Naumburg Foundation Celebrates 100 Years

THE WALTER W. NAUMBURG FOUNDATION

MARKS 100 YEARS WITH A STAR-STUDDED CENTENNIAL GALA

The World’s Oldest Music Competition Celebrates a Century of Shaping Great Artists

With a Gala Concert on Sunday, May 17, 2026, 3pm, Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center

 MORE THAN 20 NAUMBURG WINNERS SPANNING GENERATIONS

TAKE THE STAGE

Including LEONIDAS KAVAKOS, AWADAGIN PRATT, CAROL WINCENC, FRANK HUANG,

and a Rare Reunion of the EMERSON QUARTET

Remarks by ITZHAK PERLMAN

Highlights include the WORLD PREMIERE of the FROG PRINCE OR IRON HENRY

by STEVEN MACKEY, performed by the BRENTANO STRING QUARTET

and Narrator LUCY SHELTON

New York, NY (April 10, 2026) The Walter W. Naumburg Foundation – the world’s oldest music competition that has launched generations of leading classical artists – marks its 100^th anniversary with a Gala Concert on Sunday, May 17, 2026, 3pm, at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center.  Bringing together more than 20 distinguished artists across generations, the program features Leonidas Kavakos, Awadagin Pratt, Carol Wincenc, Colin Carr, Charles Neidich, Anton Nel, Jack Gao, Frank Huang, Erin Wagner, Seth Knopp, Valentin Kovalev, Andreas Mader, Terra String Quartet, and a reunion of the Emerson String Quartet.

A highlight of the afternoon is the world premiere of Steven Mackey’s Frog Prince or Iron Henry performed by the Brentano String Quartet and Lucy Shelton.  Commissioned by the Foundation, the work honors longtime Executive Director Lucy Rowan Mann, whose visionary leadership shaped Naumburg for decades.  Steven Mackey said, “Naumburg President Robert Mann shared my passion for storytelling, creating fairy-tale settings with his wife, actress Lucy Rowan Mann. It is a touching tribute that their son, Nicholas Mann, asked me to honor their legacy with a new fairy tale for narrator and string quartet.”

 Remarks will be given by Itzhak Perlman and Naumburg President Nicholas Mann. Nicholas Mann said “In 1926, Walter Naumburg had a dream to create an organization that supported exceptional young artists. One hundred years later, that vision continues to resonate through the extraordinary musicians whose careers began here. On May 17, we are proud to celebrate this remarkable accomplishment with more than twenty of our distinguished past winners.”

 Walter W. Naumburg Foundation Gala Centennial Concert program

W.A. Mozart                  Sonata in C Major for Four Hands, K. 521, Allegro

                                     Anton Nel and Jack Gao, pianos

 Paul Schoenfeld           Sonatina for Flute, Clarinet and Piano, Charleston

                                     Carol Wincenc, flute; Charles Neidich, clarinet; Jack Gao, piano

                                     Leonidas Kavakos, Work TBA

 Franz Schubert            Piano Trio in B-flat Major, D898

                                     Frank Huang, violin; Colin Carr, cello; Anton Nel, piano

 Steven Mackey            The Frog Prince or Iron Henry, world premiere, Naumburg commission

                                     Lucy Shelton, narrator; Brentano String Quartet

Intermission

 Judd Greenstein          Ballade

                                     Awadagin Pratt, piano

 Pedro Iturralde           Pequena Czarda

                                    Valentin Kovalev and Andreas Mader, saxophones; Seth Knopp, piano

 Alban Berg                  Early Songs (selections)

                                    Erin Wagner, mezzo-soprano; Seth Knopp, piano

  Felix Mendelssohn     Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20, Allegro moderato ma con fuoco

                                     Emerson String Quartet and Terra String Quartet

The Walter W. Naumburg Foundation celebrates an impressive landmark in American music.  No competition has matched our century of discovering the next generation of artists.  Our laureates are gracing the world’s great stages as soloists, Grammy winning artists, leaders of major orchestras, premier chamber ensembles, conductors, artistic directors, and teachers at conservatories throughout the world.

Among our Laureates

Pianists: Jorge Bolet (1937); William Kapell (1941); Stephen Hough (1983)

Violinists: Robert Mann (1941); Elmar Oliveira (1976); Leonidas Kavakos (1988)

Cellists: Ronald Leonard (1955); Nathaniel Rosen (1977); Colin Carr (1981); Jonathan Swensen (2024)

Vocalists: Shirley Verrett (1958); Dawn Upshaw (1985); Julia Bullock (2014)

Chamber Ensembles: American String Quartet (1974); Emerson String Quartet (1978)

Speculum Musicae (1972); Eighth Blackbird (2000)

Orchestral Leaders: Joseph Silverstein (Violin 1960); Jules Eskin (Cello 1954) Boston Symphony Orchestra

Frank Huang (Violin 2003); Lorne Munroe (Cello 1949) New York Philharmonic

Paul Olefsky (Cello 1948); Hai-Ye Ni (Cello 1990) Philadelphia Orchestra

Sidney Harth (Violin 1948) Chicago Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic

Commissioned Composers including more than 70 leading American composers and two Pulitzer Prize winning works: Milton Babbitt, Mario Davidovsky, John Harbison, Leon Kirchner, Donald Martino, William Schuman, Shulamit Ran, George Lewis, Joan Tower, and Frank Zappa

 Board of Directors has included a century of American music luminaries: Elliott Carter, Aaron Copland, Jan DeGaetani, Leon Fleisher, Lukas Foss, Leopold Mannes, Peter Mennin, Itzhak Perlman, William Schuman, Isaac Stern, Shirley Verrett and John Corigliano

 

“IN ITS QUIET WAY, THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS OF THEM ALL” – The New York Times

 Ticket Information

Tickets, available by going to Naumburg.org, are priced at $100, $75 and $25 for students. The Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center is located at Broadway at West 60th Street, 5th Floor, Columbus Circle.