pianomania: SINGAPORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA'S 2026/27 SEASON LAUNCHED IN THE COMPANY OF MUSIC DIRECTOR-DESIGNATE HANNU LINTU

SINGAPORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

2026/27 SEASON MEDIA LAUNCH

Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s upcoming 2026/27 concert season looks to be its most pivotal and important in years. Now in its 47th year, the SSO is at a new set of crossroads. All was revealed at its season media launch held at Raffles Hotel’s East India Room on Wednesday afternoon. In attendance was SSO’s fourth Music Director, the Finnish conductor Hannu Lintu, who shared with all present his vision and hopes for the orchestra.

In a short interview conducted by SSO’s new Head of Artistic Planning Christopher Cheong, Music Director-Designate Lintu indicated the SSO as a new phase in his own artistic development, having concurrent positions at the Finnish National Opera & Ballet and Gulbenkien Orchestra in Lisbon. Having guest-conducted the SSO in 2017 and 2018, he had many positive feelings that something big was happening in Singapore and East Asia, and wanted to be part of that.

Lintu’s inaugural concerts take place in July, with performances of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, Richard Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra and Bartok’s single-act opera Bluebeard’s Castle. Within weeks of his tenure, he takes the SSO on tour to China, with seven concerts in two weeks. Within all this time, he will get to know the orchestra, musicians and their music-making better. Programming in seasons to come will include repertoire what the orchestra needs, his personal interests as well what the audience wants. All this will be finely balanced, and the results will be heard in the concerts. Lintu hopes the orchestra will help transform Singapore to become an important artistic hub in Asia.

Twenty-five percent of the works heard in 2026-27 will be World and Singapore premieres, including pieces by Singaporean composers Kelly Tang, Tan Chan Boon, Zechariah Goh, Germaine Goh and Sulwyn Lok. Wang Chenwei’s The Sisters’ Islands will be taken on tour to China.

There will be Singapore debuts for conductors Marin Alsop, Markus Stenz, Pietari Inkinen and Francois Leleux, and returning artists include pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin, cellist Steven Isserlis and violinists Gil Shaham, Augustin Hadelich and James Ehnes. Special collaborations include performances by Two Set Violin, singer-actress Nathania Ong and Apsaras Dance Company, while the Singapore National Youth Orchestra accompanies a viewing of Jurassic Park. There is something for everyone in the season to come.