Alan Gilbert to Conduct Esa-Pekka Salonen NY Premiere in March

Alan Gilbert will conduct the New York Philharmonic in the New York Premiere of Esa-Pekka Salonen's Karawane - a New York Philharmonic co-commission with Zurich's Tonhalle Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bamberg Symphony, and Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra - featuring the New York Choral Artists, directed by Joseph Flummerfelt; Sibelius's Violin Concerto, with Leonidas Kavakos as soloist; and Shostakovich's Suite from The Age of Gold, Thursday, March 17, 2016, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, March 18 at 8:00 p.m.; and Saturday, March 19 at 8:00 p.m.

"I have often spoken about how we combine pieces to create programs, and that process is all the richer when one is able to speak with composers about their thoughts on how we should present their works," said Music Director Alan Gilbert. "In talking about Karawane, the quality Esa- Pekka Salonen and I both felt should guide our programming choices was its light-hearted humor, which we also both see in Shostakovich's The Age of Gold - Esa-Pekka believed that they would work very well together."

Esa-Pekka Salonen's Karawane is based on the poem of the same name by Hugo Ball, a founder of the Dada movement; the Philharmonic's performance will take place approximately 100 years after Hugo Ball wrote both Karawane and the Dada Manifesto in 1916.

"Ball describes the poem as ... a convoy of elephants," Esa-Pekka Salonen writes. "I found the idea of a convoy of heavy animals, jolifants - a traveling circus, most likely - oddly fascinating. I started to imagine a circus lost in time and space, in endless slow motion through strange landscapes toward the next performance with or without audience, no purpose other than keeping moving. (I believe most musicians after some decades on the road can relate to the idea.)"

Karawane will feature the New York Choral Artists directed by Joseph Flummerfelt, marking Mr. Flummerfelt's final Philharmonic collaboration before his retirement after 44 seasons of preparing choral works for the Philharmonic.

The Philharmonic will also perform selections from Esa-Pekka Salonen's Karawane on the Young People's Concert on March 19, 2016, led by Assistant Conductor Courtney Lewis.

Leonidas Kavakos has a long and acclaimed association with Sibelius's Violin Concerto: he won the 1985 International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition, and his 1991 premiere recording of the original version won the Gramophone Award for Concerto of the Year. This program is among several in the 2015-16 season honoring the 150th anniversary of Sibelius's birth through performances of his works. Leonidas Kavakos will return for several performances in the 2016- 17 season as The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence.

The New York Philharmonic will present "Karawane and the Meaning of Music," a free Insights at the Atrium event Wednesday, March 16, 2016, featuring The Marie-Jose?e Kravis Composer- in-Residence Esa-Pekka Salonen as speaker and New York Philharmonic Vice President, Artistic Planning, Edward Yim as moderator. The event takes place at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center (Columbus Avenue at 62nd Street) and is co-presented with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.