The Fresno State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Dr. Thomas Loewenheim, opens its 2026-27 season with works by Johannes Brahms and Edward Elgar at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, at the Fresno State Concert Hall. Tickets range from $15 to $25. Fresno State students can get one free ticket at the box office one hour before the concert.
The concert features the “Academic Festival Overture” by Brahms, which includes popular tunes such as “Gaudeamus Igitur” and parts of the “Rákóczi March.” Brahms dedicated the piece to the University of Breslau in gratitude for an honorary doctorate awarded in 1879. The orchestra will also perform Elgar’s Symphony No. 1, which conductor Hans Richter called ‘the greatest symphony of modern times’ when he premiered it in 1908. The symphony has four movements connected by a melody that ends in victorious triumph.
