New York Philharmonic's Box Office Opens Today for 2016–17 Season

The New York Philharmonic's box office opens today, August 9, 2016, for the 2016-17 season. Individual concert tickets are now available for purchase online at nyphil.org, by phone at (212) 875-5656, and in person at the David Geffen Hall Box Office. Full, Matinee, Young People's Concerts, and Create Your Own subscription series continue to be on sale.

The Philharmonic's 175th anniversary season opens on September 21, 2016, with Music Director Alan Gilbert leading the Opening Gala Concert. Prior to the season opening, the fourth season of THE ART OF THE SCORE: Film Week at the Philharmonic will feature complete screenings of two iconic New York City movies, West Side Story (September 13-15, 2016) and Manhattan (September 16-17, 2016), with the scores - by Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin, respectively - performed live to the films. The remainder of the 2016-17 season features a range of concerts and events, including more scores performed live to film; a festival exploring the works of Tchaikovsky; World, U.S., and New York Premieres; opera in concert; soloists including Lang Lang and Anoushka Shankar; and the return of Jaap van Zweden, the next Music Director of the New York Philharmonic.

2016-17 Season Highlights:

Former Music Director Zubin Mehta will return November 3-5, 2016, to conduct Ravi Shankar's R?g?-M?l? Concerto No. 2, for Sitar and Orchestra, with soloist Anoushka Shankar, the composer's daughter, in her Philharmonic debut. The program also includes Schubert's Symphony in C major, Great.

Itzhak Perlman will join the New York Philharmonic on November 15, 2016, to conduct and perform Beethoven's Romances Nos. 1 and 2 for Violin and Orchestra, and to conduct Brahms's Symphony No. 4 and Academic Festival Overture.

Jaap van Zweden returns November 17-19, 2016, to lead the New York Premiere-Philharmonic Co-Commission of Julia Adolphe's Unearth, Release, featuring Principal Viola Cynthia Phelps; Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4; and Wagner's Prelude to Act I of Lohengrin.

Alan Gilbert will conduct the Orchestra in Handel's Messiah - his first time leading the work as the Philharmonic's Music Director, December 13-17, 2016. The soloists will include soprano Christina Landshamer in her Philharmonic debut, mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, tenor Matthew Polenzani, and bass-baritone John Relyea, as well as the Concert Chorale of New York, directed by James Bagwell.

The New York Philharmonic Brass and Percussion - with former Principal Trumpet Philip Smith as conductor, host, and trumpet - will perform in the annual Holiday Brass concert, December 18, 2016.

Alan Gilbert will conduct the annual New Year's Eve concert, December 31, featuring mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato in an evening of American classics, including works by Rodgers & Hammerstein and others.

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis will join Alan Gilbert and the Philharmonic December 28, 2016-January 3, 2017, for the World Premiere of a new work by Wynton Marsalis, the first of The New York Commissions - a project celebrating the Philharmonic's 175th anniversary season through commissions of New York-themed works by New York-based composers with ties to the Philharmonic. The program will also include William Bolcom's Trombone Concerto with Principal Trombone Joseph Alessi as soloist, and Copland's Quiet City, featuring Principal Trumpet Christopher Martin as soloist.

Alan Gilbert will lead the Orchestra and pianist Emanuel Ax in the World Premiere of HK Gruber's Piano Concerto, a New York Philharmonic Co-Commission with the Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic orchestras, on January 5-7, 2017. The program will also include Weill's Little Threepenny Music for Wind Orchestra and Schubert's Symphony No. 2.

The New York Philharmonic will present Beloved Friend - Tchaikovsky and His World: A Philharmonic Festival, January 24-February 11, 2017, featuring Russian-born Semyon Bychkov conducting works by Tchaikovsky as well as composers he was influenced by and whom he influenced. Beloved Friend continues the Philharmonic's annual, multi-week festivals, an initiative Alan Gilbert introduced in his inaugural season as Music Director.

In his third and final season as the New York Philharmonic's inaugural Artist-in-Association, Inon Barnatan will perform Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1, led by Manfred Honeck, one of the season's performances that together form the complete Beethoven piano concerto cycle. The program, February 15-18, 2016, will also include Mahler's Symphony No. 1.

Alan Gilbert will lead a concert celebrating his 50th birthday on February 23, 2017, featuring soloists with whom he has cultivatEd Strong relationships at the Philharmonic including three former Artists-in-Residence: pianist Emanuel Ax,pianistYefim Bronfman, and violinist Lisa Batiashvili. Additional soloists will include Philharmonic Concertmaster Frank Huang, whom Mr. Gilbert hired and who joined in the 2015-16 season; soprano Renée Fleming, a frequent guest artist who performed in the 2009 Opening Gala Concert that launched Alan Gilbert's tenure as Music Director; violinist Joshua Bell,a frequent guest artist and Philharmonic Board Member; and violinist Pamela Frank, with whom Mr. Gilbert has frequently collaborated.

The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence Leonidas Kavakos will join Alan Gilbert and the Orchestra on March 1-3, 2017, for the World Premiere of Lera Auerbach's Violin Concerto No. 3, which the Philharmonic commissioned at Mr. Kavakos's suggestion. The program will also include Mahler's Symphony No. 4 with soprano Christina Landshamer.

In honor of Pulitzer Prize winner John Adams's 70th birthday year, Alan Gilbert will lead two programs featuring Mr. Adams's works: on March 9-11, 2017, he leads John Adams's Harmonielehre and Absolute Jest, and on March 15-18, 2017, he leads a program that includes John Adams's The Chairman Dances (Foxtrot for Orchestra).

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma will join Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic in the New York Premiere of Mr. Salonen's new Cello Concerto, a New York Philharmonic Co-Commission with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Barbican Centre, and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, on March 15-18, 2017. The program will also include John Adams's The Chairman Dances(Foxtrot for Orchestra) and Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique.

Alan Gilbert will lead Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and Schoenberg's A Survivor from Warsaw - a program that juxtaposes the tragedy and optimism of human experience through Schoenberg's depiction of the horror of the Holocaust and the message of hope, brotherhood, and joy in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony - on May 3-9, 2017. The soloists in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 will include soprano Camilla Tilling, mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack in her Philharmonic debut, tenor Joseph Kaiser in his Philharmonic debut, and bass-baritone Eric Owens, as well as the Westminster Symphonic Choir directed by Joe Miller.

The New York Philharmonic's Spring Gala, May 11, 2017, will feature a complete screening of the New York-based filmBreakfast at Tiffany's with Mancini's Oscar-winning score performed live to film, conducted by Justin Freer.

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial will be presented in the New York Premiere screening of the complete film with John Williams's score performed live, conducted by David Newman, May 12-13, 2017.

Alan Gilbert will lead a complete concert version of Wagner's Das Rheingold, the first of four operas that make up the composer's Ring cycle, June 1-6, 2017. Soloists include bass-baritone Eric Owens as Wotan, mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton as Fricka (in her Philharmonic debut), baritone Christopher Purves as Alberich (debut), tenor Russell Thomas as Loge, mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor as Erda, bass Morris Robinson as Fasolt (debut), bass Stephen Milling as Fafner (debut), soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen as Freia (debut), tenor Brian Jagde as Froh (debut), bass-baritone Christian Van Horn as Donner (debut), tenor Peter Bronder as Mime (debut), soprano Jennifer Zetlan as Woglinde, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano as Wellgunde, and mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford as Flosshilde.

In the final subscription program of his tenure, June 8-10, 2017, Alan Gilbert will present a special program that speaks to one of his personal and professional passions and an idea that the Philharmonic has been exploring: how music and musicians can effect positive change and unity in the world. Alan Gilbert will lead the Philharmonic and guest artists from around the world in performances that highlight important international issues and emphasize a world community that shares a common humanity. Details will be announced at a later date.

This season of Young People's Concerts includes four programs in a series titled The Ages of Music. October 22, 2016("Baroque") will feature Artist-in-Residence Leonidas Kavakos conducting and performing; December 3, 2016 ("Classical"), featuring works by Mozart; January 21, 2017 ("Romantic"), featuring Dvo?ák's Symphony No. 9, From the New World; andMarch 11, 2017 ("Modern"), featuring music by John Adams conducted by Music Director Alan Gilbert. These concerts are preceded by YPC Overtures, at which children can meet Philharmonic musicians and try out orchestral instruments, and hear music newly written by composers their own age, through the Philharmonic's Very Young Composers. Very Young People's Concerts, for ages 3-6, introduce preschool children to classical music through games, active listening, and hands-on music-making. The 2016-17 series titled Philharmonic Families will present ensembles of strings (January 9 and 15, 2016), brass (February 5-6, 2016), and woodwinds (April 30 and May 1, 2016) at Merkin Concert Hall.

Tickets may be purchased online at nyphil.org or by calling (212) 875-5656, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday; 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturday; and noon to 5:00 p.m. Sunday. Tickets may also be purchased at the David Geffen Hall Box Office. The Box Office opens at 10:00 a.m., Monday through Saturday, and at noon on Sunday. On performance evenings, the Box Office closes one-half hour after performance time; other evenings it closes at 6:00 p.m. To determine ticket availability, call the Philharmonic's Customer Relations Department at (212) 875-5656.

Free and Low-Cost Access to the Philharmonic:

Philharmonic Free Fridays offers 100 free tickets for young people ages 13-26 for each of the 2016-17 season's 16 Friday evening subscription concerts. Almost 2,000 young people have experienced the Philharmonic for free as part of this program since it was launched in 2014. Information is available at nyphil.org/freefridays.

MyPhil offers young adults ages 17-35 three or more concerts at a special price, plus benefits including free ticket exchange and ticket add-ons. MyPhil for the 2016-17 season will be announced in September 2016.

A limited number of tickets may be available to students or seniors; identification is required. Student Rush Tickets can be purchased for select concerts up to 10 days before the concert at nyphil.org/rush, or at the David Geffen Hall Box Office, subject to availability, on the day of the performance. Senior tickets can be purchased only at the David Geffen Hall Box Office the day of the performance. For senior rush ticket availability, call (212) 875-5656.