FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Brian French, Winston-Salem Symphony
336.725.1035
bfrench@wssymphony.org
The Winston-Salem Symphony opens 26/27 Season with Gershwin, Rachmaninoff, & Trane
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (September 9, 2026)—The Winston-Salem Symphony and Music Director Michelle Merill are proud to announce the opening concert of the 2026-2027 season: Gershwin, Rachmaninoff, & Trane.
The Symphony’s 80th season-opening celebration coincides with the centennialcelebration of High Point-native John Coltrane, who left an enduring legacy in the jazz idiom. UNCG saxophone professor Robert Young brings Coltrane’s influence to bear in a recent concerto by Guillaume Connesson. Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess and Rachmaninoff’s fiery Symphonic Dances, two of the rare orchestral pieces that include saxophone, round out this program.
Gershwin, Rachmaninoff, & Trane
September 26 at 7:30pm & September 27 at 3:00pm
R.J. Reynolds Auditorium (301 N. Hawthorne Road)
Michelle Merrill, conductor | Robert Young, saxophone
GERSHWIN Symphonic Portrait on Porgy & Bess
CONNESSON A Kind of Trane
RACHMANINOFF Symphonic Dances
Tickets start at $28 and are available at wssymphony.org.
About the Winston-Salem Symphony
Proud to be one of the Southeast’s most highly regarded regional orchestras, the Winston-Salem Symphony premiered in 1947. Today, under the direction of new Music Director Michelle Merrill, the Symphony fulfills its mission to “Bring Music to Life” by inspiring listeners of all ages throughout North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad with various concerts, education programs, and community engagement initiatives each year. Subscriptions and single tickets can be purchased online at wssymphony.org or by calling the Symphony Box Office at 336-464-0145.
###