Yo-Yo Ma, Gil Shaham, and much more as VSO unveils 150-plus concerts for 2025-26 season

Summer concerts return to Vancouver parks, plus the new year includes Steve Hackman’s epic synthesis of Radiohead’s seminal OK Computer with Brahms’s First Symphony

Cello icon Yo-Yo Ma (left) and violinist Gil Shaham.

STRINGS LEGEND Yo-Yo Ma will take on Elgar’s famous Cello Concerto as part of a Vancouver Symphony Orchestra season that also includes violinist Gil Shaham, Australian duo TwoSet Violin, and pianist Hélène Grimaud.

In today’s announcement of the 150-concert-strong 2025–26 roster, the VSO said the program includes Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony, Mahler’s Third Symphony, Fauré’s Requiem, and Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra, alongside the work of contemporary composers like John Adams and Kaija Saariaho.

Star musicians hitting the roster include Russian pianist Alexander Malofeev with Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto (September 12 and 13), and violin sensation Maria Ioudenitch with Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto (October 17 and 18).

Special guest conductors include Alexander Shelley, Peter Oundjian, Han-Na Chang, and Jun Märkl. Steve Hackman will take the podium for an epic synthesis of Radiohead’s seminal OK Computer with Brahms’s First Symphony (March 21, 2026, at the Orpheum).

The VSO Pops Series spans the music of James Bond, Phil Collins, Disney, and the disco era, while special Movie Nights screenings with a live orchestra include Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Disney’s Encanto, and holiday fare like Home Alone, Elf, The Holiday, and Hocus Pocus.

The free Day of Music takes over the city May 24, while the popular summertime Symphony in the Park is set for July 12 at Deer Lake Park. Symphony at Sunset happens July 5 outdoors at Sunset Beach.

There’s much more in store, with subscription and ticket information available here.

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Janet Smith

Janet Smith is cofounder and editorial director of Stir. She is an award-winning arts journalist who has spent more than two decades immersed in Vancouver’s dance, screen, design, theatre, music, opera, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.

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