Symphonic Visions
“The Johnstown Symphony’s 98th Season: Symphonic Visions brings music to life through imagination, color, and bold ideas. From sweeping soundscapes to film scores and art-inspired works, this is a season that invites you to experience the orchestra in a fresh and exciting way.
You will hear the magic of Harry Potter, the beauty of La Mer, the power of Beethoven, and music that brings our community together in so many ways. Familiar and unexpected, this season is designed to surprise, inspire, and move you.
Above all, this season is joyful, energizing, and welcoming, whether you are joining us for the first time or if you are a long-time season ticket holder. This is your symphony, your sound and the vision we share.”
James Blachly, JSO Music Director
Step into a world of magic and mystery as the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra brings the music of Harry Potter to life alongside Mussorgsky’s thrilling Night on Bald Mountain and Anna Clyne’s dark and dramatic This Midnight Hour.
Pianist David Kaplan joins the JSO for Brahms’s monumental Piano Concerto No. 1, capping off an opening night packed with excitement, recognizable music, and plenty of Halloween spirit. Come in costume, bring your friends, and start Season 98 with a night at the symphony that’s anything but ordinary.
Halloween @ the Symphony
Night on Bald Mountain, This Midnight Hour, Music from Harry Potter, Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1
October 17, 2026 - 7:30pm
Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center
Join us for a special evening of music, remembrance, and gratitude as the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra honors our veterans, active-duty military members, and the families who stand beside them.
Anchored by the soaring emotion of John Williams’s Hymn to the Fallen from Saving Private Ryan, the program reflects courage, service, sacrifice, and the commitment of those who have worn our nation’s uniform. JSO Concertmaster Maureen Conlon Gutierrez takes center stage in Lalo’s sweeping work for solo violin, and Beethoven’s exhilarating Symphony No. 7 brings the evening to a stirring close.
Honoring Our Veterans invites veterans, service members, military families, and our entire community to come together for an evening of recognition, reflection, and a heartfelt thank you to those who have served our nation.
Honoring our Veterans
Beethoven, Hymn to the Fallen & Lalo Concerto featuring Maureen Conlon Gutierrez
November 14, 2026 - 7:30pm
Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center
It’s the most wonderful time of year at the JSO as the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra joins with the Johnstown Symphony Chorus under the direction of Jeffrey L. Webb and the spirited voices of Inclined to Sing under the direction of Emily Stumpo for a festive celebration of the season.
From the traditional holiday music you know and love to fresh arrangements and new musical surprises, this concert brings together everything that makes the season special. Sing along to familiar favorites, discover something new, and experience the full sound of orchestra and voices filling the hall.
Whether Holiday Pops is already part of your family’s tradition or you’re joining us for the first time, come celebrate the season with the JSO. Choose from two concert times: 3:00 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.
Holiday Pops!
Featuring the Johnstown Symphony Chorus & Inclined to Sing
December 12, 2026 - 3:00pm & 7:30pm
Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center
Date night @ the Symphony
Beloved romance and sports themes
February 13, 2027 - 7:30pm
Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center
Falling on Valentine’s Day and Super Bowl Sunday weekend, Date Night @ the Symphony brings together two things people love in a big way: romance and sports! Experience sweeping love themes from the silver screen alongside the unmistakable energy of favorite sports anthems, from music that has accompanied some of cinema’s most memorable love stories to the sounds that make stadiums come alive.
Celebrate with someone special, gather your friends or your Fantasy Sports League for a fun night out where movies, sports, romance, and the symphony all share the stage.
Family Concert Matinee
A Family Introduction to the Symphony
March 13, 2027 - 3:00 pm
Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center
With all tickets just $15, this special stand-alone concert is designed to be accessible for families, schools, youth organizations, and larger groups!
Bring the whole family for an afternoon of music, imagination, and discovery as the playful Carnival of the Animals and music from Frozen and Pirates of the Caribbean bring the orchestra to life for audiences of every age.
Jeff Webb guides young listeners through the different instruments and sections of the symphony in Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, making this a fun, welcoming first concert experience for children and families.
Please note, this concert is not part of or included in Season Subscription packages to allow us to welcome as many families, schools, youth organizations, and larger groups as possible.
Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
Symphony in Color
Debussy’s La Mer, Stacy Garrop’s Chroma, & Stravinsky with the Johnstown Symphony Chorus
April 24, 2027 - 7:30pm
Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center
Close out the season in spectacular fashion as the orchestra paints in sound with Debussy's shimmering seascape La Mer, the vivid colors of Stacy Garrop's Chroma, and the prayerful expressivity of Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms. The Johnstown Symphony Chorus joins the stage for a triumphant finale that celebrates the full power and palette of the orchestral art form.
As a special thank you to our loyal full-season subscribers, the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra invites you to an intimate evening of chamber music at the historic Grand Halle, a venue as special as the people who make our season possible.
Curated by JSO Concertmaster Maureen Conlon Gutierrez, this exclusive performance offers a beautifully crafted program featuring works by Bach, Mozart, Telemann, Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Saint-Saëns, Amy Beach, and Astor Piazzolla.
It is our way of saying thank you to the subscribers whose support helps bring the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra’s season to life.
This concert is exclusively available to full-season subscribers.
A Musical Gallery
Exclusive to our Full-Season Subscribers
May 15, 2027 - 7:30pm
The Grand Halle on Broad Street
Season Finale: The Music of The Police
1st Summit Arena @ Cambria County War Memorial
For the first time ever, we close out our 2023/24 season with a full-scale arena rock concert! Symphony-rock masters Jeans ’n Classics join our orchestra for the first time since our Queen concert, this time performing hits from Sting and The Police. Come sing along to classics like “Every Breath She Takes,” “Roxanne” and “Message in a Bottle.” Music Director James Blachly’s dream of performing at the arena will finally come true as we invite over 2,000 people to attend our largest JSO concert ever.
PPAC Finale: The Planets and Star Wars
Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center
*Please note we are currently sold out for this show. To be added to the waitlist for tickets, please email LWagner@johnstownsymphony.org
In a galaxy not-so-far away, experience John Williams’ beloved music of Star Wars in its epic, symphonic grandness. Then take a journey through our solar system with a stunning visual narrative of images from the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes as we perform Gustav Holst’s The Planets. Everyone in the family can embark on this cosmic journey.
Family Matinee
The Grand Halle
Featuring two soloists from the Johnstown Symphony Youth Orchestra and a special performance by Inclined to Sing!
Appropriate for kids of all ages, this concert will be held at the historic Grand Halle on Broad Street. Bring your whole family, and we will provide the music!
Mountaintop Masterpieces by Perry and Brahms
Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center
One of the most sought-after musicians of our generation, four-time GRAMMY® nominated violinist Curtis Stewart, makes his JSO debut performing Julia Perry’s long-neglected yet strikingly beautiful violin concerto. Also experience an early choral work from Perry, Ye Who Seek the Truth, and on the second half, Brahms’s future-looking and culminating achievement of symphonic form, his Symphony No. 4 in E Minor.
A Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Greater Johnstown High School
Cochran Auditorium
Award-winning pianist Henry Wong Doe joins us in commemorating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in our ongoing partnership with the Johnstown NAACP. The concert will feature significant works of American composers Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson and Julia Perry, who are finally being recognized for their towering achievements, as we join together in celebration and reflection.
Holiday Concert
Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center
Ring in the holiday season with Handel’s beloved Messiah triumphantly performed by the orchestra and the Johnstown Symphony Chorus. This year, world-renowned vocalists Chelsea Helm, Steven Caldicott Wilson, Jesse Blumberg and Meg Bragle join us for breathtaking solos that will fill you with comfort and joy.
Candlelight Concert
The Grand Halle on Broad Street
An intimate, multi-sensory musical experience like no other! Surrounded by candlelight in one of our area’s most gorgeous spaces, the orchestra presents modern master Jessie Montgomery’s haunting Source Code, a work inspired by Alvin Ailey, Ella Fitzgerald, and others; Alfred Schnittke’s theatrical Moz-art à la Haydn; and Mozart’s timeless and passionate Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, all hand-picked for this intimate event.
Opening Night: Firebird & Rhapsody in Blue
Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center
Burst into our 95th season with an exuberant celebration of new beginnings. Acclaimed pianist and fearless improviser Peter Dugan joins the orchestra for a whirlwind rendition of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Raise a champagne glass with Mozart’s celebratory The Marriage of Figaro, and discover how Stravinsky changed the trajectory of modern ballet and orchestral music with his breakout work The Firebird.