Ma will perform alongside pianist and Harmonium founder Jeffrey Kahane, former music director of the San Antonio Philharmonic. The concert takes place Nov. 16 at the Lila Cockrell Theatre downtown.
Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Aug. 24.
The program will feature Rachmaninoff’s Cello Sonata and Dvořák’s Cello Concerto as well as “Herencia,” written by Harmonium Composer-in-Residence Andrea Casarrubios.
Concerts for the orchestra’s first season featuring such big names as violinist Joshua Bell, pianist Emanuel Ax and cellist Tommy Mesa already had been announced.
An acclaimed pianist and conductor, Kahane was the first music director of the San Antonio Philharmonic, which was founded by musicians of the San Antonio Symphony after it folded in 2022. He resigned from the Philharmonic in February, halfway through his commitment to the orchestra. His departure from the Philharmonic was part of a tumultuous season that included the cancelation of much of the group’s concerts and several lawsuits.
Kahane announced the formation of Harmonium in May.
Another new addition to Harmonium’s first season is a performance in honor of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence featuring singer-songwriters Aoife O’Donovan and Gabriel Kahane, who is Jeffrey Kahane’s son. The Children’s Chorus of San Antonio will be part of that program, which will take place April 17, 2027, at the Charline McCombs Empire Theatre.
The season will close with a program including the Texas premiere of Enrico Chapela’s “Los Braceros,” a cantata/mini-opera for mariachi and orchestra dealing with the Mexican immigrant experience. It will take place June 6, 2027, at the Lila Cockrell Theatre.
Besides the additional concerts, Harmonium announced a program designed to support young Latino composers. Those selected will have the chance to be commissioned to compose a work for the orchestra’s second season.