La Jolla Symphony & Chorus is Bringing the World to San Diego This Season

If you’ve been sleeping on the La Jolla Symphony & Chorus, the 2026-2027 season – titled “Forces of Nature” – is a very good reason to wake up. Six concerts, global guest artists, a world premiere, and programming that ranges from Mahler to Indian classical music.

What the Season is All About

Forces of Nature pairs the giants of classical repertoire with bold, living composers from around the world. Music directors Sameer Patel and Arian Khaefi have shaped a season that moves through big themes – resurrection, memory, mortality, transformation – while pulling in sounds from Romania, India, Austria, and beyond.

All concerts are held at Mandeville Auditorium on the UC San Diego campus, a beautiful space to hear a full orchestra and chorus in action.

The Concerts

The season runs from October through June, with each program built around a distinct mood and theme. Whether you come for one or commit to all six, there’s something here that’s going to stick with you.

• “Confluence” – October 24-25, 2026: The season opener features sarod virtuoso Ustad Amjad Ali Khan – one of the most revered figures in Indian classical music – performing his work Samaagam alongside the orchestra. It’s a cross-cultural collaboration with UCSD’s Qualcomm Institute, rounded out by Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsody No. 1.
• Messiah Community Sing – November 2026 (date/location TBD): A participatory performance of Handel’s Messiah, where the line between audience and performer gets deliberately blurry. One of the most joyful things you can do with a couple of hours.
• “Resurrection” – December 5-6, 2026: Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 is one of the great monuments of Western music – nearly two hours of orchestra, chorus, and soloists moving from existential heaviness to something close to transcendence. Conductor Sameer Patel leads this one.
• “Eternal Memory” – February 6-7, 2027: A world premiere from UCSD composer Haihui Zhang sits alongside Biber’s experimentally brilliant Battalia (1673) and Shostakovich’s gripping Symphony No. 11. Three centuries of music, one through line.
• “Beyond the Veil” – March 13-14, 2027: Rachmaninoff’s Isle of the Dead pairs with Mozart’s Requiem in a program that moves from shadow to light. Conductor Arian Khaefi shapes this one into a meditation on grief and release.
• “Prism” – May 1-2, 2027: San Diego native Claire Chase performs Saariaho’s luminous flute concerto Aile du Songe, surrounded by works from Stravinsky, Webern, Grace-Evangeline Mason, and Strauss. A rich, layered evening of orchestral color.
• “A Sea Symphony” – June 5-6, 2027: Vaughan Williams’ four-movement closing work for orchestra, chorus, and soloists is about as expansive as symphonic music gets – a celebration of nature, poetry, and the cosmos.

Tickets and Pricing

Discounted student tickets are available, and the Tix4Kids program offers free concert tickets for kids and their caregivers. Dress rehearsals are also open to the public at no cost.

Early-bird subscription packages for the full season are on sale now, with individual tickets going on sale in fall 2026.

See you there!

Whether you subscribe for the full season or pick your favorites, Forces of Nature is a year of music worth showing up for.

📆 October, 2026 through June, 2027 | Saturday evenings, 7:30 PM; Sunday afternoons, 2 PM
📍 9390 Mandeville Ln, La Jolla
🎟️ Lock in your spot here
ℹ️ Find more details here

See you there, San Diego!