Toledo Ballet celebrates 85 years of The Nutcracker
Toledo Symphony highlights masterworks by Mahler, Berlioz, and Brahms
Toledo Jazz Orchestra opens with Arturo Sandoval
TOLEDO, OH – The Toledo Symphony Orchestra (TSO), Toledo Ballet, and Toledo Jazz Orchestra (TJO), together as the Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), today announced their dynamic 2025–2026 performance season. Season subscriptions are now available, with exclusive subscriber benefits including discounted pricing, priority seating, and free concert exchanges. The deadline to subscribe and retain 2024–2025 seats and pricing is June 10, 2025.
The 2025–2026 season is a celebration of artistry, tradition, and innovation—featuring major works by Berlioz, Mahler, Brahms, and Copland; dynamic performances from guest artists including Olga Kern, Angela Meade, Emilie-Claire Barlow, and Arturo Sandoval; and the milestone 85th annual presentation of The Nutcracker, the longest-running production in North America.
“This is a season filled with unforgettable moments,” says Alain Trudel, Music Director of the Toledo Symphony. “From Symphonie fantastique to Appalachian Spring, our audiences will experience the emotional power of music in every performance. My wonderful colleagues in the Toledo Symphony and I are thrilled to welcome extraordinary soloists, and I’m excited to continue growing our partnerships across music, dance, and jazz.”
RITA BARBOUR KERN MASTERWORKS SERIES
The Toledo Symphony’s Rita Barbour Kern Masterworks Series opens with Symphonie fantastique by Hector Berlioz and closes with Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring, offering a powerful emotional arc across the season. Other highlights include Gustav Mahler’s epic Symphony No. 6, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, and an all-Baroque program featuring works by Handel, Bach, and Stravinsky. Celebrated soprano Angela Meade joins the TSO for a stirring evening of vocal masterworks by Strauss, Wagner, and Beethoven. International piano sensations Olga Kern and Sara Davis Buechner return to Toledo to perform concertos by Brahms and Beethoven.
Several Masterworks programs are presented in connection with the nationwide America250 initiative, celebrating the lead-up to the United States’ 250th anniversary in 2026.
KEYBANK POPS SERIES
The KeyBank Pops Series blends symphonic sound with popular favorites, including the return of Evil Woman: An ELO Tribute, a new Led Zeppelin symphonic experience, and a magical journey From Toledo to Broadway with local star Sara Sheperd, known for her performance as Carole King in the national tour of Beautiful. Audiences will also enjoy the holiday favorite Christmas at the Peristyle, an ‘out-of-this-world" concert of Symphonic Sci-Fi, and an elegant Parisian-themed evening featuring jazz chanteuse Emilie-Claire Barlow.
HARTMANN BOGAN JAZZ SERIES
The Toledo Jazz Orchestra opens the Hartmann Bogan Jazz Series with a high-voltage performance by Kennedy Center honoree Arturo Sandoval, the legendary Cuban-American jazz trumpeter. Other Jazz Series highlights include A Charlie Brown Christmas, a swinging Count Basie tribute, and a celebration of the Great American Songbook with vocalist and trombonist Aubrey Logan. The season concludes with a genre-crossing performance by Ray Angry, acclaimed composer and keyboardist for The Roots.
BUCKEYE BROADBAND & THE BLADE CHAMBER SERIES
This season’s Buckeye Broadband & The Blade Chamber Series offers five intimate concerts curated by TSO musicians in the new Robert Bell Studio at the Toledo Center for Live Arts. Programs include A Ravel Birthday Celebration, Shostakovich & Schubert, and America @ 250.
THE ANDERSONS INC. FAMILY SERIES
The Andersons Inc. Charitable Foundation Family Series continues to inspire younger audiences, beginning with Toledo Ballet’s Halloween hit The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, followed by Dr. Seuss and the Symphony, and Toledo Ballet’s full-length spring production of Coppélia, a charming and comic ballet classic.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Toledo Ballet’s 85th annual presentation of The Nutcracker will once again delight audiences with dazzling choreography by Eric Otto and Tchaikovsky’s iconic score performed live by the Toledo Symphony. The production, held at the Stranahan Theater, remains the longest-running annual production of The Nutcracker in North America.
In addition to The Nutcracker, the season includes Handel’s Messiah at Rosary Cathedral and an Organ Spectacular celebrating the restored Skinner organ, featuring organist Todd Wilson and repertoire by Vierne, Debussy, and Jongen.
SUBSCRIBE
Subscriptions to the Rita Barbour Kern Masterworks Series, KeyBank Pops Series, Buckeye Broadband & The Blade Chamber Series, Hartmann Bogan Jazz Series, and The Andersons Inc. Charitable Family Foundation Series are on sale now by calling the TAPA Box Office at 419-246-8000 or by going to artstoledo.com/subscribe to view programs and purchase series subscriptions online. Tickets for Handel's Messiah and The Nutcracker may also be added on to any subscription at this time. Single tickets for all performances go on sale on Tuesday, July 29, 2025.
RENEW
Current season subscribers are invited to renew their subscriptions online at artstoledo.com/my-account. Once logged in, select the "Fixed Subscriptions" button and continue the prompted steps to accept the subscription renewal. Renewals can also be made by calling the TAPA Box Office at 419-246-8000.
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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., the Toledo Symphony Orchestra (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 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.” For more information about TJO, visit toledojazz.org.
ABOUT TOLEDO ALLIANCE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
On January 1, 2019, the Toledo Symphony and Toledo Ballet officially merged to form the Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), a non-profit organization dedicated to providing exceptional live music and dance performances and education for the region. TAPA welcomed the Toledo Jazz Orchestra as its third musical entity in 2024. This performing arts merger is one of only a few in the nation and promises to create new and invigorating programs, provide cost and revenue synergies in operations, and integrate the arts through shared educational missions. In 2025, TAPA opened the Toledo Center for Live Arts, a vibrant new home for performances, creativity, and collaboration.
