With a growing hum of excitement just over a year in the making, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra is on the cusp of their debut season with Music Director Stéphane Denève. Denève will become the 13th Music Director of the 140-year-old SLSO, bringing with him a full body of international experience that, most recently, transported him to St. Louis from Brussels where he recently wrapped up his term as the Music Director of the Brussels Philharmonic.

His impressive repertoire aside, Denève is the most excited to showcase new and classic works that are inspired by St. Louis’ continued connections to his home country of France. The Director describes the upcoming season as forming a “Franco-American arch,” and the mix of French and American influences will be evident in the season-opening program, titled “Bienvenue Stéphane.” Throughout the season, guests will enjoy works inspired by this theme, including pieces by iconic French composers Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel and George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris.”

“One of the highlights of Stéphane’s first season as music director is to truly honor the legacy of the (SLSO) and also advance it,” SLSO president and CEO Marie-Hélène Bernard tells the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “His approach to varied programming and focusing on new music, and also celebrating this thematic Franco-American art, is quite interesting.”

To view the schedule, purchase your tickets, and more, please visit slso.org.