Grand Teton Music Festival Launches 9th Season Of National Radio Broadcast Series For 65th Anniversary

In anticipation of a landmark 65th anniversary season, the Grand Teton Music Festival (GTMF) today announces season nine of Live from the Grand Teton Music Festival – GTMF’s national radio broadcast series co-hosted by Music Director Sir Donald Runnicles and General Manager Jeff Counts. Live from the Grand Teton Music Festival comprises 13 one-hour episodes and is a production of Classic Digital Syndications, available now for free on PRX. Individual episodes air on Wyoming Public Radio on Wednesday evenings at 8 p.m. MT from today through April 30. The 13-episode show can also be listened to online at wyomingpublicmedia.org, on GTMF’s website, on SoundCloud, and on Thursdays as a podcast through Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and Amazon. To learn more about where to listen to Live from the Grand Teton Music Festival, please visit gtmf.org/radio.

This 2026 series presents previews of three new commercial recording projects for Reference Recordings with the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles. The first of these is in Episode 4 with the Brahms Violin Concerto played by the renowned violinist James Ehnes. In Episode 12, radio listeners will get a preview of the new recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 with GTMF’s legendary brass players: trumpeter Thomas Hooten and Gail Williams on horn. And finally, in Episode 13, listeners will get a sneak peek of the new recording of Brahms’ Symphony No. 4, along with Detlev Glanert’s companion piece for the Fourth Symphony, Weites Land. These performances will be released by Reference Recordings in stereo and surround sound on SACD, and in Dolby Atmos for digital download, showcasing the acoustics of Walk Festival Hall.

Additional performances featured this season include Andrea Lam’s sparkling performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, Augustin Hadelich’s return to the Festival Orchestra to deliver a sublime performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, and dazzling string trio Time for Three in a new concerto written for them by Kevin Puts, Contact. Guitarist JIJI joins the Festival for Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, cellist Nicolas Altstaedt presents an electrifying performance of Bloch’s Schelomo, and Sasha Cooke joins Sir Donald Runnicles for the world premiere of an incredible new song cycle by Alex Turley – the ocean’s dream of itself. 

The series includes insightful commentary by GTMF Music Director Sir Donald Runnicles and co-host, General Manager Jeff Counts. Jeff is an accomplished writer who also hosts a film review show seen and heard throughout the West. Maestro Runnicles’ career spans many continents, both in the opera house and on the symphonic stage. In addition to being Music Director of the Grand Teton Music Festival, he serves as General Music Director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Chief Conductor of the Dresden Philharmonie, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He is a regular guest conductor of orchestras all over the world. Prior to his post in Berlin, he served as Music Director of the San Francisco Opera for 16 years.

Live from the Grand Teton Music Festival 2026

Sir Donald Runnicles and Jeff Counts, Hosts

G26-01 Program 1 – Ode to Joy

Caitlin Lynch, soprano; Renée Tatum, mezzo; Clay Hilley, tenor; Seth Carico, baritone; Grand Teton Music Festival Chorus, Barlow Bradford, director

Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, Sir Donald Runnicles, conductor

Eric WhitacreLux Aurumque

Ludwig van Beethoven – Symphony No. 9 in D minor, op. 125, “Choral”

Movements 1 and 4

G26-02 – Program 2 – Nether Worlds

Sasha Cooke with the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, Sir Donald Runnicles, conductor

Dobrinka Tabakova Orpheus’ Comet

Alex Turleythe ocean’s dream of itself (World Premiere)

Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano

Maurice Ravel – Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2

G26-03 – Program 3 – French Masterpieces

Grand Teton Music Festival Chamber Musicians

Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra

Maurice Ravel – String Quartet in F Major

Madeline Adkins, violin; Jeffrey Dyrda, violin; Allyson Goodman, viola; Grace An, cello

Albert RousselBacchus and Ariadne, Op. 43, Suite No. 2

Stéphane Denève, conductor

G26-04 – Program 4 – James Ehnes Plays Brahms

Grand Teton Music Festival Chamber Musicians

James Ehnes and Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra

José González Granero – String Quartet No. 2 “In Times of Confinement”

Ling Ling Huang, violin; Jessica Mathaes, violin; Caroline Gilbert, viola; Grace An, cello

Johannes Brahms – Concerto for Violin in D Major, Op. 77

James Ehnes, violin and Sir Donald Runnicles, conductor

G26-05 – Program 5 – Mozart and New Tales

Grand Teton Music Festival Chamber Musicians

Grand Teton Music Festival Chamber Orchestra, Ben Manis conductor 

Andrea Lam, piano with Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, Sir Donald Runnicles, conductor

Meg OkuraPhantasmagoria

Stephanie Key, clarinet; David Mollenauer, cello; Mika Gregg, violin

Lynne PlowmanLife Cycles (GTMF Co-Commission)

GTMF Chamber Orchestra, Ben Manis conductor

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488

Andrea Lam, violin and Sir Donald Runnicles, conductor

G26-06 – Program 6 – Inspirations

Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, Stéphane Denève, conductor

Jessie MontgomeryStrum

Stéphane Denève, conductor

Joaquín RodrigoConcierto de Aranjuez

Stéphane Denève, conductor

Ottorino RespighiFontane di Roma

Stéphane Denève, conductor

G26-07 – Program 7 – Rediscovered Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff

Grand Teton Music Festival Chamber Musicians

Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra

Dmitri Shostakovich – Five Pieces for Two Violins and Piano

Julianne Lee, violin; Ling Ling Huang, violin; Yvonne Chen, piano

Sergei Rachmaninoff – Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 44

Kevin John Edusei, conductor

G26-08 – Program 8 – Hadelich Plays Beethoven

Augustin Hadelich with the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra

Ludwig van BeethovenCoriolan Overture, Op. 62

Kevin John Edusei, conductor

Ludwig van Beethoven – Concerto for Violin in D Major, Op. 61

Augustin Hadelich, violin and Sir Donald Runnicles, conductor

G26-09 – Program 9 – If Only Film Had Existed…

Grand Teton Music Festival Chamber Musicians

Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra

Danny Elfman – Piano Quartet – Movement 1 – Ein Ding

Karen Whitson Kinzie, violin; Brant Bayless, viola; Seoyeon Min, cello; Yvonne Chen, piano

Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 6 in B minor, op. 74, “Pathetique”

Enrique Mazzola, conductor

G26-10 – Program 10 – Time for Three and Nicolas Altstaedt

Time for Three and Nicolas Altstaedt

Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra

Ernest BlochSchelomo, Hebraic Rhapsody

Nicolas Altstaedt, cello and Enrique Mazzola, conductor

Kevin PutsContact

Time for Three – Charles Yang, Nicolas “Nick” Kendall, Ranaan Meyer

Kevin John Edusei, conductor

G26-11 – Program 11 – German Masters

Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, Sir Donald Runnicles, conductor

Ludwig van BeethovenThe Creatures of Prometheus Overture, Op. 43

Sir Donald Runnicles, conductor

Anton WebernIm Sommerwind

Sir Donald Runnicles, conductor

Robert Schumann – Symphony No. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 38, “Spring”

Christian Reif, conductor

G26-12 – Program 12 – Gustav Mahler—Ahead of his Time

Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, Sir Donald Runnicles, conductor

Gustav Mahler – Symphony No. 7 in E minor

Movements 1, 4 and 5

G26-13 – Program 13 – Brahms Fourth

Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, Sir Donald Runnicles, conductor

Detlev GlanertWeites Land

Johannes Brahms – Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98