Washington Classical Review

Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University will be one of six venues the National Symphony Orchestra will perform at in the 2026-27 season.

The National Symphony Orchestra finally announced plans for its 96th season Tuesday morning.

The NSO will not perform at its traditional Kennedy Center home but instead will bring around sixty classical performances to six venues around the greater Washington area: Lisner Auditorium, the Lincoln Theatre, GMU Center for the Arts (Fairfax), Schlesinger Concert Hall (Alexandria), the Music Center at Strathmore (North Bethesda), and the Clarice (College Park). 

The seemingly random patchwork of appearances in terms of location and day of the week, is likely due to the availability of the various venues. Yet the total number of NSO performances is slightly more than the typical season.

Gianandrea Noseda will lead ten weeks of concerts, beginning with the NSO Gala on September 26 at Strathmore. Highlights include a celebration of Mstislav Rostropovich’s 100th birthday, featuring Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony, Sol Gabetta in Weinberg’s Cello Concerto, and Beatrice Rana as soloist in Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Guest appearances include pianist Denis Kozhukhin in Lutosławski’s Piano Concerto, baroque specialist Richard Egarr leading December performances of Handel’s Messiah, and violinist Augustin Hadelich playing Brahms’ Violin Concerto.

Noseda, in his tenth season as music director, will also take the NSO out of the city for his first multi-state U.S. tour with the orchestra. From April 20 to 30, 2027, the NSO will make good on the National part of its name by performing in venues in California, Indiana, Missouri, Nevada, and Oklahoma. Expressing his gratitude for his fulfilling nine-year tenure with the orchestra, Noseda said he looks forward to “sharing the NSO’s music-making directly with audiences around America.”

Legal wrangling continues over the plans to close the Kennedy Center and re-affix President Trump’s name to the building. The confusion had delayed the approval of a season that will be presented entirely outside the Kennedy Center, but the NSO will now expand its regional reach, for which it credits the “strategic direction of the Chairman of the Center, President Donald J. Trump.”

The KC board of trustees has not yet held an official vote approving the NSO’s budget for the new season. However, sources close to the situation indicated that KC leadership has authorized the rental of all performance spaces for the upcoming season and all orchestral salaries continue to be paid without interruption.

The announcement did not indicate schedules for the Fortas Chamber Music Concerts series, NSO Pops, or plans for theater or dance performances next season.

Tickets for the classical season go on sale to the public 10 a.m. August 28 and will be available directly through each performance venue’s box office. Full season information can be found at nationalsymphony.org.