TOLEDO SYMPHONY WELCOMES ACCLAIMED VIOLINIST JOSHUA BELL’S RETURN TO TOLEDO
TOLEDO BALLET PRESENTS THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW, THE NUTCRACKER, AND DON QUIXOTE
TOLEDO JAZZ ORCHESTRA FEATURES WAYNE BERGERON; BUILDS ON FAST GROWING AUDIENCES
TOLEDO, OH – Live Arts Toledo today announced its 2026-2027 season, featuring a wide range of performances from the Toledo Symphony Orchestra (TSO), Toledo Ballet, and Toledo Jazz Orchestra (TJO). Subscriptions are now on sale, with subscribers receiving benefits including priority seating, flexible exchanges, and access to the lowest available prices through June 15.
Framed as “a season of momentum,” the 2026-2027 lineup reflects continued growth across the organization, anchored by performances at The Peristyle, The Valentine Theatre, The Stranahan Theater, and the Toledo Center for Live Arts.
Spanning more than 200 performances across the Toledo Symphony, Toledo Ballet, and Toledo Jazz Orchestra, the season brings together major orchestral repertoire, nationally recognized guest artists, and a full range of programming designed to connect with audiences throughout the region.
A centerpiece of the season is the return of violinist Joshua Bell in March 2027, performing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto alongside the “Eroica” Symphony, a program placing Toledo firmly on the national stage.
Following its move into the newly transformed Toledo Center for Live Arts last season, Live Arts Toledo is now fully activating the space, delivering on its vision to bring the region together through the performing arts. Each week, hundreds of students, artists, staff, and community members are in the building, with a growing number of performances and public events taking place there as well.
“Live Arts Toledo stands for the moments that unite us, challenge us, and stay with us long after the performance ends,” reflected Zak Vassar, CEO of Live Arts Toledo. “The 26/27 Season captures that spirit, with Joshua Bell’s return honoring Beethoven’s legacy and a growing creative home at the Toledo Center for Live Arts that is alive with learning, collaboration, and artistic ambition.”
RITA BARBOUR KERN MASTERWORKS SERIES
The Rita Barbour Kern Masterworks Series showcases the Toledo Symphony, with large-scale orchestral experiences, including Music Director Alain Trudel leading the season-opening Pines of Rome, Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, and a performance of Verdi’s Requiem with the UMS Choral Union.
In March, TSO welcomes violinist Joshua Bell back to Toledo for a one-night-only performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. On the heels of multiple sold-out performances this season, Masterworks Series season subscribers are first in line to secure seats to this, and all Masterworks programs.
Other programs throughout the season include Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, Dvořák’s “New World Symphony,” Vivaldi’s Four Seasons paired with Piazzolla, Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, and Strauss’ Alpine Symphony. Guest artists include Jon Nakamatsu, Blake Pouliot, Lara Downes, and Sir Stephen Hough.
KEYBANK POPS SERIES
The KeyBank Pops Series blends symphonic sound with popular favorites, through programs with broader musical styles. The season opens with Tower of Power, bringing one of the most distinctive horn-driven sounds in popular music to The Peristyle. Known for precision, groove, and an unmistakable brass section, this collaboration highlights the power and scale of a full symphony working alongside an iconic band.
Cody Fry makes his Toledo Symphony debut, bringing his unique blend of pop and orchestral style that has been drawing a fast-growing, younger fanbase into the concert hall. His music has taken off online, and this performance offers a chance to hear it live with full orchestral forces for the first time in Toledo.
Additional KeyBank Pops Series programs include Secret Agent Soundtracks, Phantom’s Favorite Divas, The Music of Queen, and Toledo’s annual Holiday Pops! concert.
HARTMANN•BOGAN FINANCIAL PLANNING JAZZ SERIES
The Hartmann•Bogan Financial Planning Jazz Series continues to build momentum, with the Toledo Jazz Orchestra performing to the fastest-growing audience base across Live Arts Toledo’s programming. Under the artistic direction of Alain Trudel, the series highlights the precision, style, and range of the ensemble, with programs that move from virtuoso-led performances to the core traditions of big band and vocal jazz. Trumpeter Wayne Bergeron opens the season with a program built around the clarity, power, and control that has made him one of the most respected lead players in the field, paired with the full force of the TJO.
The holiday season returns to The Peristyle with A Sinatra Christmas, following this season’s sold-out holiday program and building on that momentum with a program centered on the style, phrasing, and swing of the Sinatra tradition, featuring vocalist Tony DeSare.
Later in the season, pianist Theron Brown leads a program celebrating Art Tatum, Toledo native and one of the most influential pianists in jazz history. Brown brings that legacy back to Toledo and connecting a global figure in jazz to the city where Tatum’s sound first took shape. Ladies of Song welcomes vocalist Joan Ellison to showcase the voices that defined the Great American Songbook, while Architects of Swing closes the series with a focus on the bandleaders and arrangers who shaped the sound and structure of the swing era.
BUCKEYE BROADBAND & THE BLADE CHAMBER SERIES
The Buckeye Broadband & The Blade Chamber Series offers five intimate concerts curated and performed by Toledo Symphony musicians in the Robert Bell Studio at the Toledo Center for Live Arts. Designed for a closer connection between artists and audience, these programs highlight the detail, interplay, and clarity that define chamber music.
The series includes a range of repertoire spanning classical foundations and newer perspectives, with programs such as Haydn, Mozart & Stravinsky, Death and the Maiden, and From Rio to Vienna, each shaped directly by the musicians of the Toledo Symphony.
THE ANDERSONS INC. CHARITABLE FOUNDATION FAMILY SERIES
The Andersons Inc. Charitable Foundation Family Series brings families together for performances designed to be engaging, interactive, and easy to enjoy across ages.
The series includes Toledo Ballet’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, a returning Toledo Halloween tradition, along with When Instruments Roamed the Earth, an interactive concert that introduces the instruments of the orchestra.
The season concludes with Toledo Ballet’s Don Quixote, a lively production filled with humor, character, and high-energy, offering a fun and accessible way to experience ballet as a family.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Toledo Ballet’s 86th annual presentation of The Nutcracker, recently expanded to offer four performances, will be the first in the newly-renovated Stranahan Theater. The longest-running annual production of The Nutcracker in North America will once again delight audiences with dazzling choreography by Eric Otto and Tchaikovsky’s iconic score performed live by the Toledo Symphony.
In addition to The Nutcracker, the season also includes Handel’s Messiah, another long-standing Toledo holiday tradition, performed in the awe-inspiring setting of Toledo’s Rosary Cathedral.
SUBSCRIBE
Subscriptions to the Rita Barbour Kern Masterworks Series, KeyBank Pops Series, Buckeye Broadband & The Blade Chamber Series, Hartmann•Bogan Financial Planning Jazz Series, and The Andersons Inc. Charitable Foundation Family Series are on sale now by calling the Live Arts Toledo Box Office at 419-246-8000. You can also visit liveartstoledo.com/subscribe to learn more and explore the full series lineup.
Tickets for Handel's Messiah and The Nutcracker may also be added on to any subscription at this time. Single tickets for all 2026-2027 Season performances go on sale on Tuesday, July 21, 2026.
RENEW
Current season subscribers are invited to renew their subscriptions by calling the Live Arts Toledo Box Office at 419-246-8000.
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ABOUT LIVE ARTS TOLEDO
Live Arts Toledo, formerly the Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), is the region’s hub for live performance, cultural education, and community connection. Bringing together the Toledo Symphony, Toledo Ballet, Toledo Jazz Orchestra, Toledo Symphony School of Music, and Toledo Symphony Youth Orchestras, Live Arts Toledo presents more than 200 nights of programming each year, offering unforgettable experiences that stir the senses and strengthen the cultural fabric of Northwest Ohio.
ABOUT TOLEDO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Toledo Symphony Orchestra is a community-supported organization of professional musicians and teachers who deliver quality performance and music education for all. Formed in 1943 as The Friends of Music and incorporated in 1951 as the Toledo Orchestra Association, Inc., TSO has grown from a core group of twenty-two part-time musicians to a professional orchestra that employs seventy professional full-time musicians.
The Toledo Symphony reaches more than 260,000 individuals annually through performances and education programs. The TSO’s series concerts (Masterworks, Pops, Chamber, and Family Series) are the critical underpinning of the orchestra’s artistic mission and regularly draw people from 135 postal zip codes. Education programs, student performances, and community concerts are held in schools, neighborhood churches, performing arts centers, and community facilities throughout the region; many are offered at no charge or provided at a reduced fee to help expand participation.
ABOUT TOLEDO BALLET
Toledo Ballet inspires the passions and spirit of the Toledo community through dance. Toledo Ballet provides quality dance instruction and exceptional performance opportunities to over 250 students throughout northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan annually.
Founded in 1939 by Marie Bollinger Vogt, Toledo Ballet continues to offer quality dance education spanning all ages and ability levels. Classes include ballet, contemporary, tap, tumbling, and Adaptive Dance, a unique class providing those with special needs an opportunity to learn to move in ways that come naturally to them. Acting, voice, musical theater, and conditioning are also offered at the school. In addition, Toledo Ballet brings in world-renowned, professional dancers each year to lead its summer intensive programs, drawing students from across the region seeking to advance their skills.
Toledo Ballet students have competed at the national and international level, including the Youth American Grand Prix (YAGP), the world’s largest international student ballet competition, and many have pursued dance professionally at some of the most prestigious ballet institutions in the nation, including New York City Ballet, Chicago Ballet, and Cincinnati Ballet.
ABOUT THE TOLEDO JAZZ ORCHESTRA
Since 1979, the Toledo Jazz Orchestra has worked with dozens of industry legends, including Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Williams, Clark Terry, and Zoot Sims. This 18-member group also performs the works of the major big bands from the past eight decades along with arrangements commissioned specifically for the orchestra. The Toledo Jazz Orchestra has two albums to its credit titled “Groovin’” and “Out of Nowhere.”
Media Contact: Emily McCready, Marketing Manager, 419.418.0122, emccready@liveartstoledo.com
