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.

In a career spanning more than six decades, John Williams has become one of America’s most accomplished and successful composers for film and the concert stage. He has composed the music and served as music director for more than 100 films, including all nine Star Wars films, the first three Harry Potter films, Superman, JFK, Born on the Fourth of July, Home Alone, and The Book Thief. His 50-year artistic partnership with director Steven Spielberg has resulted in many of Hollywood’s most acclaimed and successful films, including Schindler’s List, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the Indiana Jones films, Munich, Saving Private Ryan, and The Fabelmans. His contributions to television music include scores for more than 200 films as well as themes for NBC’s Nightly News, Meet the Press, and Great Performances. He also composed themes for the 1984, 1988, and 1996 Summer Olympic Games and the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

Mr. Williams has received five Academy Awards and 54 nominations, making him the Academy’s most-nominated living person and the second–most-nominated person in the history of the Oscars. He has received seven British Academy Film Awards, 26 Grammys, four Golden Globes, five Emmys, and numerous gold and platinum records. In 2003, he received the Olympic Order for his contributions to the Olympic movement, and in 2004, he received the Kennedy Center Honors. In 2009, he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and received the National Medal of Arts, the highest award given to artists by the United States government. In 2016, he received the 44th Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute—the first time this honor was bestowed upon a composer.

In 1980, Mr. Williams was named the 19th music director of the Boston Pops; he currently holds the title of laureate conductor, which he assumed in 1993. He also holds the title of artist-in-residence at Tanglewood. He has composed numerous works for the concert stage, including two symphonies and multiple concertos. In 2009, he composed and arranged “Air and Simple Gifts” especially for the first inaugural ceremony of President Barack Obama.

Stéphane Denève is music director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, artistic director of the New World Symphony, and principal guest conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. He recently concluded terms as principal guest conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra and music director of the Brussels Philharmonic, and previously served as chief conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra and music director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. He regularly appears at major concert venues with the world’s greatest orchestras and soloists. He has a special affinity for the music of his native France and is a passionate advocate for music of the 21st century.

Mr. Denève’s recent and upcoming engagements include appearances with the Royal Concertgebouw and NDR Elbphilharmonie orchestras; Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; Bavarian Radio, Finnish Radio, and Iceland symphony orchestras; Vienna Symphony; Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin; Czech Philharmonic; Rotterdam and Royal Stockholm philharmonic orchestras; WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne; Orchestre National de France; and Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France. He is a frequent visitor to Asia, where he has worked regularly with orchestras that include the NHK Symphony Orchestra and Hong Kong and Seoul philharmonic orchestras. In 2023, he conducted the Saito Kinen Orchestra at the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival, and took part in a special concert at Suntory Hall in Tokyo for Deutsche Grammophon’s 125th anniversary, sharing the stage with his longtime friend, legendary composer John Williams.

Mr. Denève made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He regularly conducts the Chicago, Dallas, Pittsburgh, and Toronto symphony orchestras; Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras; New York and Los Angeles philharmonics; and San Francisco Symphony. In 2022, he was the conductor for John Williams’s official 90th birthday gala with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC. A gifted communicator and educator, he is committed to inspiring the next generation of musicians and listeners. In addition to his position with the New World Symphony and longstanding relationship with the Colburn School in Los Angeles, he has worked with young people at the Tanglewood Music Center, European Union Youth Orchestra, and Music Academy of the West.

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s multi-faceted career is testament to his belief in culture’s power to generate trust and understanding. Whether performing new or familiar works from the cello repertoire, bringing communities together to explore culture’s role in society, or engaging unexpected musical forms, he strives to foster connections that stimulate the imagination and reinforce our humanity.

Most recently, Mr. Ma began Our Common Nature, a cultural journey to celebrate the ways that nature can reunite us in pursuit of a shared future. Our Common Nature follows the Bach Project, a six-continent tour of J. S. Bach’s cello suites paired with local cultural programming. Both endeavors reflect his lifelong commitment to stretching the boundaries of genre and tradition to understand how music helps us to imagine and build a stronger society. Mr. Ma’s many roles include United Nations Messenger of Peace; the first artist ever appointed to the World Economic Forum’s board of trustees; member of the board of Nia Tero, a US-based nonprofit that works in solidarity with Indigenous peoples and movements worldwide; and founder of the global music collective Silkroad. His discography of more than 120 albums (including 19 Grammy winners) ranges from iconic renditions of the Western classical canon to recordings that defy categorization. His latest album, Beethoven for Three: Symphony No. 6 and Op. 1, No. 3, is the second in a series of Beethoven recordings with pianist Emanuel Ax and violinist Leonidas Kavakos.

Mr. Ma was born in 1955 to Chinese parents living in Paris. He began to study the cello with his father at age four and continued at The Juilliard School before pursuing a liberal arts education at Harvard University. He has received numerous awards, including the Avery Fisher Prize, the National Medal of the Arts, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Kennedy Center Honors, the Polar Music Prize, and the Birgit Nilsson Prize. He has performed for nine American presidents, most recently at President Biden’s inauguration. Mr. Ma plays three instruments: a 2003 instrument made by Moes & Moes, a 1733 Montagnana cello from Venice, and the 1712 Davidoff Stradivarius.