Press Release: GTMF Announces Live from the Grand Teton Music Festival Season 9
Jackson, WY (February 11, 2026) – 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 and on KHOL on Sundays at 8 a.m. MT. The 13-episode show can also be listened to online at wyomingpublicmedia.org, on GTMF’s website, on 891khol.org 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 Whitacre – Lux 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 Turley – the 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 Roussel – Bacchus 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 Okura – Phantasmagoria
Stephanie Key, clarinet; David Mollenauer, cello; Mika Gregg, violin
Lynne Plowman – Life 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 Montgomery – Strum
Stéphane Denève, conductor
Joaquín Rodrigo – Concierto de Aranjuez
Stéphane Denève, conductor
Ottorino Respighi – Fontane 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 Beethoven – Coriolan 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 Bloch – Schelomo, Hebraic Rhapsody
Nicolas Altstaedt, cello and Enrique Mazzola, conductor
Kevin Puts – Contact
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 Beethoven – The Creatures of Prometheus Overture, Op. 43
Sir Donald Runnicles, conductor
Anton Webern – Im 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 Glanert – Weites Land
Johannes Brahms – Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98
About the Grand Teton Music Festival (GTMF)
Each summer, Grand Teton Music Festival unites over 250 celebrated orchestral musicians led by Music Director Sir Donald Runnicles. These musicians represent 84 orchestras and 72 institutions of higher learning in North America and Europe. In addition to orchestral concerts on Friday and Saturday nights, the summer season also features visiting guest artists and chamber music on weekdays.
Grand Teton Music Festival is one of America’s leading summer classical music festivals. Recognized by The New York Times as one of the top 10 music festivals in the U.S. and chosen by BBC Music Magazine as their 2020 “Festival Choice,” it is the most prominent arts organization in the state of Wyoming and a national treasure.
GTMF’s mission is to engage, entertain, educate, and inspire our resident and seasonal communities through exhilarating musical experiences. We feature orchestral, chamber, and solo performances of primarily classical music by world-class artists, and we foster a culture that draws outstanding musicians to Jackson Hole in support of this mission. For more information, visit gtmf.org.