Carnegie Hall

Beginning August 1 through August 7, more than 700 teen musicians from around the globe will come together in New York City for World Orchestra Week (WOW!), a historic celebration of international youth orchestras. This ambitious summer festival brings together seven extraordinary ensembles from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States for seven consecutive nights of exciting music making at Carnegie Hall with some of today’s most internationally renowned artists, plus daytime cultural exchange activities. This week of high-level music-making is designed to center and celebrate the voices of young people, showing how music can bring us together, connecting across different nations, cultures, and languages.

All seven WOW! concerts will be heard by listeners worldwide on the Carnegie Hall Live broadcast series. Produced by WQXR and Carnegie Hall, this concert series will be broadcast on WQXR 105.9 in New York and will reach listeners everywhere, streamed online at wqxr.org and carnegiehall.org/wqxr.

 

Thursday, August 1, 2024 7:00 PM (Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage) NYO2 Teddy Abrams, Conductor Demarre McGill, Flute Titus Underwood, Oboe Anthony McGill, Clarinet Andrew Brady, Bassoon

World Orchestra Week (WOW!)kicks off with a performance by NYO2—Carnegie Hall’s national youth orchestra featuring outstanding young musicians from across the United States, ages 14–17—led by Teddy Abrams, Music Director of the Louisville Orchestra. The evening’s program includes Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, and Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite (1919 version), plus the world premiere of KINSFOLKNEM—a new wind concertante (co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall) by Jasmine Barnes, featuring principal players from leading US orchestras including flutist Demarre McGill, oboist Titus Underwood, clarinetist Anthony McGill, and bassoonist Andrew Brady.
 

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Friday, August 2 at 7:00 PM (Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage) NATIONAL CHILDREN'S SYMPHONY OF VENEZUELA Gustavo Dudamel, Conductor

Gustavo Dudamel leads the National Children’s Symphony of Venezuela in John Adams’s Short Ride in a Fast Machine along with Latin American classics Mediodía en el llano (Midday on the Plains) by Estévez, and Ginastera’s Four Dances from Estancia, which the orchestra performed in its unforgettable international debut at the Salzburg Festival. The second half of the concert is anchored by Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5. The orchestra is comprised of talented young musicians, ages 10–17, who take part in Venezuela’s El Sistema program.
 

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Saturday, August 3 at 7:00 PM (Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage) AFRICA UNITED YOUTH ORCHESTRA William Eddins, Conductor Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, Soprano with Members oftheNational Youth Orchestra of the USA

The Africa United Youth Orchestra (AUYO)—organized by South Africa’s national orchestra, the Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra—makes its North American debut with this Carnegie Hall performance. The AUYO is made up of stellar musicians from several African countries including South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Led by American conductor William Eddins, the first half of the concert will highlight groundbreaking works by South African composers Michael Mosoeu Moerane, Mzilikazi Khumalo, and Bongani Ndodana-Breen. Opening the program is Moerane’s Fatše La Heso (My Country), followed by arias from Khumalo’s uShaka KaSenzagakhona (a dramatic work about the legendary King of the Zulus) and Princess Magogo (the first Zulu opera) sung by South African soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, who is also featured in one of Ndodana-Breen’s Three Orchestral Songs on Poems of Ingrid Jonker. The concert concludes with Dvořák’s beloved Symphony No. 9, “From the New World,” with members of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America joining the AUYO.
 

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Sunday, August 4 at 4:00 PM (Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage) BEIJING YOUTH ORCHESTRA Lü Jia, Conductor Wu Man, Pipa

Lü Jia, who has performed at Carnegie Hall as conductor of Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) Orchestra, leads the Beijing Youth Orchestra, an ensemble newly created by NCPA. The program features both Western and Chinese orchestral works, including the New York premiere of Zhao Jiping’s Pipa Concerto No. 2 with guest soloist Wu Man, selections from Bao Yuankai's Chinese Sights and Sounds, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5.
 

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Monday, August 5 at 7:00 PM (Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage) NATIONAL YOUTH ORCHESTRA OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Marin Alsop, Conductor Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Piano with Musicians from thePolyphony Ensemble

Led by one of the United States’ most renowned conductors, Marin Alsop, Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra of the USA (NYO-USA) performs Barber’s Symphony No. 1; Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade; and—as part of the work’s centennial celebration—Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue featuring pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet as soloist. Eight musicians from Polyphony—the Nazareth-based educational program that brings together Arab and Jewish musicians from Israel in performance—join NYO-USA for their New York training residency and Carnegie Hall performance, taking part in the WOW! festival. Following its New York concert, NYO-USA embarks on a South American tour.
 

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Tuesday, August 6 at 7:00 PM (Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage) EUROPEAN UNION YOUTH ORCHESTRA Iván Fischer, Conductor Isata Kanneh-Mason, Piano with Guest Musicians from theYouth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine

The European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) conducted by Iván Fischer, performs Masquerade by Anna Clyne, recently appointed as the BBC Philharmonic’s composer in association; Dohnányi’s Variations on a Nursery Tune, Op. 25 with pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason as soloist; and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1. Founded in 1976, the EUYO—comprised of extraordinary musicians, ages 16–26, representing all 27 European Union countries—has served as the EU’s cultural ambassador with performances around the globe for close to 50 years. Four guest musicians from the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine join the EUYO as special guests for this performance. The orchestra last appeared at Carnegie Hall in 2012.
 

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Wednesday, August 7 at 7:00 PM (Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage) AFGHAN YOUTH ORCHESTRA Tiago Moreira da Silva, Conductor with Members of theEuropean Union Youth Orchestra

Featuring dedicated young musicians (ages 14–22) from the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, the storied Afghan Youth Orchestra plays both Western and traditional Afghan instruments in repertoire that includes Western symphonic works, original compositions, and Afghan folk music. Recent tours have taken this extraordinary orchestra to the United Kingdom, where it recently made its Southbank Centre debut, and across Europe, including a historic performance that opened the 2023 UN Human Rights Conference in Switzerland.

The ensemble—a symbol of hope for the people of Afghanistan, where music is currently banned—returns to Carnegie Hall for the first time in more than a decade. The young musicians are joined by members of the European Union Youth Orchestra in a special program that includes arrangements by conductor Tiago Moreira da Silva of works by Nainawaz, Brahms, Kodály, and popular artist Sediq Shabab.

 

 

Ticket Information

Tickets for World Orchestra Week (WOW!) concerts at Carnegie Hall, starting at $25, are on sale now. Tickets are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street, or can be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or by visiting the Carnegie Hall website, carnegiehall.org. Each ticket is subject to a $9 convenience fee. Tickets $25 and under are subject to a $3 convenience fee.

For more information on discount ticket programs, including those for students, Notables members, and Bank of America customers, visit carnegiehall.org/discounts. Concertgoers can unlock instant savings of 10% to 30% when they order tickets to any three or more WOW! concerts. This offer is available online, by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800, or at the Box Office. Artists, programs, dates, and prices are subject to change.

 

World Orchestra Week Lead Donors: Hope and Robert F. Smith, Michael ByungJu Kim and Kyung Ah Park.

Major funding has been provided by Ronald E. Blaylock and Petra Pope.

Click here to see a full list of supporters of Carnegie Hall’s three national youth ensembles.