Naumburg Orchestral Concerts announces 2024 free summer concert series June 11 – August 6

Naumburg Orchestral Concerts (NOC) announces its 119^th season of free classical music concerts at the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park from June 11-August 6, 2024. The line-up features performances from Aisslinn Nosky’s Baroque Band, The Knights, A Far Cry, Handel & Haydn Society, and ACRONYM. All concerts take place at 7:30 p.m. at the Naumburg Bandshell (Concert Ground, 72nd St, mid-park, New York, NY 10065). The concerts are free and seats are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Visit naumburgconcerts.org for more information and programs.

With a reputation for being one of the most dynamic and versatile violinists of her generation, Aisslinn Nosky made her Naumburg debut in 2023. She returns with her Baroque Band to open the concert series on June 11 with a program of works by Dall'Abaco, van Wassenaer, Locatelli, Corelli, Telemann, and Vivaldi.

The Knights return to the Bandshell on June 25. The Brooklyn-based orchestral collective performs Le Nozze de Figaro Overture, Farrenc’s Symphony No. 3 in G minor and Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony No. 6 in F major.

Also returning this summer is the GRAMMY-nominated and self-conducted orchestra A Far Cry, performing on July 9. The orchestra brings their signature style to the Bandshell, performing pieces by Kareem Roustom (b. 1971), Kinan Azmeh (b. 1976), Dinuk Wijeratne (b. 1978), and Leoš Janácek (1854-1928).

Following their Naumburg debut in 2022, Boston’s Grammy-winning Handel and Haydn Society return to the Bandshell on July 23 with a program of popular works by Corelli, Handel and Bach.

Closing out the season is the Baroque band, Acronym on August 6 with a program titled Vienna: City of Music, City of Dreams, featuring music of Valentini, Bertali, Piscator, Schmelzer and more.

About Aisslinn Nosky

Aisslinn Nosky was appointed Concertmaster of the Handel and Haydn Society in 2011. With a reputation for being one of the most dynamic and versatile violinists of her generation, Nosky is in great demand internationally as a director and soloist. From 2016-2019 Aisslinn served as Principal Guest Conductor of the Niagara Symphony Orchestra. She is currently a Guest Artist in Residence with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and Artist in Residence at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. Aisslinn is also a member of the I FURIOSI Baroque Ensemble. For twenty years this innovative Canadian ensemble presented its own edgy and inventive concert series in Toronto and toured Europe and North America turning new audiences on to Baroque music. With the Eybler Quartet, Nosky explores repertoire from the first century of the string quartet literature on period instruments. From 2005 through 2016, Aisslinn was a member of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. An avid teacher and educator,  Aisslinn is on the faculty of EQ: Evolution of the String Quartet, at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

About The Knights

The Knights are a collective of adventurous musicians dedicated to transforming the orchestral experience and eliminating barriers between audiences and music. Driven by an open-minded spirit of camaraderie and exploration, they inspire listeners with vibrant programs that encompass their roots in the classical tradition and passion for artistic discovery. The orchestra has toured and recorded with renowned soloists including Yo-Yo Ma, Dawn Upshaw, Béla Fleck, and Gil Shaham, and has appeared across the world’s most prestigious stages, including those at Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood, Ravinia, The Kennedy Center, and the Vienna Musikverein.

The Knights evolved from late-night chamber music reading parties with friends at the home of violinist Colin Jacobsen and cellist Eric Jacobsen. The Jacobsen brothers, who are also founding members of the string quartet Brooklyn Rider, serve as artistic directors of The Knights, with Eric Jacobsen as conductor. Since incorporating in 2007, the orchestra has toured consistently across the United States and Europe.

The Knights are proud to be known as “one of Brooklyn’s sterling cultural products…known far beyond the borough for their relaxed virtuosity and expansive repertory” (The New Yorker). Their roster boasts musicians of remarkably diverse talents, including composers, arrangers, singer-songwriters, and improvisers, who bring a range of cultural influences to the group, from jazz and klezmer to pop and indie rock music. The unique camaraderie within the group retains the intimacy and spontaneity of chamber music in performance. Through the palpable joy and friendship in their music-making, each musician strives to include new and familiar audiences to experience this important art form.

About A Far Cry

Called a “world-wide phenomenon” by Boston’s WBUR, A Far Cry has nurtured a distinct approach to music-making since its founding in 2007. The self-conducted orchestra is a democracy in which decisions are made collectively and leadership rotates among the players (“Criers”). This structure has led to consistently thoughtful, innovative programming — and impactful collaborations with celebrated performers and composers. A Far Cry has risen to the top of Billboard’s Traditional Classical Chart, been named Boston’s best classical ensemble by The Improper Bostonian, and celebrated two Grammy nominations for its Visions and Variations. Boston Musical Intelligencer sums up the group: “This conductor-free ensemble has earned and sustained a reputation for top-drawer playing, engrossing programming, and outstanding guest artists.”

A Far Cry’s omnivorous approach has led to collaborations with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Simone Dinnerstein, Awadagin Pratt, Roomful of Teeth, the Silk Road Ensemble, Vijay Iyer, and David Krakauer. Tour highlights include two new commissioning projects: Philip Glass’ third piano concerto with soloist Simone Dinnerstein, and The Blue Hour, “a gorgeous and remarkably unified work” (Washington Post) written by a collaborative of five leading female composers – Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, and Sarah Kirkland Snider. The Blue Hour was released in 2022 in partnership with New Amsterdam and Nonesuch Records, and was named a Top 10 Album of 2022 by NPR.

The 18 Criers are proud to call Boston home, and maintain strong roots in the city, rehearsing at their storefront music center in Jamaica Plain. The group recently celebrated the conclusion of a 10-year residency at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Collaborating with local students through educational partnerships with the New England Conservatory, Longy School of Music, and Project STEP, A Far Cry aims to pass on the spirit of collaboratively-empowered music to the next generation.

About Handel and Haydn

Boston’s Grammy-winning Handel and Haydn Society performs Baroque and Classical music with a freshness, a vitality, and a creativity that inspires all ages. H H has been captivating audiences for 209 consecutive seasons (the most of any performing arts organization in the United States), speaking to its singular success at converting new audiences to this extraordinary music, generation after generation.

H H performed the “Hallelujah” chorus from Handel’s Messiah in its first concert in 1815, gave the American premiere in 1818, and ever since has been both a musical and a civic leader in the Boston community. During the Civil War, H H gave numerous concerts in support of the Union Army (H H member Julia Ward Howe wrote “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”) and on January 1, 1863, H H performed at the Grand Jubilee Concert celebrating the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation. Two years later, H H performed at the memorial service for Abraham Lincoln. 

Today, H H’s Orchestra and Chorus delight more than 50,000 listeners annually with a subscription series at Symphony Hall and other leading venues. Through the Karen S. and George D. Levy Education Program, H H supports seven youth choirs of singers in grades 2–12 and provides thousands of complimentary tickets to students and communities throughout Boston, ensuring the joy of music is accessible to all. H H has released 16 CDs on the CORO label and has toured nationally and internationally. In all these ways, H H fulfills its mission to inspire the intellect, touch the heart, elevate the soul, and connect all of us with our shared humanity through transformative experiences with Baroque and Classical music.

About ACRONYM

Baroque band ACRONYM — an "outstanding young early-music string ensemble" (The New Yorker)—is dedicated to giving modern premieres of the wild instrumental music of the seventeenth century. Playing with “...consummate style, grace, and unity of spirit” (The New York Times), the group formed in 2012 and has released ten critically acclaimed CDs since 2014. Recent projects include the first modern performances and recordings of works by Biber, Rosenmüller, Capricornus, and more. The band’s most recent album, Cantica Obsoleta (2020), features the modern premiere recordings of nearly-lost works from Sweden’s Düben Collection. The Boston Globe raves, “this musical time-capsule offers enough resplendence to transport anyone.”

About The Naumburg Orchestral Concerts
Since 1905, The Naumburg Orchestral Concerts has continuously presented free, outdoor classical music concerts to New Yorkers of all walks of life.  It is the oldest such concert series in the world.  Named after founder and philanthropist Elkan Naumburg, who donated the Naumburg Bandshell to New York City in 1923, and inspired by his own ardent love of music, the series seeks to stimulate and encourage new and expanded audiences for classical music in the informal and beautiful setting of Central Park. Contributions to The Naumburg Orchestral Concerts’ programs are fully tax-deductible. Visit www.naumburgconcerts.org

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