What's likely to rank as the highlight on this program of greats: The symphony Mendelssohn created from the majestic church hymn A Mighty Fortress? The concerto many people say is Mozart's finest? You decide.

Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Jeffrey Kahane, piano

Richard Wagner: Prelude to Parsifal
Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 5, "Reformation"
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 24
Franz Liszt: Mephisto Waltz No. 1

Count on plenty of fireworks when British pianist Stephen Hough returns to tackle the flamboyant First Piano Concerto of Franz Liszt. Then the heat turns up even higher as Carlos Kalmar and the orchestra take on Mahler's monumental final symphony for the first time in two decades.

Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Stephen Hough, piano

Giacomo Meyerbeer: Coronation March from Le Prophète
• Franz Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 10 (Cooke version)

He's a seven-time Grammy winner and a genuine A-list pianist praised by The New York Times for his "luminous intensity." When Manny Ax makes a rare Portland appearance, it's certain to be among the season's major highlights. We guarantee it.

Emmanuel Villaume, conductor
Emanuel Ax, piano

Carl Maria von Weber: Overture to Der Freischütz
Marc-André Dalbavie: Color
• Johannes Brahms:  Piano Concerto No. 2

She's still only 22, and already she's being hailed worldwide as China's next superstar of the piano! What more thrilling way could there be for Yuja Wang to make her Oregon Symphony debut than with the fiendishly difficult Rach Third?

Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Yuja Wang, piano

Johannes Brahms:  Tragic Overture
Carl Nielsen:  Symphony No. 6, "Sinfonia semplice"
• Sergei Rachmaninoff :  Piano Concerto No. 3

The brilliant violinist Jennifer Koh returns to present not one but two dazzling solos – the famous Barber concerto you probably already know and love … plus a small gem by Bartok you're going to love to discover.

Gregory Vajda, conductor
Jennifer Koh, violin

Gregory Vajda: Duevoe
• Samuel Barber: Violin Concerto
• Bela Bartok: Rhapsody No. 1 for Violin and Orchestra
Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 7

Toronto's Globe & Mail calls the terrific Canadian violinist James Ehnes "the Jascha Heifetz of our day." High praise, indeed.  Imagine what he'll be able to do with the first violin concerto of Max Bruch.

Carlos Kalmar, conductor
James Ehnes, violin

William Walton: Partita
• Max Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, "Eroica"

Oh, what a year it's been! We bring our spectacular 2010/11 concert season to a close in the best way we know how: With a program planned specifically to highlight the exceptional talent of the Oregon Symphony's own musicians.  

Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Orchestra soloists

Featured players include:  Joël Belgique, viola; David Buck, flute; JáTtik Clark, tuba;
Yoshinori Nakao, clarinet; Nancy Ives, cello; Jun Iwasaki, violin

Paul Dukas: La péri Fanfare (all brass)
Paul Hindemith: Trauermusik (Belgique)
Camille Saint-Saëns:  Tarantelle (Buck, Nakao)  
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Pezzo capriccioso
Jeff Tyzik: Jig from Four Dances for Tuba (Clark) 
Maurice Ravel: Tzigane (Iwasaki)
Bela Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra

Time Magazine has called her "America's best young classical musician." Gramophone named her "artist of the year." Is there a better way for the Oregon Symphony classical series to open than with the long-awaited Portland debut of Hilary Hahn? 

Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Hilary Hahn, violin

Narong Prangcharoen: Phenomenon
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
Sergei Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5

No matter how many times you've heard Handel's Messiah, you've never heard it like this before! The Portland Symphonic Choir and a stellar cast of soloists join our own Oregon Symphony for one of the most enduring holiday musical traditions.

Jean-Marie Zeitouni, conductor
Portland Symphonic Chamber Choir 

Nathalie Paulin, soprano; Matthew White, countertenor;
Frédéric Antoun, tenor; Joshua Hopkins, baritone

George Frederic Handel:  Messiah

Sure, you've heard the famous Grieg Piano Concerto before. But you won't hear it quite like this anywhere but Portland, as Favorite Son pianist Thomas Lauderdale – yes, that Thomas Lauderdale – puts his own spin on one of music's most popular masterpieces. 

Alondra de la Parra, conductor
Thomas Lauderdale, piano

Igor Stravinsky: Four Norwegian Moods
Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 5
• Edvard Grieg: Piano Concerto
Arturo Márquez: Danzón No. 2

Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony is the great composer's ode to nature, stormy weather and the great outdoors. Hmm, sound familiar? Maybe we should think of it as the official orchestral soundtrack for life in the Pacific Northwest.

Gunther Herbig, conductor
Natasha Paremski, piano

Bohuslav Martinů: Symphony 6, "Symphonic Fantasias"
• Sergei Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 1
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 6, "Pastoral"

Just before Carlos Kalmar and the Oregon Symphony head off to New York and their long-awaited Carnegie Hall debut, they've got one very special themed program planned for their home audience in Portland: "Music for a Time of War."

Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Sanford Sylvan, baritone

Charles Ives: Unanswered Question
*John Adams: The Wound-Dresser
Benjamin Britten:  Sinfonia da requiem
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 4