Charlotte Symphony Pairs Schubert’s Ninth with Music of Fate and Reflection

Concert preview · October 16, 2026

A symphony concert can be approached as a sequence of changing perspectives. Next weekend at Knight Theater, Charlotte Symphony places a contemporary orchestral work, a vocal song cycle and a large-scale nineteenth-century symphony on the same program. For a newcomer, that variety offers several different ways into the evening.

What is on the program

Music Director Kwamé Ryan conducts Carlos Simon’s Fate Now Conquers, Gustav Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder and Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 9, known as The Great. Mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis joins the orchestra for Mahler’s song cycle.

The orchestra connects the program through ideas of fate and resilience. A useful listening approach is to notice how the scale changes: an orchestra speaking on its own, a solo voice in dialogue with the ensemble, then the extended span of Schubert’s symphony. You do not need to recognize every theme to follow a shift in texture or intensity.

Make room for the pre-concert talk

Performances are October 23 and 24 at 7:30 p.m., and October 25 at 3 p.m. The Symphony lists a talk one hour before each concert in the Wells Fargo Pre-Function Space. That is an opportunity to get context before taking your seat.

Official program, tickets and visitor details →

This preview is based on the orchestra’s published information, not an attended performance. Details checked October 16, 2026. Cover artwork: AI-generated orchestral still life, not a photograph of Charlotte Symphony or Knight Theater.