Highlights from Xian’s first season and more!
Photo: Carlin Ma
A healing heart continues to resonate — through your support!
Thanks to generous donors like you, The Healing Heart of the First People of This Land continues to bring Indigenous wisdom, culture and music to new audiences. Through your support, this remarkable vision remains alive, carrying a powerful message of healing and unity through music.
Upper Skagit elder Vi taq š blu Hilbert understood the deep, restorative power of her ancestors’ language and traditions. After the tragic events of 9/11, she sought guidance from the spirit world on how to help a suffering world. As she recalled in the documentary The Healing Heart of Lushootseed , “The spirit came back with an answer: ‘Music. Music is the one language that can be understood around the world.’” Determined to bring this vision to life, she
commissioned composer Bruce Ruddell to create a symphony that would translate Indigenous healing traditions into orchestral form. After a transformative conversation, Ruddell agreed, inspired by the spiritual and cultural depth of Hilbert’s mission.
Originally premiered in 2006 under the baton of Conductor Laureate Gerard Schwarz (Music Director from 1985–2011), The Healing Heart of the First People of This Land incorporates Indigenous percussion, vocal techniques and storytelling to convey its message of healing. The symphony’s four movements reflect the cultural and spiritual traditions of the Lushootseed-speaking people. The first movement, Prepare , is a solemn prelude that sets the stage for what is to come. The second
Photo: Jonathan Pendleton
Composer Bruce Ruddell, Associate Conductor Sunny Xia, soprano tsi
Adia Bowen and the orchestra take a bow following the performance.
movement, Thunder Spirit Power Song , honors Chief Seattle’s legendary voice, which was said to be heard from half a mile away. The third movement, Healing Song , is inspired by a prayer song from Hilbert’s cousin, Isadore Tom, and expresses profound spiritual healing through orchestral color and soaring vocals. The final movement, The Journey Forward , incorporates spoken Lushootseed wisdom and offers hope for the future.
On March 7, the Seattle Symphony brought Hilbert’s dream to a new generation with a moving reprise of The Healing Heart of the First People of This Land . The free Community Concert was led by Associate Conductor Sunny Xia and featured Indigenous soprano tsi s uyu a Adia Bowen. It also included sacred Native instruments, such as a large elk-hide drum, a deerskin hand drum and traditional rattles, bringing an authentic and deeply spiritual dimension to the music.
Hilbert’s work in preserving and revitalizing the Lushootseed language has had a lasting impact, and this symphony is one of her greatest gifts to the world. Even after her passing in 2008, her legacy continues to inspire. Because of your support of the Seattle Symphony’s community programs, this symphony is fulfilling Hilbert’s wish that its message of healing continues to be heard.
This extraordinary project was made possible by the generosity of donors like you, who believe in the power of music to bring our community together and share the stories of its people. As we reflect on this landmark performance, we celebrate and honor the legacy of Vi taq š blu Hilbert and music’s ability to inspire healing and build connections between all people. Thank you for helping to make our community programs a reality!
Sunny Xia’s position is generously underwritten as the Douglas F. King Associate Conductor.
Gerard Schwarz’s position is generously underwritten as the Rebecca & Jack Benaroya Conductor Laureate.
The Arakawa Foundation proudly supports the Seattle Symphony’s Community Partnerships for Youth and Education. Additional support is provided by Delta Air Lines.
Tulalip Native American cultural ambassador and storyteller Johnny Moses (right, with bell) led singers in a Blessing Song to open the concert.
Vi taqwšəblu Hilbert in The Healing Heart of Lushootseed
Photo: Jonathan Pendleton
A new era begins!
The Seattle Symphony’s recently announced 2025/2026 season will launch a thrilling new chapter with Music Director Xian Zhang . Your dedicated support has made this moment possible, and we want you to be a part of the excitement at Benaroya Hall!
In her first season, Xian will conduct the orchestra in an array of performances, beginning with our signature Opening Night celebration. Here are just a few of the highlights Xian has in store for you next season.
SEPTEMBER 13
Opening Night Concert & Gala
Xian begins her inaugural season with a powerful Opening Night Concert celebrating the power of music. Jessie Montgomery’s Hymn for Everyone is a meditation for orchestra. Bedřich Smetana depicts the female warrior Šárka. Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner bring operatic intensity. And our Opening Night soloist, the charismatic Simon Trpčeski, performs Edvard Grieg’s heroic Piano Concerto.
FEBRUARY
12, 14 & 15
Xian Conducts Iris Unveiled
Xian introduces Seattle audiences to the complex, seductive music of Peking opera with Qigang Chen’s Iris Dévoilée (Iris Unveiled). Writing for Peking and Western-style singers and traditional Chinese instruments, Chen evokes Iris, the Greek goddess of the rainbow, and a vision of the “eternal feminine.” Balancing this unique sound world is the dark drama and ecstatic finale of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony.
JUNE 18–21
Xian Conducts Beethoven 9
The ultimate symphony — Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth — featuring an all-star cast. Revolutionary, epic and anchored in Beethoven’s sense of our shared destiny. He crowned this music with a song for humanity, hope and joy. Xian pairs it with composer Steve Mackey’s RIOT , a work that places race and resilience in the foreground with words by Tracy K. Smith — a celebration of perseverance and community.
Visit seattlesymphony.org to learn more and subscribe today so you won’t miss a note of Xian’s first season as Music Director!
Music Director Xian Zhang is generously sponsored by Dr. and Mrs. Charles and Lisa Simonyi and an anonymous donor.
Xian Zhang’s position is generously underwritten as the Harriet Overton Stimson Music Director.
Photo: Carlin Ma
Our musicians take center stage — with you by their side!
Through your generous support, the Seattle Symphony is able to recruit and retain talented musicians who contribute to the artistic excellence of our orchestra every day. Each year, we are proud to spotlight a selection of our own gifted musicians as featured artists. During the 2024/2025 season, audiences have had the pleasure of seeing our musicians at center stage in some incredible performances — and there are more opportunities still to come!
In October, Concertmaster Noah Geller and Principal Cello Efe Baltacıgil teamed up to perform Johannes Brahms’ Double Concerto, a musical dance that Brahms wrote as a symbol of friendship with its first soloists. Noah and Efe rekindled their musical partnership with a dynamic performance conducted by Alevtina Ioffe that captivated audiences at Benaroya Hall and got the 2024/2025 season off to a rousing start.
Principal Harp Valerie Muzzolini joined forces with pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Conductor Emeritus Ludovic Morlot to kick off 2025. Valerie
performed alongside Jean-Yves on the world premiere of Benjamin Attahir’s Hanoï Songs and she was also featured in Maurice Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro during this all-French program.
Following a triumphant debut in 2023, composer and cellist Abel Selaocoe returned to Benaroya Hall in February to once again share his exuberant energy and musicmaking. To cap his performance, he was joined by Associate Principal Cello Meeka Quan DiLorenzo for a dynamic duet with the orchestra in selections from Giovanni Sollima’s When We Were Trees .
Throughout the season, Seattle Symphony musicians are also featured in our intimate Chamber Series in the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall. The programming of this unique series is curated by the musicians themselves. Our March Chamber concert featured the world premiere of Principal Bassoon Seth Krimsky ’s Out of the Woodwork alongside an early work by Wynton Marsalis. Look for the final installment in the Chamber Series later this month, on Tuesday, April 22.
Photo: Carlin Ma
Associate Principal Cello Meeka Quan DiLorenzo shares a moment with cellist Abel Selaocoe and conductor Giancarlo Guerrero during rehearsal.
On May 1, 3 and 4, you’ll have the opportunity to see two more Symphony musicians as featured soloists. Principal Trumpet David Gordon will open the concerts performing J.S. Bach’s Cantata No. 51, a celebratory work for soprano, trumpet and orchestra — and Bach’s only cantata to feature a solo trumpet. Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, the program’s title piece, will feature Associate Concertmaster Helen Kim in the composer’s virtuosic celebration of the violin.
In the final Symphonic Series concerts of the 2024/2025 season, on June 19, 21 and 22, Principal Flute Demarre McGill will partner with Conductor Emeritus Ludovic Morlot to present the West Coast premiere of Rhapsody on a Theme by Joni for Solo Flute and Orchestra by composer Allison LogginsHull, capping an extraordinary season of music at Benaroya Hall.
Thank you for your generous support of all the musicians of the Seattle Symphony!
Please visit seattlesymphony.org for more information on these upcoming performances and more.
Ludovic Morlot’s position is generously underwritten as the Judith Fong Conductor Emeritus.
Noah Geller’s position is generously underwritten as the David & Amy Fulton Concertmaster.
Helen Kim’s position is generously underwritten as the Clowes Family Associate Concertmaster.
Efe Baltacıgil’s position is generously underwritten as the Marks Family Foundation Principal Cello.
David Gordon’s position is generously underwritten as the Boeing Company Principal Trumpet.
Efe Baltacıgil’s performances were generously sponsored by the Marks Family Foundation.
Performances of Brahms Double Concerto were generously sponsored by Patricia Tall-Takacs and Gary Takacs.
Abel Selaocoe’s performances were generously sponsored by Stephen and Rebecca Whyte.
MAY 6 & 7
Associate Concertmaster Helen Kim will be featured in The Four Seasons this May.
Photo: Carlin Ma
Photo: Carlin Ma