Two of music’s sunniest masterpieces share one autumn weekend. On October 30–31, 2026, Stéphane Denève leads the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, the ‘Pastoral’ — brooks, birdsongs and a village dance rendered in orchestral Technicolor.
The program’s heart belongs to a hometown star: soprano Julia Bullock, born and raised in St. Louis, sings Samuel Barber’s ‘Knoxville: Summer of 1915,’ James Agee’s tender memoir of a Tennessee evening turned into America’s most nostalgic orchestral song. George Walker’s ‘Folksongs for Orchestra’ completes a program steeped in place and memory.
A St. Louis voice singing America’s summer, in America’s second-oldest orchestra’s hall: some weekends are just meant.
Powell Hall is at 718 North Grand Boulevard. Tickets at slso.org.
