For those weary of holiday music, relief is on the way — and a lot of it. The first three months of 2025 herald an avalanche of choices, from the old and the new, ensembles large and small, and superstars colliding with artists on the rise. It’s all a little overwhelming — but isn’t that a Philly thing?
Mahler’s 9th Symphony — The Philadelphia Orchestra, Jan. 9 & 11, Marian Anderson Hall
You could do a lot worse than to start 2025 with Mahler’s 9th Symphony, a profound meditation on life and death, with the composer at his zenith in orchestral power and emotional expression. Though nothing in Concert-Land™ is guaranteed, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra will likely hit it out of the park. As a not-inconsiderable bonus, the program includes baritone Joshua Hopkins in Jake Heggie’s Songs for Murdered Sisters (2020), with texts by Margaret Atwood. There are two performances in Philadelphia before the band takes it on the road to Carnegie Hall.
PRISM Quartet with Miguel Zenón — PRISM Quartet, Jan. 21, Settlement Music School
What’s better than four saxophones — how about five? For these two concerts, the PRISM Quartet adds Miguel Zenón for the world premiere of Zenón’s El Eco del Tambor (The Echo of the Drum), along with other works by the Grammy Award-winning composer. The rest of the program includes pieces by Melissa Aldana and PRISM’s own Matthew Levy, including his arrangement — yes, for saxophones — of Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns.”
Benjamin Bagby & Sequentia — Penn Live Arts, Jan. 30, Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral
If you missed Benjamin Bagby’s sold-out performance of Beowulf in 2023, here’s another chance to experience the virtuoso singer and harpist, this time with Sequentia, the Paris-based medieval music ensemble he co-founded in 1977 with the late Barbara Thornton. On the menu: Hartmann von Aue’s Gregorius, written in 1190, about a child spawned from a brother-sister union who later marries his mother (not judging, just reporting the news) and eventually becomes Pope.
The Anonymous Lover — Opera Philadelphia, Jan. 31 & Feb. 2, Academy of Music
In the first season with its charismatic new leader, the star countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, Opera Philadelphia scored a major hit last fall with Missy Mazzoli’s The Listeners. For the company’s second production (of only three this season), they will mount an 18th-century comic rarity, The Anonymous Lover by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier Saint-Georges, a Black contemporary of Mozart. Of Bologne’s six operas, it is the only one that has survived.
Steven Isserlis & Connie Shih — PCMS, Feb. 10, Perelman Theater
The renowned British cellist Steven Isserlis collaborates with Canadian pianist Connie Shih, in one of dozens of tasty spring offerings by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. On this outing, known quantities (sonatas by Beethoven and Grieg) flank a juicy center of off-the-radar choices from Martinů and Nadia Boulanger.
Companions — Network for New Music, Feb. 21 at Settlement Music School Germantown Branch, Feb. 24 at Jaharis Hall, Haverford College
As part of the 40th anniversary season of Network for New Music, the organization will present Richard Wernick’s duo for cello and piano (2002), with a reflection on 9/11 as the last of its three movements. The “companions” are works by Wernick’s students and colleagues, including Ingrid Arauco, David Crumb, Yinam Leef, Philip Maneval, and Jay Reise.
Daniil Trifonov — The Philadelphia Orchestra, Feb. 26, Marian Anderson Hall
Among the world’s living pianists, Trifonov has assumed a justifiable place in the pantheon, and most listeners are eager to hear him play, well, anything. Though the program is to be announced, his artistry should guarantee an unforgettable evening. Ten years ago at Carnegie Hall, he devoted the entire second half to Liszt’s Transcendental Etudes. Even as a fair-weather Liszt fan — never having heard the complete set live — I was astounded.
Variant 6 & Sylvan Consort of Viols — Variant 6, Mar. 14 to 16, various locations
In an imaginative juxtaposition of new and old, the vocal powerhouse Variant 6 joins with the Sylvan Consort of Viols for the world premiere of Endless Morn of Light by Philadelphia composer Kile Smith, inspired by the poetry of John Milton. Also on the program, titled RE/CREATE, is Orlando di Lasso’s Prophetiae Sibyllarum (1600). Musicologist David Crook called the first of these twelve motets “probably the most analyzed piece of Renaissance music by any composer in any genre.”
Itamar Zorman & Ieva Jokubaviciute — PCMS, Mar. 23, American Philosophical Society
Speaking of off-the-radar, violinist Itamar Zorman and pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute are likely to make a superb duo, and will plunge into a rarified world titled Women’s Voices from Eastern Europe, thanks to the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. Western audiences may recognize the composers Sofia Gubaidulina, Grażyna Bacewicz, and Lera Auerbach, but have you heard of Vítězslava Kaprálová and Dora Pejačević? No harm, no foul — neither had I.
Kronos Quartet — Penn Live Arts, Mar. 30, Zellerbach Theatre
How have 50 years passed since this now-venerable ensemble first exploded onto the new music scene? Though violinist David Harrington is the only founding member remaining, his colleagues — Gabriela Díaz on violin, Ayane Kozasa on viola, and Paul Wiancko on cello — are certain to add to the group’s incomparable legacy. On this occasion they present new commissions paired with two works by Terry Riley to mark his 90th birthday: The Gift, This Assortment of Atoms – One Time Only! (2020) and “One Earth, One People, One Love” (2002), the final movement of Sun Rings.
