Palm Springs Friends of Philharmonic Announces Stellar 2024-2025 Season

The Palm Springs Friends of Philharmonic (PS Phil) announces its 2024-2025 season, building on its 50-year legacy of showcasing the best symphony orchestras from around the world. Launching the series will be the extraordinary Los Angeles Philharmonic with Swiss conductor Philippe Jordan, and the season will close with the renowned Israel Philharmonic and conductor Lahav Shani. Back due to popular demand, PS Phil pre-concert lecture series will be returning as part of the organization’s programming.

Lee Mills, PS Phil’s executive director, said, “We are dedicated to bringing the very best of orchestral music from around the world right here to the Coachella Valley and to fostering the next generation of music lovers through our education and youth outreach. Our 51st season will be a spectacular season full of world-renowned orchestras from the United States and abroad that will be sure to delight and inspire our listeners. As part of our mission, we continue inviting local students to our concerts—in this past season, we gave over $14,000 worth of tickets to students from Palm Springs High School, Palm Desert High School, Cathedral City High School, Shadow Hills High School, Desert Ridge Academy, and Xavier College Preparatory.”

Los Angeles Philharmonic – Tuesday, January 21, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Sponsored by Douglas G. Stewart, JoAnn G. Wellner
Pre-Concert Lecture at 6:30 pm

Philippe Jordan, conductor
Yefim Bronfman, piano
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, op. 73, “Emperor”
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B minor, op. 74, “Patétique”

World-renowned Swiss conductor Philippe Jordan, music director of the Vienna Staatsoper, conducts this concert in his debut with the Friends of Philharmonic. A favorite among our audience and worldwide, pianist Yefim Bronfman returns to the desert to perform one of Beethoven’s most beloved concertos, the Emperor Concerto. Tchaikovsky’s autobiographical Patétique, which the composer himself considered his greatest work, will lead the audience on a profound emotional journey.

San Diego Symphony – Sunday, February 2, 2025 at 5 pm

Sponsored by Sol & Toby Cera
Pre-Concert Lecture at 4 pm

Rafael Payare, Music Director
Alexander Malofeev, piano
Billy Childs: Concerto for Orchestra World Premiere
Sergei Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, op. 26
‍Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, “Eroica"

The San Diego Symphony returns with Rafael Payare guiding the orchestra through this powerful concert featuring a new composition by Billy Childs in its world-premiere week of performances by the San Diego Symphony. Russian wunderkind Alexander Malofeev, who at thirteen years old won first prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, brings Prokofiev’s delightfully macabre Piano Concerto No. 3 to life. Beethoven’s ground breaking Eroica Symphony, which forever changed the trajectory of symphonic music, closes out this concert.

London Symphony Orchestra – Wednesday, February 19, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Sponsored by Roberta Holland, Jane & Larry Sherman, Sheila Stone
Pre-Concert Lecture at 6:30 pm

Sir Antonio Pappano, Chief Conductor
Janine Jansen, violin
George Walker: Sinfonia No. 5, “Visions”
Felix Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor, op. 64
‍Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D major, “Titan”

Making his debut with the PS Phil, Sir Antonio Pappano leads the London Symphony through this thrilling concert featuring Mahler’s expansive Titan Symphony. In another PS Phil debut, Janine Jansen brings Mendelssohn’s cherished violin concerto to life.This program also features the rarely heard Sinfonia No. 5, “Visions” by George Walker, composed in 2016 in response to the 2015 shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC.

Pacific Symphony – Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Sponsored by Norman Forrester & William Griffin
Pre-Concert Lecture at 6:30 pm

Carl St.Clair, Music Director
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
Ludwig van Beethoven: Egmont, op. 84: Overture
Camille Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 5 in F major, op.103 “Egyptian”
‍Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A major, op. 92

Beloved pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet returns to the desert for the first time since 2018 with the Pacific Symphony and Carl St.Clair. This program features Camille Saint-Saëns’ final and most exotic piano concerto, his Piano Concerto No. 5, which he composed while staying in the temple town of Luxor, Egypt. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 was regarded by Beethoven himself as one of his best works, and its timeless dance rhythms and melodies have helped this symphony secure its place as a favorite to many listeners.

Israel Philharmonic – Saturday, March 22, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Sponsored by Barbara Fremont
Pre-Concert Lecture at 6:30 pm

Lahav Shani, Music Director
Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 in A minor, op. 56, “Scottish”
‍Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in E minor, op. 64

The Israel Philharmonic and Lahav Shani return to the desert to present this incredible program featuring two symphonies by two beloved composers. Mendelssohn composed the Scottish Symphony after an extensive tour of Scotland with his friend Karl Klingemann. Upon viewing the ruins of Queen Mary’s castle, he wrote, “I think I have found there the beginning of my ‘Scottish’ Symphony.” Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 came on the heels of an intense bout of depression, and its journey to a triumphant finale is an excellent example of the symphonic trajectory per aspera ad astra, “through struggle to the stars.”