(Credit: Courtesy of California Symphony)

California Symphony is set to kick off its new season with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

The performances, which are set for Sept. 21 and 22 at Walnut Creek’s Lesher Center for the Arts, will star Laquita Mitchell, Kelley O’Connor, Nicholas Phan, and Sidney Outlaw. They are joined by 100 members of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Chorus. Donato Cabrera conducts the showcase, which also features Louise Farrenc’s Overture No. 2.

“The two works I chose to begin our 2024-25 concert series not only help define and celebrate what we’re exploring throughout the entire season, but they also represent what I believe to be a defining characteristic of the California Symphony, which is a sense of adventure,” Cabrera said per an official press release. “Like the uncorking of a bottle of champagne, the incredibly elegant and exuberant overture by the 19th-century French composer Louise Farrenc is an intriguing introduction to a composer unfairly neglected and rarely performed. Without intermission and with a sense of audaciousness, we will dive right into the 200th anniversary performance of one of the greatest artistic creations ever conceived, the last symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. In hearing these two works in such closeness to one another, it is my hope that both equally inform and enhance the other, giving all of us a truly unique and rewarding experience.”

The Sept. 21 showcase will be preceded by a free Pop Up Event in partnership with Amateur Music Network. The event will take place from 5 – 5:30 p.m. at Water Light Public Plaza with Donato Cabrera leading an open workshop of the “Ode to Joy.”