Pacific Symphony unveils lineup for Alexander Shelley’s inaugural season as conductor
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Alexander Shelley heard a gasp from the audience as he announced some of his plans for the 2026-27 season of the Pacific Symphony on Wednesday.
The conductor’s first full season as the symphony’s artistic and music director will be marked by a celebration of America’s 250th birthday. But the announcement that drew the murmurs was that, over the course of two weeks in late January and early February 2027, all nine of Beethoven’s symphonies will be performed as part of the Beethoven Revolution Festival.
Next year also marks the 200th anniversary of the famed German composer’s death. But he also ties in with the America celebration, Shelley said at Wednesday’s event held inside the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Music Hall in Costa Mesa.
PBS SoCal director Maria Hall-Brown sat down to ask Shelley questions about his inaugural full season with Pacific Symphony.
“What makes Beethoven so extraordinary and so impactful is his humanistic and his political drive,” Shelley said. “Music for him was not always just about making beautiful sounds that move people. It was about bringing a message to people and changing society, much in the same way that the founding fathers wanted to change the world with the Declaration of Independence — and did change the world.”
Shelley, 49, is just the third music director in Pacific Symphony’s 48-year history.
The 2026-27 season will begin on Oct. 4. Violinist Joshua Bell will be performing as part of a night that also includes Lalo’s “Symphonie Espagnole,” Bernstein’s Overture to “Candide,” Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances and Gershwin’s Overture to “Girl Crazy.”
“That’s going to be a lovely evening, an evening that serves as a kind of appetizer to the full season,” Shelley said. “Lots of short bits of music, by composers who are featured later in the season on a grander scale.”
The night also has a personal touch to Shelley, as his son Sasha, 7, also plays the violin and holds Bell in high regard. Shelley said he used to read his son “The Man With the Violin,” the true story of Bell taking his violin down into the Washington, D.C. subway for a free concert.
Another highlight of the 2026-27 season is expected in October, when Shelley conducts Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection.”
The opera for the new season will be John Adams’ “Nixon in China,” which will be presented in April 2027.
Shelley is looking forward to celebrating America and its musical tradition. By his count, of the 17 living composers in the season, 13 of them are American.
The season will conclude June 10-12, 2027 with Gershwin’s “An American in Paris” and other works. Soprano Karen Slack also will perform.
Shelley called the Beethoven Revolution Festival a bucket-list item.
“It’s not much time,” he said. “In just about the time it takes to watch one Netflix series … you can experience one of the cultural pinnacles of human history. It’s like Machu Picchu, or the Great Wall of China, or the pyramids.”
Though the current season is still in full swing, Pacific Symphony’s president and chief executive, John Forsyte, told the audience he was already looking forward to 2026-27. September will mark the 20th anniversary of the Segerstrom Concert Hall, as well as the 40th anniversary of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
“Alexander leads with passion, vision and attentiveness, to musicians, to the institution and the community it serves,” Forsyte said. “He connects easily, listens actively and responds to the moment, shaping performances that feel alive, relevant and shared.”
For more information and a full list of 2026-27 Pacific Symphony shows, visit pacificsymphony.org/get-tickets. Subscription packages, which range from three to 12 concerts, are now available for purchase.
