Two of the world-premiere works were commissioned by the orchestra in honor of its 100th anniversary in 2003: a work for string orchestra by Robert Beaser and a Sinfonia concertante for Five Solo Instruments and Orchestra by Kevin Puts. The third is To Be Certain of the Dawn, a 40-minute choral work by Minnesota resident Stephen Paulus that marks the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps.

The performances of Tosca, in May 2006, will be led by music director Osm‹ V‹nsk‹ and star soprano Deborah Voigt, tenor Carl Tanner, and baritone Greer Grimsley,

Other highlights include two weeks of Beethoven concerts in January; the same month, the orchestra will record the composer's Ninth Symphony as part of its cycle of Beethoven symphonies for the BIS label. The season opens on September 15 with a gala performance starring pianist Andr_ Watts, who will perform Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto.

Other visiting soloists include soprano Dawn Upshaw, pianist Alfred Brendel, and violinists Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and Christian Tetzlaff. In addition, eleven of the orchestra's principal players will serve as soloists in pieces including Strauss's Don Quixote and Bernstein's Serenade.

Among the guest conductors on the schedule are Charles Dutoit, Yakov Kreizberg, Andrew Litton, Hans Graf, and former music director Stanislaw Skrowaczewski.