It’s sometimes said that Madison punches above its weight for a city its size, and that’s borne out by the 2026-2027 classical season. For the Madison Symphony Orchestra it’s the beginning of a new era, while the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra continues its ambitious project centering living composers of color. Madison Opera tackles one of opera’s greatest soprano roles. And smaller groups just keep the music coming.

Madison Symphony Orchestra: Transitioning

The big news from the Madison Symphony Orchestra is that it has a new music director. Laura Jackson, one of eight finalists out of over 100 applicants for the job, was announced as John DeMain’s successor in July. DeMain, who was director for 32 years, is now the MSO’s music director emeritus. Jackson is music director designate.

In an email to Isthmus, Jackson says that as the designate, she will conduct only a few concerts this season and have only partial responsibility as artistic leader. “The following year is when I will truly hit the ground running and will assume the full job.”

Audiences will experience the styles of four conductors: Jackson, DeMain, resident conductor Kyle Knox, and guest conductor Carl St. Clair. Each has a singular way of conducting the orchestra, but DeMain mentions a few guidelines in a phone interview. “If you have a heavy beat, an orchestra can pull you back if you let them,” he says. “Your arms have to be light and airy so they can move and the orchestra has no choice but to move with you.”

The first concert on Sept. 18 is a special event in Overture Hall with violinist Joshua Bell and DeMain conducting. Bell, a Grammy Award winner, is considered one of the top violinists in the world today. His prodigious technique, golden tone, and depth of interpretation make for unforgettable performances.

Bell first performed with the MSO in 1988 before he became an international sensation. He appeared again with the orchestra in 2007.

The MSO’s regular season opener, Oct. 16-18, has a nature motif, with Lili Boulanger’s D’un matin de printemps (Of a Spring Morning), Vivaldi’s Autumn, Piazzolla’s Autumn, and Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony. The featured artist is MSO’s concertmaster, Naha Greenholtz. Kyle Knox conducts.

Jackson will conduct her first concerts of the season Nov. 6-8, featuring guest pianist Joyce Yang, who won the silver medal at the 2005 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. She will play Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. The inclusion of Carlos Simon’s AMEN! gives this classical concert a gospel twist.

Another arm of the MSO is its organ program featuring the Overture concert organ. Greg Zelek, the MSO’s principal organist, has an adventurous season in store.

The first concert on Sept. 27 is the organ series’ first ever matinee concert. “I love the 2:30 p.m. slot because folks can come downtown and have lunch or they can stay for dinner after the concert,” says Zelek in a phone interview.

Zelek plays an all-Bach program for this concert that includes three large-scale works, including Bach’s famous Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor. Sprinkled throughout the afternoon are famous Bach works written for other instruments that Zelek will arrange for the organ. The Nov. 19 concert features Lucrecia and the Celia Cruz All-Stars. Lucrecia is a Cuban-born singer and the concert celebrates Celia Cruz’s 100th birthday. Born in Havana in 1925, Cruz is still considered the queen of salsa music.

Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra: Still in color

The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra begins its 66th year with Musical Landscapes in Color, a continuation of the orchestra’s five-year, five-album project that began in 2023 and highlights the works of living composers of color. Transcendence, the fourth installment, on Oct. 9 in Capitol Theater features Stewart Goodyear‘s Piano Concerto, Carlos Simon’s Movements for Flute featuring WCO principal flute Brandon LePage, and Brittany Green’s Testify!

Joe Loehnis, the chamber orchestra’s CEO, writes in an email that he has enjoyed watching and feeling the growing audience’s appetite for new music. “Last fall, there was a moment with a bass concerto where our music director [Andrew Sewell] had to wait over a minute for the cheers to die down before starting the second movement.”

The WCO’s popular Masterworks series begins Nov. 13 in the Capitol Theater with pianist John Novacek playing Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G. The concerto is a cheery, soulful work reminiscent of Gershwin. Also featured is Strauss’s Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme that Sewell describes as a tour de force with five percussionists.

Madison Opera: Diva in the house

The Madison Opera begins its 65th season with the company’s premiere of Bellini’s Norma,  Oct.30-Npv. 1. A Druid high priestess in Gaul (now France) falls in love with a leader of the invading Roman army and has his children. He falls in love with a younger priestess. Things don’t end well.

The role of Norma is considered one of the most difficult roles in opera because of its ornate singing style, known as bel canto, and long melodic lines. Soprano Keely Futterer, who sings the role, is looking forward to both the challenge and the fun.

“Norma has been a dream role for a very long time, and I am so excited to finally tackle her and at a company I love so much,” she tells Isthmus. Futterer describes Norma as “a beautifully complex woman who has made mistakes and is struggling with her duties and her heart and her role as priestess in the middle of war.”

Futterer says Norma is larger than life and a little unhinged. “Dying on a pyre of fire is a new one for me.”

And then there’s…

Madison Bach Musicians, Madison’s premier early music ensemble, was founded in 2004 by artistic director and harpsichordist Trevor Stephenson. J.S. Bach is a guiding light for the musicians, who play on period instruments like the harpsichord, lute and recorder. Its 23rd season opens with Bach Cantatas Oct. 10-11 at Holy Wisdom Monastery. Latin American Baroque takes center stage for the group’s 16th annual holiday concert (Dec. 11 at Four Winds Farm and Dec. 12 at First Congregational Church)

For an intimate classical music experience there is the Salon Piano Series. Think of the concerts held in people’s homes in the 19th century. The series begins with pianist Ariel Lanyi, with a mixed 19th century and contemporary program on Sept. 26, Mackenzie Melemed, with a mostly contemporary bent on Oct. 25, and John Novacek, drilling hard into the 19th and 20th centuries on Nov. 15. All concerts take place at Farley’s House of Pianos in Madison. The musicians talk about the music and perform on heirloom pianos restored in Farley’s workshop.

Also keep an eye out for events from Token Creek Chamber Music starting Sept. 8, Oakwood Chamber Players, which starts its season Sept. 25, and the Middleton Community Orchestra, which tunes up Oct. 20.