JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Symphony will open its 2026/27 season Friday and Saturday, Sept. 25 and 26, with a program featuring Mozart and Tchaikovsky at the renovated Jacoby Symphony Hall. Led by Music Director Courtney Lewis, the concerts feature guest pianist Evren Ozel, a bronze medalist at the 17th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
The opening concert program includes selections from Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake Suite,” Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-flat major, K. 482 and Guillaume Connesson’s “Maslenitsa.”
Music Director Courtney Lewis described the opening program as an energetic and emotional performance. “If you’re looking for a concert that lifts you out of the everyday into a whirlwind of irrepressible energy, this one’s for you,” Lewis said. “It showcases the cinematic power and emotional depth of symphonic music and celebrates the power of love to transcend all obstacles.”
Pianist Ozel earned the bronze medal at the 17th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2025. He is also a recipient of a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant and a 2022 Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant, as well as an Ambassador Prize Winner in the Concert Artists Guild’s 2021 Competition.
The performance is part of the Greta Challen Berg Artists Series and the David M. Hicks Piano Series, with sponsorship provided by Florida Blue.
The season-opening concerts take place Friday, Sept. 25 and Saturday, Sept. 26, at the newly renovated Jacoby Symphony Hall inside the Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets for both performances are available online through JaxSymphony.org.
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