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Montreal, March 31, 2026 — The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal is thrilled to unveil its 2026–2027 season today. As Rafael Payare begins his 5th season as Music Director, this 93rd season of OSM concerts offers breathtaking programming for all tastes and budgets. Through an array of major symphonic concerts, express-format concerts, music and film concerts, festive events that break the mould, POP concerts, and concerts for young spectators, you’ll discover or rediscover works by Mahler, Stravinsky, Beethoven, Cassandra Miller or Mozart, with distinguished guest artists, including Renée Fleming, Lang Lang, Alisa Weilerstein, Leonidas Kavakos, and the grand return of OSM Conductor Emeritus Zubin Mehta. Collaborations continue for a second season with Dina Gilbert as Associate Conductor and Jimmy López as composer-in-residence.
Every new season with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal opens a door on another musical adventure. In 2026–2027, music becomes storytelling, as each work tells its own story, stirs the imagination and draws out the Orchestra’s colours. This season promises to be just like Montreal: vibrant, ambitious, teeming with life, and unique. Music invites us to hear the world differently … immerse yourselves in the best it has to offer.
— Rafael Payare, OSM Music Director
A SPECTACULAR SEASON GUIDED BY THE VISION OF RAFAEL PAYARE
Rafael Payare and the OSM will open the season in grand style with the expressive power of Mahler, continuing the cycle begun in 2022. This opening concert on September 16 and 17 will bring together Das klagende Lied (Song of Lamentation), an early work based on an epic tale, and excerpts from Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Youth’s Magic Horn) with its highly refined instrumentation and musical exploration of the folk-tale universe.
On September 23, for the first time in over a decade, the OSM will welcome the astonishing pianist Lang Lang in a performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 5 under Rafael Payare’s direction. On October 21 and 22, one of the greatest violinists of our time, Leonidas Kavakos, will join the Orchestra on stage to play Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, op. 35, in a program conducted by Rafael Payare, completed by Elysium by Canadian composer Samy Moussa and Igor Stravinsky’s The Firebird. In December, Stravinsky’s Petrushka features in a program where the OSM welcomes German violinist Veronika Eberle, whom we will hear in Mozart’s Violin Concerto no. 5.
On January 12 and 13, Rafael Payare and the OSM will usher in the year 2027 in living colour by welcoming celebrated soprano Renée Fleming, who will perform Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene, the product of Fleming’s collaboration with National Geographic. This multimedia concert explores humanity’s relationship with its environment. The first movement of Composer-in-residence Jimmy López’s Symphony no. 4 will also be a feature of this concert’s program.
April brings the return of the Mozart Festival, which threads together three different programs. On April 8 and 11, the piano takes centre stage as Rafael Payare and the OSM join with award-winning performers Charles Richard-Hamelin, Meagan Milatz and Kevin Chen for a rare event: a performance of the Concerto no. 7 for three pianos. In the week after, Mozart’s vocal and operatic works will take the spotlight, in two programs. First, make way for the Great Mass in C minor, the Exsultate, jubilate and the serenade Eine kleine Nachtmusik. Then, on April 15 and 17, the cycle of Mozart/Da Ponte operas will reach its conclusion with Don Giovanni, featuring, among others, Michèle Lozier, Gustavo Castillo and Jenny Daviet.
In May, the sublime cellist Alisa Weilerstein will join the OSM and Rafael Payare in three programs exploring the symphonic imagination of Richard Strauss. Finally, a resounding season finale is planned for May 25 and 26, with Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9 and the world premiere of Jimmy López’s Symphony no. 6, “Monarch,” co-commissioned by the OSM and the San Diego Symphony.
In a world where everything accelerates, we want everyone to be able to enjoy an interlude of beauty, to unplug and revel in off-the-clock contentment with the OSM. Every week of this new season offers moments of splendour and high emotion that are not to be enjoyed in moderation. We have designed programming with simply no such thing as an ordinary week, one that appeals to all tastes and budgets, thanks in part, and especially, to our new $30 mystery tickets. More than just a concert, the OSM offers a true experience, a special moment with some of the greatest conductors and soloists, the greatest works, and your inimitable Orchestra.
— Mélanie La Couture, OSM President and CEO
HALLOWEEN, THE HOLIDAYS AND MARCH BREAK WITH THE OSM
This year again, the OSM will offer specially themed programming for Halloween. Shivers are guaranteed on October 29 when we present a horror film classic, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau’s Nosferatu, with a live improvised soundtrack at the organ by Jason Roberts. On November 5, the festive event Symphonic Superheroes & Villains will be an opportunity to don your finest costumes. For cinephiles, the original long and restored version of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis is also programmed for January 19.
While traces of pumpkins and fallen leaves still adorn our walkways, and the first snowflakes start falling, a cult music and film concert awaits you on November 27. To break out of the grey November doldrums, the OSM proposes Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas – In concert live to film with the mysterious and marvellous music of Danny Elfman.
For the winter holidays, Bach will be celebrated in two concerts. On December 8 and 9, Conductor Emeritus Kent Nagano and the Orchestra will perform four cantatas from the Christmas Oratorio’s, in collaboration with the Festival International Bach Montréal, which celebrates its 20th edition in 2026. This same work was presented by the OSM and Kent Nagano during the first edition of the Bach Festival. On December 10, Organist Emeritus Olivier Latry will give a program whose focus is transcriptions of works that Bach himself created, as well as those by great organists of the 19th and 20th centuries. Then, to close the year, join us for a New Year’s Eve celebration at the Maison symphonique on December 17 with Le Vent du Nord.
On March 2, for March break, the whole family is invited to discover the Orchestra in Peter and the Wolf, Prokofiev’s famous musical tale, presented with narration in a version for organ four-hands, with OSM organist-in-residence Jean-Willy Kunz joined by Isabelle Demers. On March 5, the sounds of prog rock legends Genesis, Mike Oldfield, Emerson Lake, and Palmer and Yes will take the Maison symphonique by storm as Trio RCM takes you on a trip back to the 1970s with organ, electric guitar and percussion.
EXPRESS CONCERTS: THE MUSIC EVENT OF THE MOMENT
Engulfed in the maelstrom of life? Nothing beats a moment with the OSM to escape the daily grind. These concerts feature programs lasting about one hour, without intermission, but no less phenomenal. This year, the OSM will offer three evening concerts and four matinees in this express format. From Sheherazade to The Moldau, to Sibelius, Mendelssohn, and other symphonic audience favourites, join Rafael Payare, Osmo Vänskä, Tianyi Lu, Andrew Wan, Bernard Labadie or Dina Gilbert for a single hour of musical bliss.
A LATE-NIGHT EPIC: SUPERPOWERS, GIGUE AND FIERY PASSION
Three new brief and themed late-night concerts, followed by a festive evening in the Foyer await you in 26–27. On November 5, to extend the Halloween fun, don your capes and masks for Symphonic Superheroes & Villains, an epic tribute to these musical themes, featuring iconic versions from the 1960s to symphonic orchestrations and compositions that live up to major Hollywood productions. After their huge success in 2024, Le Vent du Nord will return on December 17 to give a concert filled with festivity, gigues and reels, under the direction of Associate Conductor Dina Gilbert. Finally, on April 29, a warm Argentinian breeze will blow through the Maison symphonique for the concert Dance with Piazzolla conducted by Gemma New. A vibrant immersion, where passion, haunting rhythms and vivid emotion converge in the hands of two bandoneon masters, William Sabatier and legendary Quebec tango figure, Rómulo Larrea.
OSM POP: JAW-DROPPING COLLABORATIONS
On October 8 and 10, Apashe will join the ranks of the OSM! An artist and producer with a unique sound signature, he has fast become a forerunner, blending electro, hip-hop and orchestral influences. This Belgian-born Montrealer whose career took a meteoric rise has performed on many prestigious stages. He crosses an important milestone in presenting for the first time a symphonic version of his repertoire with the OSM, crafting an immersive experience of rare intensity.
On January 6 and 7, two monuments of Quebec culture, the Cirque du Soleil and the OSM, join forces. With acclaimed productions all over the world, more than 40 years of history, and numerous albums from emblematic shows like Alegría, “O,” LUZIA and Quidam, not to mention 600 pieces of music, the Cirque du Soleil and its music are indissociable. You can rediscover this magic as legendary melodies from the Cirque du Soleil’s rich repertoire comes to life in a breathtaking symphonic performance. This special collaboration comes with its share of surprises, both in the foyers of the Maison symphonique and on stage…
Another artist will be announced later. Stay tuned!
THE OSM AT THE HEART OF YOUNG PEOPLE’S MUSICAL DISCOVERY
Education and the sharing of music have been integral to the OSM’s mission since its founding. Each year, more than 20,000 young people discover the magic of the orchestra through programming designed to spark curiosity and ignite the imagination.
This season, the Children’s Corner series will offer concerts created for the whole family, where music, illustration, and staging come together to bring marvelous worlds to life. Young and old alike will dive into fabulous adventures such as Wild symphony by renowned author and composer Dan Brown, conducted by our Music Director Rafael Payare. On January 24, families will join Associate Conductor Dina Gilbert to discover Roch Carrier’s beloved story The Hockey Sweater, presented in a musical version by Canadian composer Abigail Richardson-Schulte. March Break will feature its second edition with a rich program of free workshops and activities, as well as two concerts dedicated to Peter and the Wolf in a four-hand organ arrangement performed by Jean-Willy Kunz and Isabelle Demers. On March 21, the relaxed OSMose concert will bring an inclusive format to a wide audience. The final youth event of the season will take place on April 18 with an adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, where characters and objects come to life in an imaginative staging.
Alongside these concerts, the 87th edition of the OSM Competition, dedicated this year to piano, twelve school matinees, and numerous outreach activities in schools and at the Maison symphonique will punctuate the season, reaffirming the Orchestra’s commitment to sharing the passion for music with new generations.
THE OSM RESONATES AROUND THE WORLD
A leading cultural ambassador throughout Quebec, Canada, and internationally, the OSM is committed to sharing its art across borders and around the world. Throughout the 2026-27 season, the OSM will embark on two international tours, will be broadcast in partnership with Mezzo, Medici.tv and Symphony.live, see the release of its album pairing Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, and record a new album.
Subscriptions and single tickets for all concerts
March 31 at 10 a.m.
osm.ca | 514-842-9951 | 1-888-842-9951
This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en:
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