New York Phil's July Radio Broadcasts to Include GILBERT'S PLAYLIST & More

The July broadcasts of The New York Philharmonic This Week - the weekly radio series of concerts and recordings by the New York Philharmonic, hosted by Alec Baldwin - begin with a Summertime Classics program from July 2012 titled "A New York Fourth," conducted by Bramwell Tovey. The Hellcats and Jazz Knights from the West Point Band, conducted by Lieutenant Colonel Jim Keene, perform "American Heritage" and 1940s Big Band Swing selections, including Oliver's "Well, Git It," Ward's "America the Beautiful," and Miller's "In the Mood." They also join the New York Philharmonic in Sousa's The Liberty Bell March and The Stars and Stripes Forever March, as well as Philip Egner's The Official West Point March. Soprano Tracy Dahl sings works by Bernstein and Gershwin on the first half of the broadcast.

The next two broadcasts are part of Gilbert's Playlist, which showcases the varied interests, close collaborations, and creative programming ideas that have become hallmarks of Alan Gilbert's tenure as Music Director. He conducts July's second broadcast with The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence Emanuel Ax, returning for the final performances of his residency with Haydn's Piano Concerto No. 11 in D major followed by the New York Premiere of Symphony No. 3 by the Marie Josee Kravis Composer-in-Residence Christopher Rouse. The program will conclude with A Ring Journey, Alan Gilbert's own synthesis of orchestral music from Wagner's Ring Cycle based on Erich Leinsdorf's arrangement. The following week, the Philharmonic will present A Dancer's Dream: Two Works by Stravinsky, a multidisciplinary, reimagining of Stravinsky's ballet scores to The Fairy's Kiss and Petrushka, created by Giants Are Small. New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Sara Mearns will star in the production, which will be conducted by Alan Gilbert.

In the fourth week of broadcasts, Bramwell Tovey leads the orchestra in another Summertime Classics program, titled "The Planets - An HD Odyssey." This program will include works inspired by space and travel composed by John Adams, Offenback, and Josef Strauss, as well as Holst's classic orchestral suite. Alan Gilbert returns to the podium for the final broadcast in July conducting Nielsen's Flute and Violin Concertos with Principal Flute Robert Langevin and violinist Nikolaj Znaider as soloists, released on DaCapo Records as part of The Nielsen Project. The program will conclude with Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 2, Little Russian.

The New York Philharmonic This Week airs locally in the New York metropolitan area on WQXR 105.9 FM, Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. [Check local listings.] Concerts are available on the Philharmonic's Website, nyphil.org, for two weeks following the broadcast. The broadcasts are syndicated to more than 300 outlets nationally and 122 outlets internationally by the WFMT Radio Network. Alec Baldwin is the host of the program, New York Philharmonic Audio Producer Mark Travis is the broadcast producer, and Audio Director Lawrence Rock is the music producer.

The New York Philharmonic's first Live National radio broadcast took place on October 5, 1930, over the CBS radio network. On that Sunday Erich Kleiber was on the podium leading the Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Since that historic broadcast, the Philharmonic has enjoyed an almost continuous presence on national radio. Advancing its role as a media pioneer, the Philharmonic, since 2002, has shared its radio broadcasts with a worldwide audience through its Website, nyphil.org. In 2004 the New York Philharmonic was the first major American orchestra to offer downloadable concerts, recorded live. Following on this innovation, in 2009 the Orchestra announced the first-ever subscription download series: Alan Gilbert: The Inaugural Season, available exclusively on iTunes, produced and distributed by the New York Philharmonic, and comprising more than 50 works performed during the 2009-10 season. Last season the Orchestra released another iTunes pass: Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic: 2011-12 Season. Since 1917 the Philharmonic has made nearly 2,000 recordings, with more than 500 currently available.