Carnegie Hall to celebrate America’s 250th and Arvo Pärt in 2025-26 season
“Anniversaries” is the word for Carnegie Hall’s 2025-26 season, announced Wednesday morning. The season as a whole points toward July, 2026, for a grand culmination of American music and culture for the country’s 250th anniversary. On an individual scale, Arvo Pärt, who turns 90 in September, has the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair for the season.
“United in Sound: America at 250” is a cross-genre celebration of American music making, with American classical music and jazz, and featuring American ensembles and performers.
The festivities kick off opening night, October 7, with the NYO-USA All-Stars orchestra, conductor Daniel Harding, and pianist Yuja Wang playing Symphonic Dances from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story, with Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and The Firebird Suite from Stravinsky.
During the winter and spring, 2026, the schedule is dense with United in Sound events: Sō Percussion plays the New York premieres of Carnegie commissions from Bryce Dessner, Michael J. Love, and Caroline Shaw (January 23); the piano duo of Timo Andres and Aaron Diehl play Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Julia Wolfe, and an Andres world premiere (Jan. 28); Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the Met Orchestra and mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard in Bernstein’s “Somewhere” and Fancy Free Suite, Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony, and Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (February 4); Ensemble Connect plays Barber’s Adagio for Strings, Ives’ String Quartet No. 1, and a new work from George Lewis (Feb. 17).
March 11, the American Composers Orchestra—conducted by Carolyn Kuan and with cellist Amanda Gookin, percussionist Cynthia Yeh, and soprano Karen Slack—premiere the Carnegie commission We Hold These Truths to Be Self-Evident, by Joseph C. Phillips Jr., with additional world and New York premieres; Louis Langrée conducts the Orchestra of St. Lukes, with pianist Gerald Clayton, in Ives’ The Unanswered Question, Gershwin’s An American in Paris, Ellington, and Bernstein.
Also Marin Alsop conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra in the New York premiere of John Adams’ The Rock You Stand On, and Gershwin and Prokofiev (Mar. 31) and then leads the Juilliard Orchestra in Copland’s Music for the Theatre and Music for Movies (April 6); the Calder Quartet has programmed Philip Glass’s String Quartet No. 2, Ben Johnston’s extraordinary microtonal String Quartet No. 4, “Amazing Grace,” Barber’s String Quartet, Andrew Norman’s Sabina, and Florence Price’s String Quartet No. 2 (April 30); and May 29, Nézet-Séguin leads Philadelphia and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in Julia Wolfe’s Liberty Bell (a Carnegie co-commission), Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, and Wynton Marsalis’ Symphony No. 5, “Liberty.” In all there are nearly three dozen concerts, wrapping up with Sean Jones directing the NYO Jazz ensemble, July 21.
Arvo Pärt will be celebrated across seven concerts during the season. October 23, the Estonian Festival Orchestra with conductor Paavo Järvi, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, directed by Tõnu Kaljuste, violinists Midori and Hans Christian Aavik, and pianist Nico Muhly play an all-Pärt concert, including Credo, Swansong, Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten, Fratres, and Tabula Rasa. The following night, the Estonian choir will sing the composer’s Stabat Mater, Magnificat, Te Deum, and other vocal works.
There is a December 4 tribute concert from violinist Gidon Kremer, with cellist Giedrė Dirvanauskaitė and pianist Georgijs Osokins, playing Für Alina, Fratres, Mozart-Adagio, and music by Kancheli and Rachmaninoff, February 5, The Knights play his In spe, along with Haydn, Golijov, and Mendelssohn’s Octet. The Budapest Festival Orchestra, conductor Iván Fischer, and violinist Maxim Vengerov deliver Pärt’s Summa, the Sibelius Violin Concerto, and Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 the next night.
In addition to appearing as a conductor, Alsop is a holder of one of Carnegie’s “Perspectives” series, along with pianist Lang Lang, Leonard, and Vengerov. Alsop’s other concert is October 28, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and pianist Alexandre Kantorow, playing Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, and Tchaikovsky.
Lang Lang appears in duo with violinist Hilary Hahn, playing Schumann, Beethoven, Still, and Saint-Saëns (Dec. 7); solos in Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Vienna Philharmonic and conductor Andris Nelsons (with Mahler’s Symphony No. 1), February 27; and in Grieg’s Piano Concerto with the Boston Symphony and Nelsons (Apr. 10). He appears May 5 in a concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of the “Concert of the Century,” itself a celebration of Carnegie’s 85th birthday. This is an all-star event with Nézet-Séguin and the NYO-USA All-Stars, pianists Daniil Trifonov, Emanuel Ax, and Evgeny Kissin, soprano Renée Fleming and mezzos Joyce DiDonato and Leonard.
Leonard also sings with soprano Nadine Sierra, with John Arida accompanying, January 15, and performs with friends, including dancer Sonia Olla, June 9. Vengerov has his own “Friends” concert December 16, an all-Brahms program, and plays in recital with pianist Polina Osetinskaya May 27. The two will play sonatas from Shostakovich, Schubert, and Brahms.
Orchestras making long-awaited return visits to Carnegie this coming season will include the Seoul Philharmonic, with Jaap van Zweden conducting (Oct. 27). After their concert under Alsop, the London Philharmonic will play Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2, Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5, and a new work by Gabriela Ortiz, with conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali (making his Carnegie debut) and pianist Víkingur Ólafsson (Oct. 29).
On November 9, the Orchestre National de France and conductor Cristian Mǎcelaru will be joined by Trifonov in concertos by Ravel and Saint-Saëns, with Barraine’s Symphony No. 2 and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2, and Nézet-Séguin leads the Chamber Orchestra of Europe December 9, playing an all-Brahms program. Familiar ensembles return, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, with new music director Klaus Mäkelä; the VPO’s annual visit, with Nelsons, is February 27-March 1; and Wang leads the Mahler Chamber Orchestra from the keyboard May 1, playing Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Chopin’s Piano Concerto.
Every season has the treat of a Handel opera from the English Concert, this one comes March 15, with Hercules, with mezzo-soprano Ann Hallenberg as Dejanira, bass William Guanbo Su as Hercules, and conductor Harry Bicket. The Met Chamber Ensemble will appear six times, including playing George Walker, Copland, Shaw, and Adams for United in Sound (Mar. 1); the Leonorko Quartet makes their Carnegie debut February 26, playing Bosmans, Mendelssohn, and Schubert’s String Quartet, “Death and the Maiden”; and the Danish String Quartet will be joined by the Danish National Girl’s Choir, with David Lang’s in wildness and other new music, April 17.
Vocal and instrumental recitals include baritone Mathias Goerne and Trifonov with Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin (Oct. 19); soprano Lise Davidson making her recital debut with an all-Schubert program (Jun. 5); Latvian accordionist Ksenija Sidorova playing original works and arrangements of Bach, Glass, and others in her Carnegie debut (Nov. 5); violinist Kyung Wha Chung playing Debussy, Schubert, Schoenberg, and Franck with pianist Kevin Kenner (Nov. 7); and piano prodigy Alexandra Dovgan debuting March 19 and playing Chopin, Franck, and Prokofiev.
For more information and tickets, go to carnegiehall.org.
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