The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra has announced a 2009-10 season that includes a three-week Stravinsky festival, a commemoration of Robert Schumann's 200th birth anniversary and performances by Joshua Bell and German pianist Christian Zacharias. Also slated to appear are former music director Dennis Russell Davies (after a 12-year absence) and future artistic partner Edo de Waart.

Stravinsky will occupy three weeks in January. Part of the celebration will be a concert performance of "The Rake's Progress," under the direction of De Waart. This will be the first performance of the opera (with libretto by W.H. Auden) in the Twin Cities since 1997.

The SPCO will join with the Minnesota Orchestra on the last weekend, with artistic partner Roberto Abbado conducting the ballet score from "The Firebird." The SPCO alone will perform the "Pulcinella" ballet score. The two groups will be conducted by Minnesota Orchestra music director Osmo Vänskä in "The Rite of Spring."

Abbado and Zacharias, also an artistic partner, will lead performances of Schumann's four symphonies throughout the season. Abbado will also direct the world premiere of a new work by Italian composer Michele Dall'Ongaro, contemporary Italian and American works by Luciano Berio and John Adams, and a world premiere by Steven Stucky.

Soprano Dawn Upshaw, another artistic partner, will perform the world premiere of an SPCO commission by Alberto Iglesias, best known for his film scores for director Pedro Almodovar's "Talk to Her" and "Volver." Upshaw also performs a program of Eastern European folk songs and Bach, and a program with Davies, who was music director of the SPCO from 1972 to 1980.

The SPCO Chorale, put together last year by Dale Warland for the organization's 50th anniversary, will return to perform Berlioz's complete L'Enfance du Christ and the 1961 version of Duruflé's Requiem for chamber choir, strings and organ.

Bell will lead the orchestra May 27-29, 2010. Cantus will sing May 20-23, and violinist Leila Josefowicz will play John Adams' violin concerto on March 25.

Graydon Royce • 612-673-7299