MUSIC AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN
AND THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA
MARÍA DUEÑAS OPENS 125TH SEASON SEPTEMBER 26
Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1
World premiere of Terence Blanchard’s Suite from Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet
NÉZET-SÉGUIN CONDUCTS WAGNER’S TRISTAN AND ISOLDE
The full opera performed as a concert experience
starring Nina Stemme as Isolde and Stuart Skelton as Tristan
June 1 and 8
NÉZET-SÉGUIN LEADS THREE MAHLER SYMPHONIES
Mahler’s Third Symphony featuring Joyce DiDonato
October 3–5
Mahler’s Ninth Symphony
with Jake Heggie’s Songs for Murdered Sisters, with texts by Margaret Atwood
January 9 and 11
Mahler’s Sixth Symphony
April 10–11, 13
THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA AND NÉZET-SÉGUIN
RETURN TO THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
Florence Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement with Lara Downes
May 22–24
FORMER MUSIC DIRECTOR RICCARDO MUTI RETURNS
TO CONDUCT VERDI’S REQUIEM
October 24–26
PRINCIPAL GUEST CONDUCTOR MARIN ALSOP
World premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank’s Picaflor
with Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto featuring Randall Goosby
March 13–15
New Year’s Eve Celebration
NÉZET-SÉGUIN EMBRACES OVERLOOKED GEMS AND NEW VOICES
William Grant Still’s Symphony No. 2 and Margaret Bonds’s The Montgomery Variations
in a program also featuring pianist Yuja Wang
January 16–18
Philadelphia premiere of Julia Wolfe’s Pretty, a Philadelphia Orchestra co-commission,
with Louise Farrenc’s Symphony No. 1
February 27–March 1
CELEBRATIONS OF FILM MUSIC
- Night Shyamalan hosts an evening featuring the music of
award-winning composer James Newton Howard
September 20
Composer Joe Hisaishi leads performances of his music,
including the Second Symphony and Suite from Spirited Away
January 3–4
NÉZET-SÉGUIN LEADS HOLIDAY PROGRAMS
New program, Yannick’s Holiday Mixtape in Concert, featuring American and French classics
December 12–13
Handel’s Messiah
December 21–22
SPOTLIGHT RECITAL SERIES RETURNS
Performances by pianists Daniil Trifonov and Lang Lang and violinist Hilary Hahn
WORLD-RENOWNED CONDUCTORS AND SOLOISTS TAKE CENTER STAGE
Former Principal Guest Conductor Nathalie Stutzmann leads Mazzoli’s Orpheus Undone and Schumann’s Cello Concerto featuring Edgar Moreau
Nézet-Séguin conducts Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Seong-Jin Cho, and Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7
Roderick Cox returns to conduct Martinů’s Rhapsody-Concerto for viola and orchestra,
featuring Principal Viola Choong-Jin Chang
David Robertson leads Betsy Jolas’s bTunes for piano and orchestra with Nicolas Hodges
Former Principal Guest Conductor Stéphane Denève returns to conduct
Guillaume Connesson’s Cello Concerto with Gautier Capuçon, Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique
Xian Zhang conducts Dvořák’s Violin Concerto with Gil Shaham, Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 6
Rafael Payare leads Kaija Saariaho’s Graal théâtre with violinist Carolin Widmann
Organist Paul Jacobs performs Casella’s Concerto romano
Masaaki Suzuki conducts music by Bach and Haydn
Fabio Luisi conducts Korngold’s Violin Concerto with Leonidas Kavakos
Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider performs and leads the Beethoven Violin Concerto
First Associate Concertmaster Juliette Kang performs Bartók’s Violin Concerto No. 2,
led by Nézet-Séguin
Tugan Sokhiev conducts Schumann’s Piano Concerto with Yefim Bronfman
and Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Haochen Zhang across two weeks of programs
Dalia Stasevska leads Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17 with Emanuel Ax
Sheku Kanneh-Mason performs Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with Nézet-Séguin
FAMILY PROGRAMMING CONTINUES
Family Concerts and Sound All Around programs introduce young listeners to classical music
OUR CITY, YOUR ORCHESTRA DIGITAL SERIES ENTERS FIFTH SEASON
Collaborations with the diverse communities of Philadelphia
(Philadelphia, January 18, 2024)—The Philadelphia Orchestra and Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin announce the 2024–25 season—the organization’s 125th—full of rare musical events, bold artistic juxtapositions, and new discoveries as the Orchestra continues to imagine and create an artistically broad, inclusive vision. This forward-looking vision is at the heart of the institution and reflects the vital role of orchestras in contemporary society.
The complete media kit for the 2024–25 season, including a chronological calendar, can be found here.
“Music, past and present, is an almost infinite idea. The beloved masterpieces that we know and love continue to captivate and inspire us. There is also so much we have missed. With the magnificent Philadelphia Orchestra, we seek and perform the work of composers who, for many reasons, have been historically overlooked,” said Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin. “This season, in addition to performing three of Gustav Mahler’s great symphonies, Ludwig van Beethoven’s iconic Ninth Symphony, and more, we will bring a work by Margaret Bonds to Philadelphia and continue to express our musical admiration for Florence Price, William Grant Still, Louise Farrenc, and Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. We also turn the spotlight on today’s brightest composers whose unique voices and innovative compositions remind us that art knows no boundaries. And, to conclude the season, it brings me great pleasure to bring my other true love, opera, to our stage with once-in-a-lifetime concert performances of Richard Wagner’s exquisite Tristan and Isolde with two of the most incredible voices in music today. This remarkable artistic endeavor has been an aspiration of mine since I first joined the Orchestra, and I look forward to conducting my first Wagner opera in concert here in Philadelphia.”
“The 2024–25 season of The Philadelphia Orchestra brings extraordinary highpoints of music center stage,” said President and CEO Matías Tarnopolsky. “Through the sensitivity and brilliance of Yannick and the musicians of the Orchestra, music old and new, forgotten and resurrected, comes together in evolving forms and contexts to take us on a musical journey that unites us all. Join us as we pursue beauty, unity, compassion, and understanding through music.”
Nézet-Séguin will open the 2024–25 season—his 13th with the Orchestra—on September 26, 2024, with an exuberant Opening Night Celebration that sets the tone for a season of renewal and rediscovery. The concert will begin with the world premiere of Terence Blanchard’s Suite from Fire Shut Up in My Bones, a Philadelphia Orchestra co-commission. The opera made history during the Metropolitan Opera’s 2021–22 season, led by Nézet-Séguin, as the first opera by a Black composer to be performed at the Met. The seven-time GRAMMY Award–winning trumpeter and composer’s work expertly blends jazz and gospel music in an orchestral setting to create a moving symphonic experience. Following the world premiere, star violinist María Dueñas will join the Orchestra for Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1. The concert will conclude with Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet.
LARGE-SCALE MASTERPIECES
Throughout the season Nézet-Séguin and the Orchestra will perform three of Gustav Mahler’s iconic symphonies, masterpieces that reflect the composer’s interpretation of the human experience from life to death. First, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato will join Nézet-Séguin and the Orchestra for the composer’s Third Symphony, a hymn about nature and a celebration of life (October 3–5). In direct contrast, the Ninth Symphony, Mahler’s last completed work in the genre, was written at a time when the composer was mourning the death of his daughter. The piece explores the depths of grief and despair (January 9, 11). To conclude the cycle, Nézet-Séguin will lead the Orchestra in Mahler’s deeply emotional and angst-ridden Sixth Symphony (April 10–11, 13).
The iconic Philadelphia Sound will return to the Academy of Music, the hall where it was born and honed, for a series of concerts led by Nézet-Séguin. Taking place in the Orchestra’s original home from 1900 to 2001, the special performances will blend the rich traditions of the ensemble with its present-day vision. For the first time, the Orchestra will perform the music of Florence Price at the Academy, with Lara Downes joining for Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement. The concerts will conclude with Beethoven’s towering Ninth Symphony (“Choral”) (May 22–24).
Throughout his tenure, Nézet-Séguin has made opera and oratorio a major initiative of the Orchestra, with symphonic stagings of works such as Strauss’s Salome, Bach’s The Passion According to St. Matthew, Puccini’s Tosca, Bernstein’s Candide, and Puccini’s La bohème. The 2024–25 season will conclude with one of the most daring concert opera performances ever attempted: Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde. The complete opera will be performed in a concert setting, providing a listening experience not often heard in the opera house, with the Orchestra positioned on stage instead of in a pit, bringing the full power and intricacies of the score front and center. The performances mark the first time Nézet-Séguin will lead a Wagner opera in Philadelphia and will feature an all-star cast, including tenor Stuart Skelton as Tristan and soprano Nina Stemme as Isolde (June 1, 8).
NEW AND REDISCOVERED WORKS
Engagement with living composers has been an integral part of The Philadelphia Orchestra’s identity since its founding, and it continues to pursue this with vigor. The ensemble will perform two newly commissioned works by women composers in the 2024–25 season, led by Nézet-Séguin and Principal Guest Conductor Marin Alsop. Nézet-Séguin will lead the first Philadelphia performances of the Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Julia Wolfe’s Pretty, an Orchestra co-commission, paired with Louise Farrenc’s Symphony No. 1 (February 27–March 1). Alsop will lead the Orchestra in the world premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank’s Picaflor, the retelling of a traditional Peruvian creation myth about a picaflor, or hummingbird, that pollinates the world and its varying wildlife, giving birth to a vibrant and complex earth (March 13–15). Other works by living composers include Orpheus Undone by Missy Mazzoli; Lassus ricercare and bTunes for piano and orchestra by the Franco-American composer Betsy Jolas; the U.S. premiere of Guillaume Connesson’s Cello Concerto; and Agnegram by conductor-composer Michael Tilson Thomas.
Gender-based violence will be addressed as Nézet-Séguin leads the Orchestra and baritone Joshua Hopkins in the first Philadelphia Orchestra performances of Jake Heggie’s Songs for Murdered Sisters. The critically acclaimed work, which began as a series of poems by author Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid’s Tale), tells the harrowing story of a man who murdered three ex-partners in one morning in a small Canadian town. Hopkins collaborated with Heggie and Atwood to create this song cycle that serves as a call to action and a moment of remembrance for the victims, including his sister Nathalie Warmerdam. The piece will be paired with Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, which also speaks of a farewell to life (January 9, 11).
William Grant Still’s Symphony No. 2 (“Song of a New Race”) will be performed in its first Philadelphia Orchestra performances since Leopold Stokowski led the world premiere in 1937, declaring him “one of our greatest American composers.” Nézet-Séguin will lead the Orchestra in the work alongside Margaret Bonds’s The Montgomery Variations, a transcendent tone poem inspired by critical events of the Civil Rights movement. The program will also feature a performance by pianist Yuja Wang (January 16–18). For the grand finale of the season, Nézet-Séguin will conduct Saint-Georges’s Symphony No. 2 in its first subscription performances alongside works by Prokofiev and Mozart, and Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with Sheku-Kanneh Mason (June 6–7).
RICCARDO MUTI RETURNS
Former Music Director Riccardo Muti will return for his first performances with the Orchestra since 2005, marking his fourth appearance in Philadelphia since the conclusion of his tenure. The legendary conductor, renowned for his interpretations of Verdi, will lead three performances of the composer’s monumental Requiem, featuring soprano Juliana Grigoryan, mezzo-soprano Isabel De Paoli, tenor Giovanni Sala, and bass-baritone Maharram Huseynov (October 24–26). The concerts will take place nearly 52 years to the day of the conductor’s debut with the Orchestra, which occurred on October 27, 1972.
CELEBRATIONS OF FILM MUSIC
The Philadelphia Orchestra will highlight film music across genres with special presentations in the 2024–25 season. First, critically acclaimed film director, producer, and screenwriter M. Night Shyamalan will host Night After Night: The Music of James Newton Howard, an evening featuring music of the award-winning composer, who conducts the performance. The concert will feature selections from Howard’s haunting scores from Signs, The Sixth Sense, The Village, Unbreakable, and more, with special guests violinist Gil Shaham and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet (September 20).
The Orchestra will join the global celebration of Joe Hisaishi’s music with two special performances led by the composer himself, who has produced over 80 films and is best known for his work with Studio Ghibli. The concert will include performances of his Second Symphony, a suite from Spirited Away, and more (January 3–4).
SPOTLIGHT RECITAL SERIES
Some of the world’s most renowned musicians will take center stage in the Spotlight Series. These one-night-only recital performances will feature pianist Daniil Trifonov (February 26), pianist Lang Lang (March 23), and violinist Hilary Hahn (May 17). (The Philadelphia Orchestra does not appear on these concerts.)
CELEBRATING BRUCKNER AND RAVEL
Throughout the season, the Orchestra will commemorate the birthdays of two legendary composers, Anton Bruckner and Maurice Ravel. The subscription season will open with Nézet-Séguin leading Bruckner’s luminous Seventh Symphony, in the year of the composer’s 200th birthday (September 27–29). In 2025, Ravel’s 150th birthday will be marked by performances of several of his works. Rafael Payare will lead the Suite No. 2 from Daphnis and Chloe (January 23, 25–26); Daniele Rustioni conducts Alborada del gracioso (January 30–February 1); Pierre-Laurent Aimard will perform the Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, led by Michael Tilson Thomas (March 7–9); and Dalia Stasevska leads Pavane for a Dead Princess and La Valse (May 9–11).
A NEW HOLIDAY TRADITION
Celebrate the holiday season with Nézet-Séguin and Your Philadelphia Orchestra! This year, the Orchestra will present a special new program, Yannick’s Holiday Mixtape in Concert. The Orchestra’s beloved music and artistic director will lead these festive performances featuring holiday classics such as “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” and “White Christmas” alongside some of his personal French favorites, “Joyeux Noël” and “Petit Papa Noël” (December 12–13). In addition, Nézet-Séguin will lead the Orchestra’s annual performances of Handel’s Messiah (December 21–22).
Holiday concerts will also include beloved traditions: the Glorious Sound of Christmas (December 14–15), New Year’s Eve (December 31), and Lunar New Year (January 10).
ADDITIONAL SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
- Seong-Jin Cho will perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 under the baton of Nézet-Séguin (September 27–29).
- Conductor Roderick Cox will return to lead Saint-Saëns’s Symphony No. 3 (“Organ”), Bartók’s Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin, and Martinů’s Rhapsody-Concerto for viola and orchestra, featuring Principal Viola Choong-Jin Chang (October 11, 13).
- David Robertson will lead Nicolas Hodges in Betsy Jolas’s bTunes for piano and orchestra on a program paired with Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story and Copland’s Appalachian Spring Suite (October 18–20).
- Former Principal Guest Conductor Stéphane Denève will lead an all-French program featuring Gautier Capuçon performing the U.S. premiere of Connesson’s Cello Concerto paired with Holmès’s “La Nuit et l’amour” (Interlude) from Ludus pro patria and Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique (November 22–23).
- Gil Shaham will play Dvořák’s Violin Concerto on a program featuring Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 6, led by Xian Zhang (December 5–7).
- Rafael Payare will lead Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 (“Pathétique”) and violinist Carolin Widmann in Kaija Saariaho’s Graal théâtre (January 23, 25–26).
- Organist Paul Jacobs will perform Casella’s Concerto romano on a program also featuring Holst’s The Planets, led by Daniele Rustioni (January 31–February 1).
- Masaaki Suzuki will make his Philadelphia Orchestra debut leading a program of works by Bach and Haydn (February 7–8).
- Leonidas Kavakos will perform Korngold’s Violin Concerto under the baton of Fabio Luisi, on a program paired with Brahms’s Symphony No. 4 and Sørenson’s Evening Land (February 21–23).
- Randall Goosby will perform Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto on a program led by Marin Alsop (March 13–15).
- Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider will serve as conductor and soloist in performances of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7 (March 22–23).
- Nathalie Stutzmann will lead Edgar Moreau in Schumann’s Cello Concerto paired with Missy Mazzoli’s Orpheus Undone (March 28–29).
- Nézet-Séguin will lead Stravinsky’s The Firebird (complete), Barbara Assiginaak’s Eko-Bmijwang (As Long in Time as the River Flows), and Bartók’s Violin Concerto No. 2 featuring First Associate Concertmaster Juliette Kang (April 3–5).
- Conductor Tugan Sokhiev will join the Orchestra for two weeks of programs. First, he will lead Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 and Schumann’s Piano Concerto featuring Yefim Bronfman (April 25–27). Then he will lead a program of Wagner, Liszt, and Strauss, featuring Haochen Zhang in Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (May 1–2).
- Emanual Ax will return to perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17 on a program led by Dalia Stasevska, paired with works by Lutosławski and Ravel (May 9–11).
FAMILY PROGRAMMING
Family Concerts bring storytelling to life through music and inspire the next generation of music lovers. Families can also enjoy free, themed programming in Commonwealth Plaza before the concerts.
Sound All Around, a series of performances dedicated to educating young listeners from preschool to elementary age, will return throughout the season. Sound All Around is hosted by Imasogie Storyteller, Narrator, and Host Charlotte Blake Alston, and introduces children to individual instruments of the orchestra. Details about Sound All Around will be announced at a later time.
All Family Concerts and Sound All Around performances are sensory-friendly and available as part of the Family Discovery Series. Details about both programs will be announced in the spring.
2024–25 SEASON SUBSCRIPTIONS
Multi-concert subscription packages go on sale on January 18 at 12:00 PM at www.philorch.org/2425season or 215.893.1955. Subscribers can enjoy increased flexibility in ticketing with fee-free exchanges. Single tickets will go on sale in late July.
YOUR PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA
The free digital video series Our City, Your Orchestra will continue in the 2024–25 season. The series uncovers and amplifies the voices, stories, and causes championed by unique Philadelphia organizations and businesses. Musicians of the Orchestra embrace the opportunity to step off the stage and into the community to introduce viewers to positive work happening in the region. Through thoughtful storytelling and musical collaboration, Our City, Your Orchestra turns the spotlight on local organizations that advocate for change, sites of historical significance, and businesses that represent and serve resilient communities. New episodes will be available throughout the season at www.philorch.org/ocyo.
In partnership with the School District of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Orchestra will continue its free ticket program for teachers, administrators, and staff. Designed to give back to those who devote so much to the children and communities of Philadelphia, APPLE (Appreciation Program for PhilaSD Leaders in Education) offers educators free admission to concerts throughout the 2024–25 season.
The Orchestra’s Student Circle program for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students will also continue. For $25 a year, members get access to $8 tickets for select Verizon Hall concerts and additional opportunities throughout the season. The Student Circle program is funded in part by the Amy P. Goldman Foundation and an anonymous donor.
SUMMER WITH THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA
The Philadelphia Orchestra will proudly return to its three summer homes for concerts in 2025. Tickets for these residencies will go on sale at a later date.
The Orchestra will return to its Philadelphia summer home, the Mann Center for the Performing Arts, a leading non-profit organization with a historic legacy of artistic excellence as a world-class entertainment destination presenting renowned performers and a signature concert experience. The Mann’s 22-acre campus is in the heart of Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park, surrounded by stunning views of Philadelphia’s skyline. To learn more about special performances under the stars, visit www.manncenter.org.
High atop the Rocky Mountains, the Orchestra will perform at the Bravo! Vail Music Festival in Colorado. Hailed as “the most high-profile—and high altitude—mountain music festival in America” by the Times, UK, Bravo! Vail is the only festival in North America to host four acclaimed orchestras in a single season. For more information, visit www.bravovail.org.
Built for The Philadelphia Orchestra and New York City Ballet (NYCB) and opened in 1966, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) is the summer home of The Philadelphia Orchestra, NYCB, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. SPAC is located in Saratoga Springs, New York, a world-class cultural destination with exceptional museums, bookstores, theater, music, and dance across all genres. For more information, visit www.spac.org.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin holds the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Chair.
Marin Alsop holds the Ralph and Beth Johnston Muller Chair (beginning in September 2024).
Charlotte Blake Alston holds the Osagie and Losenge Imasogie Chair.
Choong-Jin Chang holds the Ruth and A. Morris Williams, Jr., Chair.
Juliette Kang holds the Joseph and Marie Field Chair.
Guest artist appearances are sponsored by the Robert Heim and Eileen Kennedy Visiting Artist Fund.
Programs featuring the music of William Grant Still are supported by the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.
The Family Discovery Series is sponsored by Dietz & Watson.
The Philadelphia Orchestra Family Concerts are funded in part by the Zisman Family Foundation.
The Sound All Around concert series is endowed in perpetuity by the Garrison Family Fund for Children's Concerts, with additional support from the Acadia Fund.
Our City, Your Orchestra is supported in part by the William Penn Foundation, with additional support provided through the PNC Arts Alive initiative.
Lead support for APPLE is generously given by Dr. Richard M. Klein.
About The Philadelphia Orchestra
About Yannick Nézet-Séguin
About Marin Alsop
About the 2024–25 Season
Our Commitment to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access Strategies (IDEAS)
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CONTACTS:
Ashley Berke
267.250.5148
[email protected]
Stephanie Williams
610.952.6836
[email protected]