The New York Philharmonic

Update Browser

Pages don't look right?

You are using a browser that does not support the technology used on our website.

Please select a different browser or use your phone or tablet to access our site.

Download: Firefox | Chrome | Safari | Microsoft Edge

Note that Internet Explorer is no longer supported as of June 15, 2022.

Esa-Pekka Salonen Starts New Season as Composer-in-Residence with Circle Map

Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the New York Philharmonic

Esa-Pekka Salonen’s second season as The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence got off to a thrilling start last night when he conducted the Orchestra in Circle Map, a program of immersive spatial works by Finnish compatriot Kaija Saariaho presented by Park Avenue Armory. 

Salonen has expanded the role of Composer-in-Residence to fuse performance and curating with composition. He returns later this season as composer when the Orchestra performs the New York Premieres of his Wing on Wing and Cello Concerto, with Yo-Yo Ma as soloist, and to conduct a U.S. Premiere by Tansy Davies with Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra.

Mr. Salonen’s frequent collaborator, Saariaho is known for her mastery of spectralism, which uses computers to analyze and explore the nature of sound and for its full realization requires a massive open space allowing sound to surround the audience. The Armory’s Wade Thompson Drill Hall (remember Philharmonic 360?) was more than adequate!

The program includes the New York Premieres of Lumière et Pesanteur; D’OM LE VRAI SENS, for Clarinet and Orchestra, with Kari Kriikku as soloist; and Circle Map, as well as Lonh, for soprano and electronics, featuring soprano Jennifer Zetlan. Director Pierre Audi has created an immersive presentation that continually shifts the relationship between performers and audience. The staging places the Philharmonic at the center of the hall, with audience members in a half-round seating arrangement and performances taking place throughout. Longtime Kaija Saariaho collaborator Jean-Baptiste Barrière translates the composer’s soundscapes into projections that include interpretations of literary and visual artworks that inspired specific compositions.

(Photos: Chris Lee)

Salonen Residency Kicks Off with LA Variations Sept. 25–26

Esa-Pekka Salonen New York Philharmonic

“I’m very lucky to work with the Philharmonic during a period that I’m sure will become known as one of its golden periods,” Esa-Pekka Salonen has said of his appointment as our Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence

We’re kicking off the three-year tenure September 25–26 with our performance of Salonen’s LA Variations. The great composer-conductor recalls the state of mind that inspired the piece: 

I quite often think of a particular morning in Santa Monica in the mid-’90s. I woke up early and went down to the kitchen and made myself a cup of coffee. Then I sat there and wondered, why do I feel so strange? And then I realized I was happy, which for a Finnish person is not a normal state of mind. But I also felt profoundly free. I realized that I had been in L.A. long enough to feel free of the European modernist tradition I was brought up in, where everything was forbidden. More or less that day I made the first sketches for LA Variations, which, for me, is a seminal piece. Even today when I hear this piece performed, it takes me back to that very happy morning.

Alan Gilbert will bring great enthusiasm to conducting the September performances: 

I love LA Variations. I feel very close to its explosion of energy that is as appropriate to New York as it is to Los Angeles. Of course there will be pressure when I conduct it, with Esa-Pekka sitting in the audience, but turning over a piece to other interpreters is a crucial stage in the life of a great work like this.

And there's much more to come! Learn more about Salonen and his multifaceted residency, and watch a video with his thoughts about it, here.

New York Philharmonic Announces 2015–16 Season

2015-16 Season Announcement NY Philharmonic

This morning, at David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, we announced our 2015–16 season to more than 60 members of the press. After a few words from new Chairman Oscar S. Schafer (at right in photo), Music Director Alan Gilbert (center) and President Matthew VanBesien (left) shared, via their own words and several videos, our excitement about what awaits next year.

Here are some highlights:

Composer-conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen will be The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence, beginning in the 2015–16 season through 2017–18, a three-year appointment. During his first season the Orchestra will perform three of Mr. Salonen’s works, including World and New York Premieres, and he will conduct concerts during the Philharmonic’s Messiaen Week, as well as advise on new-music programming.

Bass-baritone Eric Owens will be The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence. In addition to appearing as soloist throughout the season, Mr. Owens will expand the role of the Philharmonic’s Artist-in-Residence by curating programs and participating in educational activities.

Rachmaninoff: A Philharmonic Festival: three nonstop weeks of the composer's masterpieces, including four piano concertos performed by Daniil Trifonov.

Then there's On the Waterfront and The Godfather in THE ART OF THE SCORE: Film Week at the Philharmonic; Maurizio Pollini; the Opening Gala Concert with Lang Lang; and more. Start exploring the Season Highlights.

While you peruse, enjoy our 2015–16 Season Playlist!

Photo: Chris Lee

Triumphant Conclusion in Vienna

Alan Gilbert and the Orchestra conclude their three-concert stint at the Vienna Konzerthaus with works by The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence Christopher Rouse, Mozart, and Musorgsky. The performance brings the EUROPE / SPRING 2013 tour to a close, and the musicians head to New York to resume performing for their hometown audience.