Boston Philharmonic Orchestra Performs Works by Schubert and Bruckner on November 22

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Katlyn Morahan | Morahan Arts and Media
katlyn@morahanartsandmedia.com | 646.378.9386

Boston Philharmonic Orchestra Performs Works by 
Schubert and Bruckner on November 22

Conductor Benjamin Zander Leads the BPO in 
Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony and Bruckner’s Symphony No. 5; 
The Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra Kicks Off Final Season with 
Works by Glinka, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky on November 6

“Zander’s tempo choices brought new colors and interpretations
to a familiar Beethoven piece. It is small musical decisions like this that
can turn an old warhorse of a piece into something fresh and new,
a trick that Zander and the BPO surely have more of up their sleeve.”
–Boston Classical Review

“Zander lingered in all the right moments but allowed the music to
build naturally to its fervent heights.” –Boston Musical Intelligencer

www.bostonphil.org

October 13, 2026 (Boston, MA) – The Boston Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) continues its 48th and final celebratory season on Sunday, November 22, 2026 at 3:00 p.m., exploring the Austrian symphonic tradition with works by Schubert and Bruckner, led by conductor Benjamin Zander at Symphony Hall. The BPO concert is paired with Benjamin Zander’s popular Guide to the Music pre-concert talk beginning at 1:45 p.m., engaging classical music novices and aficionados alike in the concert experience. 

Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony is among Benjamin Zander’s favorite works. One of classical music’s great enigmas, the “Unfinished” Symphony displays extraordinary emotional depth despite its only two completed movements. Bruckner’s Symphony No. 5 has only been performed once in the Philharmonic’s nearly half-century. Its grand musical structure culminates in a contrapuntal finale renowned for its double fugue combining a Baroque academic approach with Romantic orchestration that reflects the composer’s admiration for Bach and Beethoven. 

The Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra – comprised of 120 young musicians from across the northeastern United States – opens its final season on Friday, November 6, 2026 at 8:00 p.m. with a program highlighting the evolution of Russian orchestral music with works by Glinka, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky. 

Glinka, often called the father of Russian classical music, composed his opera Ruslan and Ludmila, permanently changing the trajectory of Russian classical music by creating a national voice with the use of Russian folk melodies, advanced chromatic harmony, and thematic leitmotifs. The famous Overture is said to have been written in a fit of inspiration over the course of 24 hours. Stravinsky’s trailblazing ballet Petrushka also used music as a storytelling device, with the famous “Petrushka chord” used to represent the puppet character’s dual nature. Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 is unified by a recurring “fate” motif and remains one of his most celebrated works. Benjamin Zander’s take on the piece is bracing and fresh. He has performed it many times, in many parts of the world, and audiences are always stirred by the experience of having the familiar made new again.

The BPO’s next concert on Sunday, February 14, 2027 at 3:00 p.m. presents an all-Beethoven program including his Symphony No. 9 featuring soprano Angel Blue, mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, tenor Nicholas Phan, and bass Solomon Howard together with Chorus pro Musica, under the direction of Jamie Kirsch.

Boston Philharmonic Orchestra Program Information:

SCHUBERT / BRUCKNER
Sunday, November 22, 2026 at 3:00 p.m.
Guide to the Music pre-concert talk takes place beginning at 1:45 p.m.
Location: Symphony Hall | 301 Massachusetts Avenue | Boston, MA 02115
Link: https://www.bostonphil.org/2026-2027-bpo2-schubert-bruckner 

Program:
Schubert - Symphony No. 8 “Unfinished”
Bruckner - Symphony No. 5

Artists:
Boston Philharmonic Orchestra
Benjamin Zander, conductor
_________________________________

Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra Program Information:

GLINKA / STRAVINSKY / TCHAIKOVSKY
Friday, November 6, 2026 at 8:00 p.m.
Location: Symphony Hall | 301 Massachusetts Avenue | Boston, MA 02115
Link: https://www.bostonphil.org/2026-2027-bpyo1-glinka-stravinsky-tchaikovsky 

Program:
Glinka - Ruslan and Ludmila Overture 
Stravinsky - Petrushka
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 5

Artists:
Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra
Benjamin Zander, conductor

Ticket Information:
Tickets are available by visiting www.bostonphil.org or by calling 617-236-0999.
Box Office hours: Tues — Thurs, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm

About The Boston Philharmonic Orchestra
In 1979, ninety-six enthusiastic players, professionals, students, and amateurs, a dynamic, probing conductor named Benjamin Zander, and an impassioned donor and amateur musician named Seymour Rothchild joined together to found the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO). Today the musicians represent the original spirited blend and account for the passion, high level of participation, and technical accomplishment for which this ensemble is celebrated. The professionals maintain the highest standards, the students keep the focus on training and education, and the gifted amateurs—including doctors, lawyers, teachers, and computer programmers—remind everybody that music-making is an expression of enthusiasm and love. 

The Boston Philharmonic’s message rings loud and clear—music-making is a privilege and a joy, and above all, a collaborative adventure. Over the years, the orchestra has performed at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, Sanders Theatre at Harvard University, and the historic Symphony Hall. The BPO performs with a wide range of soloists, from highly gifted performers at the start of their international careers, such as Stefan Jackiw, Gabriela Montero, Jonah Ellsworth, and George Li, to world-famous artists, such as Yo-Yo Ma, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Russell Sherman, Kim Kashkashian, and Alisa Weilerstein, and legendary masters, such as Ivry Gitlis, Denes Zsigmondy, Georgy Sandor, Leonard Shure, and Oscar Shumsky. 

The Boston Philharmonic Orchestra has released five critically acclaimed recordings, featuring works by Stravinsky, Beethoven, Mahler, Shostakovich, and Ravel. Among many other reviews of extravagant praise, Classic CD Magazine gave the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra’s recording of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring the highest rank of all available recordings. Of Mahler’s Symphony No. 6, American Record Guide wrote, “This joins the Rattle and the two Bernstein recordings as the finest on record…All the glory to Zander and his semi-professional orchestra, for the Sixth is probably Mahler’s most difficult and complex symphony…All things considered, when I reach for a recording of the Sixth to play for my own pleasure, it will most likely be this one.” 

BPO concerts have long been a two-part experience: each performance is preceded by one of Benjamin Zander’s illuminating and entertaining pre-concert lectures, which prepare listeners to understand the ideas and the structure of the music they are about to hear. The BPO’s commitment to reaching and educating a wide audience is maintained by its Music Without Boundaries program, which raises money to provide tickets for school-age students, and its Crescendo Music Education programs, which provide thousands of students throughout Boston with musical activities ranging from concerts to individualized instruction and workshops and more.

About Benjamin Zander
For nearly sixty years, Benjamin Zander has played a unique role in both the local and international community as an expert teacher, deeply insightful and probing music interpreter, and profound source of inspiration for audiences, with a deep commitment to making classical music accessible and engaging for all listeners. In his quest for insight and understanding into the Western musical canon and the underlying spiritual, social, and political issues that inspired its creation, he continually engages with well-informed musical and public intellectuals, including students, professional musicians, corporate leaders, and politicians around the world.

Zander started out as a cellist and composer, studying composition under Benjamin Britten and Imogen Holst at age twelve. At age fifteen, he left his London home to train for five years in Florence and Cologne with the great Spanish cellist Gaspar Cassadó. After completing his degree at the University of London, he received a Harkness Fellowship, which brought him to the United States. He began his journey as a conductor after settling in Boston in 1965. Since then, he has appeared as a guest conductor with orchestras all over the world.

From 1965 to 2012, he served on the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC), where he taught musical interpretation and conducted the Youth Philharmonic and Conservatory orchestras. He led the NEC Youth Philharmonic on fifteen international tours and made several documentaries for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). He was also the founding artistic director of the NEC’s joint program with the Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts. 

In 1979, Zander founded the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO), composed of some of Greater Boston’s top professional, amateur, and student musicians. The BPO’s performances shed fresh, insightful, and sometimes provocative light on the interpretation of the central symphonic repertoire of the 19th and 20th centuries, inspiring thousands of musicians and renewing their sense of idealism. 

Thirty-three years later in 2012, he founded the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (BPYO), which draws young musicians aged 12-21 from the Northeastern US to its weekly rehearsals and performances in Symphony Hall. The tuition-free orchestra performs at concert halls in Greater Boston and tours regularly during the summer, performing in such renowned venues as Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and the Berlin Philharmonie. Past tours have included South America in the summer of 2017, an eight-European city performance of Mahler’s 9th Symphony in 2018, Brazil in 2019, Greece in 2022, South Africa in 2023, and a five-city European tour in 2024 that sold out in Hamburg, Vienna, and Prague.

In 2018, he established the Benjamin Zander Center, which houses recordings of his “Interpretations of Music: Lessons for Life” classes; it also provides comprehensive access to all aspects of Zander’s musical work through an immersive multimedia platform.

For twenty-five years, Zander enjoyed a unique relationship with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. He made eleven recordings with them, including a nearly complete cycle of Mahler symphonies, as well as Bruckner and Beethoven symphonies. High Fidelity magazine named his recording of Mahler’s 6th Symphony the Best Classical Recording of 2002; the Mahler 3rd received the Critic’s Choice award from the German Record Critics’ Award Association; the Mahler 9th and Bruckner 5th recordings received nominations for Grammy Awards for Best Orchestral Performance. Each recording includes a detailed audio explanation that aims to bring deeper meaning to the experience of listening to the music. 

Zander also enjoys an international career as a speaker on leadership. He has given several keynote speeches at the Davos World Economic Forum, where he received the Chrystal Award for Outstanding Contributions in the Arts and International Relations. His TED Talk, “The Transformative Power of Classical Music,” has had over twenty million views, and the best-selling book, The Art of Possibility, co-authored with the late psychotherapist Rosamund Zander, has been translated into twenty-five languages. Other accolades include: the Caring Citizen of the Humanities Award from the United Nations in 2002; the Golden Door Award from the International Institute of Boston for his “outstanding contribution to American society as a United States citizen of foreign birth” in 2007; a Lifetime Achievement Award at the ABSA Achievement Awards in Johannesburg in recognition of his contributions in the spheres of Music, Culture and Leadership in 2019 (the first non-South African to receive it; previous recipients include Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu); the Julio Kilenyi Medal of Honor from the Bruckner Society of America in 2021; and the very first Titan Award from the Gustav Mahler Society of New York in July 2023.  

Learn more about Benjamin Zander at benjaminzander.org. Watch Ben’s TED Talk at https://www.bostonphil.org/about/benjamin-zander/ted-talk. 

Photo of BPO at top of release by Paul Mardy

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