Carnegie Hall Announces 2018—2019 Classical Highlights

Carnegie Hall's 2018-2019 season is fast approaching, and we are looking forward to exciting new projects and outstanding concerts! Highlights below include Carnegie Hall's Opening Night Gala with the San Francisco Symphony led by Michael Tilson Thomas as he embarks on his season-long Perspectives series; the launch of pianist Yuja Wang's Perspectives series; concerts curated and performed by Chris Thile, holder of the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer's Chair; the debut of Decoda, featuring alumni of Ensemble Connect; concerts celebrating the 50th anniversary of the New York String Orchestra and the 90th birthday of pianist Leon Fleisher; and, coming in spring 2019: a citywide festival-Migrations: The Making of America.

Carnegie Hall 2018-2019 CLASSICAL HIGHLIGHTS
All performances take place in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage unless otherwise noted. Click the date of a performance for complete program information.

*Commissioned for Carnegie Hall's 125 Commissions Project
**Co-commissioned for Carnegie Hall's 125 Commissions Project

• After launching his season-long Perspectives series with the National Youth Orchestra of the USA this summer, Michael Tilson Thomas opens Carnegie Hall's 2018-2019 season leading the San Francisco Symphony on October 3. He is joined on Opening Night by renowned vocalists and frequent collaborators Renée Fleming and Audra McDonald singing a mix of works from both the classical and musical theater canons. Maestro Tilson Thomas and the orchestra return the following night on October 4 with an all-Stravinsky program featuring violinist Leonidas Kavakos playing the Violin Concerto in D Major. Tilson Thomas's Perspectives series continues in the spring as he conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in Ives's Decoration Day, Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 with Igor Levit, and Brahms's Symphony No. 2 on March 5, and Mahler's Symphony No. 9 on March 6. He concludes the series leading two performances by the New World Symphony. The first concert on May 1 features fellow Perspectives artist Yuja Wang performing Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 5 as well as the New York premiere of a new work by Julia Wolfe** and Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique. Mr. Tilson Thomas is featured as a composer on the second program on May 2 which includes two New York premieres: a work for solo piano performed by Yuja Wang and Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind, written for and featuring soprano Measha Brueggergosman, along with two female backing voices, bar band, and chamber orchestra in Zankel Hall.
  
• Superstar tenor Jonas Kaufmann is joined by the Orchestra of St. Luke's and conductor Jochen Rieder on October 5 to perform selections from his hit album You Mean the World to Me, which highlights the golden age of German operetta and film music from the 1920s and 30s.

• Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique bring two all-Berlioz programs to the Hall in October: mezzo-soprano Lucile Richardot and violist Antoine Tamestit join the orchestra on October 14 for works including La mort de Cléopâtre and Harold in Italy; tenor Michael Spyres, bass-baritone Ashley Riches and the National Youth Choir of Scotland join the orchestra on October 15 for Symphonie fantastique and its sequel, Lélio.

• On October 18, the Belcea Quartet presents the world premiere of String Quartet No. 3 by Joseph Phibbs**, plus works by Mozart and Mendelssohn in Zankel Hall.

• Pianist Igor Levit, recent winner of the prestigious Gilmore Artist Award, returns with a recital program to include music by J.S. Bach, Busoni, Schumann, and Liszt in Zankel Hall on October 19.
  
• A New Group of instrumentalists, representing some of the country's finest young professional players, join Ensemble Connect this fall, embarking on their two-year fellowship program. The ensemble performs a number of concerts throughout the year in Weill Recital Hall beginning with the world premiere performance of a new work** by Gabriella Smith on October 22, as well as works by Brahms, György Ligeti, and Kaija Saariaho. Ensemble Connect returns on December 5 for a performance of works by J.S. Bach, Dvo?ák, and Anna Thorvaldsdottir.
  
• Notable vocal recitals this season include mezzo-soprano El?na Garan?a singing Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder with pianist Malcolm Martineau on October 23; tenor Juan Diego Flórez and pianist Vincenzo Scalera on November 18; and the return of soprano Anna Netrebko and pianist Malcolm Martineau on December 9, offering a program of songs by Rachmaninoff, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Tchaikovsky.
  
• Adventurous Dutch pianist Ralph van Raat appears in Weill Recital Hall on October 24 performing the world premiere of a new work by Louis Andriessen* and the previously unpublished US premiere of Prelude, Toccata, and Scherzo by Pierre Boulez-plus Charles Valentin Alkan's Symphony for Solo Piano from 12 Etudes in All the Minor Keys, and Debussy's "Etude retrouvée" (1915; realized Howat).
  
• Pianists Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich play the US premiere of Keyboard Engine, Construction for Two Pianos** by Harrison Birtwistle, and Messiaen's daring Visions de l'Amen, plus music by Bartók and Ravel on October 25 in Zankel Hall.

• Pianist Yuja Wang kicks off her season-long Perspectives series on October 26 performing with a quartet of percussionists headlined by Austrian multi-percussionist Martin Grubinger with a program to feature Stravinsky's Le sacre du printemps and Bartók's Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion arranged by Grubinger's father (also performing on the program). On February 6, she reunites with violinist and frequent recital partner Leonidas Kavakos; she joins virtuoso instrumentalists and jokesters Igudesman & Joo for a night of lighthearted musical comedy on February 11 in Zankel Hall, and partners with cellist Gautier Capuçon for a recital of works by Franck and Rachmaninoff on April 10. Her series concludes in May when she performs twice with fellow Perspectives artist Michael Tilson Thomas as he leads the New World Symphony; she is soloist in Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 5 on May 1 and plays the New York premiere of a solo work by Maestro Tilson Thomas in Zankel Hall on May 2.
  
• The Czech Philharmonic returns for two consecutive nights this season, performing under the leadership of Music Director and Chief Conductor Semyon Bychkov. The first all-Dvo?ák program, on October 27, includes the composer's Symphony No. 7 and Cello Concerto performed by Alisa Weilerstein. The second program, on October 28, features Mahler's Symphony No. 2, "Resurrection" with soprano Christiane Karg, mezzo-soprano Elisabeth Kulman, and the Prague Philharmonic Choir.

• Music Director Daniel Barenboim conducts his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra on November 8 performing Richard Strauss's Don Quixote featuring violist Miriam Manasherov and cellist Kian Soltani, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 in E Minor.

• The St. Lawrence String Quartet returns on November 8 in Zankel Hall, performing Shostakovich's Piano Quintet in G Minor with pianist Inon Barnatan, plus string quartets by Haydn and Beethoven.

• The Philadelphia Orchestra-led by Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin-offers three concerts next season. The first program on November 13 features the New York premiere of Mason Bates's Anthology of Fantastic Zoology, plus Chausson's Poème de l'amour et de la mer, featuring mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, Wagner's Prelude to Lohengrin, and Respighi's Fountains of Rome. On March 8, pianist Jan Lisiecki joins The Philadelphia Orchestra for Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 1, on a program with Schubert's "Great" Symphony No. 9 and the New York premiere of Nico Muhly's Marnie Suite. The Philadelphia Orchestra performs its final concert of the season on June 7 joined by pianist Beatrice Rana for Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3; the performance also includes Stravinsky's Funeral Song and Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 1.
  
• Carnegie Hall presents Decoda in its debut performances in Weill Recital Hall. An affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall, Decoda's roster is comprised of alumni of Ensemble Connect. The group gives its first performance on November 14, with music ranging from the Romantic to the contemporary, and a few surprises in which audience members will be invited to participate. Entitled Revelers, the program includes the world premiere of a new work* by Valerie Coleman, and the New York premiere of Brad Balliett's Reveler-Scherzo, played alongside music by Brahms, Poulenc, Lutos?awski, Richard Strauss, and Guillaume Connesson. Decoda returns for a second performance on January 23, entitled Punk, Funk, and Circumstance presenting an eclectic mix of music that includes David Bruce's Steampunk, selections from Wynton Marsalis's A Fiddler's Tale, Prokofiev's Quintet in G Minor, and Britten's Phantasy Quartet.

• The Boston Symphony Orchestra returns for three concerts this season. The first, led by Music Director Andris Nelsons on November 19, includes HK Gruber's showpiece Aerial, which calls for soloist Håkan Hardenberger to play the trumpet, piccolo trumpet, and cow horn-as well as sing and play at the same time. The program also includes Mahler's Symphony No. 5. On March 19 Maestro Nelsons leads two works by Richard Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30; and selections from Capriccio with soprano Renée Fleming. Thomas Adès leads the third and final BSO concert of the season on March 20, which includes the New York premiere of his new piano concerto played by Kirill Gerstein, as well as works by Liszt and Tchaikovsky.

• Chris Thile, holder of the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer's Chair for the 2018-2019 season, kicks off his Carnegie Hall residency on October 23 by joining frequent duet partners Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O'Donovan in Zankel Hall for favorite installments from the "Song of the Week" segment of his radio show Live From Here (formerly titled A Prairie Home Companion). Thile returns for two back-to-back solo recitals on November 28 in Weill Recital Hall featuring selected works by J.S. Bach played on the mandolin, along with the world premiere of a new work* written by Thile. He returns for the launch of Carnegie Hall's Migrations festival on March 9, hosting "Chris Thile and Friends: My Love is In America." For his final performance as composer's chair, Thile joins together two bands that have helped define his musical career-Nickel Creek and Punch Brothers-for the first time in a joint performance on May 8.

• On December 1, Bang on a Can All-Stars join with The Choir of Trinity Wall Street, conducted by Julian Wachner, to perform Julia Wolfe's Anthracite Fields in Zankel Hall. Wolfe was awarded the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Music for this powerful work, evoking coal-mining life around the turn of the twentieth-century.
  
• Pianist Jeremy Denk collaborates with violinists Benjamin Beilman, Pamela Frank, and Stefan Jackiw for a marathon performance entitled A Feast of Mozart Violin Sonatas with Assorted Musical Sorbets on December 16 in Zankel Hall.
  
• The New York String Orchestra celebrates its 50th anniversary season with concerts led by Jaime Laredo. The first concert on December 24 features violinists Jinjoo Cho, Pamela Frank, Bella Hristova, and Kyoko Takezawa in Vivaldi's Concerto for Four Violins and Orchestra in B Minor, Op. 3, No. 10; pianist Yefim Bronfman performing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4; and Mendelssohn's The Hebrides Overture. The second concert, on December 28, features Joshua Bell playing Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor. The program also includes George Walker's Lyric for Strings and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74, "Pathetique," with orchestra members playing side-by-side with notable program alumni, including concertmasters and principal members of some of the country's finest orchestras. Karina Canellakis will serve as Guest Conductor for the December 28 performance.
  
• In a special celebration of his 90th birthday on February 5, pianist and pedagogue Leon Fleisher performs solo works by Bach and Kirchner, as well as duets by Schubert, Ravel, and Dvo?ák alongside fellow pianists whom he has mentored and collaborated with over the course of his storied career - Jonathan Biss, Yefim Bronfman, and Katherine Jacobson.
  
• Carnegie Hall launches its next major citywide festival-Migrations: The Making of America- in the spring with events taking place from March 9-April 15 in collaboration with more than 60 partners across New York City. Carnegie Hall leads an examination of the musical legacies of three major migrations: the crossings from Scotland and Ireland during the 18th and 19th centuries featuring performances by Chris Thile and friends on March 9, Karine Polwart and Kaia Kater on March 23, and The Gloaming on April 6; the immigration of Jews from Russia and Eastern Europe between 1881 and the National Origins Act of 1924 with highlights including performances by the Andy Statman Trio on March 14, Standard Time with Michael Feinstein on March 27, and "From Shtetl to Stage: A Celebration of Yiddish Music and Culture" created by Seth Rogovoy and Eleanor Reissa (and featuring Evgeny Kissin, David Krakauer, and many others) on April 15; and the Great Migration - the exodus of African Americans from the South to the industrialized cities of the Northeast, Midwest, and West from 1917 into the 1970s with highlights including a performance by jazz trumpeter Nicholas Payton on March 16, vocalist Deva Mahal on April 13, and "Two Wings: The Music of Black America in Migration" produced by Jason Moran and Alicia Hall Moran on March 30. Beyond Carnegie Hall, public programming, performances, exhibitions, and events at festival partner organizations-leading cultural and academic institutions in New York City and beyond-will highlight other aspects of these and the many other migrations - including those from Italy, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia - that have contributed to American culture today.

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