Carnegie Hall to Present An Evening With John Williams And Yo-Yo Ma in February

Carnegie Hall will present conductor-composer John Williams and cellist Yo-Yo Ma in a gala performance featuring music from Williams's concert and film scores on Thursday, February 22 at 7:00 p.m. Under Williams's baton, Yo-Yo Ma joins The Philadelphia Orchestra as soloist in the dazzling Cello Concerto—composed for Ma in 1994—preceded by the orchestra's performance of the composer's celebratory Just Down West Street ... on the left, composed as a gift for the Tanglewood Music Center's 75th anniversary. Conductor Stéphane Denève then joins the program to lead a grand tour through some of Williams's most iconic film music—including selections from the Indiana Jones and Star Wars series, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and The Book Thief—as well as his quintessential Olympic Fanfare and Theme.

The gala evening benefits Carnegie Hall's artistic, music education and social impact programs and includes either a pre-concert cocktail reception in Carnegie Hall's Rohatyn Room or a post-concert Gala Dinner in the Weill Music Room. George Lucas and Mellody Hobson / Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation, Yesim and Dusty Philip, and Steven Spielberg are Gala Co-Chairs for this special event. Benefit tickets start at $1,000 and include prime concert seating as well as options to attend the festive pre-concert cocktail party or celebratory post-concert dinner. Tables for group reservations start at $25,000. Benefit tickets are available by emailing Carnegie Hall's Special Events office at specialevents@carnegiehall.org or online at carnegiehall.org/WilliamsMaGala.

A limited number of concert-only tickets, priced $171–$500, are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800, or online at carnegiehall.org.

About the Artists

Yo-Yo Ma's multifaceted career is a testament to his enduring belief in culture's power to generate trust and understanding. Whether performing new or familiar works from the cello repertoire, collaborating with communities and institutions to explore culture's social impact, or delving into unexpected musical forms, Mr. Ma strives to foster connections that stimulate our imagination and reinforce our humanity.

With partners from around the world and across disciplines, he creates programs that stretch the boundaries of genre and tradition to explore music-making not only as a way to share and express meaning, but also as a model for the cultural collaboration he considers essential to a strong society. It was this belief that inspired Mr. Ma to establish Silkroad, a collective of artists from around the world who create music that engages their many traditions.

In 2018, Mr. Ma began a new journey setting out to perform J. S. Bach's six suites for solo cello in one sitting in 36 locations around the world: iconic venues that encompass our cultural heritage, creativity, and the challenges of peace and understanding that will shape our future.

Mr. Ma was born in 1955 to Chinese parents living in Paris. He began to study the cello with his father at age four, and three years later, moved with his family to New York City, where he continued his cello studies with Leonard Rose at The Juilliard School. After his conservatory training, he sought out a liberal arts education, graduating from Harvard in 1976. He has performed for nine American presidents, most recently on the occasion of President Biden's inauguration.

Stéphane Denève is Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Artistic Director of the New World Symphony, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. He recently concluded terms as Principal Guest Conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra and Music Director of the Brussels Philharmonic, and previously served as Chief Conductor of Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (SWR) and Music Director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

Recognized internationally for the exceptional quality of his performances and programming, Stéphane Denève regularly appears at major concert venues with the world's greatest orchestras and soloists. He made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2012 and returned in 2019 leading the New York debut of the Brussels Philharmonic. He is also a popular guest at many of the US summer music festivals, including the Hollywood Bowl, Bravo!Vail, Blossom Music Festival, Festival Napa Valley, Grand Teton Music Festival, Sun Valley Music Festival, and Music Academy of the West.

Stéphane Denève's friendship with John Williams dates back to when they met in Los Angeles close to twenty years ago. Denève was also honored to conduct Williams's 90th Birthday celebration at the Kennedy Center in 2022 with the Washington National Symphony. Denève celebrated his friend's work in concerts at the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival, conducting Williams's Concerto for Tuba and Orchestra and most rececently, sharing a program leading the Saito Kinen Orchestra in an all-Williams concert with the legendary conductor and composer.

In a career that spans five decades, John Williams has become one of America's most accomplished and successful composers for film and for the concert stage. He has served as music director and laureate conductor of one of the country's treasured musical institutions, the Boston Pops Orchestra, and he maintains thriving artistic relationships with many of the world's great orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mr. Williams has received a variety of prestigious awards, including the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honor, the Olympic Order, and numerous Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, Emmy Awards and Golden Globe Awards. He remains one of our nation's most distinguished and contributive musical voices.

Mr. Williams has composed the music and served as music director for more than one hundred films. His 40-year artistic partnership with director Steven Spielberg has resulted in many of Hollywood's most acclaimed and successful films, including Schindler's List, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, four Indiana Jones films, Saving Private Ryan, Amistad, Munich, Hook, Catch Me If You Can, Minority Report, A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, Empire of the Sun, The Adventures of TinTin and War Horse. Their latest collaboration, The BFG, was released on July 1, 2016. Mr. Williams has composed the scores for all seven Star Wars films, the first three Harry Potter films, Superman: The Movie, JFK, Born on the Fourth of July, Memoirs of a Geisha, Far and Away, The Accidental Tourist, Home Alone, Nixon, The Patriot, Angela's Ashes, Seven Years in Tibet, The Witches of Eastwick, Rosewood, Sleepers, Sabrina, Presumed Innocent, The Cowboys and The Reivers, among many others. He has worked with many legendary directors, including Alfred Hitchcock, William Wyler and Robert Altman. In 1971, he adapted the score for the film version of Fiddler on the Roof, for which he composed original violin cadenzas for renowned virtuoso Isaac Stern. He has appeared on recordings as pianist and conductor with Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Jessye Norman and others. Mr. Williams has received five Academy Awards and 50 Oscar nominations, making him the Academy's most-nominated living person and the second-most nominated person in the history of the Oscars.

Born and raised in New York, Mr. Williams moved to Los Angeles with his family in 1948, where he studied composition with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. After service in the Air Force, he returned to New York to attend the Juilliard School, where he studied piano with Madame Rosina Lhevinne. While in New York, he also worked as a jazz pianist, both in nightclubs and on recordings. He returned to Los Angeles and began his career in the film industry, working with a number of accomplished composers including Bernard Herrmann, Alfred Newman, and Franz Waxman. He went on to write music for more than 200 television episodes for anthology series Alcoa Premiere, Kraft Suspense Theatre, Chrysler Theatre and Playhouse 90. His more recent contributions to television music include the well-known theme for NBC Nightly News (“The Mission”), the theme for what has become network television's longest-running series, NBC's Meet the Press, and a new theme for the prestigious PBS arts showcase Great Performances.

In addition to his activity in film and television, Mr. Williams has composed numerous works for the concert stage, among them two symphonies, and concertos for flute, violin, clarinet, viola, oboe and tuba. His cello concerto was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and premiered by Yo-Yo Ma at Tanglewood in 1994. Mr. Williams also has filled commissions by several of the world's leading orchestras, including a bassoon concerto for the New York Philharmonic entitled The Five Sacred Trees, a trumpet concerto for the Cleveland Orchestra, and a horn concerto for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Seven for Luck, a seven-piece song cycle for soprano and orchestra based on the texts of former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove, was premiered by the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood in 1998. At the opening concert of their 2009–2010 season, James Levine led the Boston Symphony in the premiere of Mr. Williams' On Willows and Birches, a concerto for harp and orchestra.

In January 1980, Mr. Williams was named nineteenth music director of the Boston Pops Orchestra, succeeding the legendary Arthur Fiedler. He currently holds the title of Boston Pops Laureate Conductor which he assumed following his retirement in December 1993, after 14 highly successful seasons. He also holds the title of Artist-in-Residence at Tanglewood.

One of America's best known and most distinctive artistic voices, Mr. Williams has composed music for many important cultural and commemorative events. Liberty Fanfare was composed for the rededication of the Statue of Liberty in 1986. American Journey, written to celebrate the new millennium and to accompany the retrospective film The Unfinished Journey by director Steven Spielberg, was premiered at the “America's Millennium” concert in Washington, D.C. on New Year's Eve, 1999. His orchestral work Soundings was performed at the celebratory opening of Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. In the world of sport, he has contributed musical themes for the 1984, 1988, and 1996 Summer Olympic Games, the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, and the 1987 International Summer Games of the Special Olympics. In 2006, Mr. Williams composed the theme for NBC's presentation of NFL Football.

Mr. Williams holds honorary degrees from 21 American universities, including The Juilliard School, Boston College, Northeastern University, Tufts University, Boston University, the New England Conservatory of Music, the University of Massachusetts at Boston, The Eastman School of Music, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and the University of Southern California. He is a recipient of the 2009 National Medal of Arts, the highest award given to artists by the United States Government. In 2003, he received the Olympic Order, the IOC's highest honor, for his contributions to the Olympic movement. He served as the Grand Marshal of the 2004 Rose Parade in Pasadena, and was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honor in December of 2004. Mr. Williams was inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2009, and in January of that same year he composed and arranged Air and Simple Gifts especially for the first inaugural ceremony of President Barack Obama.

The Philadelphia Orchestra first appeared at Carnegie Hall in November 1902 and has since performed at the Hall nearly 800 times. The world-renowned orchestra strives to share the transformative power of music with the widest possible audience, and to create joy, connection, and excitement through music in the Philadelphia region, across the country, and around the world. Through innovative programming, robust education initiatives, a commitment to its diverse communities, and the embrace of digital outreach, the ensemble is creating an expansive and inclusive future for classical music and furthering the place of the arts in an open and democratic society.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin is now in his 12th season with The Philadelphia Orchestra, serving as music and artistic director. His connection to the ensemble's musicians has been praised by both concertgoers and critics, and he is embraced by the musicians of the orchestra, audiences, and the community.

The Philadelphia Orchestra takes great pride in its hometown, performing for the people of Philadelphia year-round, in Verizon Hall and around the community, in classrooms and hospitals, and over the airwaves and online. The orchestra's award-winning education and community initiatives engage more than 50,000 students, families, and community members of all ages through programs such as PlayINs; side-by-sides; PopUP concerts; Our City, Your Orchestra Live; School Concerts; sensory-friendly concerts; open rehearsals; the School Partnership Program and School Ensemble Program; All City Orchestra Fellowships; and residency work in Philadelphia and abroad. The orchestra's free online video series, Our City, Your Orchestra (OCYO), uncovers and amplifies the voices, stories, and causes championed by unique Philadelphia organizations and businesses. Joining OCYO in connecting with the community is HearTOGETHER, a free monthly podcast featuring artists and activists who discuss music, social justice, and the lived experiences that inform the drive to create a more equitable and inclusive future for the arts.

Through concerts, tours, residencies, and recordings, the orchestra is a global ambassador and one of our nation's greatest exports. It performs annually at Carnegie Hall, the Mann Center, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and the Bravo! Vail Music Festival. The orchestra also has a rich touring history, having first performed outside Philadelphia in its earliest days. In 1973, it was the first American orchestra to perform in the People's Republic of China, launching a five-decade commitment of people-to-people exchange.

Under Yannick's leadership, the orchestra returned to recording with 13 celebrated releases on the Deutsche Grammophon label, including the Grammy Award–winning Florence Price Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3. The orchestra also reaches thousands of radio listeners with weekly broadcasts on WRTI-FM and SiriusXM.

 

Performance Details: 

Thursday, February 22 at 7:00 PM
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA
John Williams, Conductor
Stéphane Denève, Conductor
Yo-Yo Ma, Cello

A One-Night-Only Benefit Concert

ALL-John Williams PROGRAM
Just Down West Street ... on the left
Cello Concerto
Olympic Fanfare and Theme
Excerpts from The Book Thief
Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Marion's Theme from Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Raiders March from Raiders of the Lost Ark
Princess Leia's Theme from Star Wars: Suite for Orchestra
Adventures on Earth from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Ticket Information

Gala Benefit tickets—priced at $50,000; $25,000; $5,000; $2,500—include concert seating and the post-concert dinner in the Weill Music Room. Private Gala Dinner Tables start at $25,000. Tickets priced at $1,000 include the concert and a pre-concert cocktail reception at 6:00 p.m. in Carnegie Hall's Rohatyn Room. All gala benefit tickets are available by contacting the Carnegie Hall Special Events office at SpecialEvents@carnegiehall.org or online at carnegiehall.org/WilliamsMaGala.

A limited number of tickets priced at $171–$500 are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street, or can be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or by visiting the Carnegie Hall website, carnegiehall.org.

Artists, programs, and prices are subject to change.

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