The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (FWSO) is delighted to announce the highly anticipated 2026-2027 season. Under the musical leadership of four-time Grammy. Award-winning Music Director Robert Spano and Principal Guest Conductor Dame Jane Glover, the FWSO continues to showcase top international soloists and guest conductors, and to stretch the boundaries between conventional symphonic programming and innovative “Theater of a Concert” programs. In these special programs, the FWSO adds non-traditional elements including dance, projections, actors, and singers to Symphonic and Pops programming, and the orchestra and guest artists share the stage. The FWSO also sets the highest standard for cross-disciplinary collaboration with other top-tier arts organizations locally and nationally, including the Kimbell Art Museum, the Sid Richardson Museum, The Cliburn, Bruce Wood Dance Dallas, Dallas Theater Center, Seraphic Fire, and others.
During Maestro Spano’s tenure as Music Director, the FWSO has engaged some of the world’s finest solo artists and conductors, including Yo-Yo Ma, Renée Fleming, James Conlon, Peter Oundjian, Gil Shaham, James Ehnes, Elaine J. McCarthy, Key’mon Murrah, and Yunchan Lim. Since his appointment, Spano and the FWSO’s President and CEO Dr. Keith Cerny have commissioned a three-year sequence of new choreographies of Stravinsky’s iconic ballets with three different dance companies, produced a three-year sequence of Wagner programs featuring some of the world’s finest Wagnerian singers, launched a three-year partnership with the Kimbell Art Museum to present many of their exquisite paintings with musical accompaniment, and presented world premieres by Jake Heggie and Doug Cuomo (with more works already commissioned). In her first season as Principal Guest Conductor, Jane Glover has already performed works in the classical canon for which she is justly admired, as well as leading a critically acclaimed performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4.
The upcoming 2026-2027 season exemplifies the FWSO’s commitment to presenting outstanding artists, innovative programming, and unique collaborations. The first three weekends of the Symphonic series will include important works from the classical period conducted by Music Director Robert Spano, as well as works inspired by the classics. These programs include 2025 Cliburn Gold Medal winner Aristo Sham performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 (K. 488), a transcription for piano by Dejan Lazić of the Brahms Double Concerto, and Steven Stucky’s comic operetta The Classical Style. Other season highlights include Jane Glover conducting the Britten Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings featuring FWSO’s Principal Horn Gerry Wood and British Tenor Ian Bostridge, and stunning landscapes from the Kimbell Art Museum’s collection accompanying Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6. Maestra Glover will also perform an eagerly awaited second program this upcoming season including Shostakovich Symphony No. 9. Bruce Wood Dance Dallas returns following their spectacular world-premiere performance this season of the Suite from Joby Talbot’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, choreographed by Joy Bollinger – this time in Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer with Kelley O’Connor. The 2026-2027 season concludes with a world premiere of a cello concerto by Christopher Theofanidis performed by FWSO Principal Cello Allan Steele and conducted by Maestro Spano. For the annual gala, the FWSO will feature the extraordinary Mezzo-Soprano Joyce DiDonato conducted by Maestra Glover. On the FWSO’s Chamber Music series at the Kimbell Art Museum, Maestro Spano will also perform classics from the chamber music repertoire on the piano and a work he composed. These programs feature the FWSO’s top musicians and guest pianist Peter Tak.cs. The programming for this upcoming season also includes the FWSO’s popular “Stars of the Symphony” program where the symphony presents several FWSO musicians as soloists in one exciting program.
On the Pops and Specials series, the FWSO continues with its expanded programming of movies with full orchestra, including Hook, Batman, and The Wizard of Oz, and important programs built around contemporary video game music. We also welcome back Pink Martini, who always attracts a devoted following.
FWSO Board Chairman, Mrs. Mercedes T. Bass comments, “With Robert Spano as Music Director and Dame Jane Glover as Principal Guest Conductor as our artistic leaders, and Dr. Keith Cerny as our President & CEO, I can say with confidence that this is easily the strongest and most experienced leadership team in the history of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. Having served for many years as Chairman of the Board, I am thrilled by the high standards of our performances, our rapidly developing reputation for artistic innovation, and the generosity of our patrons. I know that the 2026-2027 season will be one of our most exhilarating ever.”
FWSO President and CEO, Dr. Keith Cerny states, “As I begin my eighth year as President and CEO, I feel blessed to part of the renaissance of the FWSO, and am especially inspired by the close collaboration between our Music Director, musicians, and staff. It is a delight to collaborate on programming with our Board Chairman and Music Director, and I am very grateful to the musicians for their support of our Theater of a Concert strategy and for contributing their 4me so generously to the FWSO’s fund-raising initiatives. The future of the FWSO looks very bright indeed.”
