Deborah Borda News

Luminario Ballet has announced that renowned arealist and choreographer Dreya Weber (who has conceived work on stage and film for Madonna, Pink, Cher and many others) will be the guest star of the Company's upcoming 2019 Gala Fundraiser, Gala Bacchanal. As previously announced, this one-night-only event will honor Emmy Award-winning choreographer Anita Mann for her Lifetime Achievement and Influence in Choreography and will take place on Saturday, November 16, 2019 from 5:30 p.m. a?" 9:30 p.m., at the Beverly Hills Women's Club (1700 Chevy Chase Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210). Gala Bacchanal celebrates Luminario's awarding of a prestigious grant from the US State Department and National Endowment of the Arts, enabling Luminario's upcoming tour to India in February 2020 with a new work-in-progress set to music by Reggae legend Peter Tosh of the Wailers. Tickets to Gala Bacchanal range from $300 - $500 and are available online at luminarioballet.org/fundraisers. Gala Bacchanal sponsors include Anita Mann-Kohl Foundation; and the RIDE Foundation.

Luminario Ballet (Judith FLEX Helle, Managing and Artistic Director) is pleased to announce the Company's 2019 Gala Fundraiser, Gala Bacchanal. This one-night-only event, honoring Emmy Award-winning choreographer Anita Mann for her Lifetime Achievement and Influence in Choreography, will take place on Saturday, November 16, 2019 from 5:30 p.m. a?' 9:30 p.m., at the Beverly Hills Women's Club (1700 Chevy Chase Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210). 

The New York Philharmonic will be in residence at Oklahoma State University (OSU), October 11a?"14, 2019, performing the inaugural concerts of The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts and engaging with OSU students through educational activities. Music Director Jaap van Zweden will lead the Philharmonic in three programs at The McKnight Center, two featuring Tony Awarda?"winning Oklahoma native Kelli O'Hara and one featuring Philharmonic Concertmaster Frank Huang. All three concerts will be shared with the Stillwater community through free simulcasts on the venue's outdoor LED wall. The residency marks the New York Philharmonic's debut in Stillwater and first return to Oklahoma after more than 30 years. The partnership is made possible in part by a $25 million programming gift to OSU's McKnight Center by alumni Ross and Billie McKnight; Mr. McKnight is also a New York Philharmonic Board Member.

The New York Philharmonic will present the US Stage Premiere of director / set and lighting designer Bengt Gomér's production of Schoenberg's Erwartung and Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle, conducted by Jaap van Zweden. Bluebeard's Castle will feature soprano Nina Stemme (New York Philharmonic debut), recipient of the 2018 Birgit Nilsson Prize, as Judith and baritone Johannes Martin Kränzle (debut) as Duke Bluebeard; Erwartung will feature mezzo-soprano Katarina Karnéus as A Woman (debut). The performances will take place Thursday, September 26, 2019, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, September 27 at 8:00 p.m.; and Saturday, September 28 at 8:00 p.m.

Shanghai Orchestra Academy (SOA) celebrated its fifth anniversary with the commencement of 10 graduates on Monday, July 1. SOA is a collaboration between the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and Shanghai Conservatory of Music. It provides a new approach in China to train fresh graduates from music conservatories to become professional orchestra musicians through a two-year program and international partnership.

In the second week of Music of Conscience — three weeks exploring the ways in which composers have used music to respond to the social and political issues of their times — Music Director Jaap van Zweden will conduct John Corigliano's Symphony No. 1, his “personal response to the AIDS crisis,” May 30 and June 1.

The New York Philharmonic will conclude the 2018-19 subscription season with Music of Conscience, May 22-June 8, 2019,three weeks of concerts and events exploring the ways in which composers have used music to respond to the social and political issues of their times. Music Director Jaap van Zweden will conduct all three orchestral programs: the World Premiere of David Lang's opera prisoner of the state, a retelling of Beethoven's Fidelio; John Corigliano's Symphony No. 1, his 'personal response to the AIDS crisis'; and Shostakovich's Chamber Symphony, about his struggles under Stalin, alongside Beethoven's Eroica Symphony, originally dedicated to Napoleon until the composer angrily redacted the inscription.

The New York Philharmonic welcomed the Year of the Vermillion Pig at the eighth annual Lunar New Year Concert and Gala, a festive fire-themed evening - representing warmth, light, energy, and prosperity - presented by Starr International Foundation on February 6th.

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts has appointed Henry Timms. Timms brings with him a deep expertise in the arts and culture, digital, and non-profit sectors as the next President and Chief Executive Officer, Board Chair Katherine Farley announced today. Timms will join Lincoln Center in early May 2019.

The New York Philharmonic will present Phil the Hall, special $5 concerts conducted by Music Director Jaap van Zweden for New York's first responders, volunteers, and other service professionals. Miss America 2019 Nia Franklin, a soprano and composer, will host the concerts, which feature iconic music central to the history of New York and its Philharmonic as well as World Premieres of works created by New York City students participating in the Philharmonic's Very Young Composers program. The Orchestra will be joined by the Westminster Symphonic Choir, directed by Joe Miller. The concerts will take place Thursday, April 4, 2019, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, April 5 at 8:00 p.m.; and Saturday, April 6 at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.

Herbert Blomstedt will return to the New York Philharmonic to conduct Grieg's Piano Concerto with Jean-Yves Thibaudet as soloist; Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite No. 1; and Dvo k's Symphony No. 8, Thursday, February 28, 2019, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, March 1 at 8:00 p.m.; and Saturday, March 2 at 8:00 p.m.

 On Wednesday, March 20, 2019, American Composers Orchestra (ACO) celebrates four individuals - true forces of nature - who have effected change in the American musical landscape at its annual Gala: Jon Deak, Founder & Artistic Director of New York Philharmonic's Very Young Composers; violinist Jennifer Koh; composer and conductor Tania Leon; and Frederick Wertheim, ACO Board Chairman. 

The New York Philharmonic announces updates to the ancillary activities presented as part of New York Stories: Threads of Our City, January 14-27, 2019, two weeks of concerts and events examining New York City's roots as a city of immigrants. The centerpiece is the World Premiere of Julia Wolfe's Fire in my mouth, co-commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, which reflects on the New York garment industry at the turn of the 20th century and the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which killed 146 garment workers, most of them young immigrants.

The Marie-Josee Kravis Prize for New Music at the New York Philharmonic, which recognizes a composer for extraordinary artistic endeavor in the field of new music, has been awarded to South Korean composer Unsuk Chin. One of the world's largest new-music prizes, the Kravis Prize includes $200,000 and a commission to write a work for the New York Philharmonic. Ms. Chin's new orchestral work will receive its World Premiere by the Philharmonic in a future season. Funding for the Kravis Prize comes from a $10 million gift to the New York Philharmonic in 2009 by Henry R. Kravis in honor of his wife, Marie-Josee, for whom the Prize is named. Past Prize winners include Henri Dutilleux, Per Norgard, and Louis Andriessen.

In honor of the launch of New York Philharmonic Music Director Jaap van Zweden's tenure, New Yorkers can see Jaap van Zweden at a Free Open Rehearsal on September 27, 2018. The program will feature Conrad Tao's Everything Must Go, receiving its World Premiere that evening, and Bruckner's Symphony No. 8. Following the Free Open Rehearsal — a gift from Jaap van Zweden and the Orchestra — Maestro van Zweden will stay onstage for a chat with President and CEO Deborah Borda and composer Conrad Tao.

In honor of the launch of New York Philharmonic Music Director Jaap van Zweden's tenure, New Yorkers can see Jaap van Zweden at a Free Open Rehearsal on September 27, 2018. The program will feature Conrad Tao's Everything Must Go, receiving its World Premiere that evening, and Bruckner's Symphony No. 8. Following the Free Open Rehearsal — a gift from Jaap van Zweden and the Orchestra — Maestro van Zweden will stay onstage for a chat with President and CEO Deborah Borda and composer Conrad Tao.

The LA Phil celebrates its centennial year with LA Fest, a genre-spanning exploration of the sounds of the city that has inspired it for the last 100 years. Across six performances between October 4 to 14, LA Fest will offer a glimpse into Los Angeles' complex musical makeup, featuring orchestral collaborations, led by Gustavo Dudamel, with some of LA's most world-renowned musicians, including Herbie Hancock, Andrew Bird, and Moby; the world premiere of Sustain, a new work by Andrew Norman; additional world premieres of LA Phil-commissioned pieces; performances from LA favorites La Santa Cecilia and Cuco; and more at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Highlighting the LA Phil's commitment to new music, programs will open with performances of LA Phil-commissioned works from past seasons by Esa-Pekka Salonen, Steven Stucky, Gabriela Ortiz, Julia Adolphe, and John Adams.

The New York Philharmonic announces the 2018-19 season of Insights at the Atrium, free events exploring themes of the Philharmonic's concert season through conversations and panel discussions. All events are held at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center and begin at 7:30 p.m.

Music Director Jaap van Zweden will conduct the New York Philharmonic in the World Premiere of Conrad Tao's Everything Must Go, commissioned by the Philharmonic, and Bruckner's Symphony No. 8, Thursday, September 27, 2018, at 7:30 p.m. and Friday, September 28 at 8:00 p.m.