KGOSI DAY VENTURE PROJECT
MERIDIAN PHILHARMONIC
SEASON SIXTY-SEVEN
2026 - 2027
A Season
Between the
Waters.
Eight concerts, September through May, from our home. The sixty-seventh season since we started, and the smallest fully-professional philharmonic in the region.
OPENING NIGHT
Saturday
27 September 2026
Beethoven / Boulanger / Grieg
with Zara Ilic, violin
THE 2026-27 SEASON
Eight concerts,
in order of performance.
I / VIII
27
SEPTEMBER
SATURDAY, 2026
Beethoven
Opening Night
PROGRAM
Beethoven - Symphony No. 7 in A major
Boulanger - D'un matin de printemps
Grieg - Violin Concerto (arr. Halvorsen)
GUEST ARTIST
Zara Ilic, violin
VENUE
Waverley Hall, Providence
7:30 PM / Doors 6:45
SOLD OUT / RETURNS ONLY
II / VIII
18
OCTOBER
SUNDAY, 2026
Brahms
Autumn Voices
PROGRAM
Brahms Symphony No. 3, Clara Schumann selected songs, Sibelius En saga
WITH
Aletta Voss, mezzo-soprano
Waverley Hall, Providence / 7:30 PM
III / VIII
15
NOVEMBER
SUNDAY, 2026
Ravel
Ravel by Firelight
PROGRAM
Ravel Piano Concerto in G, Debussy La Mer, Poulenc Sinfonietta
WITH
Julien Marceau, piano
Waverley Hall, Providence / 7:30 PM
IV / VIII
13
DECEMBER
SUNDAY, 2026
Bach
A Winter Sacred
PROGRAM
Bach Christmas Oratorio (selections), Handel Messiah selections, Part Fratres
WITH
Meridian Chorus and soloists
Trinity Cathedral, Providence / 7:00 PM
V / VIII
24
JANUARY
SUNDAY, 2027
Nielsen
Nordic Air
PROGRAM
Nielsen Symphony No. 5, Sibelius Lemminkainen Suite, Grieg Holberg Suite
WITH
The Meridian Philharmonic
Waverley Hall, Providence / 7:30 PM
VI / VIII
21
FEBRUARY
SUNDAY, 2027
Mahler
The Slow Movement
PROGRAM
Mahler Symphony No. 4 in G major
WITH
Lise Karvel, soprano
Waverley Hall, Providence / 7:30 PM
VII / VIII
21
MARCH
SUNDAY, 2027
New Work
Young Composers
PROGRAM
World premieres from Yee, Rowe and Idris. Copland Appalachian Spring.
WITH
Three commissioned premieres
Waverley Hall, Providence / 3:00 PM matinee
VIII / VIII
9
MAY
SUNDAY, 2027
Beethoven
The Ninth
PROGRAM
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor
WITH
Chorus, soloists, and orchestra
Waverley Hall, Providence / 7:00 PM
MUSIC DIRECTOR SINCE 2018
Julian
Arendt.
Named to Meridian at 34, Arendt is the orchestra's youngest music director since its founding in 1959.
Previously an assistant conductor at the Cleveland Orchestra, a founding member of the Aldeburgh Festival Orchestra, and a Solti Foundation Award recipient in 2016, Arendt arrived in Providence with a reputation for programming that pairs core repertoire with the work of living composers.
Under his direction, Meridian has commissioned twenty-one new works, launched the Young Composers program, and returned to touring after a two-decade pause. His recordings of Nielsen and Sibelius on the Meridian Recordings imprint received the 2024 Diapason d'Or.
STUDIED
Curtis Institute of Music
Royal Academy of Music, London
HONORS
Diapason d'Or, 2024
Solti Foundation Award, 2016
REPRESENTED BY
Askonas Holt, London
THREE COMMITMENTS
Every season,
every night, without exception.
I
Artistry
The highest musical standards, at every desk. Continuous development for every player through the length of their tenure. Programming that pairs the canon with the composers who are alive today.
II
Community
Free family concerts on the first Saturday of every month. A partnership with every public music program in the state of Rhode Island. Reduced-price student subscriptions to every concert, all season, without exception.
III
Legacy
A permanent commitment to commissioning three new works every season, and to a recorded archive of every Meridian performance for the state musical library. The next century begins with what we play tonight.
THE ORCHESTRA
Founded in 1959, above
a bookshop in Providence.
84
MUSICIANS ON ROSTER
30
CONCERTS EACH SEASON
21
COMMISSIONS SINCE 2018
940
SEATS AT WAVERLEY HALL
Nine musicians who refused to leave Rhode Island after the closure of the Providence Municipal Orchestra rehearsed above a Wickenden Street bookshop through the summer of 1959. The autumn concerts they gave in a rented ballroom that October became the Meridian Philharmonic.
Sixty-seven seasons on, we are the smallest fully-professional philharmonic in New England, and we have chosen to stay that way.
The Waverley Hall has been our home since 1974. It seats nine hundred and forty. It is small enough that every seat is a good seat, and large enough that we can afford to program the whole nineteenth-century repertoire.
Every musician on our roster teaches privately or in the schools. Every season includes at least one commissioned work by a New England composer. Every Providence public-school student attends at least one Meridian concert before the age of twelve.
BECOME A PATRON
Every ticket covers half
of what a seat costs.
Everything else is a gift from the community. A donation at any of the following levels sustains the orchestra, our musicians, and the free education programs we run across the state.
LEVEL I
$150
Friend
Named recognition in every program and priority access to season ticket renewals.
LEVEL II
$500
Sustainer
Above, and invitation to two open dress rehearsals and one post-concert reception each season.
LEVEL III
$1,500
Circle
Above, and a private conversation with the Music Director each season.
LEVEL IV
$5,000
Benefactor
Above, and co-commissioning credit on one new work each season.
BOX OFFICE / INQUIRIES
Waverley Street,
Providence.
The box office opens Tuesday through Saturday, twelve to eighteen, and one hour before every performance. Season subscriptions and single tickets on sale now.
WAVERLEY HALL
218 Waverley Street
Providence, Rhode Island 02906
BOX OFFICE
(401) 555 4728
boxoffice@meridianphil.org
ADMINISTRATION
(401) 555 4700
info@meridianphil.org
Send a note
For subscriptions, group bookings, press inquiries, and partnerships.
Thank you. We will respond within one working day.
MERIDIAN PHILHARMONIC
Founded 1959, Providence, Rhode Island
A 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization