SEATTLE, Washington, Nov. 9, 2026. Seattle Symphony audiences walking into Benaroya Hall this season are noticing the building before the first note. The hall reopened in September after a $20 million renovation, and the orchestra's new year gets under way there with pianist Emanuel Ax joining Xian Zhang for Haydn and Mozart on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2027 at 7:30 PM and Saturday, Jan. 30 at 8:00 PM.

Those concerts begin a stretch of programs that runs through the spring and into summer, with violinist Gil Shaham in April and Mahler's Fourth Symphony in June.

A refreshed home for an old orchestra

The Seattle Symphony was founded in 1903 and spent most of the 20th century moving between halls before Benaroya Hall opened in 1998 as its first purpose-built home. The 2026 renovation was the most significant work on the building since then. The orchestra unveiled it at its season-opening concert in September, and it followed with a free daylong open house in October aimed at bringing new audiences downtown.

Much of the change is in the public spaces rather than the auditorium. Seattle Refined's look at the refresh describes new food and drink areas, a cafe and gathering spaces meant to keep people in the building before and after concerts. The season also marks the arrival of a new president and CEO, Jeremy Rothman.

The main room, the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium, was designed with acoustics as the first priority. It is a shoebox-style hall with seating wrapped around the stage, and it was built on isolation pads to keep out the noise and vibration of the transit tunnel that runs beneath downtown.

Emanuel Ax, Haydn and Mozart in January

Ax has spent decades as one of the most trusted Mozart and Haydn interpreters in the concert world, and his appearances are often quiet affairs in the best sense: clear playing, no showmanship, close listening between soloist and orchestra. With Zhang on the podium, the late-January programs pair the two Classical composers in a format that suits Benaroya's clarity. Dates and the full season calendar are on the guide page for Seattle Symphony at Benaroya Hall.

Ax was born in Lviv and spent part of his childhood in Winnipeg before his family settled in New York. He won the first Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in 1974 and has recorded widely since, including a long chamber music partnership with cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

Zhang, who leads the orchestra, conducts many of the season's main programs, including The Sounds of Spain in February, Scheherazade in March and Grieg's Peer Gynt in April.

Later in the season

The calendar after January mixes core repertoire with film and popular programs. A few highlights from the listings:

Film-with-orchestra nights draw a different crowd. Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times plays with live score on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 7:30 PM, Saturday, Feb. 27 at 8:00 PM and Sunday, Feb. 28 at 2:00 PM, and Star Wars: A New Hope in Concert closes the listed season July 9 through 11.

The orchestra's history gives the core concerts some weight. Under Gerard Schwarz, music director from 1985 to 2011, it became one of the most recorded orchestras in the country. Later, John Luther Adams's Become Ocean, a piece the orchestra commissioned and premiered, won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2014. The orchestra's recording of it drew attention from Taylor Swift, who donated $50,000 to the orchestra in 2015 after hearing it.

Getting downtown

Benaroya Hall fills a block at 200 University St., between Second and Third avenues. Link light rail stops directly beneath it at Symphony Station, which makes transit the easiest choice on concert nights. The venue guide recommends arriving early to allow time for security checks and finding seats. Several garages operate nearby, including below the hall, though rates and hours change for events. Third Avenue, along the hall's east side, is also one of downtown's main bus corridors, and weekday traffic can still be heavy close to a 7:30 PM start.

The Seattle Art Museum is across the street, and Pike Place Market is a few blocks downhill toward the water, so dinner before a weekend concert is easy to arrange. Afternoon concerts at 2:00 PM leave time for the market afterward.

The full calendar of orchestra concerts, recitals and touring shows is on the Benaroya Hall schedule, an independent ticket guide and not the hall's box office.

About Benaroya Hall

Benaroya Hall is a concert venue in downtown Seattle and the home of the Seattle Symphony. Opened in 1998 and renovated in 2026, it contains the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium and a smaller recital hall, and it hosts orchestral concerts, recitals, film-with-orchestra programs and visiting artists throughout the year.