical storytelling.
In December, Holiday Magic brings audiences together through the timeless traditions of the season. From Tchaikovsky’s beloved Nutcracker Suite to holiday favorites, narration, and community carols, this annual tradition celebrates the joy of sharing music with family and friends. As familiar melodies fill the concert hall, we are reminded that some of life’s most meaningful moments are found in the traditions we return to together.
March brings us Symphony Superheroes! where multiple generations share one stage. The evening opens with a special side-by-side performance featuring members of the Youth Symphony Orchestra alongside the LSO and a featured appearance by the winner of our 2027 Young Artists Competition. The concert concludes with music from some of our most beloved heroes and adventures, including themes from Superman, Batman, The Avengers, and Apollo 13.
We conclude our 2026/27 season with Musical Revolutionaries, a fitting finale honoring composers whose bold artistic visions changed the course of music. Beethoven’s dramatic Prometheus Overture and monumental Triple Concerto, featuring acclaimed violinist Emily Daggett Smith, cellist Zuill Bailey, and pianist William Ransom, lead to Shostakovich’s powerful Symphony No. 5 in D minor—one of the most compelling orchestral statements of the twentieth century. Together, these works remind us that great music does more than reflect its time; it helps shape what comes next.
Live music is at its best when it is experienced together. I invite you to join us throughout the season as we experience these remarkable works and share the emotion of each performance.
Richard Prior, Music Director and Conductor
Dr. George and Rev. Helen Henry Conductor Chair
Special Event
Join us for Spinphony, on February 6, 2027, in Hogansville, GA, for a special collaboration between the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra and the historic Royal Theater. This will be a stunning high energy one-of-a-kind show mashing up all the melodies you know and love. Spinphony is breaking down barriers between classical, rock, and pop music with their instrumental crossover string quartet.
Ticket information and other details are available at: https://us.patronbase.com/_RoyalTheater/Productions/194/Performances
[Spinphony is not part of the LSO 2026/2027 season ticket package.]
MORE ABOUT THE CURRENT SEASON
The 2026 – 2027 season’s “moments of music”
Every concert has the power to create a moment—one that sparks wonder, evokes memories, inspires imagination, or changes the way we hear the world around us. This season’s five-concerts each offer a distinctive musical experience designed to engage, uplift, and inspire.
See below for expanded “Concert Notes” for each performance.
TICKETING NOTES
Season tickets for NEW subscribers will open soon. Previous (2025/2026) season ticket holders have the option to claim their same seats for a limited time through our office. Please respond with the mail-in form from the mailed brochure or call the office (706) 882.0662. You may also email boxoffice@lagrangesymphony.org with your request. The deadline for previous ticket holders to claim their same seats is August 15th, 2026. After that date, those seats will be released. Season tickets are a special pre-season offer. Individual Concert Tickets will additionally go on sale September 1st. Purchases can easily be made online with the button link directly above.
If you prefer, you may email our box office at boxoffice@lagrangesymphony.org, or call our office at 706-882-0662. We look forward to welcoming you to our next concert.
Individual Concert tickets sales will open after season ticketing has finished. (August 24th)
Concert Dates
Ticket sales for individual concerts will continue throughout the season until they sell out.
Here are the concerts and dates of the full season:
Symphony Spectacular – September 22, 2026
Rhapsodies and Dances – October 27, 2026
Holiday Magic – December 8, 2026
Symphony Superheroes! – March 23, 2027
Musical Revolutionaries – April 20, 2027
email: boxoffice@lagrangesymphony.org
telephone: 706.882.0662
An auditorium graphic is provided here for your convenience. (You can click the image to view a larger version.)
CONCERT NOTES
September 22, 2026
Program Includes:
Festive Overture – Dimitri Shostakovich
Piano Concerto – Benjamin Britten
Ruxi Wang, piano (previous YAC Winner)
Symphony No. 3 in F major – Johannes Brahms
CLASSICS 1 – Symphony Spectacular: Shostakovich, Britten, and Brahms
Join us for the opening of a spectacular season as we welcome the return of award-winning pianist, Ruxi Wang, winner of the 2024 LSO Young Artist Competition. Ms Wang will perform Benjamin Britten’s Piano Concerto as we recognize the 50th anniversary of the composer’s passing. From the glittering Toccata of the first movement, through the romantic Waltz of the second, and Impromptu and March of the third and fourth, this work is renowned for its lyricism and virtuosity. It is preceded on the program by the Festive Overture of Dimitri Shostkovich, written during his time as music consultant to the famous Bolshoi Ballet. Composed in just three days, this exuberant work has long been a favorite of symphony audiences everywhere.
The program concludes with the beautiful Symphony No. 3 in F major by Johannes Brahms. The most compact of his four symphonies, this is often regarded as perhaps his most personal. All four movements allude to a two-note motif, F-A flat-F, (F-A-F) which is taken to mean frei aber froh, “free but happy”. This relates to Brahm’s personal life where despite romantic relationships, he never married, remaining fiercely dedicated to his work. In reality, yes, he was “free” – but as a result, melancholic and lonely – yet happy and passionate in his work as a composer.
About Ruxi Wang:
Ruxi Wang is a Chinese concert pianist whose performances have been praised for their expressive depth, technical brilliance, and artistic sensitivity. She has appeared as a soloist and recitalist throughout the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and China, performing at venues and festivals including the Mozarteum International Summer Academy in Salzburg, the Málaga International Summer Piano Festival, the Amalfi Coast International Music Festival, the Tel-Hai International Piano Festival, and the Lieven Piano Foundation International Festival in Vienna. She has also performed with the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra and maintains an active international concert schedule with solo recitals, concerto appearances, and festival engagements.
A prizewinner in numerous national and international competitions, Wang is the recipient of First Prize at the 2024 LaGrange Concerto Competition and First Prize at the 2023 MTNA South Carolina State Competition, among other honors. She holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance from the University of South Carolina and is dedicated to sharing music through performance, collaboration, and artistic exchange.
October 27, 2026
Program Includes:
Rhapsody Espana – Emmanuel Chabrier
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 – Franz Liszt
Alto Rhapsody – Johannes Brahms
Emily Landa Levin alto; The Sons of Lafayette
Japanese Suite – Gustav Holst
Investiture Dances – Alun Hoddinott
English Dances Set 1 – Malcolm Arnold
Four Scottish Dances – Malcolm Arnold
CLASSICS 2 – Rhapsodies and Dances: Chabrier, Liszt, Brahms, Holst, and Arnold
The LSO is delighted to welcome the return to LaGrange of New York-based contralto, Emily Landa Levin in a performance of Johannes Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody. This rapturous work is a setting of verses from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Harzreise im Winter. (Winter journey in the Harz, a mountain range in Germany). It was written in 1869, as a wedding gift for Robert and Clara Schumann’s daughter, Julie. While the work is a feature for alto soloist and orchestra, it also requires a male voice chorus, and we are delighted to collaborate with LaGrange’s own Sons of Lafayette to bring this work to our audience.
Also on the program, to compliment the Brahms, is the Rhapsody Espana by Emmanuel Chabrier, and Liszt’s much-loved Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. The second half of the program is a rare opportunity to hear the often-rambunctious English and Scottish Dances by Malcolm Arnold, Welsh composer Alun Hoddinott’s Investiture Dances (composed in 1969 to mark the investiture of the Prince of Wales), and Gustav Holst’s Japanese Suite, a work that incorporates enchanting Japanese dance forms.
About Emily Landa Levin:
Emily Landa Levin, mezzo-soprano, is delighted to join the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra for today’s performance, following a recital appearance in LaGrange last October. Recent performances include concerts and recitals throughout the New York tri-state area, including an all-American program this past August in honor of the nation’s 250th anniversary, along with solo appearances in Handel’s Messiah and Duruflé’s Requiem. Her operatic roles include Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, and Hermia in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, among others. Concert highlights include alto soloist appearances in Mozart’s “Coronation” Mass, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Bach’s Magnificat, and Copland’s Emily Dickinson Songs. She has performed at prestigious summer festivals including Chautauqua Institution, Opera North, Opera Theatre and Festival of Lucca, and Tanglewood. Emily holds degrees from Manhattan School of Music and Boston University, and lives in Forest Hills, Queens with her husband and two sons.
About the Sons of LaFayette:
The Sons of LaFayette Male Choir, directed by Darian Krimm, is comprised of volunteer men that enjoy vocal and instrumental music. They are based in LaGrange, Georgia and proudly serve the West Central Georgia and East Central Alabama areas. It is their goal to identify the interests of the people in the community and produce top quality presentations that will provide cultural and life enhancing entertainment. They also have ensemble groups of men who prepare and present music for smaller venues at various times. They travel outside of their local area occasionally, to places including Atlanta GA, Greenville SC, Ashville NC. New York City, NY and Cornwall UK
December 8, 2026
Program Includes:
Nutcracker Suite 1 – Tchaikovsky
Sleigh Ride – Leroy Anderson
Frosty the Snowman – arr. Moss
Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer – arr. Richard Hayman
‘Twas the night before Christmas – arr. Bill Holcombe
Carols selection – arr. David Good
CLASSICS 3 – Holiday Magic (Family/Pops)
As the Holiday Season draws closer, join the LSO for immortal music from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, favorite holiday characters Frosty the Snowman, Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer and more. All wrapped up with the annual favorite carol sing-along!
March 23, 2027
Program Includes:
LSYO side-by-side
YAC Winner (Piano)
Superman March – John Williams
Theme from Batman – Danny Elfman (arr. King)
Assemble from The Avengers – Alan Silvestry (arr. Ziegler)
Apollo 13 Suite – James Horner
William Tell Overture – Giachino Rossini
CLASSICS 4 – Symphony Superheroes (Family/Pops)
Not all superheroes wear capes… Come and hear the students of the LSYO, our own LaGrange musical superheroes of the stage, as they join the LSO for the annual side-by-side performance! Then, be awed by the heroic playing of this year’s winner of the LSO’s Young Artist Competition in the piano category, before we take off into the world of film scores that have brought Superman, Batman, and the Avengers to the silver screen. This concert also features music that celebrates the lives of real-life American heroes, with James Horner’s score to the film, Apollo 13, and figures from the Classical realm, such as William Tell brought to musical life in the music of Giachino Rossini and borrowed for use by radio and television’s The Lone Ranger!
April 20, 2027
Program Includes:
Prometheus Overture – Ludwig van Beethoven
Triple Concerto – Ludwig van Beethoven
Emily Daggett Smith, violin; Zuill Bailey, cello; William Ransom, piano
Symphony No. 5 in D major – Dimitri Shostakovich
CLASSICS 5 – Musical Revolutionaries
In our grand season finale, we mark the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s passing, as the performance begins with his Prometheus Overture, the opening to his only ballet. We are delighted to then be joined on the stage by three internationally renowned soloists for Beethoven’s Triple Concerto: violinist, Emily Daggett Smith (first violin of the Vega Quartet, Quartet-in-Residence at Emory University), cellist, Zuill Bailey (Grammy award winning musician, Juilliard graduate, and professor of cello), and pianist, William Ransom (Mary Emerson Professor of Piano, Emory University, Juilliard graduate, and ward-winning artistic director).
Beethoven was unquestionably, something of a revolutionary; he challenged the music of the day by pushing the boundaries of harmonic language, advancing new ideas, unique ways of putting music together, musical structure and form. His iconic 9th Symphony is an obvious example of that, with the inclusion of vocal soloists and a symphonic chorus in what had previously been essentially an exclusively instrumental genre. The Triple Concerto brought a Classical chamber music ensemble – a piano trio – into a contemporaneous concerto setting, where the complexities and dialogues unique to an intimate chamber music environment could be experienced within an epic orchestral canvas.
The season concludes as it began, with the music of Dimitri Shostakovich. Like Beethoven, Shostakovich was deeply influenced by revolutionary, turbulent periods, with his music acting as a reflection of societal upheaval and the struggle for human freedom. Beethoven, in part inspired by the French and American Revolutions, redefined musical structure in the early 19th century. Similarly, Shostakovich’s life was shaped by the Russian Revolution and Stalinism. His Symphony No. 5 in D minor, composed during the height of the Stalinist purges, functioned as a creative response to severe political criticism. It is noted for its profound emotional depth and vigorous lyricism, combining forced optimism with underlying tension, despair, and defiance, as Shostakovich navigated the repressive political regime in a never-ending quest for a freedom of expression enjoyed and celebrated in many Western countries.
About Emily Daggett Smith:
Praised as playing “gorgeously” (The Boston Globe) and with “irrepressible élan” (The Seattle Times), violinist Emily Daggett Smith has performed across the United States, Europe, South America and Asia. Dr. Smith made her New York concerto debut playing the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Juilliard Orchestra in Alice Tully Hall, and has since performed with orchestras including Iris Orchestra, the Festival Mozaic Orchestra and the New York Classical Players. She has given solo recitals across the country at venues including the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater and Music in the Loft in Chicago. Dr. Smith has performed with renowned musicians including members of the Cleveland, Emerson and Juilliard String Quartets, and her performances have taken place at some of the world’s greatest halls including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Shanghai Grand Theatre and the Vienna Konzerthaus. As concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra she worked with renowned conductors including Michael Tilson-Thomas and Leonard Slatkin, and has appeared as guest concertmaster of orchestras including Iris Orchestra, The Orlando Philharmonic, and The Knights. Equally passionate about performing old and new music, Dr. Smith has premiered dozens of works, both as a soloist, chamber musician and as a member of The Knights Chamber Orchestra. In 2021, as part of the University at Albany Art Museum’s exhibition WELL/BEING, Dr. Smith commissioned two new pieces and performed solo recitals, masterclasses and organized a chamber music program with The Knights. Despite her busy performance schedule, Dr. Smith is dedicated to teaching and has served on faculty at the Bard Conservatory Pre-College, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, Stony Brook University, and the Juilliard School, where she is assistant for Laurie Smukler.
She holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University. Her teachers have included Soovin Kim, Philip Setzer, Joel Smirnoff, Laurie Smukler and Donald Weilerstein. She plays on a Johannes Cuypers violin, generously donated by Dr. Marylou Witz.
About Zuill Bailey:
Zuill Bailey, widely considered one of the premiere cellists in the world, is a Grammy Award winning, internationally renowned soloist, recitalist, Artistic Director and teacher. His rare combination of celebrated artistry, technical wizardry and engaging personality has made him one of the most sought after and active cellists today.
Mr. Bailey has been featured with symphony orchestras and music festivals worldwide. He won the Best Solo Performance Grammy Award in 2017, for his recording of Michael Daugherty’s “Tales of Hemingway,” with the Nashville Symphony led by Giancarlo Guerrero. His extensive discography includes his newest release – the world premier recording of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Cello Concerto with the Santa Rosa Symphony. In 2021 he released his second recording of the Bach Cello Suites for PS Audio’s Octave Records label, recorded and mixed in stereo and multichannel sound.
He appeared in a recurring role on the HBO series “Oz,” and has been heard on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” “Tiny Desk Concert,” “Performance Today,” “Saint Paul Sunday,” BBC’s “In Tune,” XM Radio’s “Live from Studio II,” Sirius Satellite Radio’s “Virtuoso Voices,” and his latest disc of Bach Suites was the disc of the week on Sirius’ Symphony Hall.
Mr. Bailey received his Bachelor’s Degree from the Peabody Conservatory where he was named the 2014 Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Alumni, and received a Master’s Degree from the Juilliard School. He performs on the “rosette” 1693 Matteo Gofriller Cello formerly owned by Mischa Schneider of the Budapest String Quartet.
He is the Artistic Director of El Paso Pro-Musica (Texas), the Sitka Summer Music Festival/Series and Cello Seminar, (Alaska), Juneau Jazz and Classics, (Alaska), the Northwest Bach Festival (Washington), Classical Inside Out Series- Mesa Arts Center (Arizona) and is Director of the Center for Arts Entrepreneurship and Professor of Cello at the University of Texas at El Paso.
About William Ransom:
Pianist, Artistic Director, master teacher, editor, and judge for international competitions, William Ransom has appeared around the world as soloist with orchestras, recitalist, and chamber musician. He regularly collaborates with leading musicians including Yo-Yo Ma, Richard Stoltzman, David Shifrin, William Preucil, Stephen Isserlis, Chee-Yun, Cho-Liang Lin, Mark O’Connor, and members of the Emerson, Tokyo, Cleveland, Juilliard, American, St. Petersburg, Borromeo, Parker, Ariel, Vega, Lark, Dover, Dali, and Attacca String Quartets. Ransom is the Mary Emerson Professor of Music at Emory University where he is founder and Artistic Director of the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta. A graduate of The Juilliard School, in the summers, Ransom is Artistic Director of the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival and for a decade was an artist-faculty member at the Kamisaibara Pianists Camp in Japan. In 2016 he was named Artistic Director of the Juneau Jazz & Classics Festival and also one of Musical America Worldwide’s “30 Musical Innovators”. In 2022 he was appointed Artistic Director of the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, and in 2024 he was awarded Chamber Music America’s “Community Impact/Presenter of the Year” prize. Most recently, he has helped found “Music Milton”, a new series in Milton GA.
Save the Dates!
Tuesday, September 22, 2026
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
Tuesday, December 8, 2026
Tuesday, March 23, 2027
Tuesday, April 20, 2027
Programming is subject to change.
If you have additional questions, feel free to contact the Box Office at 706.882.0662 or email boxoffice@lagrangesymphony.org.
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