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Experience the Performing Arts!

Explore our five performance series to discover a world of possibilities right here in the Great Lakes Bay Region. 

Broadway and Beyond  Wonders on Our World  Midland Symphony Orchestra  Center Stage Theatre Matrix:Midland 

2024/25 Season Subscription

Midland Symphony Orchestra Series

The 2024/25 Midland Symphony Orchestra season is sponsored by Tri-Star Trust


Subscriptions for Midland Symphony Orchestra have ended after the FIREBIRD & FRIENDS concert. Check back in April 2025 as we announce the 2025/26 season.

Hannah White, violin

Firebird & Friends

SAT, OCT 12, 2024 / 7:30 PM

Felix Mendelssohn / Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor / Concerto for Violin in G minor, op. 80.
Igor Stravinsky / The Firebird Suite
Guest Artist / Hannah White, violin

OPENING NIGHT! Appropriately, the Midland Symphony Orchestra launches our season of journey and discovery with an evening that begins as a calm voyage, progresses through lyrical enchantment, and finally builds to an imaginative fiery peak! We start with an epic 19th-century sailing adventure -- Mendelssohn’s delightful Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, inspired by Goethe’s poetry. Traveling into the early 20th century, the Orchestra pairs with Hannah White for a performance of the work that won him the prestigious award, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Violin Concerto in G minor, op. 80. Stravinsky’s enchanting The Firebird Suite, made familiar to many in Disney’s Fantasia 2000, follows the heroic adventure of a blazing and beautiful Firebird, closing out this exciting and intrepid evening with a monumental crescendo!

The Nutcracker from Grand Rapids Ballet

The Nutcracker

FRI & SAT, DEC 6 - 7, 2024 / 8 PM
SAT & SUN, DEC 7 - 8, 2024 / 2 PM
with Grand Rapids Ballet

AVAILABLE WITH 6-SHOW SUBSCRIPTION ONLY!

Visions of sugar plum fairies will dance across the stage in this treasured holiday classic! The Grand Rapids Ballet returns to perform their re-envisioned production of The Nutcracker, played by our own Symphony Orchestra. Experience the holiday magic with Clara as she journeys to the Land of Sweets with the Nutcracker, a gift from her mysterious uncle. Featuring choreography from world-renowned Val Caniparoli, with the dancing set against a distinctive and lush storybook set created by celebrated The Polar Express author/illustrator Chris Van Allsburg and designed by Tony® Award winner Eugene Lee.

Midland Symphony Orchestra

Holiday Pops

SAT, DEC 14, 2024 / 4 PM

The caroling Choirs of the Center and the Midland Symphony Orchestra, will be joined by a special guest for an evening of holiday celebration! Don’t miss this signature event of the Great Lakes Bay region’s holiday season!

Deep Field, Space

Outer Space: The Infinite

SAT, FEB 1, 2025 / 7:30 PM

Jessie Montgomery / Starburst
Richard Strauss / Also sprach Zarathustra
Eric Whitacre, Deep Field

Discover the cosmos as you travel through billions of stars with the Midland Symphony Orchestra! Immerse yourself in the one-of-a-kind Deep Field experience created by Grammy® Award-winning composer Eric Whitacre – a stunning film, Deep Field: The Impossible Magnitude of our Universe, illuminates the astounding and powerful score. Experience extraordinary galactic imagery from the Hubble Space Telescope, immersive animation, and audience participation that invites guests to join in with the symphony via a smartphone app. Continue traveling to the edges of our universe with Jessie Montogomery’s dynamic Starburst and Strauss’ now iconic tone poem Also sprach Zarathustra, used in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

An Enchanting Journey, the Magic Flute

An Enchanting Journey

SAT, MAR 8, 2025 / 7:30 PM

Mozart / The Magic Flute
Mahler / Symphony No. 4
with Detroit Opera Resident Artists

This compelling performance will feature an elite ensemble of soloists from the renowned Detroit Opera Resident Artists and will be highlighted by excerpts from Mozart’s timeless and enchanting masterpiece, the fantasy quest The Magic Flute. Mahler’s spectacular Symphony No. 4 will complete the evening with its soaring and “heavenly” soprano solo. Members of Detroit’s premier producer and presenter of opera, musical theatre, and dance accompany Midland Symphony Orchestra’s performance in an unforgettable evening of music. Join us on this journey marrying spectacular voices with equally compelling music.

Kevin Cole, Piano

Rhapsody in Blue

SAT, APR 5, 2025 / 7:30 PM

George Gershwin / Rhapsody in Blue & Piano Concerto in F
Guest Artist / Kevin Cole, piano

The award-winning and spectacular pianist Kevin Cole performs with the MSO, as he has done with over 100 orchestras! Regarded as the leading interpreter of George Gershwin’s piano compositions, Kevin will play the incomparable Rhapsody in Blue, beloved since its premiere in 1924 for its integration of jazz and classical music and considered one of the greatest symphonic achievements of the 20th century. Kevin, a local artist living in Bay City, will continue to delight with Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F. Kevin is the perfect soloist for our exploration of Gershwin - declares Edward Jablonski, renowned Gershwin scholar, “Kevin is the best Gershwin pianist since Gershwin himself – no one can touch him.”

Midland Symphony Orchestra programs are made possible in part through the generosity of Sarah & Dan Opperman and Ken & Gina Pederson.