Carnegie Hall

Broadcast from March 6, 2025

Franz Welser-Möst leads the world-class Cleveland Orchestra in a pair of Russian symphonic masterpieces, starting with the folkloric magic of Pétrouchka. Stravinsky’s tragic, direct musical storytelling offers a powerful contrast to Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, a quintessentially Romantic work that grapples with questions of fate throughout its breathtaking journey from darkness to triumph.

Broadcast from March 6, 2025

The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) returns to Carnegie Hall for the first time in 20 years, under the brand-new leadership of Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano. Joining them is rising piano superstar Yunchan Lim, whose sold-out Carnegie Hall debut recital in February 2024 has attracted audiences from around the world. Lim is featured in a major piano showpiece—Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2—and the LSO further treats audiences to a rare performance of British composer William Walton’s invigorating and emotionally intense Symphony No. 1.

Broadcast from March 1, 2025

Riccardo Muti conducts the Vienna Philharmonic in back-to-back concerts at Carnegie Hall. This Saturday-night program includes the Hall’s first-ever performance of Catalani’s Contemplazione, which transposes the heart-wrenching lyricism of Italian opera into a 10-minute orchestral piece. Also included is a symphonic suite from Stravinsky's Le baiser de la fée (The Fairy’s Kiss); based on The Ice-Maiden, it pays tribute to the life and music of Tchaikovsky, and many New York audience members will recognize it from Balanchine’s iconic ballet. Schubert’s magnificent final symphony—the Ninth—closes the program, a work with overtly Beethoven-esque characteristics and a particularly helpful subtitle: “Great.”

Broadcast from January 28, 2025

Enjoy a new perspective on the hugely popular period ensemble Les Arts Florissants in Zankel Hall Center Stage, which invites audiences to sit on all sides of the performers. Led by William Christie on the occasion of his 80th birthday, this special concert features works by the French Baroque composers he has championed throughout his career—including Charpentier, Lully, and Rameau—with guest vocalists.

Broadcast from December 4, 2024

In each of its three concerts this week, the inimitable Czech Philharmonic pairs an orchestral masterwork with one of Dvořák’s concertos, each featuring a superstar soloist. Tonight, the soloist is violin icon Gil Shaham, who performs the vibrant, Czech folk–infused Violin Concerto. Mahler’s Fifth Symphony follows, giving audiences a chance to experience the orchestra’s acclaimed interpretation under conductor Semyon Bychkov. Their 2022 recording of the Fifth was named Best Classical Record of 2022 by London’s The Times, which praised their “fine balance in this visionary work, a musical universe of dreams and prophecies in which Bychkov matches intelligent pacing with great-hearted warmth and sonic opulence with textural clarity.”

Broadcast from October 8, 2024

This star-studded Opening Night performance features renowned pianist Lang Lang and the incomparable Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel. As soloist in Rachmaninoff's spellbinding and immensely popular Piano Concerto No. 2, Lang Lang kicks off not only our 2024–2025 season, but also his own, three-concert Perspectives series here at the Hall. Also featured is baritone Gustavo Castillo, who reprises his recent role with the ensemble as soloist in Ginastera's ballet Estancia.

Broadcast from August 7, 2024

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 UK, 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 works by William Harvey, Sarahang, Awalmir, and Abdul Wahab Madadi, plus arrangements by conductor Tiago Moreira da Silva of works by Nainawaz, Brahms, Kodály, and popular artist Sediq Shabab.

Broadcast from August 5, 2024

One of the United States’ most renowned conductors, Marin Alsop leads the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America as part of Carnegie Hall’s World Orchestra Week (WOW!). The esteemed ensemble begins the concert with Barber’s Symphony No. 1, which condenses the traditional symphonic structure into a single captivating movement. Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, a popular recitalist at Carnegie Hall, joins as soloist in Rhapsody in Blue as part of the iconic work’s centennial celebration. The performance concludes with Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, a colorful concert staple based on One Thousand and One Nights.

Broadcast from August 4, 2024

This Sunday matinee concert—presented as part of Carnegie Hall’s World Orchestra Week (WOW!)—features the Beijing Youth Orchestra, an ensemble newly created by China’s National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA). Lü Jia, who has performed at Carnegie Hall as conductor of the renowned China NCPA Orchestra, leads this exceptional youth orchestra and the inimitable pipa virtuoso Wu Man in a program that includes both Western and Chinese orchestral works.

Broadcast from August 3, 2024

Witness the North American debut of the Africa United Youth Orchestra (AUYO), organized by the Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra, South Africa’s national orchestra. AUYO comprises 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 highlights 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,” featuring members of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America.

Broadcast from August 2, 2024

Gustavo Dudamel conducts the National Children’s Symphony of Venezuela during Carnegie Hall’s World Orchestra Week (WOW!), which celebrates extraordinary youth ensembles from around the globe. In the first half of the program, the gifted young musicians perform John Adams’s Short Ride in a Fast Machine, Estévez’s symphonic poem Mediodía en el llano, and Ginastera’s Four Dances from Estancia, which the orchestra also performed in its unforgettable international debut at the Salzburg Festival. The second half of the concert comprises Shostakovich’s riveting Symphony No. 5.

Broadcast from August 1, 2024

World Orchestra Week (WOW!) kicks off with a performance by NYO2—Carnegie Hall’s national youth orchestra for younger teens, called “superbly talented” (New York Classical Review) and “a bright future for classical music” (Musical America). Conducted by Teddy Abrams—and featuring principal players from several of the nation’s top orchestras as soloists—they perform some of the concert repertoire’s most beloved works. In addition to Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, and Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite, the program includes a Carnegie Hall co-commissioned world premiere by Emmy Award–winning composer Jasmine Barnes, who has been commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera, and many more.

Broadcast from May 2, 2024

Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Mahler’s Sixth Symphony, which he calls “an extraordinary journey … in a strange way, Mahler’s most classical symphony, even though it is so profound and tragic and, in many ways, apocalyptic.” In works by Hindemith and Zemlinsky, the program also reveals the Weimar Republic’s electrifying sense of cross-cultural artistic possibility, as ragtime music and poetry of the Harlem Renaissance become integral components of 1920s works by leading German composers.

Broadcast from April 18, 2024

The exemplary Danish String Quartet presents the fourth installment of its Doppelgänger project, in which they pair one of Schubert’s timeless string compositions with a newly commissioned work inspired by it. The program features Schubert’s mammoth String Quintet, which was written during the final weeks of the composer’s life and is considered one of the all-time greatest chamber works by any composer. The inimitable Thomas Adès—“one of the most accomplished and complete musicians of his generation” (The New York Times)—contributes its Doppelgänger companion.

Broadcast from April 3, 2024

Hespèrion XXI brings ancient and Baroque music to life under the direction of early-music legend Jordi Savall. In immensely entertaining programs that combine passion and creativity with world-class scholarship, they make timeless music utterly captivating for 21st-century audiences. Experience the inventiveness of the early Baroque era in works that span the late–16th century to the mid–17th century, including those by Frescobaldi, Kapsberger, de’ Cavalieri, Falconieri, and more.

Broadcast from February 12, 2024

The National Symphony Orchestra, acclaimed for its “exhilarating” performances at Carnegie Hall (The New York Times), performs under the superb leadership of Gianandrea Noseda. They treat audiences to one of Beethoven’s immortal symphonies: No. 3, “Eroica,” and showcase their versatility in selections from Berg’s impassioned Lyric Suite and Korngold’s Violin Concerto, which includes numerous references to the film scores Korngold wrote during his lifesaving Hollywood career.

Broadcast from January 29, 2024

New York audiences get a welcome opportunity to revisit the 2021 Pulitzer Prize–winning Stride by Tania León, Carnegie Hall’s 2023–2024 Debs Composer’s Chair. Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand follows, featuring star soloist and International Chopin Piano Competition winner Seong-Jin Cho. Masterfully written for both piano and orchestra, it’s an inspiring example of a perceived obstacle—one-handed piano playing—yielding powerful and inventive new musical ideas. Stravinsky’s radical, rhythmically charged The Rite of Spring closes the program in explosive fashion.

Broadcast from January 23, 2024

The Philadelphia Orchestra and Marcus Roberts Trio present a 20th-century musical feast that’s perfect both for newcomers and afficionados, beginning with the magical storytelling of Stravinsky’s Pétrouchka. A rare symphonic piece by Kurt Weill follows, sure to impress listeners familiar only with the composer’s theatrical works. Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin calls it “a jewel [from] someone who completely mastered the symphonic world.” Finally, hear Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue like you never have before, as the Marcus Roberts Trio—which has “reinvented” (Chicago Tribune) the masterpiece alongside multiple top orchestras—joins us in celebrating its 100th anniversary.

Broadcast from October 22, 2023

Two singular composers tell the tale of a fiddler’s Faustian bargain and musical duel with the devil. The suite from The Soldier’s Tale is one of Stravinsky’s most memorable chamber works, retaining the stylistic range, dance elements, and expert instrumentation of his larger-scale compositions. In Wynton Marsalis’s re-imagining, A Fiddler’s Tale, he takes Stravinsky’s early jazz ingredients even further, melding jazz and classical idioms together with an updated narrative—here performed by special guest Phylicia Rashad and conducted by longtime Marsalis collaborator Damien Sneed. Hear both works performed by outstanding members of the acclaimed Gateways Music Festival.

Broadcast from December 1, 2022

“An ensemble of exceptional insight” (The Telegraph) and the “talk of the chamber music community” (Kansas City Star), the Brentano String Quartet performs masterworks with reverence and, with an admirable balance of creativity and restraint, achieves the “marvelous feat of bringing novel qualities to standard repertoire” (Classical Source). In its return to Zankel Hall, the quartet performs a piece by Haydn, the “father of the string quartet”; Fanny Mendelssohn’s wonderful, sole composition for string quartet; and an idiosyncratic Bartók quartet that demands attention.

Broadcast from October 14, 2022

In celebration of the 200th anniversary of Brazil’s independence, the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra makes its Carnegie Hall debut with a program fitting the historic occasion. The concert begins with Rimsky-Korsakov’s hugely popular Scheherazade, a symphonic suite inspired by the legendary heroine and folklore of One Thousand and One Nights. The second half of the performance treats audiences to the music of essential Brazilian composer Villa-Lobos. A majestic prelude from one of his Bach-meets-Brazil imaginings opens the proceedings. Harmonica master José Staneck, one of the preeminent players of this repertoire, maximizes the lyrical beauty of the Harmonica Concerto. The São Paulo Symphony Choir then joins for the simmering and ultimately explosive Chôros No. 10.

Broadcast from September 29, 2022

Every Opening Night at Carnegie Hall is a piece of history, and nothing compares to experiencing it in person. Our 2022–2023 season kicks off with The Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. The ensemble simmers and bursts to life with Ravel’s orchestral wonder La valse. One of the modern greats, pianist Daniil Trifonov, joins in Liszt’s First Piano Concerto. “Chasqui” is an engrossing movement from an early Gabriela Lena Frank work, called “more relevant than ever” (The Philadelphia Inquirer). The evening of musical celebration ends in uplifting fashion with Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony.

Broadcast from June 1, 2022

The Cleveland Orchestra’s 2019 Carnegie Hall opening night performance was called “virtually flawless” (The New York Times). That’s exactly the level of excellence audiences have come to expect each time music director Franz Welser-Möst leads this outstanding orchestra. Their versatility is showcased in this program that features a sinfonia by George Walker, a Szymanowski concerto influenced by Polish folk melodies, and Schubert’s magnificently melodic and emotionally powerful “Great” Symphony.

Broadcast from April 24, 2022

Founded in 1993, the Gateways Music Festival Orchestra celebrates the contributions of classical musicians of African descent, bringing together professionals from leading orchestras across the country to perform and inspire communities through the power of music. Hear this marvelous orchestra make its Carnegie Hall debut in a performance of works by Brahms, G. Walker, and Price, along with James V. Cockerham’s vibrant Fantasia on “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” The excitement level is raised even higher when Perspectives artist Jon Batiste joins them for the world premiere of his new work.

Broadcast from March 30, 2022

The “superb and intensely focused” (The New York Times) Quatuor Ébène takes audiences on a string quartet journey of discovery. Mozart’s popular quartet, the first of six he dedicated to Haydn, enthralls with its technical brilliance and sweet lyricism. Listen for honeyed melodies in R. Schumann’s quartet too, along with smoldering ardor. Emotions also burn powerfully in Shostakovich’s quartet, dedicated to the victims of war and fascism. At turns introspective, sardonic, and elegiac, he quotes his earlier music throughout the work with devastating effect.