A promising new season for the Kansas City Symphony under a new music director

Matthias Pintscher will begin his tenure as music director of the Kansas City Symphony next season, and he has put together a classical series that gives insight into his taste and approach to programming.

Like Michael Stern, Pintscher is committed to contemporary music, and that is reflected in the many new compositions he’ll be conducting. There are works by contemporary composers like Unsuk Chin, Carlos Simon and Ellen Reid, as well as the world premiere of a piano concerto by Conrad Tao, who will also be the piano soloist.

Also, like Stern, Pintscher appears to have a knack for embedding new works among more familiar and popular classics, like Schubert’s sunny Symphony No. 5, Mussorgsky’s ‘Pictures at an Exhibition” and Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony, featuring Jan Kraybill playing Helzberg Hall’s Casavant organ.

(Get a sneak peek at Pintscher as a guest conductor this weekend when the symphony performs “Matthias Pintscher Conducts Symphonic Dances: ‘West Side Story’ and Rachmaninoff” March 22-24 in Helzberg Hall.)

A personal favorite is coming up in May 2025: Mahler’s Symphony No. 3. Symphonies don’t come grander than this. The work calls for multiple choirs, including a children’s choir, and a vast number of musicians. It’s no wonder, since the symphony is basically a musical ascent through the great chain of being, from rocks and flowers, to man, the angels and ultimately Llove itself.

Pintscher has also lined up big-name artists like violinist Gil Shaham, flutist Emmanuel Pahud and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet to serve as soloists.

If you’ve enjoyed Stern’s programming, as most Kansas City Symphony-goers have, you should not be disappointed with what Pintscher has to offer. For his first season out of the gate, he’s demonstrated an ability to expand horizons while honoring beloved classics.

Pintscher will be the guest conductor for concerts at 8 p.m. March 22-23 and 2 p.m. March 24 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are $29. For more information on those concerts and the upcoming season, 816-471-0400 or kcsymphony.org.

The 2024-25 season:

▪ 8 p.m. Sept. 13 and 14, 2 p.m. Sept. 15. Unsuk Chin, “Subito con forza”; Antonín Dvořák, Cello Concerto in B Minor; Igor Stravinsky, “The Firebird” complete ballet. (Matthias Pintscher, conductor; Alisa Weilerstein, cello)

▪ 8 p.m. Oct. 4 and 5, 2 p.m. Oct. 6. Alexander Zemlinsky, Sinfonietta; Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto in D Major; Felix Mendelssohn, Symphony No. 3 in A Minor, “Scottish.” (Matthias Pintscher, conductor; Gil Shaham, violin)

▪ 8 p.m. Nov. 1 and 2, 2 p.m. Nov. 3. Franz Schubert, Symphony No. 5 in B-Flat; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Requiem. (Bernard Labadie, guest conductor; Liv Redpath, soprano; Avery Amereau, mezzo-soprano; Andrew Haji, tenor; Neal Davies, bass-baritone; Kansas City Symphony Chorus, Charles Bruffy, chorus director)

▪ 8 p.m. Nov. 22 and 23, 2 p.m. Nov. 24. Carlos Simon, “Warmth From Other Suns” for String Orchestra; Frédéric Chopin, Concerto No. 2 in F Minor for Piano and Orchestra; Richard Strauss, An Alpine Symphony. (Matthias Pintscher, conductor; Yunchan Lim, piano)

▪ 8 p.m. Jan. 17 and 18, 2 p.m. Jan. 19. Claude Debussy, “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun”; Jacques Ibert, Concerto for Flute and Orchestra; Michael Tilson Thomas, Notturno for Flute, Harp and Strings; Camille Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, “Organ Symphony.” (Matthias Pintscher, conductor; Emmanuel Pahud, flute; Jan Kraybill, organ)

▪ 8 p.m. Jan. 24 and 25, 2 p.m. Jan. 26. Ludwig van Beethoven, Concerto No. 1 in C Major for Piano and Orchestra; Conrad Tao, Kansas City Symphony commission and world premiere; Beethoven, Symphony No. 7 in A Major. (Matthias Pintscher, conductor; Conrad Tao, piano)

▪ 8 p.m. Feb. 7 and 8, 2 p.m. Feb. 9. Ellen Reid, “Floodplain”; Sergei Prokofiev, Concerto No. 1 in D Major for Violin and Orchestra; Dimitri Shostakovich, Symphony No. 10 in E Minor. (Daniela Candillari, guest conductor; Karen Gomyo, violin)

▪ 8 p.m. Feb. 21 and 22, 2 p.m. Feb. 23. Brian Raphael Nabors, “Pulse”; Alexander Glazunov, Concerto in A Minor for Violin and Orchestra; Modest Mussorgsky orchestrated by Maurice Ravel, Pictures at an Exhibition. (Joseph Young, guest conductor; Hannah Tam, violin)

▪ 8 p.m. March 14 and 15, 2 p.m. March 16. Alissa Firsova, “Die Windsbraut”; Bohuslav Martinů, Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra; Sergei Prokofiev, Selections from “Romeo and Juliet.” (Gemma New, guest conductor; Kristina Fulton, oboe)

▪ 8 p.m. April 4 and 5, 2 p.m. April 6. Joan Magrané Figuera, Kansas City Symphony commission and world premiere; Camille Saint-Saëns, Concerto No. 5 in F Major for Piano and Orchestra, “Egyptian”; Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, “Pathétique” (Matthias Pintscher, conductor; Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano)

▪ 8 p.m. April 11 and 12, 2 p.m. April 13. Benjamin Britten, Suite on English Folk Tunes, “A time there was…”; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Concerto No. 23 in A Major for Piano and Orchestra; Britten, Young Apollo for Piano, String Quartet and String Orchestra; Franz Joseph Haydn, Symphony No. 104 in D Major, “London.” (Jane Glover, guest conductor; Ying Li, piano)

▪ 8 p.m. May 9 and 10, 2 p.m. May 11. Gabriel Fauré, “Masques et bergamasques”; Francis Poulenc, “Gloria”; Béla Bartók, “The Miraculous Mandarin.” (Matthias Pintscher, conductor; Sophia Burgos, soprano; Kansas City Symphony Chorus, Charles Bruffy, chorus director; Duda Paiva Company, dance and puppets)

▪ 8 p.m. May 30 and 31, 2 p.m. June 1. Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 3 in D Minor. (Matthias Pintscher, conductor; Jasmin White, contralto; Kansas City Symphony Women’s Chorus, Charles Bruffy, chorus director; Allegro Choirs of Kansas City, Christy Elsner, creative director and founder)

▪ 8 p.m. June 6 and 7, 2 p.m. June 8. Richard Wagner arranged by Henk de Vlieger, “Parsifal: An Orchestral Quest”; Beethoven: Concerto in D Major for Violin and Orchestra. (Johannes Debus, guest conductor; Augustin Hadelich, violin)

Kansas City Chorale — Spring Song

You know spring has arrived when the swallows return to Capistrano and the Kansas City Chorale returns to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Charles Bruffy will lead the chorale in “Spring Song” March 30 in the museum’s Kirkwood Hall. The group’s popular annual concert will welcome spring with music celebrating the glories of the season.

6 p.m. March 30. Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 4525 Oak St. $20. 816-444-7150 or kcchorale.org.

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church — Fauré’s Requiem

Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem has been described as a “lullaby of death.” Fauré’s take on the Mass of the Dead is gentle and consoling and one of the most beloved sacred works of classical music. St. Andrew’s Chamber Orchestra, Choir and Soloists conducted by Thomas R. Vozzella will perform the Requiem on March 24 at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. It’s an appropriate way to mark Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week.

5 p.m. March 24. St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 6401 Wornall Terrace. Free. standrewkc.org.

You can reach Patrick Neas at patrickneas@kcartsbeat.com and follow his Facebook page, KC Arts Beat, at www.facebook.com/kcartsbeat.