2026 Grammy Award-winning conductor Kwamé Ryan helms the MSO in Schubert’s ninth symphony, better known as “The Great” for both its scale and its majesty; “The Great” includes homages to Schubert’s idol, Beethoven. Pianist Marc-André Hamelin has been called “a true Midas of the keyboard” (Presto Music) while Gramophone claims “The man is a miracle” — here Hamelin brings his fresh technique to Beethoven’s spellbinding fourth piano concerto (featuring Hamelin’s own cadenza).

How you’ll feel: as awed by Beethoven as Schubert was, then dazzled by Schubert himself

What to listen for:

• The final movement of Schubert’s “Great” symphony includes direct references to Beethoven’s recognizable “Ode to Joy.”
• The New York Times has called pianist Marc-André Hamelin “a performer of near-superhuman technical prowess,” and that prowess is fully on display in these concerts.
• Hamelin is also a noted composer, so even fans of Beethoven’s fourth piano concerto will hear something entirely new in his cadenza.