The Opening Night Gala of Carnegie Hall's 119th season takes place Thursday, October 1 at 7:00 p.m. with the Boston Symphony Orchestra performing under the direction of Music Director James Levine. Evgeny Kissin is soloist for Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21, and harpist Ann Hobson Pilot performs the New York premiere of John Williams’ On Willows and Birches with the orchestra. Also on the program are Berlioz’s Le Carnaval romain Overture and Debussy’s La mer.

Michael Feinstein, noted interpreter of the Great American Songbook, kicks off his annual Zankel Hall series, Standard Time with Michael Feinstein, on Wednesday, October 7 at 7:30 p.m.

Sandrine Piau and Susan Manoff on Friday, October 9 at 7:30 p.m.
Program Update:
The program for soprano Sandrine Piau’s New York recital debut with pianist Susan Manoff has been announced and will include works by Fauré, Zemlinsky, Chausson, Strauss, Debussy, and Schoenberg. For a complete program listing, click on the link above. Please note that this concert replaces the previously announced performance by soprano Genia Kühmeier.

SA/PS

On Friday, October 9 at 8:00 p.m., The New York Pops makes its debut under the direction of new Music Director Steven Reineke, launching its 2009–2010 Carnegie Hall season with guest artist Wayne Brady and a program titled Wayne Brady's Sammy and Sam: A Tribute to Sammy Davis Jr. and Sam Cooke.

Ensemble ACJW, featuring fellows of The Academy—a program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and The Weill Music Institute in partnership with the New York City Department of Education—begins its 2009–2010 New York City concert season on Tuesday, October 13 at 7:30 p.m. with a concert featuring Daniel Bernard Roumain’s Five Chairs And One Table; Dvořák’s Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-flat Major, Op. 87; and Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals. The program is also performed on Friday, October 9 at 8:00 p.m. at Skidmore College’s Filene Recital Hall.

Kicking off the 2009–2010 WFUV Live at Zankel series, Wisconsin-based folk-rock band Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons will bring its unique blend of Americana roots music and Delta blues to Zankel Hall on Saturday, October 10 at 8:30 p.m. The band’s forthcoming album Mockingbird will be released in September. The double-bill concert also features Grammy Award-winning, Minnesota-based guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Dan Wilson, whose first full-length solo album, Free Life, is now out on American Recordings.

The Philadelphia Orchestra performs the first of three concerts at Carnegie Hall this season on Tuesday, October 13 at 8:00 p.m. Chief Conductor and Artistic Adviser Charles Dutoit leads a program to include Barber’s Adagio for Strings; Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 16, featuring 22-year-old rising-star soloist Yuja Wang; and Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique.

Chistine Brewer and Craig Rutenberg on Wednesday, October 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Program Update:
Christoph Willibald Gluck’s "Divinités du Styx" from Alceste has been added to the recital program presented by soprano Christine Brewer and pianist Craig Rutenberg, which also includes works by Richard Strauss, Joseph Marx, Benjamin Britten, John Carter, Sidney Homer, Edwin McArthur, Paul Sargent, Frank Bridge, Idabelle Firestone, and Frank LaForge. For a complete program listing, click on the link above.

Mitsuko Uchida returns to Carnegie Hall on Wednesday, October 14 at 8:00 p.m. with an all-Beethoven recital featuring the composer’s last three sonatas: No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109; No. 31 in A-flat Major, Op. 110; and No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111.

Carnegie Hall’s three-concert “Haydn After Mozart” focus begins on Thursday, October 15 at 8:00 p.m. with a performance by Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and The Monteverdi Choir, led by the ensembles’ Artistic Director and founder Sir John Eliot Gardiner, featuring Haydn’s The Seasons with soprano Lucy Crowe, tenor James Gilchrist, and bass Matthew Rose. On Saturday, October 17 at 8:00 p.m., soprano Sophie Karthäuser and bass Vuyani Mlinde join the ensemble and Maestro Gardiner for a performance of Haydn’s The Creation.

Also part of the “Haydn After Mozart” focus, fortepianist Andreas Staier performs an all-Haydn recital on Friday, October 16 at 7:30 p.m.

The Punch Brothers, a bluegrass band featuring acclaimed mandolin player Chris Thile, perform on Friday, October 16 at 8:00 p.m.

On Saturday, October 17 at 7:30 p.m., the Takács Quartet make the first of three Carnegie Hall appearances this season, each program featuring the premiere of a new work performed alongside works of Beethoven and Schumann. This performance features the New York premiere of Wolfgang Rihm’s String Quartet No. 11; Schumann’s String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 41, No. 1; and Beethoven’s “Razumovsky” String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59, No. 1.

Soprano Dame Emma Kirkby performs an intimate program entitled Music at Twilight: Songs and Solos from Early 17th-Century Europe with lute player Jakob Lindberg on Tuesday, October 20 at 7:30 p.m.

This fall, Carnegie Hall presents Ancient Paths, Modern Voices: A Festival Celebrating Chinese Culture, a citywide festival paying tribute to China’s diverse and vibrant culture and its influence around the world with 21 days of events at Carnegie Hall and New York partner institutions, presented from October 21 to November 10. Festival performances will feature many genres of music, including Western symphonic and chamber music influenced by Chinese culture, traditional folk music, and contemporary music, including premieres by internationally recognized Chinese composers, as well as dance, exhibitions, and much more. October events include:

• On Wednesday, October 21 at 7:30 p.m., Ancient Paths, Modern Voices opens in Zankel Hall with the Quanzhou Marionette Theater, a troupe that is the foremost exponent of this ancient tradition from Fujian Province in southern China. For this performance, which includes singing and musical accompaniment, the troupe performs excerpts from a wide variety of traditional Chinese folk tales.
  
• Qin and Chinese Calligraphy will be presented on Thursday, October 22 at 6:30 p.m. at the China Institute. In this lecture-demonstration, Mingmei Yip explores the ancient Chinese philosophy of nurturing life and longevity by harnessing breath, energy, and qi (chi) through qin-playing and calligraphic brush strokes.
  
• On Friday, October 23 and Saturday, October 24, both at 7:30 p.m., pipa virtuoso Wu Man curates, performs, and hosts two programs of traditional Chinese music in Zankel Hall. Taste of China, on Friday, presents a wide range of traditional Chinese musical styles performed by a variety of self-taught performers and classically trained musicians. The Dong Female Singing Group perform polyphonic music, Zhao Jiazhen performs on the qin, and the Ba Da Chui percussion quartet perform on instruments that play a central role in most Chinese traditional music. On Saturday Ancient Spirits, features traditional music heard at ancient village rituals. The Li Family Daoist Band and Zhang Family Band present this music which is still deeply rooted in the daily life of Chinese villagers today.
  
• Free Neighborhood Concerts on Saturday, October 24 at 3:00 p.m.; Sunday October 25 at 2:00 p.m.; Sunday, October 25 at 3:00 p.m.; Wednesday, October 28 at 10:30 a.m.
  Program Addition and Update:
  A Chinese Instrument Workshop at Flushing Town Hall featuring members of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra with Associate Conductor Chew Hee Chiat, on Wednesday, October 28 at 10:30 a.m. has been announced. Also, complete program details have been announced for the series of free Neighborhood Concerts presented by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute featuring performances by Chinese artists in community venues throughout New York. On Saturday, October 24 at 3:00 p.m. at University Settlement in Manhattan, Wu Man hosts a concert by Chinese percussion quartet Ba Da Chui. On Sunday, October 25 at 2:00 p.m. at Flushing Town Hall in Queens, Ensemble ACJW performs chamber music by the illustrious Class of 1978, the first graduating class from the music conservatories after the Cultural Revolution. The Zhang Family Band performs on Sunday, October 25 at 3:00 p.m. at the Henry Street Settlement in Manhattan in a concert featuring old tune traditional music with shadow puppets. For complete program listings and details, click on the links above.
  
• On Saturday, October 24 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, October 25 at 7:30 p.m., Shen Wei Dance Arts, the New York-based company featured at the 2008 Opening Ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in Beijing, launches its 10th anniversary season with a Works & Process at the Guggenheim program that explores Shen Wei’s creative process through performance and discussion with the artist.
  
• The Asia Society presents a traditional Chinese Teahouse featuring the culture of music and tea together on Sunday, October 25 at 7:00 p.m. This intimate meeting of the two art forms takes place at the Asia Society and features the Dong Female Singing Group and qin player Zhao Jiazhen.
  
• On Monday, October 26 at 7:30 p.m., Ensemble ACJW presents Class of 1978 in Weill Recital Hall, a program featuring chamber music by the composers of the renowned first graduating class from music conservatories after the Cultural Revolution. The program will include Chen Qigang’s Instants d'un Opéra de Pékin for Solo Piano; Chen Yi’s Qi for Flute, Cello, Percussion, and Piano; Bright Sheng’s String Quartet No. 3; Guo Wenjing’s Parade for Six Peking Opera Gongs, Op. 40; and Zhou Long’s Taigu Rhyme for Clarinet, Violin, Cello, and Percussion.
  
• Another renowned member of the “Class of ’78” as well as a Grammy and Oscar winning composer, Tan Dun will lead the Juilliard Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall on Monday, October 26 at 7:30 p.m. in a program of his works featuring the world premiere of a new violin concerto with soloist Cho-Liang Lin.
  
• On Tuesday, October 27 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, pianist Lang Lang makes his first festival appearance, performing chamber music with several young Chinese musicians, including 10-year-old piano prodigy Marc Yu, tenor GeQun Wong, erhu player Guo Gan, and cellist Hai-Ye Ni in a program, which includes Schubert’s Rondo in A Major, D. 951 and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A Minor, Op. 50.
  
• Michael Tilson Thomas conducts Lang Lang and the Juilliard Orchestra in the world premiere of a new piano concerto Er Huang by composer Chen Qigang on Wednesday, October 28 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage. Carnegie Hall commissioned this work specifically for the Ancient Paths, Modern Voices festival from Chen, the revered “Class of ’78” composer who studied under Olivier Messiaen and was music director of the 2008 Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony. Also on the program: Chinese works for solo piano performed by Lang Lang, Lou Harrison’s Eastern-tinged Pacifika Rondo and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter and tenor Gregory Kunde.
  
• On Friday, October 30 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, one the world's leading symphonic ensembles of traditional Chinese instruments, performs a program of Chinese works by composers Law Wing-Fai, Guo Wenjing, Zhao Jiping, and Cheng Dazhao, under Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Yan Huichang. The concert also features cello soloist Trey Lee.
  
• China in Chelsea, October 21 through November 10
  Participating Galleries Update:
  Select art galleries in Chelsea and beyond; including the Arario Gallery, AW Asia, Chambers Fine Art, China Square, Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, Goedhuis Contemporary, Max Protetch Gallery, and STUX Gallery; join forces for China in Chelsea, a celebration of Chinese contemporary visual arts. During the festival, participating galleries will exhibit works by some of today's leading figures from the Chinese art world.
  
• Throughout October: Silk and Bamboo: Music and Art of China, an exhibition celebrating the diverse musical heritage of China, will be presented by the Metropolitan Museum of Art from September 5, 2009 through February 7, 2010. The exhibit includes about 80 objects drawn largely from the Museum’s permanent collection, and features a wide variety of musical instruments and art, including a rare Ming dynasty ivory-covered pipa (lute) and lacquered qin (zither), extraordinary bells from the fifth century B.C., and Han dynasty pottery dancing figures and musicians.
  

Pianist Murray Perahia returns to Carnegie Hall on Friday, October 23 at 8:00 p.m. with a program including Bach’s Partita No. 6 in E Minor, BWV 830; Beethoven’s Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109; and Schumann’s Kinderszenen.

New Orleans native composer, educator, and trumpeter Terence Blanchard leads his progressive and electrifying band, whose members all contribute daring originals to the group's repertoire, on Wednesday, October 28 at 8:30 p.m. as part of Carnegie Hall’s The Shape of Jazz series.