Gemma New Leads LA, Atlanta, Chicago, Vancouver, Seattle, and Hamilton Orchestras in Early 2024

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Contact: Katy Salomon | Primo Artists | VP, Public Relations 
katy@primoartists.com | 212.837.8466 

Conductor Gemma New 
Spring 2024 North American Highlights 

January 6-7, 2024  – Los Angeles Philharmonic
February 1-3, 2024  – Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
February 8-10, 2024 – Chicago Symphony Orchestra
April 12-13, 2024 – Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
April 25-28, 2024 – Seattle Symphony Orchestra
May 1- 4, 2024 – Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra

“a unique sensitivity and a heightened attention to detail and texture”
– The Washington Post

www.gemmanew.com

New York, NY (December 7, 2023) – As part of her tightly-paced 2023/2024 season, taking her across Europe and her native New Zealand, conductor Gemma New is soon featured in debuts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, as well as her subscription debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She also returns to lead the Seattle Symphony and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra this season, and will complete her ninth and final season as Music Director of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra in Ontario.

On Saturday, January 6 and Sunday, January 7, 2024 New makes her subscription debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Disney Hall. The program will feature the complexities and sophistications of Mozart’s “Prague'' symphony, a triumphant work composed during the peak of Mozart’s celebrity status in the European capital. The performance will also highlight Stravinsky’s Danses concertantes and Copland's Clarinet Concerto alongside Principal Clarinet Boris Allakhverdyan.

On Thursday, February 1 and Saturday, February 3, 2024 New returns to lead the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to guest conduct Gustav Holst’s off-world delight The Planets. Based on astrology, this irresistible concert suite enchanted audiences at its 1918 debut and has inspired spin-offs ever since, from church singing to Star Wars. In addition, planet Earth makes a dazzling appearance alongside the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra percussion section - featuring Salina Fisher’s beautifully atmospheric opener Rainphase and Adam Schoenberg’s 2019 piece Losing Earth which explores the world’s oldest musical instruments (after the voice) with ASO Principal Percussionist Joseph Petrasek.

On Thursday, February 8 and Saturday, February 10, 2024, New makes her debut leading the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Her program includes the orchestra’s first performances of Aaron Kernis’ Musica Celestis and welcomes Seong-Jin Cho for his CSO debut in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3. The program concludes with Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony.

New heads to the west coast to guest conduct the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in another Holst program on Friday, April 12 and Saturday, April 13, 2024. She leads the program of Holst’s The Planets, Alissa Firsova’s Die Windsbraut, and Britten’s Violin Concerto with soloist Augustin Hadelich.

New returns to the Seattle Symphony to conduct the Antarctic Symphony on Thursday, April 25, Saturday, April 27 and Sunday, April, 28, 2024. Featuring Salina Fisher’s Rainphase, Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 7, “Antarctic” and Britten’s Four Sea Interludes, the program tells the story of the heroic yet doomed 1912 Terra Nova Expedition to Antarctica, led by Captain Robert Scott.

Capping her nine-year run with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, New closes her tenure with two performances. On Wednesday, May 1, 2024 at The Cotton Factory, New and the orchestra collaborate with a local multi-media artist for a vivid evening of contemporary music featuring new works by Michael Maevskiy and Quinn Jacobs, Saman Shahi’s Suspended Doorways, Ana Sokolovic’s …and I need a room to receive five thousand people with raised glasses… ,Cecilia Livingston’s Noyade, Cris Derksen’s Rebellion, and Brian Current’s For The Time Being.

On Saturday, May 4, 2024 at the FirstOntario Concert Hall, she returns to lead the orchestra with more than 120 singers in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with its iconic choral finale, Ode to Joy! The program also features Andrew Balfour’s remarkable Mamachimowin for orchestra and choir exploring the relationship between Canada and the First Nations, and the late Claude Vivier’s Lonely Child, for orchestra and soprano.

Program Information
January 6-7, 2024
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Los Angeles, California
Link: www.laphil.com/events/performances/2435/2024-01-06/mozarts-prague-symphony

February 1-3, 2024
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Atlanta, Georgia
Link: www.aso.org/events/detail/the-planets

February 8-10, 2024
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago, Illinois
Link: https://cso.org/performances/23-24/cso-classical/seong-jin-cho-plays-beethoven/

April 12-13, 2024
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Vancouver, Canada
Link: www.vancouversymphony.ca/event/holsts-the-planets-augustin-hadelich/

April 25-28, 2024
Seattle Symphony
Seattle, Washington
Link: www.seattlesymphony.org/en/concerttickets/calendar/2023-2024/23sub17

May 1, 2024
Intimate and Immersive: Suspended Doorways
Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra
Hamilton, ON
Link: https://www.hpo.org/event/intimate-immersive/

May 4, 2024
Beethoven Symphony No.9
Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra
Hamilton, ON
Link: https://www.hpo.org/event/gemma-conducts-beethoven-9/

About Gemma New
New Zealand-born Gemma New is the Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of Canada’s Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. New is the recipient of the prestigious 2021 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award.

In Summer 2023, New made debuts at the BBC Proms with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, and returned to the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Additional festival appearances included Chicago’s Grant Park Music Festival, Festival de la Chaise-Dieu with Orchestre National de Lyon and Opera Theatre of St. Louis, where she led a production of Susannah. She also appeared at the Oregon Bach Festival, conducting a performance of Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony.

During her 2023/24 season, New makes debuts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, Orchestre National de France and Bamberger Symphoniker. North American returns include Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, and Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. Continually in demand in Europe, New also conducts the Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Barcelona y Nacional de Cataluña, Orquesta Nacional de España, Orchestre de l’Opéra de Rouen-Normandie, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine and Staatsorchester Hannover.

New previously served as Principal Guest Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Resident Conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Associate Conductor of the New Jersey Symphony. A former Dudamel Conducting Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Conducting Fellow at Tanglewood Music Center, she was awarded Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Awards in 2017, 2019 and 2020, before receiving the 2021 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award.

*Photo Credit: Sylvia Elzafon Photography

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