Chicago Symphony Center tickets 11 November 2026 - Yo-Yo Ma and the CSO | GoComGo.com

Yo-Yo Ma and the CSO

Chicago Symphony Center, Chicago, USA
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Select date and time
7:30 PM
From
US$ 195

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Important Info
Type: Classical Concert
City: Chicago, USA
Starts at: 19:30

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Cast
Performers
Cello: Yo-Yo Ma
Conductor: Carlos Miguel Prieto
Creators
Composer: Alberto Ginastera
Composer: Dmitri Shostakovich
Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff
Programme
Alberto Ginastera: Four Dances from Estancia
Dmitri Shostakovich: Cello Concerto no. 1 in E flat major, Op.107
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances
Overview

Emotional intensity, virtuoso brilliance, and the dramatic power of 20th-century Russian music define this compelling programme featuring two towering orchestral masterpieces.

At the center of the evening is Cello Concerto No. 1, one of Dmitri Shostakovich’s most gripping and emotionally charged works. The concerto holds a particularly meaningful place in the career of legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who first recorded the work more than four decades ago early in his artistic journey. Written shortly after the death of Joseph Stalin, the concerto channels an extraordinary range of emotions—from biting sarcasm and explosive rage to profound loneliness and haunting lyricism. Through its relentless intensity and moments of deep vulnerability, the work stands as one of Shostakovich’s most personal and powerful artistic statements.

Ma joins acclaimed conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto, a frequent and celebrated collaborator with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, for this deeply expressive interpretation.

The programme concludes with Sergei Rachmaninoff’s magnificent Symphonic Dances, the composer’s final major work and one of his most beloved orchestral achievements. Overflowing with lush melodies, glittering orchestral colors, rhythmic vitality, and nostalgic reflection, the piece reveals Rachmaninoff at the height of his late creative powers. By turns exuberant, mysterious, and deeply poignant, the work serves as both a dazzling orchestral showpiece and a bittersweet farewell from one of music’s great Romantic voices.

Together, these masterpieces create an unforgettable evening of passion, drama, and emotional depth.

Venue Info

Chicago Symphony Center - Chicago
Location   220 South Michigan Avenue

Symphony Center is a music complex located at 220 South Michigan Avenue in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. Home to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Chicago Symphony Chorus; Civic Orchestra of Chicago; and the Institute for Learning, Access, and Training; Symphony Center includes the 2,522-seat Orchestra Hall, which dates from 1904; Buntrock Hall, a rehearsal and performance space; Grainger Ballroom, an event space overlooking Michigan Avenue and the Art Institute of Chicago; a public multi-story rotunda; Forte restaurant and café; and administrative offices.

In June 1993, plans to significantly renovate and expand Orchestra Hall were approved and the $110 million project resulting in Symphony Center began in 1995 and was completed in 1997.

Designed by architect Daniel Burnham, Orchestra Hall was designated a National Historic Landmark on April 19, 1994. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978.

Built in 1904, Orchestra Hall was designed by renowned Chicago architect Daniel Burnham. The new hall was specifically designed as a home for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which had previously performed in the larger Auditorium Theater. Construction began on May 1, 1904, and the first concert was given on December 14, 1904. The building has "Theodore Thomas Orchestra Hall" inscribed in its façade, after the orchestra's first music director who died less than a month after his conducting debut there. The names Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Wagner are inscribed above the ballroom windows on the façade.

From 1907 through 1996 the ninth-floor penthouse of the building served as the home of the Cliff Dwellers Club, with interior architecture by Howard Van Doren Shaw and the first significant mural of John Warner Norton.

The administrative offices are located within the historic Chapin and Gore Building, which was built in 1904. The building was designed by architectural partners Richard E. Schmidt and Hugh M. G. Garden. The building was attached to the Symphony Center campus as part of the 1997 renovation.

Orchestra Hall was also used as a movie theater during the 1910s, to maintain income during the summer months, when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was playing at the Ravinia Festival. Lectures and other programs were held at Orchestra Hall in with speakers including Harry Houdini, Richard E. Byrd, Amelia Earhart, Bertrand Russell and Orson Welles.

In 2008 the venue hosted the 2008 Green National Convention alongside the Palmer House Hilton.

In 2012 the venue hosted the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates alongside the UIC Pavilion. This was held in Chicago simultaneous to the 2012 Chicago Summit.

Important Info
Type: Classical Concert
City: Chicago, USA
Starts at: 19:30
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