October 2026
Music first, candy after. On Halloween afternoon, the Itasca Symphony Orchestra plays music that has given audiences goosebumps for well over a century, plus the movie and TV themes kids already know by heart.
Kids and grown-ups are welcome in costume. The concert is about an hour of music, played by your neighbors in the Itasca Symphony, and it ends in time for trick-or-treating.
Purchase TicketsDecember 2026
The Snowman is back at the Reif with the Itasca Symphony Orchestra for a second December, on its way to becoming a Grand Rapids tradition.
The 1982 animated film, based on Raymond Briggs' picture book, has no dialogue. A boy builds a snowman, the snowman comes to life, and together they fly off into the night sky to "Walking in the Air." Howard Blake's music tells the whole story, and the Itasca Symphony Orchestra plays it live while the film fills the big screen.
The rest of the afternoon is holiday music for the whole family. Bring the kids and the grandparents, and make it part of your December.
February 2027
Grand Rapids' own Sam Miltich joined the Hot Club of San Francisco as a teenager and has since toured internationally and played Lincoln Center. This February he brings his band home to share the Reif stage with the Itasca Symphony Orchestra: Sam on guitar, his father Matthew Miltich on bass, plus other instruments.
The music travels. Choro (SHOH-roo) is the quick, bright instrumental music of Rio de Janeiro. The Nuevo Tango from Argentina. Čoček (CHO-chek) is the Romani dance music of the Balkans. And Sam got his start in the swinging guitar jazz Django Reinhardt made famous in 1930s Paris.
For the finale, young string players from IOSP's programs in Grand Rapids, Bigfork, and Remer join the band and the orchestra for one big celebration of music. It's a February night out of the cold, with musicians of every age on one stage.
May 2027
The season opened on Halloween with Saint-Saëns' dancing skeletons. It closes with his Cello Concerto No. 1, played by an international soloist from IOSP's own strings program. Magdalena Sas works with our cello students and brings arts to our community, and on May 22 she takes the soloist's chair in front of the full orchestra.