2025-2026 Season - On Sale 8/15
The Season:
Four Classical Concerts
3:00 pm Sundays
The Classics
Sunday, October 19 (in Sedona)
& Tuesday, October 21, 2025
(in Prescott)
Jon Nakamatsu, piano
William White, conductor
HANDEL Acis and Galatea Overture (arr. Mozart)
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 1
HAYDN Symphony No. 99
Our season kicks off Jon Nakamatsu, truly a “pianists’ pianist,” performing Beethoven’s first concerto, a work that the composer created for himself to make a splash when he left his sleepy hometown of Bonn and took up residence in big city Vienna. Beethoven’s favorite composer was Handel, so we’ll open the season with one of the Baroque master’s indelible overtures (brought up-to-date by none other than Mozart), but it’s Papa Haydn — Beethoven’s teacher — who gets the final say with his mighty 99th symphony.
Mozart & Marimba
Sunday, November 23, 2025
Abby Fisher, marimba
William White, conductor
GALBRAITH Midnight Stirring
PUTS Marimba Concerto
PORPORA Carlo il Calvo Overture
MOZART Symphony No. 36 (“Linz”)
The marimba is a beautiful, fascinating instrument that doesn’t always get the spotlight, but in this concerto by the contemporary American composer Kevin Puts, we get to hear it in all its glory. The concert opens with Nancy Galbraith’s Midnight Stirring, another work that shows just how refreshing contemporary composition can be when a composer embraces a straightforward American sound. The second half of this concert takes us back to the classics, with music by the little known Italian composer Nicola Porpora (Haydn’s teacher) and the great Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart writing at the height of his powers.
The Romantics
Sunday, February 1, 2026
Sarah Schreffler, violin
Gabriel Martins, cello
William White, conductor
SCHUMANN, Clara Three Romances (arr. White)
SCHUMANN, Robert Cello Concerto
MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 3 (“Scottish”)
The first half of this program presents works by the husband-and-wife team of Robert and Clara Schumann presented side-by-side. Clara’s “Three Romances” for violin have been re-arranged for orchestral accompaniment by yours truly, and will be performed by the Sedona Symphony’s own concertmistress, Sarah Schreffler. For Robert Schumann’s cello concerto, we’ve got the great young cellist Gabriel Martins joining us — who, as luck would have it, has a strong Sedona connection!
Felix Mendelssohn was great friend of the Schumanns, and quite the Romantic himself. His journey to the far reaches of Scotland inspired this great travelogue symphony, infused with the sound of the highlands.
Discovery
Sunday, March 15, 2026
Jacqueline Rodenbeck, violin
William White, conductor
GLUCK Dance of the Furies
MENDELSSOHN Violin Concerto
CPE BACH Symphony in D Major, Wq. 183/1
JS BACH Orchestral Suite No. 3
Our soloist for this concert is Jacqueline Rodenbeck, a Tucson native and winner of the most recent Sphinx Concerto Competition. Jackie will perform one of the all-time favorite solo works in the repertoire, Felix Mendelssohn’s violin concerto. This concerto gets off to a fiery start, so appropriately enough, we’ll lead into it with Gluck’s “Dance of the Furies” from his opera Orpheus and Eurydice.
We have Felix Mendelssohn to thank not only for his great compositions, but also for his work championing the music of J. S. Bach, whose work was all but forgotten by the beginning of the 19th century. Certain musicians kept the flame alive though, including Bach’s most ingenious son, Carl Philip Emmanuel.
Saturday, April 18
7:00 pm
Abigail Fischer, vocalist
Desmond Siu, conductor
SMITH / KEY The Star-Spangled Banner
STILL Symphony No. 1, “Afro-American” mvmt. 3
RODGERS Oklahoma Medley
GERSHWIN Summertime
COPLAND “Old American Songs”
The Boatman’s Dance
Simple Gifts
I Bought Me a Cat
JOPLIN The Entertainer
BERNSTEIN West Side Story Overture
GROFE Grand Canyon Suite
Encores:
WARD / BATES “America the Beautiful”
SOUSA The Stars and Stripes Forever March
An all-American spectacular caps off the season as we celebrate our country’s 250th birthday. The best of our nation’s music is represented in this program, from jazz to ragtime to Broadway, crowned by Ferde Grofé’s grand symphonic masterwork, the Grand Canyon Suite, celebrating the amazing natural wonder in our own backyard.
For this concert, the Symphony will be joined by mezzo soprano Abagail Fischer in songs of Gershwin and Copland, plus a rousing singalong encore of “America the Beautiful.”
POPS Concert:
America 250 Celebration
Ticket and Venue Information
Season Tickets for the four 2025-2026 classical concerts will be available for purchase beginning on August 15, 2025, with individual concert ticket sales beginning on September 1, 2025.
The first four classical concerts in Sedona will be held on Sundays at 3:00 pm, while the final pops concert in Sedona will be held on Saturday at 7:00 pm. All Sedona performances will be presented at the Sedona Performing Arts Center, 995 Upper Red Rock Loop Road in Sedona.
The October 21 concert in Prescott will be presented at The Jim & Linda Lee Performing Arts Center, 1100 E Sheldon Street, presented in partnership with Yavapai Symphony Association. This offers a promising new opportunity for Sedona Symphony to reach new audiences in a nearby market.
Friendraiser: Meet Mak Grgic, Grammy-Nominated Guitarist
An exclusive opportunity to meet Mak Grgic, Grammy-Nominated guitarist at this special Friendraiser event on 10/18 at 5:00pm. Experience the world of classical guitar and connect with fellow music enthusiasts over delightful refreshments and wine.