Carnegie Hall

The world-renowned Philadelphia Orchestra strives to share the transformative power of music with the widest possible audience, and to create joy, connection, and excitement through music in the Philadelphia region, across the country, and around the world. Through innovative programming, robust education initiatives, a commitment to its diverse communities, and the embrace of digital outreach, the ensemble is creating an expansive and inclusive future for classical music, and furthering the place of the arts in an open and democratic society. In June 2021, the orchestra and its home, the Kimmel Center, united to form The Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center, Inc., reimagining the power of the arts to bring joy, create community, and effect change.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin is now in his 12th season with The Philadelphia Orchestra, serving as music and artistic director. His connection to the ensemble’s musicians has been praised by both concertgoers and critics, and he is embraced by the musicians of the orchestra, audiences, and the community.

Your Philadelphia Orchestra takes great pride in its hometown, performing for the people of Philadelphia year-round, in Verizon Hall and around the community, in classrooms and hospitals, and over the airwaves and online. The orchestra’s award-winning education and community initiatives engage more than 50,000 students, families, and community members of all ages through programs such as PlayINs; side-by-sides; PopUP concerts; Our City, Your Orchestra Live; School Concerts; sensory-friendly concerts; open rehearsals; the School Partnership Program and School Ensemble Program; All City Orchestra Fellowships; and residency work in Philadelphia and abroad. The orchestra’s free online video series, Our City, Your Orchestra (OCYO), uncovers and amplifies the voices, stories, and causes championed by unique Philadelphia organizations and businesses. Joining OCYO in connecting with the community is HearTOGETHER, a free monthly podcast featuring artists and activists who discuss music, social justice, and the lived experiences that inform the drive to create a more equitable and inclusive future for the arts.

Through concerts, tours, residencies, and recordings, the orchestra is a global ambassador and one of our nation’s greatest exports. It performs annually at Carnegie Hall, the Mann Center, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and the Bravo! Vail Music Festival. The orchestra also has a rich touring history, having first performed outside Philadelphia in its earliest days. In 1973, it was the first American orchestra to perform in the People’s Republic of China, launching a five-decade commitment of people-to-people exchange.

Under Yannick’s leadership, the orchestra returned to recording with 13 celebrated releases on the Deutsche Grammophon label, including the Grammy Award–winning Florence Price Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3. The orchestra also reaches thousands of radio listeners with weekly broadcasts on WRTI-FM and SiriusXM. For more information, please visit philorch.org.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin is currently in his 12th season with The Philadelphia Orchestra, serving as music and artistic director. An inspired leader, Yannick is both an evolutionary and a revolutionary, developing the mighty “Philadelphia Sound” in new ways. His collaborative style, deeply rooted musical curiosity, and boundless enthusiasm have been heralded by critics and audiences alike. The New York Times has called him “phenomenal,” adding that “the ensemble, famous for its glowing strings and homogenous richness, has never sounded better.”

Yannick has established himself as a musical leader of the highest caliber and one of the most thrilling and sought-after talents of his generation. He became the third music director of New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 2018. In addition, he has been artistic director and principal conductor of Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain since 2000. In 2017, he became an honorary member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He served as music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra from 2008 to 2018 (he is now honorary conductor) and was principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra from 2008 to 2014. He has made wildly successful appearances with the world’s most revered ensembles and at many of the leading opera houses.

Yannick has shown a deep commitment to expanding the repertoire by embracing an ever-growing and diverse group of today’s composers and by performing the music of under-appreciated composers of the past. In 2018, he signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. Under his leadership, The Philadelphia Orchestra returned to recording with 13 releases on that label, including Florence Price Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3, which won a Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance in 2022.

A native of Montreal, Yannick studied piano, conducting, composition, and chamber music at Montreal’s Conservatory of Music and continued his studies with renowned conductor Carlo Maria Giulini; he also studied choral conducting with Joseph Flummerfelt at Westminster Choir College. Among Yannick’s honors are an appointment as Companion of the Order of Canada; Companion to the Order of Arts and Letters of Quebec; an Officer of the Order of Quebec; an Officer of the Order of Montreal; an Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres; Musical America’s 2016 Artist of the Year; ECHO KLASSIK’s 2014 Conductor of the Year; a Royal Philharmonic Society Award; Canada’s National Arts Centre Award; the Prix Denise-Pelletier; the Oskar Morawetz Award; and honorary doctorates from the University of Quebec, the Curtis Institute of Music, Westminster Choir College of Rider University, McGill University, the University of Montreal, the University of Pennsylvania, Laval University, and Drexel University.

To read Yannick’s full bio, please visit philorch.org/conductor.

Pianist Marcus Roberts is known throughout the world for his many contributions to jazz music as well as his commitment to integrating the jazz and classical idioms to create something wholly new. He grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, where his mother’s gospel singing and the music of the local church left a lasting impact on his music. He began teaching himself to play piano at age five after losing his sight but did not have his first formal lesson until age 12 while attending the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind. At age 18, he went on to study classical piano at Florida State University. In 2014, Mr. Roberts’s life and work were featured on a segment of the CBS television show 60 Minutes.

Mr. Roberts has won numerous awards and competitions, including the Helen Keller Award for Personal Achievement and the 2024 Dorothy and David Dushkin Award by the Music Institute of Chicago. His critically acclaimed legacy of recorded music includes solo piano, duets, and trio arrangements of jazz standards as well as original suites of music for trio, large ensembles, and symphony orchestra. He launched his own record label, J-Master Records, in 2009. One of his more recent endeavors is the Modern Jazz Generation (MJG), a multigenerational band that is the realization of his longstanding dedication to training and mentoring younger musicians.

Mr. Roberts is also an accomplished composer. He has been commissioned by such organizations as Chamber Music America, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Saito Kinen Orchestra, and American Symphony Orchestra. He was awarded a grant by South Arts and the Doris Duke Foundation for the creation of the audio-video project Tomorrow’s Promises. In addition to providing support to younger musicians, he continues to find ways to serve the blind and other disabled communities. In 2021, he served as the artistic director for the American Foundation for the Blind’s centennial gala and was a featured speaker and performer at the Disability:IN annual conference. Mr. Roberts is a professor of music at the Florida State University College of Music and a distinguished professor of music at Bard College.

Martin Jaffe is an exciting new voice on the double bass. He is known for his deep sense of groove and his rich and lyrical sound. His musical roots are in jazz, but his background includes both classical and Brazilian music. He is one of New York City’s most in-demand young bassists and has frequently shared the stage with such musical icons as Marcus Roberts, Harold Mabern, Sergio Mendes, and Wynton Marsalis. Originally from Conway, Massachusetts, Mr. Jaffe moved to New York in 2012 to enroll at Columbia University and The Juilliard School, where he studied with bassists Ron Carter and Ray Drummond, among others. In 2012, he was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts and in 2013 won the International Society of Bassists’ annual jazz competition. His compositions and arrangements have been widely performed, including at the Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center. He has recorded with such artists as Jen Allen, Miro Sprague, Ben Rosenblum, and Chris Pattishall. Mr. Jaffe co-leads an innovative trio with guitarist Jason Ennis and pianist Miro Sprague, which features original compositions by each member that draw on influences from Brazilian music, classical chamber music, and free improvisation.

Jason Marsalis is one of the most gifted drummers in jazz today. He is the youngest son of late pianist Ellis Marsalis. During his last year of high school at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, he joined the new trio founded by pianist Marcus Roberts. Mr. Marsalis began touring regularly with Mr. Roberts the next year while studying at Loyola University. While he has performed with many other musicians, including Michael White, John Ellis, Shannon Powell, the Marsalis family, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Mr. Marsalis has been the drummer in the Marcus Roberts Trio for 29 years. He has been featured on all of Mr. Roberts’s recordings since joining the trio and has also released five of his own recordings. His recording The 21st Century Trad Band showcases his remarkably creative approach to soloing, while Melody Reimagined, Book 1 (Basin Street Records) highlights his creative imagination by reinventing a series of historic standards for a modern audience. His style is heavily influenced by the greats of both jazz and classical music. With Mr. Roberts, he has performed with symphony orchestras all over the world. When he is not touring, he can be found working on music or helping to train other young musicians.