Gustavo Dudamel has not officially been handed over as the music and artistic director of the New York Philharmonic until fall 2026. However, he will be the orchestra's podium fixture for next season, leading the six-week concert and several world premieres.
Philharmonic President and CEO Matthias Tarnopolsky said the new season, which includes a celebration of the US 250th birthday and a centenary honor to renowned French composer and conductor Pierre Brues, will “show us a glimpse into the best of Gustavo Dudamel's, joy and embrace future.
Dudamel leads the oratorio world or local premiere by David Lang based on Adam Smith's “National Wealth.” A rethink of Frederick Luzewsky's “The People of United Never Be Defeated.” The Philharmonic was a choral piece by Ellen Reed, commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.
At the opening night concert in September, Dudamel will be on the podium with Yunchan Lim as the third soloist at Bartoc's Piano Concerto. Barbara Honeygan makes her conducting debut in her ensemble. And stars like violinist Joshua Bell, pianist Jean Yves Thibaudette and violinist Nicola Benedetti are back.
Below are ten highlights of the upcoming season, selected by New York Times critics. Javier C. Hernandez
Boulez Centennial, October 3rd-11th
The Philharmonic celebrates the 100th anniversary of composer and conductor Pierre Brues, a former music director for the orchestra, and celebrates two programs. First, Pierre Laurent Amade presents some of the composer's early piano notations, and Esa Pecca Salonen performs the orchestral adaptations of those works, along with Debussy's works. The following week, the dancer choreographed by Benjamin Milped, accompanied by Salonen and the orchestra from the Blues' “Memoam Bruno Madelna's Ritul.” Seth Colter's Wall
Sound On: Chaya Czernowin, October 29th
The Philharmonic's invaluable Sound-on series returns with the local premiere of Chajachernowin's “Unexpected Dusk: Bones to Bones,” which was first heard in Germany last year. It has the length of a symphony and is written for a large orchestra and six amplified voices, one scale. But unlike David Geffen Hall: The Onterworldly, yet violently human classics, huge forces are selectively unfolding, directly under the skin, directly into your mind. Joshua Barron
Thomas de Hartmann's Violin Concerto, November 6-8
Ukrainian-born composer Thomas de Hartmann wrote a violin concert during the Nazi occupation to lament the destruction that World War II had brought to his homeland. Star violinist Joshua Bell recently defended the film, releasing a recording last year with Dalia Stasevska and the Inso-Lviv Symphony Orchestra. Bell and Stessefska will be reunited to bring it to the Philharmonic in a programme with the US premiere of “Let be Be Be Light” by contemporary Ukrainian composer Vodana Florach. Joshua Barron
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, November 26th-29th
At the Kennedy Center in February, pianist Jean Yves Thibaudette brought elegance and elan to the outrageous colours of Aram Cachaturian's Piano Concerto and the technical display of peacock. He will be rejoined in the film at the Philharmonic next season by conductor Stephen DeNave. The program also includes “Cantus Arcticus” by Einojuhani Rautavaara and “Icarus” by Lera Auerbach, with recordings of bird tapes. sama zahr
Thomas Ades' “America (Prophecy)” January 22nd to 24th
British composer and conductor Thomas Ades changes his uncompromising gaze on America with his programme that crosses vast emotional terrain. His own “America (Prophecy)” draws on ancient Mayan texts set to a violent forehead score at its New York premiere. In contrast, Yuja lined up as soloists with Ives' orchestra set No. 2, Kaija Saliajo's hallucination “Orolamar,” and Lautabara's Piano Concerto No. 1. Corinna Da Fonseca-Wollheim
Manfred Honeck and María Duedñas, January 29th – Feb. 1
Amazing young musician Maria Dugnas, along with conductor Manfred Horneck, makes one of the genre's great entries: Beethoven's Violin Concerto and Philharmonic debut. With a recording of the 2023 production, Dueñas brings a supply to Beethoven's endurance tests and is fascinated by five different versions of Cadenza. Strauss' 35-minute symphonic adaptation of “Elektra” fills the program and reminds me of some of the fire and poison of the opera without the need for a world-class soprano. sama zahr
George Louis Premiere, April 8-10
George Lewis, an innovative and multifaceted composer, has never played music on the Philharmonic subscription program, but that changes with fees featuring a fantastic piano disability quartet yarn/wire. In the same program, conductor Kwame Ryan made his debut in the subscription series, music including the trio's work sung by elegant soprano Golda Schultz: Arias by Stravinsky and Carlisle Floyd, “Knoxville: Summer of 1915.” Zachary Woolfe
Barbara Honeygan, April 23-25
Since 2011, the fiercely original soprano Barbara Honeygan has not only made her own name as a conductor, but also simultaneously invented a new hybrid art form that sang orchestras without breaking down the characters. Here, she takes on the enthusiastic protagonist in Polanc's mono-psychodrama “La Voi Hamain,” in a step-by-step production tailored to the dramatic powers. Corinna Da Fonseca-Wollheim
“The people of United will never be defeated” May 12-17
Mixing left-wing politics with the musicality of the famous, Frederick Ruzevsky (1938-2021) wrote a masterpiece in 1975, in an hour-long variation of the Chilean protest song, “The People United Will Will Not Be Defeated.” This work is for solo piano, but the Philharmonic has boldly commissioned the orchestral version. Additionally, the arrangement honors are shared among a well-known group of over a dozen composers, including Tania Leon, Andrew Norman, Conrad Tao and Maria Schneider. Zachary Woolfe
Sound On: Natalie Joachim, May 22nd
Earlier this season, we found Joachim's recent cello concerto to be the highlight of Philharmonic's programming. Next spring, the orchestra will bring her back for the world premiere. Although there are only a few details about exactly what Joachim presents in her sound on the show, we know that she will be taking part in the performance. Considering her skills as a flute player and vocalist, that's an attractive outlook. Seth Colter's Wall
