National Philharmonic Announces 2025-2026 Season

Featuring:

A season-opening program celebrating NatPhil’s new album release of works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Orchestral works by Amy Beach; Avril Coleridge-Taylor; Claude Debussy; George Gershwin; Sergei Prokofiev; Maurice Ravel; Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, and Sarah Kirkland Snider; Germaine Tailleferre; and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Choral works by Reena Esmail and J.S. Bach, in partnership with The Washington Chorus

Two performances of Handel’s Messiah with Baltimore Choral Arts Society

The finale of Brian Ganz’s multi-year Extreme Chopin Project

New and returning guest artists and conductors

(NORTH BETHESDA, MD) — National Philharmonic (NatPhil) announces its 2025-2026 Season, which opens in September with a program primarily featuring rarely performed works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, celebrating NatPhil’s new album release of the composer’s music. The full season includes four orchestral concerts; a choral concert marking the third year of the partnership between NatPhil and The Washington Chorus (TWC); two performances of Handel’s Messiah; and the return of pianist Brian Ganz in recital. All season concerts will be held at The Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, Maryland, the orchestra’s longstanding home in Montgomery County.

“The 2025-2026 Season marks a pivotal moment for NatPhil—artistically and as a staple of the community,” said NatPhil President and CEO Jim Kelly. “The season explores bold new directions, brings familiar classical music to life, and celebrates the release of our first-ever studio album. I can't wait to welcome audiences in for concerts that celebrate the power of music to inspire and connect.”

The 2025-2026 Season is the first to be fully programmed by the newly established National Philharmonic Artistic Strategy Committee, co-chaired by Laura Colgate, NatPhil Concert Leader and Executive & Artistic Director of Boulanger Initiative, and Richard Scerbo, Co-Director of Artistic Programming of The Clarice at the University of Maryland and Director of the National Orchestral Institute Festival. Formed in 2024, the goal of the committee is to shift artistic programming responsibilities from a single music director to a group bringing unique perspectives to programming that result in equitable concert programs.

"The new Artistic Strategy Committee allows NatPhil to benefit from the unique artistic voices of our committee members, resulting in exciting, innovative, and unexpected programming,” added Kelly. “By shifting away from a single artistic perspective, we're able to create an equitable process for artistic planning and bring the best possible music to our patrons."

Notable repertoire and guest artists in the upcoming season include:

• a concert comprising three works by British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, two of which feature on NatPhil’s album of the composer’s music to be released by Avie Records on August 1, 2025, coinciding with Coleridge-Taylor’s 150^th Violin soloist Curtis Stewart joins NatPhil, conducted by Michael Repper, for Ballade Op. 4 for Violin and Orchestra; the orchestra also performs Toussaint L’Ouverture by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Sussex Landscape by Avril Coleridge-Taylor, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 (September 20, 2025).
• a reunion with The Washington Chorus for One Song: Exultávit!, conducted by TWC Artistic Director Eugene Rogers and featuring J.S. Bach’s Magnificat and Reena Esmail’s This Love Between Us, whose seven movements juxtapose the words of seven major religious traditions of India (Buddhism, Sikhism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Islam), and specifically how each of these traditions approaches the topic of unity, of brotherhood, and of being kind to one another (October 25, 2025).
• the final recital in pianist Brian Ganz’s Extreme Chopin project, on which he has performed every work by Frédéric Chopin over 16 years (April 11, 2026).
• The Blue Hour, an evening-length work co-composed by Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, and Sarah Kirkland Snider, setting the text of Carolyn Forché’s poem “On Earth.” The piece is being performed by soprano soloist Shara Nova and led by conductor Deanna Tham (May 9, 2026).
  
  
• guest artists in their first appearance with NatPhil, including conductors Andrew Grams, Michael Repper, Deanna Tham, and Cosette Justo Valdés; violinists Benjamin Beilman and Curtis Stewart; sopranos Shara Nova and Sarah Hayashi; tenor Brian Giebler; baritone Edmund Milly; and harpist Bridget Kibbey.
• returning artists, including conductors Anthony Blake Clark (Music Director of Baltimore Choral Arts Society) and Eugene Rogers (Artistic Director of The Washington Chorus); pianist Brian Ganz; and mezzo soprano Lucia Bradford.

National Philharmonic 2025-2026 Season Schedule:

Celebration: Coleridge-Taylor & Tchaikovsky
Michael Repper, conductor
Curtis Stewart, violin
September 20, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. at The Music Center at Strathmore

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Toussaint L’Ouverture
Avril Coleridge-Taylor, Sussex Landscape
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Ballade Op. 4 for Violin and Orchestra (arr. Curtis Stewart)
Curtis Stewart, violin
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 5

One Song: Exultávit!
Eugene Rogers, conductor
Presented by National Philharmonic and The Washington Chorus
Soloists to be announced.
October 25, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. at The Music Center at Strathmore

J.S. Bach, Magnificat, BWV 243, D Major
Reena Esmail, This Love Between Us

Handel’s Messiah with Baltimore Choral Arts Society
Anthony Blake Clark, conductor
Sarah Hayashi, soprano
Lucia Bradford, mezzo soprano
Brian Giebler, tenor
Edmund Milly, baritone
December 20, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. and December 21, 2025 at 3 p.m. at The Music Center at Strathmore

George Frideric Handel, Messiah, HWV 56

Prokofiev, Gershwin & Beach
Cosette Justo Valdés, conductor
Benjamin Beilman, violin
January 24, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. at The Music Center at Strathmore

George Gershwin, Cuban Overture
Sergei Prokofiev, Violin Concerto No. 2
Benjamin Beilman, violin
Amy Beach, Symphony in E minor, Op. 32 “Gaelic”

French Masters: Ravel, Debussy & Tailleferre
Andrew Grams, conductor
Bridget Kibbey, harp
March 7, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. at The Music Center at Strathmore

Germaine Tailleferre, Overture
Germaine Tailleferre, Harp Concertino
Bridget Kibbey, harp
Claude Debussy, Dances Sacred and Profane
Bridget Kibbey, harp
Maurice Ravel, Mother Goose

Extreme Chopin: The Finale
Brian Ganz, piano
April 11, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. at The Music Center at Strathmore

All Chopin. Programming to be announced.

The Blue Hour
Deanna Tham, conductor
Shara Nova, soprano
May 9, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. at The Music Center at Strathmore

Rachel Grimes/Angélica Negrón/Shara Nova/Caroline Shaw/Sarah Kirkland Snider, The Blue Hour

Programs, artists, dates, and times are subject to change.

Subscription and Ticket Information
Subscriptions to National Philharmonic’s 2025-2026 Season will go on sale to the public June 1, 2025 and single tickets go on sale July 2025 at nationalphilharmonic.org.

About the National Philharmonic
Celebrated for showcasing world-renowned guest artists in time-honored symphonic masterpieces, National Philharmonic continuously strives to create remarkable educational opportunities in the community while promoting diversity and representation in classical music.

National Philharmonic is an accessible, enriching component in the Greater Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area, believing that music has the power to spark imagination and shape the world around us. Over the years National Philharmonic has expanded its footprint beyond its home at Strathmore, with year-round masterclasses along with an annual Summer String Institute for youth, a Youth Mentorship Program for young musicians, armed services programs, and partnerships with community organizations. In addition to these programs, National Philharmonic fosters a love of music in young people across the region by offering free admission to all children between the ages 7 to 17 years old.

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