New Philharmonic, the McAninch Arts Center resident ensemble and DuPage County’s only professional orchestra, opens their 2025-2026 Season with “Carmina Burana” and ”Polovtsian Dances” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4 and 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5.

“This season represents our boldest and most inspirational season yet,” New Philharmonic Music Director and Conductor Kirk Muspratt said in a news release. “Beginning with Orff’s stupendous ‘Carmina Burana,’ showcasing three acclaimed guest vocalists and the 50-voice Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra Chorus, under the direction of Thomas McNichols, our audiences will experience a most captivating and fascinating concert season.”

“Carmina Burana” is Carl Orff’s cantata based on 24 poems from the medieval collection of the same name. The NISO Chorus and three acclaimed soloists – Emily Birsan (soprano), Richard Ollarsaba (baritone) and Thomas Aláan (countertenor) – will join New Philharmonic and Maestro Muspratt for this larger-than-life work, according to the release.

This cantata is bookended by the instantly recognizable “O Fortuna,” a staple in western popular culture, setting the mood for dramatic or cataclysmic situations and used in numerous films and TV commercials.

“Carmina Burana” will be performed primarily in Latin (with some Middle High German and Old French) with English subtitles. The NISO Chorus is also featured in Alexander Borodin’s exotic “Polovtsian Dances,” from Act 2 of Alexander Borodin’s opera, “Prince Igor.” The work opened the 2014 Olympics in Sochi and was adapted for the popular Broadway musical “Kismet” into “Stranger in Paradise.”

The McAninch Arts Center is located at 425 Fawell Blvd. in Glen Ellyn. Tickets are $59. A limited number of $10 tickets are available for students with valid ID.

A free MAC Chat will precede the concerts beginning one hour prior to the performance.

To order tickets, visit AtTheMAC.org, call 630-942-4000 or visit the MAC Box Office. Box Office hours are noon-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and two hours prior to performance.