YSM announces 2025–26 concert season
The Yale School of Music (YSM) announces its 2025–26 concert season, presenting performances showcasing faculty, students, and guest artists across chamber music, jazz, opera, and new music.
“Our upcoming season is filled with incredible events — new beginnings, long-waited returns, and performances by world-class artists, from distinguished guests to our brilliant faculty and students,” said José García-León, the Henry and Lucy Moses Dean of Music. “We warmly welcome everyone in the New Haven area to join us.”
Full concert listings and ticket details are available at music.yale.edu/events.
Season highlights
Chamber music collaborations: Composer and percussionist Andy Akiho performs with the Grammy Award-winning Imani Winds in a program including BeLoud, BeLoved, BeLonging, a new work inspired by prison protest (November 18).
The Pacifica Quartet performs with soprano Karen Slack and pianist Casey Robards in a program highlighting works by Black composers. The concert features music by Florence Price, a selection of spirituals, and James Lee’s A Double Standard, which brings the words of poet Frances Ellen Watkins Harper to life (October 7).
Claude Frank centennial celebration: The School presents an evening in memory of the renowned pianist and former YSM faculty member. Faculty pianists Boris Berman, Robert Blocker, Melvin Chen, Wei-Yi Yang, and other guests perform in Frank’s honor. The evening also includes archival footage of Claude Frank performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Erich Leinsdorf (December 3).
Meshell Ndegeocello’s No More Water — The Gospel of James Baldwin: Internationally lauded bassist Meshell Ndegeocello presents No More Water, a genre-defying work honoring the life and legacy of James Baldwin (February 6).
Yale Philharmonia: The Philharmonia presents Christopher Theofanidis’s Siddhartha, She, a new work inspired by Hermann Hesse’s novel of spiritual transformation (November 15). The concert will feature the orchestra alongside Yale Choral Artists, the Yale Glee Club, and Yale Opera.
Later in the season, guest conductor Xian Zhang, Music Director of the Seattle Symphony, leads a performance of Brahms's Violin Concerto and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 (January 23).
La bohème: Yale Opera presents a fully staged production of Puccini’s La bohème at New Haven’s Shubert Theatre. Presented over Valentine’s Day weekend, the performance features student vocalists and orchestra in one of the most beloved works in the operatic repertoire (February 14–15).
Additional programming throughout the season:
The Horowitz Piano Series presents YSM favorites throughout the year, offering both classical and contemporary works. This season includes performances by visiting piano professor Alexander Korsantia (September 17), performing works by Haydn, Schubert, Prokofiev, and a lively arrangement of Stravinsky’s Petrushka for piano and tambourine. A recital by Boris Berman (March 25) features John Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes and Debussy’s Préludes. Paul Lewis brings a program featuring Beethoven, Brahms, and a new piano sonata by Thomas Larcher (November 11). Melvin Chen performs an all-Janáček program. And Wei-Yi Yang explores the genius of Schumann's early work (October 15).
Jazz programming includes a performance by Grammy-nominated pianist Christian Sands with his trio (September 19). Also appearing this season is New Jazz Underground (November 7), a trio whose music merges traditional jazz sensibilities with modern influences drawn from hip-hop, pop, and Afro-Latino sounds.
The Brentano Quartet, the School’s faculty quartet-in-residence, presents multiple performances throughout the season, including a collaboration with celebrated violist Hsin-Yun Huang featuring works by Mozart and Bartók (January 27).
In addition to their solo recitals, faculty members lead studio ensemble performances featuring YSM students. Highlights include Frank Morelli’s Bassoonarama (December 6), Wendy Sharp’s Vista Chamber Music (December 9 and April 14), and Ole Akahoshi’s Yale Cellos (December 12 and April 22). The 2025–26 season also introduces ensemble leadership by new guitar faculty member João Luiz Rezende(December 1 and April 20).
Opera programming continues throughout the year. In the fall, Yale Opera presents Fall Opera Scenes (November 1 and 2), with selections from Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Massenet’s Thaïs, Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, and more. Later in the spring, the School stages Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw (May 2 and 3), a suspenseful and eerie chamber opera based on the novella by Henry James,
YSM’s flagship series for new music returns with concerts that pair groundbreaking works by established composers with world premieres by YSM student composers. This season’s featured guests include Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts (November 6) and Zosha Di Castri (February 5), along with contributions from the School’s own distinguished composition faculty, including Martin Bresnick (October 9).
--
The season opens September 17 and continues through May. Most concerts take place at Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall and Woolsey Hall. Concerts are open to the public, with many offered free of charge or at a low cost. Ticketing details, dates, and full program information can be found at music.yale.edu/events.
The Yale School of Music is a global leader in training musicians, composers, and cultural leaders. Offering graduate programs in performance and composition, YSM equips students with the expertise and artistic vision to excel in their careers under the guidance of an internationally distinguished faculty. Since its establishment in 1894, the School has nurtured some of the world’s most celebrated musicians and composers. It is the only school of music in the Ivy League.
The School presents more than 200 concerts and recitals annually. Programs showcase the school’s faculty, students, and alumni, alongside world-renowned guest artists. Performances range from solo, chamber, vocal, and orchestral works, spanning early to new music. Learn more at music.yale.edu.
