In a performance showcasing some of the best talent in jazz and bluegrass today, Mark O'Connor's own "Hot Swing" pairs up with jazz vocalist Sophie Milman and the Punch Brothers featuring mandolin master Chris Thile for one night only. The performance will take place Wednesday, July 2, at 7:30 p.m. and will mark the third program of Seattle Symphony SummerFest which runs from June 26 through July 14 and celebrates some of the best artists in classical, jazz, bluegrass and more.

In his final solo performance as Seattle Symphony's Principal Cellist, Joshua Roman will join his colleagues and Maestro Schwarz for four performances of Ernst Bloch's rhapsodic lament, Schelomo.

Seattle Symphony and Seattle International Film Festival come together to bring audiences the epic tale of the legendary Russian hero Alexander Nevsky. Chinese-American conductor Xian Zhang will lead the Orchestra in Sergey Prokofiev's sweeping score as the film is shown on a large screen above the stage.

In a move designed to reach new audiences through innovative programming during the summer season, Seattle Symphony today announced preliminary plans for Seattle Symphony SummerFest 2008, in collaboration with Mark O'Connor, a composer and violinist heralded as a leader of a new American classical music style. The festival will be presented June 26 through July 14, at Benaroya Hall.

On Friday, May 30, at 8 p.m., Gerard Schwarz will lead members of Seattle Symphony and community musicians in a chamber concert featuring the music of top contemporary immigrant composers. Three of the six composers will be present for the performance, including Bulgarian-born Henri Lazarof, and two Seattle-based composers, French-born Joël-Francois Durand and Brazilian-born Jovino Santos Neto.

Seattle Symphony and Cornish College of the Arts come together for a staged production of The Little Mahagonny, Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht's dramatic tale of human vice and corruption on Thursday, June 5, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, June 7, at 8 p.m.

On Thursday, May 29, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, May 31, at 8 p.m., Gerard Schwarz will lead Seattle Symphony and The University of Washington Chorale in what will be the first complete public performance of the Genesis Suite since its 1945 premiere. Originally lost in a fire, the recently reconstructed Genesis Suite is a 20th-century masterpiece that boasts the work of seven leading composers of the day, among them Arnold Schönberg and Igor Stravinsky.

On Sunday, May 25, at 7 p.m., Seattle Symphony double bassists Joseph Kaufman and Jonathan Green will lead a local all-star ensemble in an eclectic chamber music performance marking the final concert in the 2007–2008 Seattle Symphony at The Triple Door series.