Broadcast from August 7, 2024

Featuring dedicated young musicians (ages 14–22) from the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, the storied Afghan Youth Orchestra plays both Western and traditional Afghan instruments in repertoire that includes Western symphonic works, original compositions, and Afghan folk music. Recent tours have taken this extraordinary orchestra to the UK, where it recently made its Southbank Centre debut, and across Europe, including a historic performance that opened the 2023 UN Human Rights Conference in Switzerland. The ensemble—a symbol of hope for the people of Afghanistan, where music is currently banned—returns to Carnegie Hall for the first time in more than a decade. The young musicians are joined by members of the European Union Youth Orchestra in a special program that includes works by William Harvey, Sarahang, Awalmir, and Abdul Wahab Madadi, plus arrangements by conductor Tiago Moreira da Silva of works by Nainawaz, Brahms, Kodály, and popular artist Sediq Shabab.

Broadcast from August 6, 2024

When the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) last appeared on this stage, The New York Times called the performance “nearly indistinguishable from what any fine orchestra out to make an impression at Carnegie Hall might present.” The most notable difference? The “infectious joy evident onstage.” As part of Carnegie Hall’s World Orchestra Week (WOW!), celebrating outstanding youth ensembles from around the world, conductor Iván Fischer leads the orchestra and acclaimed pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason in a program that includes Mahler’s First Symphony; Dohnányi’s Variations on a Nursery Tune, Op. 25; and a brisk opening piece by Anna Clyne.

Broadcast from August 5, 2024

One of the United States’ most renowned conductors, Marin Alsop leads the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America as part of Carnegie Hall’s World Orchestra Week (WOW!). The esteemed ensemble begins the concert with Barber’s Symphony No. 1, which condenses the traditional symphonic structure into a single captivating movement. Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, a popular recitalist at Carnegie Hall, joins as soloist in Rhapsody in Blue as part of the iconic work’s centennial celebration. The performance concludes with Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, a colorful concert staple based on One Thousand and One Nights.

Broadcast from August 4, 2024

This Sunday matinee concert—presented as part of Carnegie Hall’s World Orchestra Week (WOW!)—features the Beijing Youth Orchestra, an ensemble newly created by China’s National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA). Lü Jia, who has performed at Carnegie Hall as conductor of the renowned China NCPA Orchestra, leads this exceptional youth orchestra and the inimitable pipa virtuoso Wu Man in a program that includes both Western and Chinese orchestral works.

Broadcast from August 3, 2024

Witness the North American debut of the Africa United Youth Orchestra (AUYO), organized by the Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra, South Africa’s national orchestra. AUYO comprises stellar musicians from several African countries, including South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Led by American conductor William Eddins, the first half of the concert highlights works by South African composers Michael Mosoeu Moerane, Mzilikazi Khumalo, and Bongani Ndodana-Breen. Opening the program is Moerane’s Fatše La Heso (My Country), followed by arias from Khumalo’s uShaka KaSenzagakhona (a dramatic work about the legendary King of the Zulus) and Princess Magogo (the first Zulu opera) sung by South African soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, who is also featured in one of Ndodana-Breen’s Three Orchestral Songs on Poems of Ingrid Jonker. The concert concludes with Dvořák’s beloved Symphony No. 9, “From the New World,” featuring members of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America.

Broadcast from August 2, 2024

Gustavo Dudamel conducts the National Children’s Symphony of Venezuela during Carnegie Hall’s World Orchestra Week (WOW!), which celebrates extraordinary youth ensembles from around the globe. In the first half of the program, the gifted young musicians perform John Adams’s Short Ride in a Fast Machine, Estévez’s symphonic poem Mediodía en el llano, and Ginastera’s Four Dances from Estancia, which the orchestra also performed in its unforgettable international debut at the Salzburg Festival. The second half of the concert comprises Shostakovich’s riveting Symphony No. 5.

Broadcast from August 1, 2024

World Orchestra Week (WOW!) kicks off with a performance by NYO2—Carnegie Hall’s national youth orchestra for younger teens, called “superbly talented” (New York Classical Review) and “a bright future for classical music” (Musical America). Conducted by Teddy Abrams—and featuring principal players from several of the nation’s top orchestras as soloists—they perform some of the concert repertoire’s most beloved works. In addition to Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, and Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite, the program includes a Carnegie Hall co-commissioned world premiere by Emmy Award–winning composer Jasmine Barnes, who has been commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera, and many more.

Broadcast from May 2, 2024

Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Mahler’s Sixth Symphony, which he calls “an extraordinary journey … in a strange way, Mahler’s most classical symphony, even though it is so profound and tragic and, in many ways, apocalyptic.” In works by Hindemith and Zemlinsky, the program also reveals the Weimar Republic’s electrifying sense of cross-cultural artistic possibility, as ragtime music and poetry of the Harlem Renaissance become integral components of 1920s works by leading German composers.

Broadcast from April 18, 2024

The exemplary Danish String Quartet presents the fourth installment of its Doppelgänger project, in which they pair one of Schubert’s timeless string compositions with a newly commissioned work inspired by it. The program features Schubert’s mammoth String Quintet, which was written during the final weeks of the composer’s life and is considered one of the all-time greatest chamber works by any composer. The inimitable Thomas Adès—“one of the most accomplished and complete musicians of his generation” (The New York Times)—contributes its Doppelgänger companion.

Broadcast from April 3, 2024

Hespèrion XXI brings ancient and Baroque music to life under the direction of early-music legend Jordi Savall. In immensely entertaining programs that combine passion and creativity with world-class scholarship, they make timeless music utterly captivating for 21st-century audiences. Experience the inventiveness of the early Baroque era in works that span the late–16th century to the mid–17th century, including those by Frescobaldi, Kapsberger, de’ Cavalieri, Falconieri, and more.

Broadcast from February 12, 2024

The National Symphony Orchestra, acclaimed for its “exhilarating” performances at Carnegie Hall (The New York Times), performs under the superb leadership of Gianandrea Noseda. They treat audiences to one of Beethoven’s immortal symphonies: No. 3, “Eroica,” and showcase their versatility in selections from Berg’s impassioned Lyric Suite and Korngold’s Violin Concerto, which includes numerous references to the film scores Korngold wrote during his lifesaving Hollywood career.

Broadcast from January 29, 2024

New York audiences get a welcome opportunity to revisit the 2021 Pulitzer Prize–winning Stride by Tania León, Carnegie Hall’s 2023–2024 Debs Composer’s Chair. Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand follows, featuring star soloist and International Chopin Piano Competition winner Seong-Jin Cho. Masterfully written for both piano and orchestra, it’s an inspiring example of a perceived obstacle—one-handed piano playing—yielding powerful and inventive new musical ideas. Stravinsky’s radical, rhythmically charged The Rite of Spring closes the program in explosive fashion.

Broadcast from January 23, 2024

The Philadelphia Orchestra and Marcus Roberts Trio present a 20th-century musical feast that’s perfect both for newcomers and afficionados, beginning with the magical storytelling of Stravinsky’s Pétrouchka. A rare symphonic piece by Kurt Weill follows, sure to impress listeners familiar only with the composer’s theatrical works. Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin calls it “a jewel [from] someone who completely mastered the symphonic world.” Finally, hear Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue like you never have before, as the Marcus Roberts Trio—which has “reinvented” (Chicago Tribune) the masterpiece alongside multiple top orchestras—joins us in celebrating its 100th anniversary.

Broadcast from October 22, 2023

Two singular composers tell the tale of a fiddler’s Faustian bargain and musical duel with the devil. The suite from The Soldier’s Tale is one of Stravinsky’s most memorable chamber works, retaining the stylistic range, dance elements, and expert instrumentation of his larger-scale compositions. In Wynton Marsalis’s re-imagining, A Fiddler’s Tale, he takes Stravinsky’s early jazz ingredients even further, melding jazz and classical idioms together with an updated narrative—here performed by special guest Phylicia Rashad and conducted by longtime Marsalis collaborator Damien Sneed. Hear both works performed by outstanding members of the acclaimed Gateways Music Festival.

Broadcast from January 18, 2023

The Cleveland Orchestra, “one of the finest ensembles in the nation and the world” (The New York Times), returns with a program that highlights the versatility and incredible dynamic command of a top orchestra. The concert opens with a bold juxtaposition between the first and second Viennese schools, contrasting the dense, snaking harmonies of Berg’s Lyric Suite with Schubert’s passionate Symphony No. 8, which, though left unfinished at just two movements, remains one of his most enduringly popular works. The second half of the concert is a journey unto itself, as the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus and world-renowned soloists join in Schubert’s dramatic Mass No. 6.

Broadcast from December 1, 2022

“An ensemble of exceptional insight” (The Telegraph) and the “talk of the chamber music community” (Kansas City Star), the Brentano String Quartet performs masterworks with reverence and, with an admirable balance of creativity and restraint, achieves the “marvelous feat of bringing novel qualities to standard repertoire” (Classical Source). In its return to Zankel Hall, the quartet performs a piece by Haydn, the “father of the string quartet”; Fanny Mendelssohn’s wonderful, sole composition for string quartet; and an idiosyncratic Bartók quartet that demands attention.

Broadcast from October 14, 2022

In celebration of the 200th anniversary of Brazil’s independence, the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra makes its Carnegie Hall debut with a program fitting the historic occasion. The concert begins with Rimsky-Korsakov’s hugely popular Scheherazade, a symphonic suite inspired by the legendary heroine and folklore of One Thousand and One Nights. The second half of the performance treats audiences to the music of essential Brazilian composer Villa-Lobos. A majestic prelude from one of his Bach-meets-Brazil imaginings opens the proceedings. Harmonica master José Staneck, one of the preeminent players of this repertoire, maximizes the lyrical beauty of the Harmonica Concerto. The São Paulo Symphony Choir then joins for the simmering and ultimately explosive Chôros No. 10.

Broadcast from September 29, 2022

Every Opening Night at Carnegie Hall is a piece of history, and nothing compares to experiencing it in person. Our 2022–2023 season kicks off with The Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. The ensemble simmers and bursts to life with Ravel’s orchestral wonder La valse. One of the modern greats, pianist Daniil Trifonov, joins in Liszt’s First Piano Concerto. “Chasqui” is an engrossing movement from an early Gabriela Lena Frank work, called “more relevant than ever” (The Philadelphia Inquirer). The evening of musical celebration ends in uplifting fashion with Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony.

Broadcast from June 1, 2022

The Cleveland Orchestra’s 2019 Carnegie Hall opening night performance was called “virtually flawless” (The New York Times). That’s exactly the level of excellence audiences have come to expect each time music director Franz Welser-Möst leads this outstanding orchestra. Their versatility is showcased in this program that features a sinfonia by George Walker, a Szymanowski concerto influenced by Polish folk melodies, and Schubert’s magnificently melodic and emotionally powerful “Great” Symphony.

Broadcast from April 24, 2022

Founded in 1993, the Gateways Music Festival Orchestra celebrates the contributions of classical musicians of African descent, bringing together professionals from leading orchestras across the country to perform and inspire communities through the power of music. Hear this marvelous orchestra make its Carnegie Hall debut in a performance of works by Brahms, G. Walker, and Price, along with James V. Cockerham’s vibrant Fantasia on “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” The excitement level is raised even higher when Perspectives artist Jon Batiste joins them for the world premiere of his new work.

Broadcast from March 30, 2022

The “superb and intensely focused” (The New York Times) Quatuor Ébène takes audiences on a string quartet journey of discovery. Mozart’s popular quartet, the first of six he dedicated to Haydn, enthralls with its technical brilliance and sweet lyricism. Listen for honeyed melodies in R. Schumann’s quartet too, along with smoldering ardor. Emotions also burn powerfully in Shostakovich’s quartet, dedicated to the victims of war and fascism. At turns introspective, sardonic, and elegiac, he quotes his earlier music throughout the work with devastating effect.

Broadcast from March 18, 2022

The Galilee Chamber Orchestra is the first professional orchestra comprising both Arab and Jewish musicians in Israel. As part of Polyphony Education, an Israeli nonprofit that aims to promote peace between Arab and Jewish communities, the orchestra is led by pianist and conductor Saleem Ashkar. For Carnegie Hall’s Annual Isaac Stern Memorial Concert, violinist Joshua Bell performs with the orchestra in honor of the late violinist who led the charge to save the Hall in 1960.

Broadcast from January 6, 2022

The New York Philharmonic returns to Carnegie Hall with Adolphus Hailstork’s rousing portrait of a bustling port city, a virtuoso concerto, and a symphony by a Finnish icon. John Adams’s Saxophone Concerto—with Branford Marsalis—has its share of jazz influences, while also highlighting the soloist’s agility and the instrument’s sweetly lyrical voice. Sibelius often looked to the natural splendor of his homeland, expressing this most beautifully in the famous “swan hymn” in his Fifth Symphony’s last movement, a breathtaking depiction of 16 swans in full flight.