The Boston Symphony Orchestra And Andris Nelsons Announce Two Programs At Carnegie Hall

The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and Music Director Andris Nelsons have announced two programs as part of Carnegie Hall's 2025–26 season, each pairing vivid works by living composers with core favorites of symphonic repertoire.

On April 9, 2026, Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson join Nelsons and the BSO to offer excerpts from John Adams' Nixon in China, reprising their roles from the 2023 Paris Opera production; Adams' related work, The Chairman Dances, and Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9, From the New World complete the America-themed program. The following evening, esteemed pianist Lang Lang performs Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto in a program of Nordic music that also includes Outi Tarkiainen's Day Night Day (BSO co-commission) and Sibelius' Symphony No. 1. 

The BSO will announce complete details of its 2025–26 season on April 10, 2025. The season will include performances of the above programs at Boston's Symphony Hall. 

Thursday, April 9, 2026: Nelsons conducts excerpts from John Adams' Nixon in China with Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson, Adams' The Chairman Dances, and Dvořák's Symphony No. 9, From the New World 

The first of two programs features world-renowned soprano Renée Fleming and acclaimed baritone Thomas Hampson performing excerpts from American composer John Adams' groundbreaking opera Nixon in China. The 1987 work, initially met with skepticism but now widely appreciated, portrays U.S. President Richard Nixon's diplomatic visit to China in 1972 with wife First Lady Pat Nixon to meet Chairman Mao. Fleming made her much-anticipated role debut as Pat (alongside Hampson as President Nixon) in a 2023 production directed by Valentina Carrasco at Paris Opera. Both artists have long histories of collaborating with the BSO, with Fleming's most recent appearance with Nelsons in Kevin Puts' song cycle The Brightness of Light garnering critical acclaim.  Nelsons will also conduct Adams' The Chairman Dances, which the composer calls an “outtake” from Act III of Nixon in China, a whimsical and minimalist musical rendering of Chairman and Madame Mao dancing the foxtrot at a presidential banquet. 

That evening's concert concludes with Antonín Dvořák's popular Symphony No. 9, From the New World, the Czech composer's love letter to American music, which incorporates African American and Native American influences. This program is part of Carnegie Hall's United in Sound: America at 250 festival in celebration of the US Semiquincentennial as well as the BSO's planned America 250 festival next season.

Friday, April 10, 2026: Nelsons conducts Grieg's Piano Concerto with Lang Lang, Outi Tarkiainen's Day Night Day, and Sibelius' Symphony No. 1 

Nelsons and the BSO return the following evening to perform a program of Nordic music, beginning with Day Night Day by innovative Finnish composer Outi Tarkiainen, co-commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, and Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. The work will have made its U.S. premiere the week before in Boston in BSO performances at Symphony Hall. The BSO first performed Tarkiainen's music in 2024, with her piece Midnight Sun Variations about Arctic summer nights as part of the orchestra's multi-week celebration of Nordic music, Music of the Midnight Sun. Continuing Tarkiainen's musical exploration of Finland's landscape, Day Night Day draws inspiration from the progression of the northern lights, incorporating traditional melodies from the indigenous Sámi people. 

Superstar pianist Lang Lang joins to perform Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto, one of the Norwegian composer's most enduring achievements. Lang Lang is a frequent BSO collaborator, most recently performing in the BSO's star-studded opening gala in September 2024. His album Saint-Saëns with Andris Nelsons and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig was released in March 2024 by Deutsche Grammophon, and he will perform the composer's Piano Concerto No. 2 with Nelsons and the BSO on July 27 at Tanglewood. 2025–26 will mark Lang Lang's second of two seasons as a Carnegie Hall Perspectives Artist, curating and headlining a variety of musical performances there. 

Completing the program is Jean Sibelius' Symphony No. 1, which combines Romantic influences with the composer's distinctive style and Finnish nationalist flair.  

Statement from BSO President and CEO Chad Smith:

"Since our founding in 1881, the BSO has dedicated significant artistic and financial resources to advancing American music—both with a robust history of commissioned works and our pioneering curatorial practice. The first of our 2026 Carnegie programs will explore American music from multiple historical lenses. Beginning with Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9, From the New World, we look at how contemporary composers were understanding America musically in the era of our orchestra's founding. Notably, this symphony incorporates elements from the Black musical tradition of spirituals into Dvořák's distinctly Czech compositional voice. Two works by John Adams will present a more contemporary take on American music, including Nixon in China—a forward-looking appraisal of how current events can evolve into the myths of tomorrow.

"Our second 2026 Carnegie Hall program will plant audiences firmly in the sound world of our Music Director Andris Nelsons' upbringing. As a young musician growing up along the Baltic Sea, Andris found himself a stone's throw away from one of the great musical traditions in the world: that of the Nordic states. Likewise, the BSO has held a special relationship with Nordic composers such as Sibelius—Colin Davis memorably led complete recorded cycles of his symphonies and tone poems. Ranging from Sibelius's first symphony to Outi Tarkiainen's new BSO-commissioned piece Day Night Day and anchored by Grieg's piano concerto—possibly the greatest in the Nordic tradition—this program will showcase Andris and the BSO's historical affinity for the music of the region.

"New York is a place where the world really comes together, and its music community is no exception—Carnegie is a huge draw for orchestras and artists around the world for a reason! Despite the fact that we are headquartered hundreds of miles away in Boston, the BSO holds the distinction of performing at Carnegie Hall more consistently, and over a longer period, than any orchestra in the world. Combined with our second home, Tanglewood, and its unique proximity to audiences from the Hudson Valley down to Manhattan, the BSO has historically been in a unique position to forge a strong relationship with New York audiences and institutions. We truly believe in the work we do here in Boston—it's unique, and it's necessary. We're grateful to have the opportunity to share it once again."

Program Details

Thursday, April 9, 2026, 8 p.m. 

Andris Nelsons, conductor 

Renée Fleming, soprano 

Thomas Hampson, baritone 

Tanglewood Festival Chorus (James Burton, conductor) 

John Adams The Chairman Dances 

John Adams Excerpts from Nixon in China 

DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 9, From the New World 

Friday, April 10, 2026, 8 p.m. 

Andris Nelsons, conductor  

Lang Lang, piano 

Outi TARKIANEN Day Night Day 

GRIEG Piano Concerto 

SIBELIUS Symphony No. 1 

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