Carnegie Hall Presents LEONARD BERNSTEIN – SYMPHONY No. 3 KADDISH

 

On January 29, 2025, at 8:00PM, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the  liberation of Auschwitz (January 27, 1945), Carnegie Hall will present a special performance of Leonard  Bernstein's monumental Symphony No. 3 “Kaddish,” with a text written by the late Samuel Pisar, an  Auschwitz survivor and outspoken defender of human rights. 

James Conlon conducts the Orchestra of St. Luke's, with the text, “A Dialogue with God,” narrated  by Samuel Pisar's wife, Judith Pisar, and daughter, Leah Pisar, joined on stage by soprano Diana  Newman, the Bard Festival Chorale, and Brooklyn Youth Chorus. 

The text was written at the request of Leonard Bernstein, who believed that the voice of his friend Samuel Pisar would provide the most authentic and eloquent testimony of what can happen when humanity loses its moral compass. The world premiere of Bernstein's “Kaddish” with the Pisar text took place in 2003 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Samuel Pisar performed the work more than 30 times, with many of the greatest orchestras of the world, until his  death in 2015. Judith and Leah Pisar have subsequently continued the performance project of his poignant call for human coexistence, an ecumenical plea for vigilance, and against hatred, vitriolic  speech and senseless violence.

Conducting the Bernstein/Pisar “Kaddish” with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 2022, James  Conlon noted: “Stunning music and profound words combine to awaken our collective dreams of  peace and freedom. Leonard Bernstein's ‘Kaddish' Symphony, the Hebrew prayer for times of  bereavement, sparks a heated exploration of spirit and fate, a testament made all the more poignant  with updated words by a Holocaust survivor, Samuel Pisar, and narrated by his family.” 

ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE'S 

Celebrating 50 years during the 2024-2025 season, Orchestra of St. Luke's (OSL) features New York City's most talented concert musicians and makes its artistic home at Carnegie Hall, where it has performed more than any other orchestra since its premiere there in 1983. Bernard Labadie, an internationally renowned specialist in 18th-century music, was named Principal Conductor in 2018 and steps down in 2025, concluding an expansive and critically acclaimed tenure. OSL's annual season features concert series in each of Carnegie Hall's three venues as well as the Visionary Sounds and DeGaetano Composition Institute programs focused on contemporary composers at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, the rehearsal, recording, and performance facility OSL built in 2011 and continues to operate in Manhattan's Hudson Yards neighborhood. OSL proudly collaborates with Paul Taylor Dance Company for their Lincoln Center season each year and performs with a variety of artistic partners at venues throughout the city and beyond. Founded in 1974 when a group of virtuoso chamber musicians began performing together in Greenwich Village at The Church of St. Luke in the Fields, the ensemble later expanded into an orchestra before catching fire on New York's classical music scene. OSL has participated in 120 recordings, four of which have won Grammy Awards, has commissioned more than 75 new works, and has given more than 200 world, U.S., and New York City premieres. OSL champions composers from historically underrepresented groups in classical music. In recent seasons, it has presented works by Kinan Azmeh, Margaret Bonds, Valerie Coleman, Julius Eastman, Wynton Marsalis, Florence Price, Rita Dove, and Chen Yi, among others. Central to OSL's mission, the Education and Community Engagement program presents free concerts for thousands of New York City public school students each year; offers the 120-student strong Youth Orchestra of St. Luke's (YOSL), the city's only youth orchestra under the umbrella of a professional group; provides a mentorship program for pre professional musicians; and brings accessible concerts to all five boroughs. To learn more, visit OSLmusic.org or follow @OSLmusic on YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Facebook, or TiKTok. 

James Conlon 

James Conlon, one of today's most versatile and respected conductors, has cultivated a vast  symphonic, operatic, and choral repertoire. Since his 1974 debut with the New York Philharmonic,  he has conducted virtually every major American and European symphony orchestra. Through  worldwide touring, an extensive discography and videography, numerous writings, television  appearances and guest speaking engagements, Conlon is one of classical music's most recognized  figures. Since 2006, Conlon has been Music Director of LA Opera, where he will serve until his 20th  season in 2026, at which time he becomes Conductor Laureate. He has served as Music Director of  the Ravinia Festival, summer home of the Chicago Symphony, and Artistic Advisor of the Baltimore  Symphony Orchestra. He is also Music Director Laureate of the Cincinnati May Festival, where he  was Music Director for 37 years. As a guest conductor at the Metropolitan Opera, he has led more  than 270 performances since his 1976 debut. He is a noted advocate for composers suppressed by  the Nazi regime and is an enthusiastic advocate of public scholarship and cultural institutions as  forums for the exchange of ideas and inquiry into the role music plays in our shared humanity and  civic life. His appearances throughout the country as a speaker on a variety of cultural and  educational topics are widely praised. Among his numerous prizes are four Grammy Awards for 

recordings with LA Opera, a 2002 Légion d'Honneur from then-President of the French Republic  Jacques Chirac, a 2018 Commendatore Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana from Sergio  Mattarella, President of the Italian Republic, and a 2023 Cross of Honor for Science and Art  (Österreichische Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst) from the Republic of Austria. 

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Wednesday, January 29, 2025, at 8:00PM 

Carnegie Hall 

Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage 

ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE'S 

James Conlon, Conductor 

Judith Pisar, Speaker 

Leah Pisar, Speaker 

Diana Newman, Soprano 

Bard Festival Chorale, James Bagwell, Music Director 

Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Dianne Berkun Menaker, Founder and Artistic Director BERNSTEIN Symphony No. 3 “Kaddish” (text by Samuel Pisar) 

Tickets: $41–$120