The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony opened its 2026-27 season on September 26, 2026, with Masterworks 1: Beauty and Power at Centre In The Square. Fifteen more performances follow before the finale on May 16, 2027 and the next one is close. On October 16, the orchestra begins a three-night run of Baroque & Beyond concerts in Waterloo, Cambridge and Guelph. This guide covers every concert, conductor, soloist and programme across the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, alongside where to get tickets.
Here’s our deep-dive into the 2026-2027 Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony season and all you need to know.
The Basic of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony’s 2026-27 Season
The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony 2026-27 season is a 16-performance orchestral programme running from September 26, 2026, to May 16, 2027.
It is organized into four series:
- Masterworks
- Pops
- Baroque & Beyond
- Family
Performances are split between Centre In The Square in Kitchener and smaller venues in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Guelph.
A Brief History: From a Choir Accompanist to a Rebuilt Orchestra
The 2026-27 programme only makes sense against what the orchestra has been through.
The KITCHENER-WATERLOO SYMPHONY is a long-standing institution, but it is also, in its own words, building the organization anew. The symphony was founded in 1945.
Its original purpose was to accompany the Grand Philharmonic Choir. That link has lasted. The Grand Philharmonic Choir and Children’s Choir appear on this season’s Yuletide Pops programme.
In September 2023, the orchestra cancelled its 2023-24 season four days before it was set to begin, then filed for bankruptcy. The entire board of directors resigned. The organization’s own statement at the time said roughly $2 million in funding was needed to proceed, and it blamed a sharp post-pandemic rise in costs.
The musicians did not let the orchestra disappear. They contacted the symphony’s foundation and creditors, and built a new board chaired by retired arts administrator Bill Poole. The Superior Court of Ontario approved the proposal to creditors, annulling the bankruptcy, in October 2024. During the 2024-25 season, concerts were presented at St. Matthews Lutheran Church in Kitchener, with many musicians hosting smaller community concerts.
The full relaunch came with the 2025-26 “Resurrection” season. It opened on September 13, 2025, with Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2 conducted by Andrei Feher, and included 19 performances.
Jason Doell was later named executive director, with James Sommerville also as the symphony’s artistic advisor.
The 2026-27 season marks a further step. Centre In The Square’s season announcement described the KITCHENER-WATERLOO SYMPHONY growing its presence at the venue with five orchestral performances.
Presale tickets went first to CentreStage Members from May 27 to June 7, 2026, with public sales opening June 8.
The orchestra also held a season launch celebration on June 23, 2026, in the Centre’s atrium, with a performance by KITCHENER-WATERLOO SYMPHONY musicians.
Masterworks Series at Centre In The Square
The Masterworks series is the symphonic core of the season.
All four concerts take place in the Raffi Armenian Theatre at Centre In The Square, 101 Queen Street North, Kitchener, at 7:30 p.m.
The Centre’s main theatre carries the name of Raffi Armenian, the conductor who led the orchestra when the venue was built. The hall seats about 2,000.
Masterworks 1: Beauty and Power (September 26, 2026)
Conductor Andrei Feher opened the series with a programme of three contrasting works:
- Dobrinka Tabakova’s Sun Triptych
- Dvořák’s Serenade in D Minor
- Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, the Eroica.
Tabakova’s piece is contemporary, and is described as radiant and rich in texture. Dvořák’s serenade is a wind-focused work, so it gives the orchestra’s woodwind section a showcase.
The Eroica has been central to the repertoire since its first performances in the early 1800s. It closes the evening.
This concert has already taken place.
Masterworks 2: Solace (January 23, 2027)
Conductor Naomi Woo leads the second Masterworks concert, a programme the KITCHENER-WATERLOO SYMPHONY frames around remembrance and emotional resilience.
- Brahms’s Nänie
- Caroline Shaw’s Entr’acte
- Jocelyn Morlock’s My Name is Amanda Todd
- Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5.
Brahms wrote Nänie in 1881 as a meditation on loss. The score is traditionally performed with chorus, but the KITCHENER-WATERLOO SYMPHONY has not named a choir for this concert as of yet, so audiences should watch for an announcement.
Shaw’s Entr’acte is the programme’s stylistic outlier. It can be described as a delicate sound world inspired by classical form and modern expression.
Morlock’s piece is a Canadian work addressing the memory of Amanda Todd, a young person whose story became widely known. It is a work about memory and compassion.
Tchaikovsky’s Fifth closes the night, a symphony of struggle that ends in hope, which fits the evening’s arc.
Masterworks 3: Folk Dances (February 13, 2027)
Cosette Justo Valdés conducts the third concert, with violinist Erika Raum as soloist.
The programme is the most geographically wide-ranging of the series. It opens with Ravel’s Alborada del gracioso, then moves to Kodály’s Dances of Galánta. Raum joins the orchestra for Bartók’s Rhapsody No. 1 and Rhapsody No. 2, both written for violin and built on folk-inspired melodies.
The second half brings Amadeo Roldán’s La Rebambaramba, a Cuban work, and selections from Manuel de Falla’s The Three-Cornered Hat. Falla’s score began as a ballet in 1919.
The result is a concert that travels from Spain to Hungary to Cuba in a single evening.
For listeners who find a heavy German symphony a hard sell, this is likely the most approachable Masterworks night.
Masterworks 4: The Journey Home (May 15, 2027)
Evan Mitchell conducts the season’s final Masterworks concert, with soprano Rachel Krehm as soloist.
This is a programme of adventure, reflection and return. It opens with Austin Wintory’s music from the video game Journey, an atmospheric score from 2012. That is an unusual choice for a symphony subscription, and a deliberate one.
Krehm then joins the orchestra for Ryan Trew’s Come Closer Song Cycle. She is a soprano and librettist, so she wrote the words as well as singing them.
The programme ends with Brahms’s Symphony No. 2 in D major, warm and lyrical, a fitting piece for a concert built around homecoming.
Pops Series: Holiday and Opera Favourites
The Pops series has two concerts, each in a different venue. Yuletide Pops fills the big hall in December, while Opera Pops moves to St. Matthews Centre in March.
Yuletide Pops (December 19, 2026)
Conductor Martin MacDonald leads the holiday concert at Centre In The Square at 7:30 p.m.
The Grand Philharmonic Choir and the Grand Philharmonic Children’s Choir are listed as guests.
The programme is a mix of orchestral and seasonal pieces. It includes a Christmas Overture, Musical Sleigh Ride, a concert suite from The Polar Express, Chanukah Festival Overture, The Hockey Sweater, Sleigh Ride, holiday songs from Home Alone, Star Carol, Christmas Morning and “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch.”
The evening ends with a Yuletide Singalong. The Centre’s event page notes that additional special guests and soloists are still to be announced.
The Chanukah Festival Overture is worth noting. Many orchestral holiday concerts skip Hanukkah repertoire entirely, so its inclusion widens the programme’s appeal.
Opera Pops (March 20, 2027)
Opera Pops moves the Pops series to St. Matthews Centre, 54 Benton Street, Kitchener. The concert starts at 7:30 p.m.
Emerging Canadian conductor Monica Chen leads the orchestra. Tenor Angelo Moretti and soprano Elena Howard-Scott are the guest soloists.
This is a programme of operatic drama: triumph and tragedy, jealousy and revenge, love and longing. Composers named include Puccini, Verdi and Bellini, with “many more of your favourites” promised.
This is the only concert of the season with a full seven-tier seating chart at a church venue. Prices run from $28.25 in Section G to $135.60 in Section A, all including HST and before fees.
*Please note that students buy separately from non-students, apply the discount code STUDENT50 at checkout and show valid student ID at the door.
Baroque & Beyond Series: Three Programmes in Three Cities
Baroque & Beyond is the series that makes the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony a regional orchestra rather than a one-venue one.
Each of its three programmes plays three times: Friday in Waterloo or Kitchener, Saturday in Cambridge and Sunday afternoon in Guelph. All concerts use general admission seating. Ticketscene lists a maximum capacity of 300 per performance, so these rooms are intimate. General admission is $56.50 including HST, plus fees. Student tickets are $22.60, available to high-school and post-secondary students with valid ID.
Baroque & Beyond 1: Shift, Change, Turn (October 16-18, 2026)
Conductor Léa Moisan-Perrier and soprano Aemilia Moser headline the first programme.
The works are:
- Emilie Mayer’s Overture No. 2 in D Major
- Emily Doolittle’s A Short Slow Life
- Jessie Montgomery’s Shift, Change, Turn
- Mozart’s Symphony No. 39.
The programme pairs a 19th-century composer with three others. Mayer was a German Romantic composer whose orchestral music is only recently returning to concert halls.
Doolittle is Canadian, and Montgomery is a contemporary American composer whose work gives the programme its title. Mozart’s Symphony No. 39 is the anchor.
The evening is framed as classical and contemporary works that challenge and inspire. The three performances are:
- Friday, October 16, at 7:30 p.m., at Knox Presbyterian Church, 50 Erb Street West, Waterloo.
- Saturday, October 17, at 7:30 p.m., at Central Presbyterian Church, 7 Queens Square, Cambridge.
- Sunday, October 18, at 2:30 p.m., at Harcourt Memorial United Church, 87 Dean Avenue, Guelph.
Baroque & Beyond 2: Moving Pictures (January 8-10, 2027)
Conductor James Sommerville, the KITCHENER-WATERLOO SYMPHONY artistic advisor, leads the second programme. CBC Radio’s Tom Allen hosts.
These works inspired by, or referring to, visual artworks and literature. The programme includes Nicholas Korndorf’s The Smile of Maud Lewis, Ottorino Respighi’s Botticelli Triptych and Maurice Ravel’s Ma Mère l’Oye.
Maud Lewis is the Nova Scotia folk painter, so the opening piece has a clear Canadian reference point. Respighi’s triptych responds to three Botticelli paintings, and Ravel’s suite draws on fairy tales.
This is the one Baroque & Beyond programme where the Kitchener performance moves to St. Matthews Centre, 54 Benton Street. The three dates are:
- Friday, January 8, at 7:30 p.m., at St. Matthews Centre, Kitchener.
- Saturday, January 9, at 7:30 p.m., at Central Presbyterian Church, Cambridge.
- Sunday, January 10, at 2:30 p.m., at Harcourt Memorial United Church, Guelph.
Baroque & Beyond 3: How Suite It Is (April 30 to May 2, 2027)
David Fallis conducts the final programme. It explores Baroque melodies and contemporary reflections.
The works are Henry Purcell’s Suite from The Fairy Queen, J.S. Bach’s Suite No. 3, Handel’s Water Music Suite No. 2, Andrew Balfour’s Pyotr’s Dream and Tchaikovsky’s Serenade in C major.
Bach’s Suite No. 3 is the one containing the famous Air.
Handel’s Water Music suites were written for open-air performance, and the Tchaikovsky serenade brings the programme into the Romantic era.
The dates are:
- Friday, April 30, at Knox Presbyterian Church in Waterloo
- Saturday, May 1, at Central Presbyterian Church in Cambridge
- Sunday, May 2, at Harcourt Memorial United Church in Guelph.
*Please note that evening concerts start at 7:30 p.m. and the Sunday matinee at begins at 2:30 pm.
Family Series: The Gull, the Raccoon, and the Last Maple
The Family series has one concert, and it is a new work.
The Gull, the Raccoon, and the Last Maple by Abigail Richardson-Schulte is a contemporary fable for baroque orchestra and narrator.
The piece is inspired by the need for collaboration in the face of climate change. Amanda Cordner is the narrator, and Evan Mitchell is conductor.
The concert is on Sunday, May 16, 2027, at 2:30 p.m., at St. Matthews Centre. Doors open at 2:00 pm. General admission is $28.25 including HST, plus fees, and seating is not assigned. There is a capacity of 470. By far, this is the cheapest ticket in the season outside of student prices.
Tickets and Pricing: Where to Buy
The season uses two ticketing systems. Which one applies depends on the venue.
Centre In The Square concerts
Masterworks 1-4 and Yuletide Pops are sold by Centre In The Square through KW Tickets. Tickets can be bought online, by phone or in person.
The box office is at 101 Queen Street North, Kitchener. Phone orders go to (519) 578-1570 or 1-800-265-8977.
Regular hours are Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. On show days the office stays open until 30 minutes past curtain. On Sunday and holiday show days, it opens two hours before the performance.
The Masterworks 1 page and the Yuletide Pops page list four all-in price levels. Level 1 is $107.75, Level 2 is $96.75, Level 3 is $85.25 and Level 4 is $73.75.
Each price includes a $5 charge labelled CRF and a service fee of $9.75 to $13.75, depending on level. Prices for Masterworks 2, 3 and 4 should be confirmed on each event page before purchase.
All sales are final. Refunds are issued only for cancelled or postponed events, and in that case cover face value plus fees.
The Centre warns against third-party resellers, saying unauthorized sellers often charge double or triple. Tickets from those sources cannot be refunded or supported by the venue.
For accessible seating, the event pages direct patrons to call KW Tickets at 519-578-1570 or 1-800-265-8977.
Baroque & Beyond, Opera Pops and Family concerts
These concerts are sold through Ticketscene.
Tickets are issued as eTickets, which buyers can print from their Ticketscene account. Seating at the church concerts is general admission, apart from the sectioned Opera Pops chart.
The terms are firm. Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony tickets bought through Ticketscene are final sale and non-refundable, except when an event is cancelled or rescheduled. In that case, only the face value is refunded, not the service fees.
Online sales close shortly before each concert.
The cutoff for the Waterloo performance of Shift, Change, Turn, for example, is 4:59 p.m. on the day, unless it sells out first.
Bundles & Discounts to the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony 2026-2027 Season
Baroque & Beyond has a built-in bundle. Buying any three Baroque & Beyond concerts earns 15% off, applied automatically in the cart with no code required.
Three general admission tickets at $56.50 total $169.50, so the 15% discount brings that to roughly $144 before fees. The listings do not say whether the three concerts must be different programmes, so buyers should check the cart total.
See a 15% saving for buying three or more Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony concerts at Centre In The Square. The terms were not detailed in the sources reviewed, so confirm the conditions with the box office.
Student pricing is the other main saving. At Baroque & Beyond, students pay $22.60, less than half the general price, and Opera Pops uses the STUDENT50 code in four sections.
Planning Your Season: Who Should Buy What
The mix of series lets different listeners build different seasons. A few combinations stand out.
Listeners who want the traditional symphonic experience can buy the four Masterworks concerts. With Beauty and Power already past, three remain: Solace, Folk Dances and The Journey Home.
Those who prefer smaller rooms should follow Baroque & Beyond. The three programmes together offer works from Purcell and Bach through Mozart to living composers.
Anyone in Cambridge or Guelph has a clear advantage with this series, since the orchestra comes to them. Both cities have their own Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon performance of each programme.
Families have two obvious entry points. Yuletide Pops on December 19 is a holiday concert with a children’s choir, and the May 16 matinee is a narrated new work.
For opera newcomers, they have an easy introduction in Opera Pops. The concert runs on the best-known arias rather than a full staged production.
Will You Be Buying A Ticket to See the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony This Fall?
The 2026-27 season is the orchestra’s second full season since the bankruptcy was annulled. It offers 16 performances across four series, in five venues, over eight months.
For an orchestra that cancelled a season four days before opening night in 2023, a calendar this full is a notable result. Musicians, a rebuilt board and a returning audience made it happen.
There is something for every listener here. Folk Dances and The Journey Home suit those who want a full orchestra, Opera Pops suits first-time concertgoers, and the May 16 Family matinee suits parents. Church concerts hold only 300 people, so the best seats go early.
Ticket sales also help the orchestra continue. Each seat sold supports the musicians who rebuilt this organization, and it improves the case for a third full season.
