Celebrate Classical Music Month with ACSO! Every September, we celebrate Classical Music Month as a time to recognize the extraordinary music that has shaped our cultural landscape and continues to evolve today. As President Bill Clinton noted in his 1994 proclamation establishing Classical Music Month, “Great art endures through the ages,” and classical music remains an enduring part of the American experience.

This year, ACSO is celebrating by sharing some of the music we can't stop listening to. Our Board and staff have curated an eclectic playlist of classical works they’re loving right now. From legendary favorites to pieces you may be hearing for the first time, these selections offer plenty of inspiration for your own Classical Music Month soundtrack, and we encourage you to check them out.

Press play, discover something new, revisit an old favorite, and celebrate with us. Happy Classical Music Month from ACSO!

ACSO's Playlist for Classical Music Month 

🎶Sarah Weber, Executive Director
Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring
"The Santa Rosa Symphony performed this piece during the ACSO Conference this year, and I found it very moving, especially the last 10 minutes. The "Simple Gifts" theme is so sure and hopeful, and that hope develops into a quiet power at the end, like good things are possible. Gives me goose bumps every time."

🎶Elizabeth Shribman, Board Member
Francis Poulenc: Organ Concerto in G minor, FP 93
"I’ve been listening to the Poulenc Organ Concerto nonstop since the San Francisco Symphony performed it for our closing subscription concert with organist Olivier Latry (titular organist at Notre Dame de Paris). I’ve always loved the organ and this piece features it in all sorts of interesting ways; every time I listen to it I notice something new."

🎶Stephen Salts, Board Member
Gabriela Ortiz: Kauyumari
Describing this LA Phil commission, Gabriela Ortiz wrote: “While composing this piece, I noted once again how music has the power to grant us access to the intangible, healing our wounds and binding us to what can be expressed only through sound. Although life is filled with interruptions, Kauyumari is a comprehension and celebration of the fact that each of these rifts is also a new beginning."

🎶Anne-Marie Spataru, Board Member
Delirium Musicum Recording of MaX Richter’s Vivaldi, The Four Seasons Recomposed
“Delirium Musicum is an LA based self-conducted chamber orchestra founded in 2018 known for its vibrant performances. I am personally acquainted with its founder and several musicians and regularly attend their concerts. I recommend checking out their two CDs: Seasons (2023) and Cabinet of Curiosities (2025) or YouTube videos.”

🎶Jonathan Rios, Board Member
Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet No.10 in E-flat major, Op. 74
"It’s been a favorite of mine for years and I have attempted to play it in the past at a chamber music workshop I attended. Beethoven quartets are no joke."

🎶Akilah Morgan, Board Member
Bakhari Nokuri: Afrospire
"The composer is a member of Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles and attends USC. He originally composed the piece for wind ensemble but he rearranged it for ICYOLA and we performed it on tour. It was recently performed by the US Marine Band, coincidentally a day before we performed it in Washington DC."

🎶Alex Opsahl, Member Engagement & Development Manager
Béla Bartók: Violin Concerto No. 2
"Lately, I’ve been listening to [Bartók's] Violin Concerto No. 2, and I’m reminded all over again of how much I love his music.The first bit of Bartók I ever heard was Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta. My older sister was watching The Shining with friends during a sleepover. I was too young to watch it, but I could hear the score very clearly through the walls—and I was absolutely terrified."

🎶John Wineglass, Board Member
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Mozart’s Requiem
"It's the last piece I have ever performed on viola with the Santa Cruz Symphony 💜"

🎶Mieko Hatano, Board Member
William Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony
"Not very many people know William Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony, and it is a masterpiece that everyone should hear. Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra gave its world premiere in 1934. The response was extraordinary: when they performed it at Carnegie Hall shortly after the Philadelphia premiere, audiences were so enthusiastic that they broke with concert tradition and applauded between movements! It’s a remarkable work that deserves to be far better known."

🎶Elly Khotim, Communications Coordinator
Eunike Tanzil: Pink Sakura
"In this piece, Eunike Tanzil wanted to capture how it felt for her to see the cherry blossom trees in Boston for the first time, and she did a beautiful job. This piece is bright and melodic, and I really enjoy listening to it on the way to work."