As part of our 2026 Guide to the Arts in PRIME Magazine, correspondent Greg Carannante offers his Critic’s Picks for the best in classical music shows coming up in South Florida.. Want to see the full issue? Click here.

Symphony of the Americas

The Sound of Freedom, Nov. 15 and Nov. 17, Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Fort Lauderdale, browardcenter.org

With America’s 250th birthday as a backdrop, Maestro Luke Frazier will lead the orchestra through a historical showcase of the country’s great works. The program will also recreate iconic moments when music played a pivotal role in fostering American ideals — such as Marian Anderson’s performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Guest artists and choral vocalists also will be featured in a shared celebration of the power of music to unite us.

New World Symphony Orchestra

Disney’s Fantasia in Concert, Jan. 9, Knight Concert Hall, Miami, arshtcenter.org

Could there be a more perfect marriage of cinema and orchestral music than Disney’s “Fantasia”? And similarly, could there be a more perfect iteration of today’s trend in film screenings accompanied by live orchestras than the symphony’s program on this night? Anthony Parnther will conduct the orchestra in a live-to-film performance featuring animated segments and musical highlights from both the original “Fantasia” (1940) and “Fantasia 2000.” Parnther should feel at home on the podium. He brings a host of impressive scoring credits, ranging from “Oppenheimer” to “Encanto” to “The Mandalorian.”

Yo-Yo Ma will be performing in both West Palm Beach and Miami. (Brantley Gutierrez/Courtesy)Yo-Yo Ma will be performing in both West Palm Beach and Miami. (Brantley Gutierrez/Courtesy)
Yo-Yo Ma

Jan. 10, Knight Concert Hall, Miami, arshtcenter.org. Also, Jan. 11, Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, West Palm Beach, kravis.org

The world’s most famous cellist — who in over six decades has won 20 Grammy Awards and recorded 120 albums — will grace the Knight stage for the first time in nine years. His sphere of influence, however, has transcended the classical idiom for much longer than that — from collaborations with global and bluegrass musicians to, at perhaps its farthest flung, the inspiration for Kramer’s tic on “Seinfeld.” He is collaborating with American pianist Solon Gordon, who, incidentally, also happens to be a software engineer.

South Florida Symphony Orchestra

Jan. 20, The Parker, Fort Lauderdale, parkerplayhouse.com

Arguably the most famous four notes in musical history will set the dramatic tone for the orchestra’s first concert of the new year. Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony will be bookended by the intensity of Mozart’s “Overture to Don Giovanni.” In between, the Masterworks program will feature rising star Nina Bernat in the soloist spotlight. The petite double bassist, whose instrument stands nearly a foot above her, will perform Esmail’s “Perhaps” and Bottesini’s Double Bass Concerto No. 2. Maestra Sebrina María Alfonso will conduct.

The Cleveland Orchestra

Jan. 23, Knight Concert Hall, Miami, arshtcenter.org

If you are a fan of the Fifth, you are in luck. Only three days after the South Florida Symphony’s performance, Beethoven’s epic work will be performed by the orchestra regarded as perhaps the country’s finest. The piece will climax a Beethoven-intensive program that will open with Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3 and include Richard Strauss’s “Metamorphosen,” which borrows from Beethoven’s symphonies. Music director Franz Welser-Möst will conduct the orchestra during its annual South Florida visit.

Palm Beach Symphony Orchestra

Pianist Daniil Trifonov, Feb. 10, Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, West Palm Beach, kravis.org

A Daniil Trifonov performance is an intrinsic experience. It’s as if he is playing from inside the music and he’s taken you there with him. To the dismay of piano teachers the world over, he hunches over the keyboard, almost close enough to kiss it at the most intense articulations of his astonishing technique. The Grammy winner’s intensity will be well-served when he takes the Kravis stage to perform Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor. Maestro Gerard Schwarz also will lead the Symphony in Anna Clyne’s “Masquerade” and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 6 in D Major.