Saariaho’s compositions melded live performance and electronics, winning recognition and securing commissions from numerous leading organizations.

The season will be the first following the departure of Riccardo Muti as music director. But the maestro will be close at hand as he continues his association with the CSO.

It will mark Muti’s tenth-anniversary season as music director as well as the 250th birthday of Beethoven. Muti conducts all of Beethoven’s symphonies over the course of the season, culminating in the triumphant Symphony No. 9 in June 2020.

This summer’s festival is anchored by the eighty-second annual residency of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.