Conductor James Gaffigan to Return to the Chicago Symphony and More

American conductor James Gaffigan will embark on three upcoming U.S. engagements, leading performances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on May 31, 2025, the National Symphony Orchestra from June 12 to June 14, 2025, and the San Francisco Symphony on June 20 and 22, 2025.

Gaffigan conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, May 31, 2025 at 7:30pm, leading the orchestra in a musical "American road trip" featuring the Orchestra's first performance of Dvořák's American Suite followed by two works by Bernstein: Three Dance Episodes from On the Town and Overture to Candide. Completing the program are three pieces by Gershwin - Summertime and My Man's Gone Now from Porgy and Bess, and An American in Paris - as well as two songs by Florence Price that also receive their first CSO performances in this program. Soprano Janai Brugger performs as featured soloist.

On Thursday, June 12 at 7:00pm; Friday, June 13 at 8:00pm; and Saturday, June 14, 2025 at 8:00pm, Gaffigan leads the National Symphony Orchestra in concerts spotlighting film music by classical composers, including Leonard Bernstein's soundtrack to On the Waterfront and Nino Rota's music for The Godfather. Thursday's concert also features GRAMMY Award winner James Ehnes in a performance of James Newton Howard's Violin Concerto No. 2, while Friday's program incorporates Michael Abels' work Delights and Dances and Saturday's performance spotlights the NSO's Principal Horn, Abel Pereira, in John Williams' Horn Concerto.

In a pair of concerts with the San Francisco Symphony on Friday, June 20 at 7:30pm and Sunday, June 22, 2025 at 2:00pm, Gaffigan conducts the Orchestra in "Verdi Requiem and Gordon Getty," a program pairing one of the great Romantic compositions with three choral works by Getty, a longtime friend of the SF Symphony. The orchestra will be joined in this program by the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, conducted by Chorus Director Jenny Wong, as well as soloists Rachel Willis-Sørensen, soprano; Jamie Barton, mezzo-soprano; Mario Chang, tenor; and Morris Robinson, bass.

Program Details

Saturday, May 31, 2025 at 7:30pm

Chicago Symphony Orchestra - "An American Suite"
Symphony Center | Chicago, IL
Tickets: $65-$399
Link: cso.org/performances/24-25/cso-classical/an-american-suite/

Program:
Dvořák - Suite in A Major, Op. 98b (American)
Price (orch. Rosner) - My Dream
Price (orch. Rosner) - Beside the Sea
Bernstein - Three Dance Episodes from On the Town
Gershwin - Summertime from Porgy and Bess
Gershwin - My Man's Gone Now from Porgy and Bess
Gershwin - An American in Paris
Bernstein - Overture to Candide

James Gaffigan, conductor
Janai Brugger, soprano

Thursday, June 12, 2025 at 7:00pm
National Symphony Orchestra
The Kennedy Center Concert Hall | Washington, DC
Tickets: $15-$85
Link: www.kennedy-center.org/nso/home/2024-2025/james-gaffigan/

Program:
Erich Wolfgang Korngold - The Sea Hawk (Main title)
Aaron Copland - Music for Movies
James Newton Howard - Violin Concerto No. 2
James Ehnes, violin; NSO commission [World Premiere]
Nino Rota - The Godfather - Suite
Leonard Bernstein - On the Waterfront

James Gaffigan, conductor
James Ehnes, violin

Friday, June 13, 2025 at 8:00pm

National Symphony Orchestra
The Kennedy Center Concert Hall | Washington, DC
Tickets: $15-$85
Link: www.kennedy-center.org/nso/home/2024-2025/james-gaffigan/

Program:
Erich Wolfgang Korngold - The Sea Hawk (Main title)
Aaron Copland - Music for Movies
Michael Abels - Delights and Dances
Ying Fu, Dayna Hepler, Abigail Kreuzer, David Teie
Nino Rota - The Godfather - Suite
Leonard Bernstein - On the Waterfront

James Gaffigan, conductor
Ying Fu & Dayna Hepler, violin
Abigail Kreuzer, viola
David Teie, cello

Saturday, June 14, 2025 at 8:00pm
National Symphony Orchestra
The Kennedy Center Concert Hall | Washington, DC
Tickets: $15-$85
Link: www.kennedy-center.org/nso/home/2024-2025/james-gaffigan/

Program:
Erich Wolfgang Korngold - The Sea Hawk (Main title)
Aaron Copland - Music for Movies
John Williams - Horn Concerto
Abel Pereira, horn
Nino Rota - The Godfather - Suite
Leonard Bernstein - On the Waterfront

James Gaffigan, conductor
Abel Pereira, horn

Friday, June 20, 2025 at 7:30pm
Sunday, June 22, 2025 at 2:00pm

San Francisco Symphony
Davies Symphony Hall | San Francisco, CA
Tickets: $39-$89

Program:
Gordon Getty - Intermezzo from Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Gordon Getty - Saint Christopher
Gordon Getty - The Old Man in the Snow
Giuseppe Verdi - Requiem

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