NY Phil Clicks 'Refresh' in 2025-26

What’s this? No Mahler? No Brahms? The New York Philharmonic announced its 2025-26 season today, with Music Director Designate Gustavo Dudamel and CEO Matías Tarnopolsky setting the stage for what appears to be the orchestra’s most imaginative program in decades. Credit is no doubt due Artistic Planning VP Patrick Castillo and his staff, but the Dudamel era is looking very promising indeed.

Joining a number of its peer arts organizations, the orchestra will highlight the country’s 250^th-anniversary year with several targeted works, including Dudamel-led premieres by Hawaiian composer/performer Leilehua Lanzilotti [pictured], on the Sept. 11 season opener, along with Ives’s Second Symphony and Bartók’s Third Piano Concerto (Yunchan Lim, soloist); David Lang’s the wealth of nations, a choral work featuring Davóne Tines among the soloists; and variations on Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated as orchestrated by an array composers such as Tania León, Andrew Norman, Joel Thompson, and Nina C. Young.

“This is a pivotal moment in the history of the United States, and with our programming this season we seek to explore 250 years of the American Experiment," said Dudamel. "We will examine our shared nation from its foundation..., to the profound questions we face at present.”

His orchestra-to-be has partnered with the Los Angeles Philharmonic to commission a choral work by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Reid; LA gets world-premiere bragging rights, on its season opener, and the New York orchestra offers it April 30-May 2 on a bill with Bloch’s Schelomo, performed by Sheku Kanneh-Mason, the Phil’s new artist in residence. Dudamel conducts the new Reid work on both coasts. As part of his fall NY visit, he’ll lead John Corigliano’s First Symphony on a program with Beethoven’s Fifth, September 18-21.

In addition to the aforementioned, repertorial first outings include a new work by Caroline Mallonee, from the 2022-23 Project 19 commissions; David Robertson conducts and the November 13-16 bill also includes the original, 1911 Petrushka of Stravinsky. Nicolai Benedetti plays Marsalis’s Violin Concerto that weekend as well.  The orchestra has commissioned a concerto for two pianos and percussion of George Lewis, scheduled for premiere April 8–10, 2026, with the ensemble Yarn/Wire; Charlotte Symphony Music Director Kwamé Ryan [pictured] conducts in his house debut. Nathalie Joachim’s new work for vocal soloist, electronics, and acoustic instruments, another commission, gets its first outing on May 22 as part of the Sound On contemporary-music series. U.S. premieres include Chaya Czernowin’s Unforeseen dusk: ones into wings, on October 29, 2025, a co-commission with Südwestrundfunk, and Bohdana Frolyak’s Let There Be Light, November 6–8, 2025 under Dalia Stasevska.

The Boulez centennial gets two thoughtful programs: October 3-5 Pierre-Laurent Aimard performs selections from Notations for solo piano, interleaved with orchestral versions of the same. Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts, as he does the following week, with the first New York staging of Boulez’s Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna, choreographed by Benjamin Millepied for his L.A. Dance Project; both make their Philharmonic debuts.  Those concerts also feature Stravinsky’s Octet and Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra.

Conductor Marta Gardolinska [pictured] makes her house debut with the New York premiere of Mason Bates’s Devil’s Radio, Lutoslawski’s Concerto for Orchestra, and Leila Josefowicz performing Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 2. Toronto Symphony Music Director Gustavo Gimeno debuts with Dvorak’s Ninth, Bernstein’s Three Dances from On the Town, and Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F; Hélène Grimaud is the soloist. Royal Philharmonic Chief Conductor Domingo Hindoyan makes his house debut with the local premiere of Allison Loggins-Hull’s Can You See?, on a program with Dvorak’s Seventh Symphony and the Sibelius Violin Concerto, Karen Gomyo soloist. Musical America Artist of the Year Barbara Hannigan makes her conducting debut and stars in a staging of Poulenc’s LaVoix Humaine; also on the program is Strauss’s Metamorphosen.

Violinist Gil Shaham does double duty as well, serving as soloist and conductor on an all Mozart program. Thomas Adès leads his own America (A Prophecy), programmed with works by Ives, Saariaho, and Rautavaara’s Piano Concerto with Yuja Wang at the keyboard.

Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla will conduct the local premiere of John Williams’ piano concerto with Emanuel Ax as soloist; she’ll also lead Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s Symphony No. 5.

There are the usual NY Philharmonic Ensemble concerts, Young People's Concerts, a substantial Art of the Score series, Artist Spotlights, free Parks Concerts, late-night soirees, galas, etc.

Photos from the top: Leilehua Lanzilotti, Kwamé Ryan, Marta Gardolinska

https://www.nyphil.org/concerts-tickets/2526