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. The popular 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. We are also excited to 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
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
Rafael Payare, Music Director
Alexander Malofeev, piano
- Billy Childs: 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 groundbreaking 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
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
Carl St.Clair, Music Director
TBD, piano
- Leonard Bernstein: Slava! A Political Overture
- Sergei Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
- Viet Cuong: World Premiere
- Ottorino Respighi: Pines of Rome
Carl St.Clair returns with crowd-favorite Pacific Symphony to present this thrilling program featuring some of the greatest compositions from the 20th century. Bernstein’s Slava!, which he composed for Rostropovich to commemorate his appointment as Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra, shows off the composer’s fun and quirky nature he was so loved for. Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, with its rich orchestrations and virtuosic piano writing, is always a crowd pleaser. Before ending the program with Respighi’s gargantuan Pines of Rome, you’ll have a chance to hear a world premiere by popular composer Viet Cuong.
Israel Philharmonic
Saturday, March 22, 2025 at 7:30 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.”
About the Palm Springs Friends of Philharmonic:
The Palm Springs Friends of Philharmonic continues to be recognized as one of the premiere presenters of symphony orchestras in the U.S. Each season the Philharmonic brings a series of world-class symphony concerts to the beautiful 1,127 McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert and tends to fill the venue.
The PS Phil’s 51st season continues to celebrate a legacy of great performances by national and international orchestras and conductors. The PS Phil also fosters music appreciation for local youth and encourages promising young musicians through free tickets to concerts, scholarships, education, and instrument donation programs.
Tickets are sold on a subscription-only basis, with five-concert packages available from $390 to $710. New subscribers will be able to purchase their subscriptions starting in late May.
In addition to the price of a subscription, the Board of Directors asks that every subscriber become a member of the PS Phil by making an annual donation. It is only through the generosity of our patrons that we can bring the world’s finest orchestras to the Coachella Valley.
For subscriptions, tickets and more information or ways to support Palm Springs Friends of Philharmonic, a 501(c)(3) not for profit organization, call 760-341-1013 or visit www.PSPhil.org. Programs and artists are subject to change without notice.
