New York Philharmonic Revises 2012 CONCERTS IN THE PARKS Schedule

The New York Philharmonic today announced a revised schedule for the 2012 New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks, Presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer. The five free outdoor concerts will take place in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, July 11 (as originally scheduled); Cunningham Park, Queens, July 12; The Great Lawn in Central Park, Manhattan, July 13 and 16; and Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx, July 17.

The new schedule will allow the stage in Central Park to be built only once, substantially reducing wear and tear on the Great Lawn. As originally scheduled, the New York Philharmonic Brass will give a Free Indoor Concert at the Center for the Arts, College of Staten Island, CUNY, July 15. Major corporate support for the 2012 New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks and the Free Indoor Concert has been provided by Time Warner Inc.

As previously announced, Music Director Alan Gilbert, The Yoko Nagae Ceschina Chair, will conduct the free performances in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, on Wednesday, July 11, and in Central Park on Friday, July 13, leading a program that combines Respighi’s Fountains of Rome and Pines of Rome with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4. Andrey Boreyko will conduct the concerts on Thursday, July 12, in Cunningham Park; Monday, July 16, in Central Park; and Tuesday, July 17, in Van Cortlandt Park, leading Wagner’s Prelude to Act I of Die Meistersinger; Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, with James Ehnes (who made his Philharmonic debut in the parks in the summer of 2003) as soloist; and Brahms’s Symphony No. 1. All performances begin at 8:00 p.m. and there will be fireworks by Bay Fireworks following the performances in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

The New York Philharmonic Brass will perform a Free Indoor Concert at the Center for the Arts, College of Staten Island, CUNY, on Sunday, July 15, at 3:00 p.m. The New York Philharmonic’s free parks concerts have become an iconic New York summer experience since they began in 1965, transforming parks throughout the New York area into a patchwork of picnickers and providing music lovers with an opportunity to hear the best classical music under the stars. More than 14 million listeners have been delighted by the performances since their inception.