Robert Spano—conductor, pianist, composer and teacher—is known worldwide for the intensity of his artistry and distinctive communicative abilities, creating a sense of inclusion and warmth among musicians and audiences that is unique among American orchestras. 

The 2025-2026 season marks Spano’s first as Music Director of the Washington National Opera (WNO). He continues to serve as Music Director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, a role he has held since 2022. He is Music Director of the Aspen Music Festival and School and directs the Aspen Conducting Academy, which offers participants unparalleled training and valuable podium experience. An avid mentor to rising artists, he is responsible for nurturing the careers of numerous celebrated composers, conductors, and performers.

At WNO, Spano leads two productions this season: a WNO production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and a new production of Robert Ward’s Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award®–winning opera The Crucible, directed by WNO Artistic Director Francesca Zambello. The New York Times praised the Glimmerglass premiere of The Crucible in 2016 as “a revelation” and “darkly up-to-date in its message.” Spano is also a member of the mentorship committee for WNO’s annual American Opera Initiative, a comprehensive commissioning program that provides talented emerging composers and librettists with mentorship and opportunities to write for the stage, culminating in three world-premiere one-act operas each season.

At the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in 2025-2026, Spano leads more than six concert programs, including the orchestra’s season opening and closing concerts; a world premiere violin concerto by Michael Gandolfi performed by FWSO concertmaster Michael Shih; collaborations with Dallas-based Bruce Wood Dance Company, Dallas Theater Center, the Kimbell Art Museum, and more. Spano also joins musicians of the FWSO on piano for two chamber concerts during the season.

Spano serves as Music Director Laureate of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and returns there in May 2026 for two weeks of concerts. Both programs celebrate the 250th anniversary of America’s independence, featuring Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1 “Jeremiah” and Symphony No. 2 “The Age of Anxiety.” Other guest conducting appearances in the 2025-2026 season include the Louisville Orchestra, Nashville Symphony, San Diego Symphony, and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

Spano’s newest recording as a pianist and composer is a collaboration with mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor, “Songs of Orpheus,” a series of song cycles by Edvard Grieg, Claude Debussy, George Crumb, and Spano himself, on Sono Luminus (August 22, 2025).

Season Highlights

Sep 5–7, 2025 / FORT WORTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA / OPENING WEEKEND
Stephen Hough, Piano
SIBELIUS Finlandia
GRIEG Piano Concerto
BRAHMS Symphony No. 4

Sep 19–21, 2025 / FORT WORTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Bruce Wood Dance
Joy Bollinger, Choreographer
MOZART Symphony No. 38, "Prague"
JOBY TALBOT Suite from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Sep 28, 2025
FORT WORTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA / CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT
Robert Spano, Piano
POULENC Sonata for Flute and Piano
POULENC Trio for Horn, Trumpet, and Trombone
RAVEL Introduction and Allegro for Harp, Flute, Clarinet, and String Quartet
BRAHMS Clarinet Trio

Oct 4, 2025 / LOUISVILLE ORCHESTRA
Tony Siqi Yun, Piano
SMITH/KEY The Star-Spangled Banner
CLAUDE BAKER The Glass Bead Game
CHRISTOPHER THEOFANIDIS On the Bridge of the Eternal
RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor

Nov 4–22, 2025 / WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA / THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO
Under the baton of Music Director Robert Spano, Mozart’s “perfect opera” returns to the Opera House with a powerhouse cast.

Jan 9–11, 2026 / FORT WORTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Pedja Mužijević, Piano
RAVEL Pavane for a Dead Princess
CHOPIN Piano Concerto No. 2
BERLIOZ Love Scene from Romeo & Juliet
DEBUSSY La mer

Jan 24, 2026 / WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA / AMERICAN OPERA INITIATIVE
The world premiere of three one-act operas staged in a concert performance, with talented Cafritz Young Artists among the casts. The Initiative was created in 2012 to stimulate, enrich, and ensure the future of contemporary American opera by providing talented emerging composers and librettists with mentorship and opportunities to write for the stage.

Feb 6 & 7, 2026 / NASHVILLE SYMPHONY
Nashville Symphony Chorus
Kelley O’Connor, Mezzo-Soprano
James Laing, Countertenor
Joshua Lovell, Tenor
BERNSTEIN Symphony No. 1 “Jeremiah”
JONATHAN LESHNOFF The Sacrifice of Isaac (Live Recording)

Feb 15, 2026
FORT WORTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA / CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT
Robert Spano, Piano
BEETHOVEN Horn Sonata
LIGETI Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet
BRITTEN Lachrymae
SCHUMANN Piano Quartet

Feb 21, 2026 / FORT WORTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA / GALA CONCERT
Gil Shaham, Violin
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
BRAHMS Violin Concerto

Feb 27 – Mar 1, 2026 / FORT WORTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Dallas Theater Center
Kevin Moriarty, Director
MENDELSSOHN Selections from A Midsummer Night’s Dream
PROKOFIEV Selections from Romeo and Juliet

Mar 19–29, 2026 / WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA / THE CRUCIBLE
Artistic Director Francesca Zambello directs Robert Ward’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award®–winning opera based on Arthur Miller’s play. Music director Robert Spano transports audiences into the heart of the 17th-century Salem witch trials.

Apr 10 & 11, 2026 / SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY
Conrad Tao, Piano
ADAM SCHOENBERG Cool Cat
JOHN ADAMS Century Rolls
RACHMANINOFF Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 44

Apr 24–26, 2026 / FORT WORTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Kelley O’Connor, Mezzo-Soprano
RAVEL Rapsodie espagnole
PETER LIEBERSON Neruda Songs
FALLA The Three-Cornered Hat

Apr 30 – May 2, 2026 / ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA / AMERICA @ 250
Stephen Hough, Piano
Kelley O’Connor, Mezzo-Soprano
CHRISTOPHER THEOFANIDIS On the Bridge of the Eternal
BERNSTEIN Symphony No. 1 “Jeremiah”
RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 1

May 7–9, 2026 / ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA / AMERICA @ 250
Zhenwei Shi, Principal Viola
Conrad Tao, Composer & Pianist
BERLIOZ Harold in Italy
BERNSTEIN Symphony No. 2 “The Age of Anxiety”

May 16, 2026 / FORT WORTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Susanna Phillips, Soprano
BARBER Knoxville: Summer of 1915
ALAN FLETCHER Three American Songs
COPLAND Suite from Appalachian Spring
COPLAND Four Dances from Rodeo

May 22–24, 2026 / FORT WORTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: CLOSING WEEKEND
Michael Shih, Violin
Tim Daniels, English Horn
SIBELIUS The Swan of Tuonela
MICHAEL GANDOLFI Violin Concerto – World Premiere
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 2

May 29 & 30, 2026 / INDIANAPOLIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Steven Banks, Saxophone
COPLAND Suite from Appalachian Spring
JOAN TOWER Saxophone Concerto
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Symphony No. 5