Chris Thile, GRAMMY® Award-winning mandolinist and composer, to perform with the DSO, June 26

CHRIS THILE WITH THE DSO

Thursday, June 26 at 7:30 p.m.

Orchestra Hall

Devilishly dexterous and eclectic, Chris Thile is at home in every genre—from bluegrass to Baroque to jazz to indie pop. Thile’s brand-new work, ATTENTION! A narrative song cycle for extroverted mandolinist and orchestra, will feature his trademark whimsical songwriting and storytelling, instrumental virtuosity, and ever-present sense of humor. Don’t miss this brilliant exploration of American music both old and new.

Thile’s enormous talent and boundless energy have resulted in multiple GRAMMY® Awards, a MacArthur “Genius” grant, hosting duties on Live From Here (formerly A Prairie Home Companion), and dozens of albums as a solo artist and as a member of bands like Nickel Creek and Punch Brothers.

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About Chris Thile

Acclaimed GRAMMY® Award-winning mandolinist, singer, songwriter, composer, and MacArthur Fellow recipient of the prestigious "Genius" grant, Chris Thile is a multifaceted musical talent, described by The Guardian as "that rare being: an all-round musician who can settle into any style, from bluegrass to classical," and hailed by NPR as a "genre-defying musical genius." Thile is a founding member of the highly influential string bands Punch Brothers and Nickel Creek and has collaborated with countless luminaries from Yo-Yo Ma to Fiona Apple to Brad Mehldau. For four years, Thile hosted public radio favorite Live from Here with Chris Thile (formerly known as A Prairie Home Companion). With his broad outlook, Thile creates a distinctly American canon and a new musical aesthetic for performers and audiences alike, giving the listener "one joyous arc, with the linear melody and vertical harmony blurring into a single web of gossamer beauty" (The New York Times).

Over the last year, Thile has been touring with Nickel Creek in support of the critically acclaimed 2023 release Celebrants, and captivating audiences with a playfully ambitious biographical composition entitled ATTENTION! (a narrative song cycle for extroverted mandolinist and orchestra). Additionally, he has been focused on the production of a new musical variety show, "The Energy Curfew Music Hour." Created with Claire Coffee and featuring Punch Brothers, the series will be released on Audible later this year.

About the DSO

The acclaimed Detroit Symphony Orchestra is known for trailblazing performances, collaborations with the world’s foremost musical artists, and a deep connection to its city. Led by Music Director Jader Bignamini since 2020, the DSO makes its home at historic Orchestra Hall within the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, offering a robust performance schedule that features classical, pops, jazz, and family concerts, plus community performances. Enrico Lopez-Yañez was named Principal Pops Conductor in 2023, trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard serves as the orchestra’s Fred A. Erb Jazz Creative Director Chair, and Tabita Berglund began her tenure as Principal Guest Conductor in the 2024–25 season. A dedication to broadcast innovation and technology began in 1922, when the DSO became the first orchestra in the world to present a live radio broadcast of a concert and continues today with the groundbreaking Live from Orchestra Hall series of free webcasts.

The DSO’s distinguished history of recordings—many led by its renowned music directors—spans nearly a century, beginning with the orchestra’s first 78 rpm singles with Ossip Gabrilowitsch released on the Victrola label in 1928. A steady recording output has continued since then, with highlights including more than 20 releases with Paul Paray for Mercury’s Living Presence series, and 27 under the baton of Neeme Järvi, mostly on the Chandos label. In the 1970s, the DSO took part in the historic Black Composers Series for Columbia Records led by its then-Associate Conductor Paul Freeman and later made several acclaimed recordings with Antal Doráti for the Decca label. More recently, under the direction of Leonard Slatkin, the DSO recorded music by Rachmaninoff, Copland, and John Williams for the Naxos label, earning its first GRAMMY® nomination in 2017 for Copland’s Third Symphony / Three Latin American Sketches. The first recording with Jader Bignamini, of Wynton Marsalis’s Blues Symphony, was released in March 2025 on the Pentatone label.

Since its first school concerts a century ago, and particularly since the founding of the Civic Youth Ensembles in 1970, the DSO has been a national leader in bringing the benefits of music education to students, teachers, and families in Detroit and surrounding communities. The DSO remains committed to expanding its participation in the growth and well-being of Detroit through programs like its Detroit Neighborhood Initiative—cultural events co-created with community partners and residents—and Detroit Harmony, a promise to provide an instrument and instruction to any student in the city who wants to learn. With unwavering support from the people of Detroit, the DSO actively pursues a mission to impact lives through the power of unforgettable musical experiences.